ABSTRACT

William Smith was power-loom weaver from Manchester who emigrated from Liverpool to New York on board the India amongst Famine Irish emigrants in November, 1847, Little else is known about him. The India set sail from Liverpool on 26 November 1847 with 270 passengers and arrived in New York on 21 January, 1848; 39 emigrants, as well as Captain Thompson, and his successor, Captain Connor, perished during the voyage. William Smith's Emigrant's Narrative, Or, A Voice from the Steerage, offers a rare and vivid account of suffering 'Ship fever' or typhus, and the abuses and hardships suffered by Famine migrants in New York's Staten Island Hospital.