{O) I hit the jackpot with this thread. Thanks so much guys for all this wealth of information and book references and the song too! I will be doing my homework.

Considering things, a cargo ship with a few passengers appeals to me and sail and steam actually could work very well. A run from England to Australia sounds appealing...hmm.

Going off topic a bit, was Van Dieman's Land or any other prison colonies in Australia still in use at the time of the early 1900's? If so would you have cases of family members sailing to said colonies to be with those imprisoned there or is that too far a stretch?

Some more things I would like to get opinions on. Proper protocol aboard ship, standard crew member uniforms and the hierarchy from captain on down and the duties that was expected of them aboard ship. I have some research done on the titles and duties for various crew members but most of my information is from around the 1700's. So I am unsure what would have changed by this time, what would have stayed the same or what new titles and duties would have been added and what they would have been called. Thanks in advance and I'll be doing more reading to see what I can find {O)