This ship’s passenger list was located in a hidden lower compartment in a lockable oak trinket box.
It is for the R.M.S. Arawa which left Wellington on 27th March 1908, bound for London.
The list includes passengers Mr R J Port and Mrs Port – Mrs Port being the owner of the trinket box. We wonder why they visited London? Was it a trip home to visit family? We know for certain that they returned to New Zealand.
As all passengers were listed as ‘third class’ it can’t have been the most comfortable of journeys.
The bottom compartment of the box also held a will, letters from children, insurance policies and a marriage certificate.
The upper compartments hold earrings, cufflinks, buttons, coins, a brooch, a tie pin, pearls and nail scissors.
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