Sandra’s Ancestral Research Journal: R is for Royal Mail Steamer R.M.S.S. Geelong

This post is part of the A to Z Challenge, a blogging initiative where participants publish daily posts in April (except Sundays), each one themed around a letter of the alphabet. My theme this year is "Migration Stories"—tracing the journeys, ships, and personal histories behind my ancestors’ moves across continents. Through passenger records, newspaper clippings, and genealogical detective work, I’m piecing together the routes they took and the vessels that carried them. Today's post is brought to you by the letter R.

When I began researching my ancestors’ migration from India to Australia in 1869, I pictured them squeezed aboard a crowded emigrant ship, surrounded by other families in steerage, all sailing into an uncertain but hopeful future.

But for the Munro family, the reality turned out to be quite different.

The ship they boarded for the final leg of their journey, the R.M.S.S. Geelong, wasn’t a migrant ship at all. It was a Royal Mail Steamer, operated by P&O, with a very different purpose — and a very different kind of passenger experience.

📮 What is a Royal Mail Steamer?

Royal Mail Steamers were the workhorses of empire: sleek, steam-powered vessels contracted to carry mail, government dispatches, and valuable cargo across the vast distances of the British Empire. The Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) operated many of these routes between Britain, India, Ceylon, China, and Australia.

Unlike the large emigrant sailing ships that carried hundreds, these steamers accommodated just a few dozen like the big emigrant sailing ships. Instead, they accommodated just a few dozen, often in first-class cabins, and served a clientele that might include officials, merchants, missionaries, or the occasional family — like mine.

🧍‍♂️🧍‍♀️ A More Intimate Voyage

While cross-checking passenger records, I discovered something surprising:
On some voyages, the Geelong carried as few as six passengers — and once, even a stowaway! Most of her sailings listed fewer than 30 passengers in total..

Compared to large migrant ships that might carry hundreds of people in steerage, the Geelong must have felt almost quiet. The Munro family — two parents and seven children — would have been a notable presence on board.

⚓ A Different Class of Migration

So what was the journey like?

Quieter and faster: Mail steamers were on strict schedules and made fewer stops.
Better provisions: Meals, cabins, and deck access were likely more comfortable.
Different company: Instead of emigrants fleeing poverty, they likely sailed alongside officials, traders, or military retirees.
No government scheme: This wasn’t assisted migration. They likely paid their own way.

What truly sets the Geelong apart from typical migrant ships is the intimate scale of the voyage. When the ship arrived in Melbourne on 28 September 1869, it disembarked just 13 passengers, and the Munros were the only family among them. They were also the only couple travelling with children. With seven little ones in tow, they must have drawn attention aboard a vessel otherwise occupied by quiet adult travellers and an all-British crew.

The Geelong’s crew list reveals a full hospitality staff — cooks, stewards, a pantryman, even a butcher and baker — all to serve a handful of passengers. It suggests the Munros likely experienced table service, clean accommodations, and personal attention, something unimaginable on a packed migrant ship. Their children may have had the run of the deck and quite possibly became favourites among the sailors. The family’s journey wasn’t just across the sea; it was through a rarified corridor of empire, a mail route with the trappings of class, speed, and solitude.

Unlike many steamships in the Indian Ocean, which often employed a racially diverse workforce in the engine room and as deckhands, this Geelong crew was almost entirely British, suggesting a more homogeneous social environment but still with clear divisions by rank and role. The crew was sizeable and well-staffed for a much larger passenger complement, including multiple stewards, a chief cook, baker, butcher, and several servants. With so few passengers, the Munro family would have received attentive, perhaps even personalised, service from the crew, especially in dining and cabin arrangements. The stewards and servants would have had more time to dedicate to the comfort and needs of the Munro family, making their journey more comfortable than if the ship had been full.

The Geelong’s service crew — steward in charge, assistant steward, storekeeper, pantryman, cook, baker, butcher, and several servants — suggests it was geared toward offering a first-class or officer-level experience, even with very few passengers. This kind of service crew implies that the Munro family likely had full meals, possibly served in a dining saloon, and were waited on — a rare luxury for migrants.

Their experience was neither a luxury cruise nor immigrant hardship. It was something in between — a quiet journey through imperial infrastructure, part family migration, part administrative logistics.

The ship’s routine would have been calm, with regular meals, walks on deck, and perhaps reading or games. The lack of crowding reduced the risk of illness or conflict, common on more crowded migrant ships.

🔍 Why It Matters

This discovery reshaped how I understood my ancestors’ migration. It wasn’t just a voyage but a reflection of class, connections, and colonial systems. They weren’t swept up in a great wave of migration from Britain, but navigating their own path from India to Australia along the arteries of empire.

It also reminded me that not all migration followed the same script. Sometimes the stories lie not in the big ships filled with crowds, but in the quiet steamers that carried a few determined souls across the sea.

In summary, the Munro family’s journey on the Geelong would have been unusually comfortable, private, and well-attended, but perhaps also a bit lonely for the children, with little opportunity for broader socialisation. However, with no other children to play with, the Munro kids likely had a lot of freedom and attention. Their experience contrasts with the crowded, communal voyages typical of the era, offering a glimpse into the quieter side of 19th-century steamship travel.

📚 Sources & Further Reading

Passenger Records – Geelong Steam Ship October 1869 citing Inward Overseas Passenger Lists British and Foreign Ports VPRS 947/P0000, Jul - Dec 1869 [Explanation: confirms passenger names & numbers]
Geelong, arrival in Sydney, New South Wales 1 October 1869 citing State Records Authority of New South Wales: Shipping Master's Office; Passengers Arriving 1855 - 1922; NRS13278, [X121-122] reel 422. Transcribed by Geoff, 2003.[Explanation: confirms that all passengers have disembarked in Melbourne, and configuration of the crew who have continued on and arrive in Sydney.]
See also:
- P is for Pensioners on the Move the original post that led me to investigate the Geelong
- Q is for Questions of the Geelong identifying the difference Geelong ships
WikiTree Links for the family members of the Munro Family who travelled on the Geelong

Blog Post Meta Data:

The URL for this post is https://ancestralresearchjournal.blogspot.com/2025/04/r-is-for-royal-mail-steamer-rmss-geelong.html, originally published on 21 April 2025

Author: Sandra Williamson

Monday, 21 April 2025

R is for Royal Mail Steamer R.M.S.S. Geelong