On August 11, 1901, Karl arrived in Liverpool, England, and cycled to Manchester, where he secured his passage to Saint John, New Brunswick.

You may wonder why Karl cycled inland to Liverpool if he sought a passage to cross the Atlantic.

For many merchants, sending in raw materials and shipping finished products from the newly built port in Manchester was cheaper. They wanted to avoid the high docking fees in Liverpool and then pay railway charges. In 1887, construction began on a new ship canal, which opened in 1894 as the largest river navigation canal in the world. The Port of Manchester became the third busiest port in Britain.

The canal started just south of Liverpool at the entrance locks at Eastham, which were the largest and formed the western end of the canal. It was here that Karl, on August 14, 1901, was about to board the SS Mantinea*, a cargo steamer built in 1896.

In Karl’s documentation, there is a page dedicated to his journey titled SS “Mantinea”, dated August 29, 1901, St John, N.B., certifying that "Karl M. Creeman shipped on board the above-named vessel from Manchester on the 14th of August 1901, and that she sailed from Eastham Locks on the 16th at 10 pm and arrived in St John on the 29th at 1:30 am, covering a distance of 2719 miles in 12 days and 3 ½ hours." Signed by JB. Kehoe, Master.

Master Kehoe added a postscript to this documentation: "I wish you a pleasant run to Truro."

This documented signature was nearing the end of Karl’s journey around the world, but it’s not over yet, dear reader. We have many more adventures to explore as we complete Karl’s travels across North America, Sri Lanka, and Australia.

So while Karl sets sail to make his way back to Nova Scotia, remember that he visited England three times during his global adventure (post 167 Port of Call). In our travels through England, I followed Karl from London through Wales to Liverpool.

Recall that upon leaving Egypt on the S.S. Cousius Arbib, Karl first arrived in Hull on April 27, 1901. His arrival in Hull, five months before departing England for Canada, marked the leg of his journey northwards to Edinburgh on May 8, 1901. Join me next week as I meet Karl in Hull.

* In 1917 the SS Mantinea was torpedoed by UC-63 while anchored off Inner Dowsing light vessel station on passage with coal from Newcastle, England for Genoa, Italy.

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