Robert Whyte's Famine Ship Diary 1847: The Journey of an Irish Coffin Ship

The voyage of the 'coffin ship' the Ajax, from Dublin to Grosse í le, the Canadian quarantine station described in the contemporary diary of one of the passengers, Robert Whyte.

Whyte was a Protestant gentleman of education and positions as well as being a professional writer who intended to publish his diary. The diary appeared in 1848. It is signed in the author's own handwriting and features vivid descriptions of the spectacular scenery along the way and striking delineations of the passengers, the crew and the suffering travelers.