Scope and Contents: This collection consists of a diary (104 pages) by William Ford (fl. 1809-1862), an English mariner who recounted travels to the Caribbean Sea, Canada, and the Iberian Peninsula between December 21, 1837, and September 10, 1841. Ford was a crewman on the HMS Racehorse and often wrote in detail about the ports and cities he visited, as well as other aspects of his life at sea.
The diary includes pencil drawings of Tenerife and Porto Santo Island, both in profile (p. 227), and an unattributed, untitled poem (p. 228). The poem, previously published elsewhere, begins with the line "Let not false mercy aid sedition's cause" and includes an anti-Catholic acrostic message. The volume's inscriptions indicate ownership by W. Ford and Arabella Taylor, High Cross House, Sampford Peverell, Devon.
See Administrative/Biographical History for more information.
| Rare Book & Manuscript Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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