This personal collection largely comprises William Crickmay's pocket diaries, encompassing his roles on land and at sea as: a purser in the Royal Mail Lines (formerly Royal Mail Steam Packet Company) serving in the Caribbean in the 1850s while the company sought to establish a new steam passenger and mail service. This series of diaries also uniquely documents his life beyond sea, completing the record of Crickmay’s career as an: auctioneer; yacht and ship broker; surveyor; civil engineer; and insurance and property manager in Weymouth, Portland and Caterham. Also includes Crickmayidae: A partial genealogy of the Crickmay family.

Related materials:
See the business archive of (Ref: RMT/76-78) Royal Mail Lines (the largest shipping company in the world in 1927), however it does not contain any staff records. William Crickmay’s collection therefore provides a rare personal account alongside these corporate records.

Also see: Ernest W. Toy (2019) Some Adventures of a Seafaring Accountant: William Crickmay and the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, 1853–1858, The Mariner's Mirror, 105:3, 318-330, DOI: 10.1080/00253359.2019.1615780

Administrative / biographical background
Crickmay, William, (1832-1900), Purser, Royal Mail Steam Packet Company/Royal Mail Lines. In 1888 after the death of his second wife, he and a number of his children emigrated to Vancouver, B.C., where he died in 1900.