The Bark Iris - Painter: Domenico Gavarrone. - Source: Larvik Sjøfartsmuseum - License: CC BY-SA 4.0
The bark Iris departed Stavanger in ballast on May 4th, 1861. According to a Norwegian newspaper she was carrying 168 passengers, 101 adults and 67 children. According to a letter sent by one of the passengers, the number was 170. Most of the passengers were from the Ryfylket and some families from Flekkefjord. They were poor people, and all together they did not bring more than 7 - 800 Speciedaler. It was told that the ship passed several icebergs on the way, and almost collided with one at the middle of the night. The passengers heard the crew shouting, and several of them hurried up on deck to see what was happening. Most of the passengers had been seasick at some stage during the voyage, and several became ill with measles, of from what 3 children died. The dead were buried in the ocean, and the captain conducted the ceremony. On June 29th the Iris arrived Gaspe, and about 100 of the passengers disembarked the ship to settle in the Gaspe area. The rest proceeded to Quebec. On July 10th they arrived at the quarantine station at Grosse Île, and proceeded on to Quebec the same day. When arriving Quebec she was carrying 71 steerage passengers. The iris was mastered by Capt. C. Gloppestad on the 1861 voyage, and had a crew of 12. Because the National Archives of Canada [NAC] did not start the archiving of passenger lists before 1865, and the Norwegian emigration records did not start before 1867, there is no surviving passenger list for this voyage in any of those archives. However, we have been able to make a list of some passengers who were mentioned in the newspaper "Stavanger Amtstidene" April 28th, 1862.
Newspaper notice from Morgenbladet May 16, 1861
In 1864 the Iris departed from Stavanger May 4th, and arrived at Quebec June 2nd. Master was Capt. Larsen. No surviving passenger list, see above. In 1866 bark Iris departed from Stavanger on May 3rd, and arrived at Quebec on June 5th in ballast. She was carrying 160 steerage passengers and 1 cabin passenger. A woman and a child was sick from cold and debility when she arrived at Grosse Île. Iris was mastered by Capt. H. Falck and had a crew of 12. The passenger list for this voyage is kept at the National Archives of Canada [NAC]. The list gives the names of 153 passengers, the last page containing names of 8 passengers seams to be missing. The list is transcribed for our emigrant database.
In 1870 bark Iris, 290 tons, departed from Stavanger on May 5th and arrived at Quebec on June 20th, in ballast. She was carrying 159 steerage passengers, all well. This year the Iris was mastered by Capt. B.M. Morthensen, with a crew of 12. The passenger list for this voyage is kept at the National Archives of Canada [NAC].
