The Epic Voyages of Maud Berridge

Sally Berridge

Adlard Coles Nautical

£16.99

Maud Berridge was a captain’s wife who accompanied some of his regular trips to Australia in the 1880s, completing a circumnavigation when the owners ordered a return via San Francisco. Their ship was the Superb, a three-masted clipper carrying passengers who were either emigrating or travelling ‘for health’. Some of Maud’s diaries have survived and have been diligently researched and put in context by her great granddaughter. Just occasionally the diligence is excessive but Maud’s experience certainly adds to our understanding of women at sea. She helped her husband copy up his log, organised and applauded shipboard entertainment, visited the sick, hovered anxiously over unsuitable flirtations. Her conclusion? ‘A long sea voyage is a great test of character.’