My Cathedral in the Sea: A History of the Conway

My Cathedral in the Sea traces the story of the Conway from its 1851 construction in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, to its final resting place in the Atlantic. Conway traversed the globe, making many trans-Atlantic crossings and five journeys to Australia. In 1860, the ship barely survived a storm close to Madeira.

Harley Stanton’s interest in the history of the Conway began when he started searching for a picture of the ship on which, in the 1850s, his great-great-grandfather, Thomas Stanton, his wife and four children migrated from the United Kingdom to Van Diemen’s Land. The search for a picture led to 20 years of research and writing, and, finally, this book. Extensive extracts from logs, passenger diaries and contemporary newspapers contribute to a vivid picture of life on a sailing ship in the mid-19th century.