Granny Mann's Travel List - The original travel blog

About 10 years ago, my cousin gifted me some photo albums from my great Grandmother. When I viewed them I was not prepared for how this would shape my life. You see, my great Grandmother, Granny Mann, worked on passenger ships during the 1920s and 1930s. In 1923, she was 35 years old, a wife, and a mother to 3 young boys in Liverpool, England. To support her family, she ventured off to travel the world, often working as a nanny on ships to wealthy people. On her adventures, she would write to her sons and send postcards and photographs. I am now the currator of her work and hope to follow in her wake.

The earliest ship I have record of her being on was the SS Calgaric which traveled from Liverpool to Montreal.

Her destination list is extensive.

I am in awe of her ability to leave her family and earn money during a time when most women were at home with their families. I often wonder if I inherited some of her independent spirit.

So far I have only checked a few locations off her list, one being New York City. I traveled there to meet Gary Vaynerchuk and Claude Silver (a story for another time). She visited there in 1928 when she was sailing on the Celtic.

Granny Mann’s postcard from 1928

2017 - On a harbour tour with my sister

I hope to shape my future travels around her destinations and continue to embody her vitality and desire to see the world.