Passengers on the Ship "Britania"

On October 24, 1769, a group of Acadians, German-Catholic families and others arrived in Natchitoches, LA. after a 15-month ordeal in which they had been blown off course, landed in Texas, imprisoned briefly by the Spanish and finally made the 420 mile trek overland.

A letter from O'Reilly to Arriaga dated December 1, 1769 [AGI, Aud. SD, 80-1-9] describes the Ship "Britania" incident.

The letter is contained in the book:

Annual Report of the American Historical  Association 1945 in Four Volumes

Vol. II Spain in the Mississippi Valley 1765-1794

Edited by Lawrence Kinnaird

Part I The Revolutionary Period, 1765-1783, pages 135-142

The ship officers and crew are given on page 137. Pages 140-142 contains the list of 8 German Families consisting of 52 individuals [a few were orphans] & 6 bachelors; and, 7 Acadian Families consisting of 31 individuals [a few were orphans] & one bachelor who were on the ship. See The Ship Britania for the list of names.

German Families

Dr. Glenn Conrad wrote an an article about the Germans on the Ship Britannia and others that appeared in Les Voyageurs, Vol. III, No. 4, December 1982, pp. 85-88. This article corrected information that had been published by J. Hanno Deiler in "The Settlement of the German Coast of Louisiana and The Creoles of German Descent" - See German Settlers in Louisiana [Note: the article also contains additional information about the time at Espiritu Santo Bay and the overland trek]

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