Voyages and Travels of Lord Brassey contains the travel accounts of Lord Brassey, husband of the more famous Lady Anna Brassey who wrote A Voyage in the Sunbeam. This two-volume set, like Lady Brassey’s, describe the couple’s travels around the world on their yacht The Sunbeam. Unlike Lady Brassey’s book, which she authored, this book is a compilation of the various short accounts of the journeys that Lord Brassey gave in the form of lectures or newspaper articles.
The book contains Lord Brassey’s experiences circumnavigating the globe on his private yacht, and a fair portion of it is devoted to descriptions of routes, wind directions, harbours, and such seafaring concerns. The places featured in the book include Algeria, the Suez, India, North Borneo, the West Indies, the USA, and some Pacific Islands, but of most prominence is Australia (a good portion of Vol 2 is solely on Australia), where Lord Brassey served as Governor of Victoria. Unlike his wife’s vivid descriptions of her personal experiences and observations, Lord Brassey is – true to his position as a British official – more concerned with economic and administrative matters, especially in British colonial territories. While in Southeast Asia, he met such individuals as the Sultan of Brunei, but descriptions of the meetings are scanty or non-existent.
About the author (from Wikipedia):
Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey GCB, TD, JP, DL (11 February 1836 – 23 February 1918), was a British Liberal Party politician, Governor of Victoria and founder of The Naval Annual.
Between 6 July 1876 and 27 May 1877 Brassey circumnavigated the world in his steam-assisted three-masted topsail-yard schooner Sunbeam, another yacht designed for him by St Clare Byrne. This voyage is said to have been the first circumnavigation by a private yacht. His son Thomas left the Sunbeam at Rio de Janeiro in order to return to school in England. His wife Annie, Lady Brassey (1839–1887), published an account of the cruise entitled In The Trades, The Tropics, & The Roaring Forties, or alternatively A Voyage In The Sunbeam: Our Home On The Ocean For Eleven Months. In 1880 Brassey’s book The British Navy was published. In 1886, he started The Naval Annual (generally referred to as Brassey’s Naval Annual). He edited The Naval Annual until 1891. He was succeeded as editor by his son Thomas.
At the age of 79 Brassey sailed his yacht Sunbeam to Mudros Bay in order to support the troops as a hospital ship during the ill-fated Gallipoli Campaign.
