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The Third Son of a Duke

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It was never my intention that my grandmother would become the main protagonist.  No, that is the boy who is the third son of a Duke, the title of the book.

He is being packed off the Australia to work on his uncle’s cattle station in outback Queensland.

So, off we go to the archives to dig into Queensland, in 1915, and where cattle stations might be, and how to get there from Brisbane once the ship arrives.  This turns up information on the port of Brisbane, with the dock being at Pinkenba, a tin shed on a wharf that was far shorter than the length of the ship.  Just beside the shed is a railway station, the way the passengers get into Brisbane itself.

Passengers arriving from overseas have to wonder where it was they were.

But before that, we have a long way to go.  The ship does not allow passengers to get off at Gibraltar, it just anchors in the harbour and takes passengers off, and new passengers aboard, and the main, and then leaves.  A few hours at best, time enough for the town folk to come alongside and sell their wares.

Next stop, Marseilles, then Toulon, where passengers will be allowed to go ashore for a few hours.

Toulon is a home port for the French Navy.  War is approaching; one can only imagine just how many warships there are.

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2115 words, for a total of 11735 words.