The Ice Bound Britannia

This 1844 lithograph by Vaudricourt, A. de (lithographer) represents the Britannia, owned by the British North American Royal Mail Steamship Company, also known as the Cunard Line, leaving East Boston on February 3, 1844.

Before February 3rd, 1844, Boston had been experiencing extreme cold, freezing the harbor to Point Shirley, leaving the Britannia icebound. Mayor of Boston, Martin Brimmer, and Boston’s merchants contracted Messrs. Gage Hettenger & Co. and John Hill to cut a canal in the ice in three days.

Beginning on February 1, 1,500 men began work cutting the ice. On February 3, a nearly 8-mile canal had been cut, allowing the Britannia to sail out of Boston Harbor carrying 65 passengers and 30,000 pieces of mail for England.