Joshua Norton First Set Foot in the United States in 1846 — in Boston
In the United States, the prevailing narrative about Joshua Norton, for 80 years and more, has been that
Joshua did not leave Cape Town until late 1848 or early 1849 — prompted by the deaths of both parents and his two nearest siblings between May 1846 and August 1848, and possibly also by news of the California Gold Rush.
He sailed directly from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro, arriving in Rio early to mid 1849, and from Rio to San Francisco.
He may have spent a few months in South America between his arrivals in Rio and San Francisco.
His introduction to the United States was his arrival in San Francisco in late 1849.
But a persuasive body of evidence — including a passenger list, a disembarkation ticket and two newspaper arrivals notices — points to a different reality: Joshua Norton initially sailed from Liverpool to Boston, arriving in Boston in March 1846.
This means that Joshua probably left Cape Town no later than November 1845 — and that the reasons for his departure had nothing to do with family deaths or the Gold Rush.
Read More
