The souvenir brass & leather luggage strap was purchased sometime during a cruise by an unknown person. It is part of a cruise liner collection by D. Benson and Family over a period of years. D. Benson sold part of the collection to the V.M.C who purchased the remaining part. It is a great source of information to visitors to the V.M.C. At the time of ocean liner holiday cruising, many people purchased these souvenirs to keep or give away as gifts.Brass luggage tag on leather strap with 'Fairstar''& emblem engraved on front. Name & address of passenger engraved on rear.On back, D. Benson, 61 Campbell Road, Somers. One front Fairstar.fairstar, souvenir

RMS Strathaird was the second of a pair to be built and was completed on January 10, 1932. She was preceded by her identical sister the RMS Strathnaver completed on September 2, 1931. They were built by Vickers-Armstrong Ltd, in Barrow-in-Furness, England.RMS Strathaird departed Tilbury on her maiden voyage on February 12 1932, bound for Brisbane Australia sailing via Port Said, Aden, Bombay, Colombo, Fremantle, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, a service she would remain on until the war would put an end to her passenger’s service for six long years! After the Mediterranean had been declared safe in late 1943, the Strathaird was the very first ship to sail through the Suez Canal in 1943. In 1945 she returned to Australia and New Zealand with their troops heading home. The RMS Strathaird was handed back to P&O in December 1947 and after a major refit she departed Tilbury on January 5, 1948. She returned to her regular Australian service but also continued to operate the occasional cruises. Due to demand and the migrant trade, in 1954 the Strathaird was converted to become a one-class liner, accommodating a good 1,252 passengers. Upon completion she departed Tilbury for her first voyage on April 8, 1954. TSS Strathaird departed Tilbury for Australia on March 28, 1961 and she then departed Sydney on May 9. As she sailed from Australia and had passed through the Suez Canal and was now in the Mediterranean she passed P&O’s newest superliner, the 42,570 GRT SS Canberra that had departed the UK on June 2, for Australia and New Zealand.A PDF doc of a Passenger List from the 'RMS Strathaird' passenger list dated September 1952P&O Passenger Listrms strathaird, passenger liners, migrant ships, cruise liners, british travellers