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The first P & O Voyage to the East-By Hugh Karunanayake Source:Island (Leaving Southampton on September 24, 1842) (We are indebted to Sir William Twynam (a passenger on this historic voyage) who was known as the Rajah of the North having worked as Government Agent. of Jaffna for 50 years, for his memoir which is the basis for the story of the voyage. The memoir was published in 1916 at the request of Miss Barbara Layard, one of his co- passengers on that historic voyage which took place in 1842. Sir William Twynam born in Ceylon was the son of Thomas Holloway Twynam Master Attendant of the Galle Harbour. He settled down in Jaffna after his retirement from the Ceylon Civil Service after a period of 50 years. More on Sir William Twynam could be found below) BACKGROUND TO THE FIRST VOYAGE Until the opening of the Suez Canal in ...