The MV Aorangi was a passenger ship that regularly traveled back and forth between Sydney, Australia, and Vancouver, Canada, from the 1920s to the 1950s.
In July of 1934, while the ship was en route to Canada, the wife of passenger William “Billy” Townsend (a Canadian professional boxer) gave birth to a baby girl.
The baby was named Aorangi, after the ship.
(The ship was named after New Zealand’s highest peak, called “Aoraki” by South Island Maori and “Aorangi” by North Island Maori.)
Sources:
- “Baby, Born at Sea, Named After Ship.” Argus [Melbourne, Vic.] 14 Jul. 1934.
- “Birth Aboard Ship.” Age [Melbourne, Vic.] 14 Jul. 1934: 19.
- William “Billy” Townsend – BC Sports Hall of Fame