My ancestress, a governess of twenty-five years of age, took her nine
year old pupil to France to admit him to a boarding school in Arras in
1862. I need to know the probable route, mode of travel eg:
train/channel, paddle steamer/train with names of likely companies
providing same, possible cost of fares, duration of each leg of the
journey and likely overall travel time taken. Only brief answers
required.

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Clarification of Question by pan6430-ga on 08 Apr 2004 15:13 PDT

I'm sorry for my omission, in haste. The governess,Virginia Isitt, was
living in a house called "Jesse Lodge" in Hampstead Heath at the time.
She would have travelled to some mainline railway station in London at
the time, and taken train to some Ferry port (Dover, Folkstone?)and
thence to an appropriate French port to continue her journey by rail
to Arras. I need a probable or feasible route, and I hope now that you
can help

It would help if you knew where your ancestress was located when she
set off on her journey.

I'm sorry. The governess, Virginia Isitt, was living in a house in
Hampstead Heath, London, at the time (I do not know the Street but the
house was called "Jesse Lodge") From  there she would have travelled
to a London Railway Station and taken a train to a ferry port (Dover
or Folkstone?) and taken ship to France. I hope this is sufficient
information for you to help provide me with the most probable or at
least a likely or feasible route

Your Ancestress's employer was obviously fairly well-heeled, so I
would suggest that she and her pupil would have been driven by coach
to London Bridge Station where they would have caught a train to
Dover.

Then by ferry from Dover to Calais.

Arras is not a long journey and possibly there was a Calais to Paris
train service that could have dropped them there.

Then another coach to the Boarding School.

Presumably they would have a fair bit of luggage and they would have
needed transport from door-to-door.