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Title Entry-Books of Correspondence: Letters from Mr. Elliott, Agent General for Emigration, 1837
Date 5 May-4 Aug 1837
Document Type Correspondence
Reference CO 386/19
Library / Archive The National Archives
Collection Name Colonial Office: Land and Emigration Commission, etc.
Description Copies of letters regarding the appointment of emigration agents and surgeons, emigration from Ireland, diseases on board ships and administrative concerns in the colonies. There is an index listing dates, recipients and a brief summary of each letter's subject.
Series Description This series contains original correspondence, entry books and registers of the Agent General for Emigration, the South Australian Commissioners and the Land and Emigration Commission. Amongst the miscellaneous contents are registers of births and deaths of emigrants at sea 1854-1869, lists of ships chartered 1847-1875, registers of surgeons appointed 1854-1894, and volumes of The Colonial Gazette 1838-1842.
Biographical Note / History A Colonial Land and Emigration Commission was created in 1840 to undertake the duties of two earlier and overlapping authorities which were both under the supervision of the Secretary of State. These were the Colonisation Commissioners for South Australia, established under an Act of 1834, and the Agent General for Emigration, appointed in 1837. The new commission dealt with grants of land, the outward movement of settlers, the administration of the Passengers' Acts of 1855 and 1863 and, from 1846 to 1859, the scrutiny of colonial legislation. In 1855 it became the Emigration Commission. In 1873 the administration of the Passengers' Acts was transferred to the Board of Trade. The commission's powers were gradually given up to the larger colonies as they obtained self-government, and after 1873 its only duties were the control of the importation of Indian indentured labour into sugar-producing colonies and it was abolished in 1878.
Theme(s) Politics, Legislation and Governance
Country (from) Great Britain; Ireland; Germany
Country (to) Australia; United States of America
Places London, Cornwall, Yarmouth, England; Glasgow, Scotland; Quebec, Canada; New York, United States
Ports Bristol, England; Limerick, Ireland
Nationality English; European; Scottish; Irish
Ships Edward; Lady Macnaughten; Albion; Severn; Magnus; William Nicoll; Layton; Strathfieldsaye; William Glen Anderson; Augusta Jessie
People Walpole, John; Elliott, Thomas Frederick; Keble, Reverend Thomas; Chadwick, Edwin; Arthur, Colonel George; Fry, William; Grey, George; Grant, Neil; Stephen, Sir James; Anderson, Glen
Keywords government, emigration, agent, administration, legislation, poor laws, employment, agent, surgeon, expenditure, disease, journey conditions, shipping, literature, Passengers' Act, eligibility, trade, passage money, convict, family, customs, application
Language English
Copyright Crown Copyright documents © are reproduced by permission of The National Archives London, UK