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Title Entry-Books of Correspondence: Letters to Emigration Agents, Colonial Secretaries, etc. Australia, Tasmania, Cape of Good Hope, Natal, 1861-1862
Author Walcott, Stephen; Walpole, John
Date 5 Jan 1861 - 3 Sep 1862
Document Type Correspondence
Reference CO 386/131
Library / Archive The National Archives
Collection Name Colonial Office: Land and Emigration Commission, etc.
Description Copies of out-letters sent to colonial governments, largely concerning the hire and dispatch of migrant ships, conditions on board migrant ships, the payment of various sums, remittances, the conduct of ships' officers, questions relating to individual passengers, and eligibility to migrate. An index is included at the start of the volume.
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; Journey Conditions; Ships and Shipping Lines
Country (from) Great Britain
Country (to) Australia; South Africa; Natal
Places Tasmania, Australia; Cape of Good Hope, South Africa
Ports Adelaide, South Australia, Melbourne, Victoria, Sydney, New South Wales, Perth, Fremantle, Western Australia, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; Liverpool, Gravesend, Plymouth, Portsmouth, England; Port Natal, Natal; Cape Town, South Africa
Nationality English; European
Ships Nile; Hotspur; Eveline; Persia; Atalanta; Escort; Tartar; Hamilla Mitchell; Sedgemoor; Rajasthan; Durban; William Miles; Orient; Blue Jacket
Keywords remittance, statistics, assisted emigration, emigration, agent, victualling, education, matron, surgeon, finance, money, female emigration, child migration, shipping, food, eligibility, Bank of England, communication, death, clergy, religion, health and sickness, regulations, legislation, passage money, gratuity
Language English
Copyright Crown Copyright documents © are reproduced by permission of The National Archives London, UK