The full content of this document is only available to subscribing institutions. More information can be found via www.amdigital.co.uk

Title Entry-Books of Correspondence: Letters to the Colonial Office. Jamaica, Honduras, Turks and Caicos Islands, Bay Islands, 1867-1876
Author Murdoch, Thomas William Clinton; Walcott, Stephen
Date 5 Jan 1867 - 23 Aug 1876
Document Type Correspondence
Reference CO 386/106
Library / Archive The National Archives
Collection Name Colonial Office: Land and Emigration Commission, etc.
Description Letters refer to claims on land and land grants, the shipping of Chinese and Indian 'coolies' and mortality and murder rates recorded on emigrant vessels. Amendments to be made to immigration laws are also a common theme. Most are sent by T. W. C. Murdoch and Stephen Walcott. There is an index at the back, listing the letters by year and colony and detailing the main subject matter and dates of their composition.
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) Colonisation Companies and Emigration Societies; Religion, Ethnic Identity and Community Relations; Ships and Shipping Lines
Country (from) India; China; Barbados
Country (to) West Indies; Honduras; Jamaica; Bay Islands
Places Calcutta, India; British Guiana
Nationality English; European; Indian; Asian; Chinese; Maltese
Ships Coona; Ganges; Salamanca; Patrician; Buckinghamshire; Hereford; Merchantman; Stockbridge; Sea Queen; Woodburn; Duke of Argyll; Loch Lomand; Robert Lees; Neva; Cheetah; Metah; Middlesex
People Elliot, Sir Thomas Frederick; Bart, Frederic Rogers; Herbet, R G W
Keywords indentured labour, emigration, forced migration, shipping, emigration scheme, labour, colony, charter, wages, telegram, agent, government, immigration, legislation, Kidnap, death, suicide, journey conditions, medical staff, employment, expenses, audit, shipping register, murder, tax, land grant, surveying, military, navy, Protector of Immigrants, mortality rate
Language English
Copyright Crown Copyright documents © are reproduced by permission of The National Archives London, UK