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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Entry-Books of Correspondence: Letters to the Colonial Office. Windward and Leeward Islands, Bahamas, 1867-1871 |
| Author | Murdoch, Thomas William Clinton; Walcott, Stephen |
| Date | 10 Jan 1867 - 28 Dec 1871 |
| Document Type | Correspondence; Report |
| Reference | CO 386/102 |
| Library / Archive | The National Archives |
| Collection Name | Colonial Office: Land and Emigration Commission, etc. |
| Description | Letters written by T. W. C. Murdoch and Stephen Walcott, and often sent to Sir Frederic Rogers. Most refer to the shipping of Chinese and Indian 'coolies', and mortality rates recorded in colonies to which they were transported. Other letters refer to the shortage of sufficient hospital accommodation, housing and care in these colonies afforded to indentured labourers, and to the cost of their return passage. Reports on location and sale of crown lands in the colonies are also the subject of many letters. 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) | Arrivals: Ports and Early Experiences; Colonisation Companies and Emigration Societies; Religion, Ethnic Identity and Community Relations; Ships and Shipping Lines |
| Country (from) | India; Barbados; Bahamas |
| Country (to) | Windward Islands; Leeward Islands; United States of America; Bahamas; St Lucia; Tobago; Grenada; Trinidad; British Guiana; St Vincent |
| Places | Calcutta, India; Anguilla; Barbuda; Antigua; St Kitts; Harmon, North Dakota, United States |
| Ports | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Nationality | Indian; Asian; English; European; Chinese; African; Portuguese |
| Ships | Maidstone; Athlete; Ganges; Accrington |
| People | Elliot, Sir Thomas Frederick; Bart, Frederic Rogers; Herbert, R G W |
| Keywords | emigration, administration, government, agent, mortality rate, shipping, emigrant, indentured labour, forced migration, labour, emigration scheme, colony, charter, legislation, return passage, accommodation, health and sickness, colony conditions, immigration agent, property, bounty emigration, loan, gratuity, female emigration, rations, salt, empire, capitulation, land, tax |
| Language | English |
| Copyright | Crown Copyright documents © are reproduced by permission of The National Archives London, UK |
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