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Title Entry-Books of Correspondence: Letters from the Emigration Commission, 1841
Date Jan-Apr 1841
Document Type Correspondence
Reference CO 386/26
Library / Archive The National Archives
Collection Name Colonial Office: Land and Emigration Commission, etc.
Description The letters are mostly sent by Thomas Elliot and Stephen Walcott and include printed copies of applications to be filled out by those desiring free passage to Port Phillip or Sydney, with accompanying notices respecting regulations entailed in the emigrant process and the purchase of crown lands in foreign colonies. Most letters enquire into the cost of passage, bounty regulations, the emigration application process and the appointment of land agents for the sale of crown lands abroad. There is an index at the back of this document 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
Country (to) Australia; New Zealand; Canada; Unites States of America
Places Tasmania, Western Australia, Australia; Dundee, Scotland; England
Ports Port Phillip, Victoria, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Nationality English; European; Welsh; Scottish
Ships Prince Rupert; Glen Huntley
People Walcott, Stephen; Elliot, Sir Thomas Frederick; Barnard, Edward
Keywords government, emigration, agent, administration, surgeon, shipping, employment, agent, application, assisted emigration, free passage, advertisement, colonisation, colony, regulations, land, family, skilled emigration, legal representation, surveying, eligibility, mechanics, labour, emigrant selection, wages, land sale, unmarried, women, crown lands, legislation, passage money, bounty emigration, finance, steamboat, social class, convict, land grant, newspaper
Language English
Copyright Crown Copyright documents © are reproduced by permission of The National Archives London, UK