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Title Entry-Books of Correspondence: Letters from the Emigration Commission, 1844-1845
Author Walcott, Stephen
Date 2 Aug 1844 - 14 Jan 1845
Document Type Correspondence
Reference CO 386/36
Library / Archive The National Archives
Collection Name Colonial Office: Land and Emigration Commission, etc.
Description Copies of out-letters addressed to a variety of individual enquirers, including MPs. The correspondence mostly covers the appointment of surgeons, the availability of land, the demand for labour and female migrants, eligibility for free passages or bounties, and the payment of various sums. An index is included at the end 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; Ships and Shipping Lines; Motives for Emigration
Country (from) Great Britain; Ireland
Country (to) Canada; Australia; New Zealand; Falkland Islands
Places Tasmania, South Australia, New South Wales, Western Australia, Australia; Auckland, New Zealand
Ports Quebec, Canada; Adelaide, Australia; Deptford, England
Nationality English; Scottish; Irish; European
Ships Royal George; Herald; Sir Charles Napier; Isabella Watson; Mandarin
People Earl of Derby (Smith-Stanley, Sir Edward)
Keywords administration, statistics, health and sickness, victualling, surgeon, workhouse, eligibility, female emigration, child migration, emigration, bounty emigration, assisted emigration, land, legislation, land sale, land grant, crown lands, land claim, money, finance, labour, labourer, shipping, transportation, wages, agriculture, farming, remittance, agent, Bank of England, steerage, surveying, eligibility
Language English
Copyright Crown Copyright documents © are reproduced by permission of The National Archives London, UK