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Title Entry-Books of Correspondence: Letters to Emigration Agents, Colonial Secretaries, etc. India, West Indies, 1856-1858
Author Walcott, Stephen; Walpole, John
Date 1 Apr 1856 - 31 Mar 1858
Document Type Correspondence
Reference CO 386/134
Library / Archive The National Archives
Collection Name Colonial Office: Land and Emigration Commission, etc.
Description Copies of out-letters sent to colonial governments on the subject of indentured labour, largely concerning the hire and dispatch of migrant ships, the appointment of officers, journey conditions, and the payment of various sums, including wages and bounties. 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; Departures: Port Conditions and Organisation; Ships and Shipping Lines; Journey Conditions
Country (from) India
Country (to) Grenada; Jamaica; British Guiana; St Lucia; Trinidad
Places Mauritius; St Helena
Ports Calcutta, Madras, India
Nationality Indian; Asian
Ships Castle Eden; Eveline; John Duncan; Canning; Bucephalus; Wellesley; Royal George; Dudbrook; White Eagle; Devonshire; Ellenborough; Empress Eugenie
Keywords return passage, coolie, indentured labour, labourer, labour, agriculture, sugar, farming, finance, money, surgeon, food, death, disease, ventilation, female emigration, surgeon, shipping, gratuity, wages, agent, employment, health and sickness
Language English
Copyright Crown Copyright documents © are reproduced by permission of The National Archives London, UK