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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Title | Entry-Books of Correspondence: Letters to the Colonial Office. Windward and Leeward Islands, Bahamas, 1872-1876 |
| Author | Murdoch, Thomas William Clinton; Walcott, Stephen |
| Date | 20 Jan 1872 - 30 Nov 1876 |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Reference | CO 386/103 |
| Library / Archive | The National Archives |
| Collection Name | Colonial Office: Land and Emigration Commission, etc. |
| Description | Letters refer to the shipping of Chinese and Indian 'coolies' and mortality rates recorded on emigrant vessels used to transport them. There are letters referring to the neglect of indentured labourers, both on board emigrant vessels and upon arrival at their destinations. 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; China |
| Country (to) | Honduras; Suriname; St Lucia; St Vincent; St Kitts; Nevis; Leeward Islands; Bahamas; Windward Islands |
| Places | Andros Island, Barbados; Grenada; Calcutta, India; Suriname; Trinidad; Dominica; Antigua |
| Nationality | Indian; Asian; English; European; Chinese |
| Ships | Dover Castle; Pandora; Harkaway |
| People | Herbert, R G W; Elliot, Sir Thomas Frederick; Merivale, Herman (1806-1874) |
| Keywords | indentured labour, emigration, forced migration, shipping, emigration scheme, labour, colony, charter, government, administration, agent, expenses, loan, legislation, hospital, prison, immigrant, death, audit, wages, statistics, bounty emigration, regulations, return passage, riot, crown lands, gratuity, immigration agent, health and sickness, mortality rate, employment, labourer, agriculture, legislation, surveying, land |
| Language | English |
| Copyright | Crown Copyright documents © are reproduced by permission of The National Archives London, UK |
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