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Emigration from Wales

 

This originated as a compilation of extracts from messages by various subscribers to the Dyfed and Glamorgan Mailing Lists. It is not intended to do anything other than give researchers some ideas on how their ancestors may have got from Wales to where ever, and offer some advice on how to go about finding where "in Wales " they came from.
Each country section includes links to other specific immigration/emigration related sites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

North America

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  See also

Ports of arrival/departure

19th century

Liverpool was the major exit port of the 19th century.

Of the 5.5 million people who emigrated from UK to North America  between 1860 and 1890, 5 million of them left from Liverpool, many of  them in the fast steam ships built to handle the emigration trade. ( Liverpool and the American Cotton Trade,  BH Tolley).

People in Wales would take the train from Glamorgan to Liverpool or if they came out of south west Wales, such as Cardiganshire, they perhaps took a ship direct from Aberystwyth or from a Welsh port to Liverpool and then sailed for America probably landing in New York, Philadelphia, or Baltimore.

Ellis Island, New York was the flagship of US immigration depots during the peak period of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries with some twenty million people passing through it between 1892 and 1924.

On arrival in the USA a Welsh immigrant's journey might have continued up the Hudson River to the Erie Canal, which took them to the Welsh settlement at Utica, New York. They then crossed Lake Erie by steamer to Cleveland, where canals and roads connected south to Jackson/Gallia counties in Ohio. There was also a road over the Alleghenies to Pittsburgh, from there it was just a few days' travel by riverboat down the Ohio to Gallipolis, then a long day's walk to reach the Welsh settlement on the Jackson/Gallia border.

Erie Canal history shows that it was one of 3 main routes West across the mountains from the eastern US seaboard. The building of the canal was likened to the "8th wonder of the world". By the 1840s it was in competition with the railways which promptly put it out of business.

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One of the coal companies from the Scranton area  of USA went to Wales to solicit  coal miners and paid their way to America. A listers grandparents accepted the  offer and arrived at Castle Garden, NY (this is before Ellis Island opened) on April 20, 1882 and then on to Pennsylvania. She is  still trying to find the  ship's name but has  been unsuccessful. She doesn't know the port of departure but assumes it  was Liverpool. They were living in Mountain Ash, Wales at the time.

There is a very interesting book written by William D. Jones, titled " Wales  in America - Scranton and the Welsh 1860-1920". Dr. Jones studied history  at University College, Cardiff and received his Ph.D for his research into  Welsh settlement in USA. Dr. Jones was, and may still be, a lecturer in Modern Welsh History at the University of  Wales, Cardiff. . According to him, the distribution of population of the  US born in Wales in 1900 by states, Pennsylvania was number one with 35,453 , and the state of Ohio  was second with 11,481. Scranton, Pennsylvania had the  largest single concentration of Welsh people outside of Wales and England  during the late 19th and early 20th centuries He compares the  Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania area as about twice the size of the  Rhondda Valley in Wales.

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The  Ship "Monjola" sailed out of Newport, Monmouthshire, with a "burthen" of 960 tons arrived at the Port of New York, where the passenger list was sworn to by John Berry, Master, 27 Aug. 1852 (U.S. National Archives film 1233, record group No. 36). There were only 12 passengers on board,  so it may have been primarily a cargo ship with space for a limited number of passengers. Five of these were a mother and her four children, the husband had sailed over the previous year from Liverpool to New York City.

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By 1842, emigrants were leaving Cardiganshire in sufficient numbers to fill ships sailing directly from Aberystwyth to New York and Quebec.

In May 1847, the "Anne Jenkins", sailed from Aberystwyth for New York with upwards of 80 emigrants.

In the same year , the "Tamerlane" left Aberystwyth with 462 passengers and crew.

The passengers were mainly from the parts of Cardiganshire, such as Lledrod, Mynydd-bach, and Tai-hirion-y-rhos" (Tai-hirion, near Blaenpennal).

The newspaper, The Welshman, identified the male passengers as 75 farmers, 65 labourers, 13 carpenters, 17 tailors, 6 blacksmiths, 5 hatters, and 10 miners, the latter probably came from the lead mining district north east of Mynydd Bach.

A broadside advertising passage on the brig "Credo" from Aberystwyth to Quebec in 1848 listed passage rates at 3 pounds per adult and 1 pound 10s for each child, plus head money of 5s and 2s 6d, respectively.  Passage to New York was more expensive.

At the National Library of Wales are held Records of Sailings from Aberystwyth 1842-1851, [Aberystwyth Borough Records F11(a) ]

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Emigrants also left from Caernarvonshire around the mid 1800's, one ship in particular 'The Higginson' made several trips to New York from Caernarvon.

There follows a short extract from the diary of Rev. Evan Griffiths (1807-1872) of Blaenau Ffestiniog. Merionydd

"I have been assured that we can charter a ship for ourselves or half a ship much cheaper and we can obtain all our food separate from the bond. Travel from New York to Wisconsin, is obtainable through the Emigrants Friendly Society at a much cheaper rate than it would be under the old system, and we are protected from being swindled by wicked people, in New York or anywhere else".

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Another lister said;

"My Great-great grand father left Liverpool, England in June 1841 and arrived in New York, N.Y. July  17,1841 .They left from Merthyr Tydfil and went by train to Liverpool. They came on the ship "Siddons" Captained by Capt. Cobb ".

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Another lister said;

In 1849 the ship Troubadour departed from  Swansea to Liverpool , 249 of them  then sailed on 25 Feb 1849 on the Buena Vista from  Liverpool port of arrival New Orleans 10 of April 1849.

Some 77 of the passengers from the Troubadour sailed on to the US on the ship Hartley [see below]which docked at New Orleans on the 28th of April 1849......fifty-four days after leaving Liverpool on March 5th 1849. On this ship the other 161 passengers were English, Scots and a few Irish.

Welsh places of origin for some passengers was; Llanybydder, Brechfa, Swyddffynnon, Pontyets,Llanelli, Hirwaun, Merthyr, Aberdar, Rymni, Dowlais, Penycae, Blaenafon, Birkenafon, and Caerdyf  and more.

A list of the 249 passengers that sailed on the Buena Vista and the 77 that sailed on the Hartley  is on Buena Vista.

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An article in the Dyfed FHS journal  Vol 6/4 Aug 1998

Davies, Jennifer. The Ormond Family Go To America. Places in Pembrokeshire mentioned;  Winterton, Marloes, Dale, Haverfordwest. They sailed from Milford Haven/Liverpool in  March 1849 on the " Hartley" to New Orleans, then up the Mississippi to St Louis. Two daughters died en route from cholera. See above.

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Another lister said;

"Our family came on the" Vanguard "- Sailing Ship?? from Liverpool May 6 1863

arriving Castle Gardens, NY city on June 16, 1863." See Diary of Thomas and James LAVIERS

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Although undated there is a poster in Glamorgan Records Office headed "Emigration United States and Canada" which advertises passage from Cardiff direct to New York by the South Wales Atlantic Steamship Company Ltd [of 1 Dock Chambers, Cardiff].

Steerage passage cost £6.6.0. To New York, Baltimore, Boston, Portland and Philadelphia from all parts of Wales and the south of England.

Mentions " including abundance of well cooked provisions served  by the Company's servants" ; " Stewardesses carried by these Steamers" ; " And mattresses provided free" ; " A duly qualified Surgeon is attached to each steamer".

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And another lister said;

These advertisements appeared in the Rhondda Gazette and General Advertiser  of the Rhondda Fach and Ogmore Valleys, dated January 3rd and January 24th  1891.

1) America! America! Persons intending to emigrate to America can purchase  passes from D. Davies, Printer, Treorky, who is an authorised Emigration  Agent. Fare from Liverpool to New York, Boston or Philadelphia - £3. 16s.  (three pounds sixteen shillings) Passengers booked by rail to any part of the United States.

2) Inman Line. Royal Mail Steamers to New York. Inman and International  Steamship Company Limited. From Liverpool every Wednesday. Calling Queenstown  every Thurday. Moderate Saloon and Second Cabin Fares. Steerage Fare as low  as by any other First Class Line. Through Booking to any to any part of the  States, or Canada, Including Manitoba and North and South West Territory.  Apply to Richardson, Spence and Co., 22 Water Street, Liverpool or to Daniel  Davies, Printer etc., Bute Road, Treorky; Isaac Jones, Bookseller,  Treherbert; D.J.Rees, Insurance Agent, 13 Brithweunydd Road, Trealaw; John  Parry, 6 Argyle Terrace, Llwynypia; John Thomas, Auctioneer, Market Street,  Pontypridd; James Roberts, Emigration Agent, Pontypridd; John Calloway,  Bridge Street, Mountain Ash; E.T.Richards, 59 and 61, Rhondda street, Penrhiwceiber.

3) American Line. United States Mail Steamers. Connecting with the  Pennsylvania Rail Road. The most direct and shortest route to the West,  North-West and South-West. Passengers are landed on the Railway Wharf at  Philadelphia, and the fares to the West are considerably Lower than from New York. The only direct Line between Great Britain and Philadelphia. The only  Line sailing under the American Flag. For particulars apply to Richardson,  Spence and Co., 19 and 22 Water Street, Liverpool, or to D. Davies, Printer, Treorky.

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The Dyfed FHS journal Vol 6/3 April 1998 has an extract of an article which appeared in Gaelic Leanings in 1983. It  in turn mentions the booklet by Dr J S Hartell styled "Immigration and Emigration from Nova Scotia, 1815-1838. In this are mentioned 3 voyages of immigrant ships ;

It is interesting to note that in Carmarthen Library is a card index of items from the Carmarthen Journal and the ships Naomi and Two Brothers are both mentioned , in 1830 and 1854 respectively, the first [Naomi of Aberystwyth]had an accident at Aberystwyth and the second foundered off the Cardiganshire coast.

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An interesting sounding book;

Thomas, Peter. Strangers from a Secret Land.- the voyage of the brig "Albion" and the founding of the first Welsh Settlement in Canada. Gomer, 1st ed., 1986. 329pp. The story of the original emigration from west Wales, especially from the surroundings of Cardigan and the Teifi valley, in the early 1800s, and the fate of the emigrees in Canada.

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Some sound advice from a Dyfed lister;

I noted the comments from X about his ancestor arriving from Aberystywth in the 1800's. So many researchers here in the USA are so sure  that if they find the passenger list, they will find where their ancestor  came from - town, county and country. Or exactly where they came from in  Wales. The passenger lists before 1906 are only going to say "Wales." They  are not going to list where in Wales. The passenger lists are not indexed  from 1852 to 1896. However, I'm sure they will be some day and probably soon. In 1906, they kept good records. My father emigrated in 1913. Off the  manifest, I got the name of the ship, the date the ship left Liverpool and  the date it arrived in New York. My father embarked at Southampton where  they took on the first-class passengers (anyhow, that is what he told me). The manifest gave his surname and first name, his age, his occupation, his race (Daddy said Welsh). It told me he was heading for Detroit and the name and address of his brother, as next of kin. I cannot tell you how strange I felt looking at that manifest, realizing that was my father. He had told me of his trip to New York aboard the Cunard Liner "Carmania" (and I since found a photo of that ship) and his first view of New York. He mentions the Statute of Liberty. When I asked if he had gone through Ellis Island, he said, "I came first class. Ellis Island for steerage passengers." Having that manifest, a photo of my father taken a week before he left for America, his Bible (which contained the month and year that he left Wales) and his stories to me really makes family history come alive. That's what it is all about. (Annie 13 May 2002)

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18th century

In the 18th century, they sailed from any port to America and there may not  be any records of those ships or those immigrants when they arrived in  America. If your ancestor came early to America, your best bet is to find  where he came to and begin to look at local histories which should tell you  when and where they came.

The Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild  site has information on arrivals in America

 

17th century

In the 1600's in Wales, ships would leave from Milford Haven[ PEM ] , Bristol  and London.

 

20th century

A listers parents emigrated from Nantymoel, Ogmore Vale, Glamorgan in more recent times. They sailed, he presumes, from Liverpool, on Board the Steamship Montrose, and landed in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, in 1927. From Halifax by train to Minto, New Brunswick, Canada. They came to work in the coal fields there.

Another lister's family  came to Canada aboard the R.M.S. "AUSONIA" of the Cunard Line which sailed from Southampton to Quebec and Montreal on Friday, 10th May, 1929, a 10 day voyage. This is fairly "recent" and would not necessarily be Welsh emigrants, but the  family left Burry Port to travel to Canada on this ship. There is a list of  Tourist Third Cabin Passengers  who were on the   Ausonia  in 1929.

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General comments and advice on finding "where in Wales" your ancestors came from

Check Filby's Passenger lists (in any large genealogical library or your local Mormon library). Even if you do find them on the passenger lists from some other port, it may say he came from England. If you have a ship's purser who didn't know the difference between Wales and England , you may find that "where born" just says England.

New York passenger lists from 1846 to 1896 are not indexed but the lists themselves have been microfilmed and are available for searching.

See below the details of Indexes at the National Archives, Washington, D.C;

1, New York City, June 16,1897 - June 30, 1902.

2. Philadelphia, 1800-1906

3. Baltimore 1833-1836

4. Baltimore 1820-1897

5. Boston, 1848-1891

6. Boston, 1902-1906

7. Miscellaneous Atlantic and Gulf Port 1820-1874

8. New Orleans 1853-1899.

Was your ancestor alive in 1900?

If he was, check the 1900 US Census. It will tell you the year of immigration and if he is a citizen.

If he owned land, he was a citizen. Try to find his naturalisation papers at the county courthouse. It may only say that he was giving up allegiance to Queen Victoria but it might give more information.

Was he, by any chance, in the American Civil War? Check the pension files of the National Archives on this. If he got a pension, he had to give information as to where born, etc.

Also land records may help you and probate and wills. Did he leave a will?

Was there an obit in the newspaper about him?

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The book The Surnames of Wales for Family Historians and Others (FFHS, 1996; GPC 1996, by John & Sheila Rowlands) describes a method  [Chapter 7] for predicting the origins of groups of people who were drawn from the same community within Wales but who had migrated or emigrated to other parts. The predictive method is based on simple probability theory and draws on the results of a major survey of surnames throughout Wales for the period 1813-1837."

US censuses

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The US census was taken every 10 years from 1790, but not countrywide for the whole period - with only heads of households being included until 1840. Only the country of birth is usually given in the census returns. From 1870 the country or US state of birth of an individual's parents is also given.

The US census is currently available to the public up to 1930.

The 1880 US census is freely available on the Familysearch  site.

Census-online.com has links to thousands of sites with access to various US census data.

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 Links to related sites

 

 

 

Canada

Links to related sites

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Relevant books

See also the Emigration/Immigration section of the Wales Genuki page up

 

 

 

 

Other recommended material up

 

 

 

 

'Raising the Wind' : Emigrating from Wales to the USA in the late 19th and early 20th centuries - by Bill Jones, 2003

Merseyside Maritime Museum        http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime
Merseyside Maritime Museum Archives      http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/archives.asp
Email (museum in general)    maritime@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk
Email (Maritime archives and library)    maritime.archives@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk
They have produced an educational micro-site about emigration from the port of Liverpool.
It may not be much help to anyone researching their ancestry but it may be of interest.
The site is called Leaving from Liverpool and the URL is http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/nof/emigrants/

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What follows is a copy of a posting to the Powys mailing list ;

>The following books concerning emigration to N America were listed in a 2-part article published in 'Cronicl Powys' issues 42 & 43 (Dec 97/April 98) 'Liverpool, Floodgate of the Emigrant Welsh' by Gordon Read MA DAA, Curator of Archives, Merseyside Maritime Museum,Liverpool, UK

Merseyside Maritime Museum: Maritime Archives & Library

Information Sheet No. 16

Sources for North American Emigration

Published Sources available in Merseyside and Elsewhere:

1. 'Passenger and Immigration Lists' Index: (PILI) Ed. P W Filby and M K Meyer, pub. Detroit, Michigan, USA, Gale Research Co. 7 volumes in all including cumulative supplements in 4 vols. This mammoth work covers published passenger lists only for all North America, 1538-1900. (Available in Liverpool Central Library, Catalogue No. Q304.8700216-FIL and in the Public Record Office,  London). (Includes Canada)

2. 'Passenger & Immigration Lists' Bibliography 1538-1900: P W Filby and M K Meyer, USA approximately US$58. This is a guide, not an index to published lists of immigrants both to the USA and to Canada. (This replaces A H Lancour's bibliography.)

3. The Center for Immigration Research, Temple University at the Balch Institute, Philadelphia, PA 19016, under Professor Ira Glazier, has published in association with the Genealogical Publishing Company (GPC) indexed lists of the Irish only in the New York Passenger lists. These are entitled:-

i) 'The Famine Immigrants'. The series runs from 1847 to 1851. The Maritime Archives & Library now holds the complete seven volume set.

Other passenger list publications, mostly GPC are held by the Maritime Archives & Library as follows:-

ii) 'Baltimore Passenger Lists' (1820-1834)

iii) 'New World Immigrants' vol. 1 (1600-1769)

iv) 'New World Immigrants' vol. 2 (1620-1878) (mainly 1675-1850)

v) 'Passengers to America' (1620-1836)

vi) 'Immigrants to the Middle Colonies' (1601-1817)

vii) 'The Early Settlers of Maryland' (1633-1680)

viii) 'British Aliens in the United States in 1812'

ix) Early New York Naturalisations' (1792-1840)

x) 'Passenger Arrivals at the Port of Philadelphia' (1800-1819)

xi) J. Finn 'New Orleans Irish Arrivals - Departures' (1815-1847) (not GPC Publications)

xii) J. Finn 'New Orleans Irish Arrivals' (Typescripts) (Jan-June 1848)

xiii) 'Record of Indentures in Philadelphia' (1771-1773)

xiv) 'American Passenger Arrival Records' This exhaustive work by Dr M Tepper covers US records only with a note on Hamburg sources.It is authoritative in its field.

Other useful works held by the Maritime Library include:

'Sources for the Study of Migration & Ethnicity - a Guide to Manuscripts in Finland, Ireland, Poland, Netherlands and Michigan' University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 1979.

'Immigrants from Great Britain and Ireland - A Guide to Archival and Manuscript Sources in North America' (Includes Canada) Comps. J.W. Weaver & D. Lester, Greenwood Press, West Park, Conn. USA and London, England, 1986.

'Finding Your Roots - How every American can trace his ancestors' J E Westin, Ballantine Books, New York, 1977.

'A Comprehensive Bibliography for the study of American Minorities' W C Miller, New York University Press, 1976.

'Morton Allan Directory of European Passenger Steamship Arrivals' GPC, Baltimore, 1987. This gives the names and precise dates of arrival of all steamships arriving at New York from 1890-1930 and at certain other major US ports from 1904 to 1926.

'The Researchers' Guide to American Genealogy' V D Greenwood, GPC, Baltimore, 1990.

Because these records are in print, they should all be in Filby & Meyer's Passenger and Immigration List Index (PILI) - (more than £300 per volume)

GPC = Genealogical Publishing Company, Baltimore.

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Gale Research Inc's Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1538-1940.
Family Tree Maker produces a 1998 CD-ROM of Gale Research Inc's Passenger and Immigration Lists Index, 1538-1940, containing the names of about two and three quarter people who arrived at US ports. I imagine it's the CD version of Filby's Lists, because they too are published by Gale, and (including supplements) contain about the same number of entries. But don't get too excited - that seems to be only about a twelfth of the total number of emigrants! And (contrary to the blurb on the reverse of the CD case) it gives very little information about individuals, beyond their names. It occasionally gives the age, but not place or even COUNTRY of birth, nor parentage; nor (at least in the examples I've looked at) the names of any accompanying wife, children, etc. Most entries seem to be of men; many are derived from naturalization applications. In the unlikely event that one strikes lucky, the CD could be a useful pointer, citing which page in which book or whatever (normally American) the information was derived from. But even if a copy of the book in question can be accessed, it may have little additional information to help identify or eliminate the person concerned (eg perhaps just Date of Intention to be Naturalized, and country of birth).

The CD is marketed here by S&N (01722-716121), who advertise in genealogical journals. Anyone without FTM needs a special viewer to operate it, but this can be supplied free on request with the CD, which here in the UK is about £40. Their webpage is http://www.genealogy.demon.co.uk.

Extraction and printing of the CD information, though, seems complicated (at least to me, without FTM); and every time I use it, my computer hangs up! It is also very tightly copyrighted (to increase sales and thus keep down costs to the individual); and although it allows a researcher like myself to pass on information to a client about a specific emigrant, such information must not be just 'downloaded' direct: it must be changed in some way, eg incorporated into a report of some kind - the researcher must 'add value' to it. Also, there appears to be no facility for copying bulk information, eg relating to persons with a common name, such as those held by many Welshmen.

Australia and New Zealand

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This is a contribution by a lister living in New Zealand;

"In 1839 the London-based New Zealand Company purchased huge tracts of land from the New Zealand Maoris for the purpose of establishing colonies. These were to embody all that was best of English society. The land was to be sold profitably to English middle class purchasers and part of the profit used to recruit and transport labourers of good character to work the land. Despite the Company's inducement of guaranteed work and a good wage (14 shillings of rations and seven shillings cash per week), English agricultural workers were reluctant to sign up.

My Welsh ancestors, from Llwydcoed, Aberdare, Glamorgan, were desperate enough to accept the offer. They were: Elizabeth Roberts (formerly wife of Robert WYNN, a puddler at the Aberdare Ironworks who died in an industrial accident in 1838), her husband James Roberts, their infant Elizabeth and John WYNN (aged 15), William WYNN (my ggrandfather, aged 13), and Jane WIN (aged 7). Elizabeth and James are known to have been active Chartists. History indicates that after the 1839 Newport riot such political activism probably made it difficult for him to find work. His 1840 occupation as a Fireman (Gas Flasher), indicates some desperation for a job!

Emigrants were required to hold a certificate of good character from their minister of religion; to equip themselves with clothing and sanitary requirements to a level set by the Company and to pay their own way to the port of embarcation. All the first NZ Company ships sailed from Deptford or Gravesend. The ships were well-found, the emigrants supervised and cared for by a Surgeon Superintendent, and educational facilities were available. On larger ships a school teacher was provided. All the ships arrived safely in New Zealand.

Few of the emigants were Welsh. I have examined the passenger lists of the 20 emigrants ships to Nelson and the only obviously Welsh names are: Roberts, Wynne (WYNN and WIN), Griffiths and Humphreys.

In 1860, second group, the Canton brothers George and John, from Reynalton, Pembrokeshire, arrived from the gold-diggings in Australia to seek gold in Nelson. They soon acquired a block of standing forest to break in for farming. In 1872 their brother-in-law, Roger LLOYD and Rebecca nee Canton of Trecynon together with their family, emigrated as Government Assisted Emigrants to farm with John Canton. Prior to his departure Lloyd was employed as an overman at the Ysguborwen Colliery at Aberdare. His eldest daughter, Ann, was a member of the 1872 Y Cor Mawr under the baton of Griffith Rhys Jones.

These Welsh families maintained a close social relationship in the very English mileu of the colony. George Canton married Mary Roberts. Ann Lloyd (my grandmother), married George Griffith WIN. All these families became well established and successful farmers in Nelson."

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This is a contribution from a lister living in Australia;

William Evan and his parents migrated to Australia in 1878 on the ship "Highflyer".

From !MM/116 Film Z1959 - at Queensland State Archives

"Highflyer" left London 2 August 1878 and arrived Maryborough, Queensland Australia 2 December 1878.

JAMES Evan married age 35, Mary married age 35, William single age 15

Ship 1011 tons. Captain S.C. Hawkins. Matron Mrs. Cochot. Surgeon. Superintendant Dr. Harris.

330 passengers. Agents John Walker and Co. (from Newspaper)

I also have a report from the local paper when the "Highflyer" arrived, and also an account by one of the "Highflyer" passengers who was on the trip from Maryborough to Bundaberg (the destination of about 100 of the passengers). They travelled on the "Viking" a boat of about 70 tons.

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A contribution from a  S Wales based Glamorgan lister;

(Jeff  Coleman 2 Nov 2002)

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Queensland incentives

The following is quoted by E.A.Benjamin (Penarth 1841-1871, published by D.Brown, Cowbridge 1980) as having appeared regularly in the Cardiff Times :

"Queensland Government Emigration Officers; New Land Act 1868; Grants of Land of 80 to 160 acres
Land by free selection, from 40 to 10,880 acres can now be purchased at 15s,10s, and 5s per acre, payable in ten annual installments of 1s.6d and 6d per acre.
Persons 21 years of age, paying their own passage to the Colony, can select a homestead of 80 or 160 acres, at a quit rent of 9d and 6d per acre for five years, when they become entitled to the freehold.
Land orders, £30 per adult, available for taking up land under the Land Act, will still be granted to persons paying their passages to the Colony.
Assisted passages are now granted to shepherds, ploughmen, agricultural labourers, quarrymen, professed gardeners, miners, carpenters, masons, bricklayers, blacksmiths, wheelwrights and other eligible persons; and Free passages to female domestic servants and married farm labourers and shepherds, with not more than one child, and under 12 years.
Assisted and Free passengers will be eligible, after three years continuous residence in the Colony, if 21 years of age, to select a homestead of 80 to 160 acres,  under the Land Act.
James Wheeler."

Links to related sites

 

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Australia and New Zealand

 

 

Emigration from the UK in general

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See also

This is a brief general summary of the subject which is covered comprehensively in the excellent book "Ancestral Trails" by Mark D Herber ISBN 0-7509-1418-1

People emigrated for many reasons, some to get away from religious persecution, some were transported as convicts, some went abroad with the armed forces , and others for business reasons. But most left for economic reasons, perhaps to escape from poverty with the attraction of a new life abroad.

Permanent colonisation by the British began in North America in 1607, and the West Indies in 1612. Then in the late C18 and C19 large scale emigration took place to Australia and South Africa.

To illustrate the scale of the exodus it has been estimated that in the thirty years from 1837 to 1867 about 3.5 million people emigrated to the USA, about 1 million to Australia or New Zealand and about 750,000 to Canada.

Records of emigrants at the PRO are described in the PRO Records Leaflet 71.

The main sources of emigrants are contained in the records of the Colonial Office,the Board of Trade, the Treasury and the Home Office.

Passenger lists of ships leaving British ports were generally only retained from 1890[some survive for earlier periods and are also at the PRO], and those for the period up to 1960[for destinations outside Europe] are at the PRO in class BT 27.

The lists note a passenger's name, occupation, age and destination, but they are arranged by year, by port and then chronologically by the vessel's date of sailing.

Registers of names of ships leaving each port between 1906 and 1951 are in class BT32.

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Passports

Passport records are described in PRO Records Information leaflet 69.

Passports were not required until 1914 but some were issued as early as 1794, principally to diplomats and merchants.

They included photographs[from 1914] and from 1921 were in similar form to those in use today.

A register of passport applications and of the passports issued from 1794 to 1948 are at the PRO in class FO 610, noting applicants' names and destinations.

The entries are in date order but there are name indexes for 1851-1862 and 1874 -1916 in class FO 611.

In the late C16 and early C17 a "Licence to pass beyond the seas" was sometimes issued and a few surviving records are also at the PRO.

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Assisted emigration.

Thousands of people were assisted to emigrate. Many as indentured servants in the colonies, particularly in America and the West Indies. They agreed to work for masters, usually on a plantation, for a stipulated number of years in exchange for payment of their passage and board and a grant of land plus cash on completion of their term of service. Many indentures are held at the PRO and the Guildhall Library.

Assisted passage was also granted to the poor, some parishes sponsored the emigration of paupers to reduce the number being supported "on the parish".

The parish vestry minutes or overseer's records may record this assistance.

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Emigration of children

See also Child emigration on this site

In the second half of the C19 many organisations arranged the emigration of poor children or orphans to Australia,Canada, New Zealand or other parts of the Empire.

The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1850 permitted Boards of Guardians to send children under age 16 overseas. Also organisations like Dr Barnado's did the same.

Between 1869 - 1948 about 100,000 children went to Canada, and about 50,000 to Australia,New Zealand and South Africa, some as recently as 1965.

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Transportation

Convicts were transported from England from early C17.

There are many published lists of those transported from Britain to the colonies of North America and the West Indies.

The American war of Independence put an end to transportation to North America.

South Africa

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'The Settler Handbook' by M.D.Nash, listing all those who emigrated to South Africa under the 1820 Settlers scheme. Over 1,000 families from across the country sailed on 17 ships on government assisted passages. There are certainly some from Wales e.g a group from Haverfordwest in 1820

British 1820 Settlers to South Africa      http://www.1820settlers.com/

Ancestors on board           http://www.ancestorsonboard.com/   -  you can search for records of individuals or groups of people leaving for destinations including Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa and USA featuring ports such as Boston, Philadelphia and New York

There is the SOUTH-AFRICA-IMMIGRANTS-BRITISH mailing list on Rootsweb.
See  http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/other/Immigration

Department of Home Affairs    http://home-affairs.pwv.gov.za/   Forms for ordering certificates

National Archives and Record Service       http://www.national.archives.gov.za/  Contains the National Automated Archival Information Retrieval System (NAAIRS) -   a free access index to records held in all SA archive repositories

South African Genealogy Primer    http://www.geocities.com/deliaarobertson/primer.pdf

Genealogy World     http://www.genealogyworld.net/   - has a beginners' guide to South African Ancestry, and much else

South African Orientated Timeline      http://www.whitlock.castlewebs.net/whitsend/tl.htm

Genealogical Society of South Africa      http://www.ggsa.info/

South African Passenger Lists     http://sa-passenger-list.za.net/index.php

Dutch East India Company    http://www.tanap.net/

Patagonia

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Glaniad           http://www.glaniad.com/index.php?lang=en          " 'Glaniad' (Welsh for 'landing') is a website which tells the story of the Welsh emigrants who settled in Patagonia, South America, during the late 19th century......."

The Welsh Patagonian Genealogical Index

Welsh in Patagonia, on  http://patagoniadb.tripod.com/Galeses/galeses_del.htm (The Welsh of the "Mimosa", founders of the Welsh colony in Patagonia).

The Welsh in Patagonia on Data Wales

Welsh in Patagonia on BBC Wales

The First Welsh Footsep in Patagonia - The Primitive Location of Port Madryn

http://www.theshipslist.com/pictures/welsh1.htm Welsh-Patagonians who migrated to Saskatchewan, Canada in 1902

The following book may be of interest:

 

Chile

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One of James Loveluck's ancestors (William Loveluck born 1845 at Tythegston)  emigrated from Glamorgan to Chile.
With the help of a present-day descendant in Chile he has written a note about the family, which can be found at http://perso.numericable.fr/~lovjames/family-history/loveluck/documents/chilean-lovelucks.pdf   (link no longer works Jan/08)

(Sept 2006)

 

Immigration to the UK

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The National Archives has an online fact sheet about immigrants http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/researchguidesindex.asp
Also has leaflets on naturalisation, and prisoners of war (see also http://www.islandfarm.fsnet.co.uk)

The London Metropolitan Archives has leaflets online http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/lma -  these include; Huguenot Society of London; Anglo-Jewish Community; The German Community in London

The site http://www.movinghere.org.uk looks at migrant communities in Britain, especially; Caribbean; Irish; Jewish; South Asian

A specialised Huguenot site is the Huguenot Library http://www.ucl.ac.uk/Library/huguenot.htm
Also the Huguenot Society http://www.huguenotsociety.org.uk

For those with Jewish ancestors, there is the Association of Jewish Refugees http://www.ajr.org.uk

Child Emigration

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In the 20th century many British Children's Homes sent orphan children abroad, especially to Australia and Canada
Here are links to sites which deal with this subject.

Home Children  "The contents of this section "HOME CHILDREN" is due in the most part to the donations of information from members of the "British Home Children mailing list"  Lots of information. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~tweetybirdgenealogy/homechild.html  

The National Archives of Australia    site has lots of data/advice on inward child migration    http://www.naa.gov.au/

Youth Immigrants to Canada   "When the topic of child immigrants to Canada is raised many people first think of Barnardo's. Some may know about Annie Macpherson, Maria Rye, Fegan Homes, Dr. Stephenson and the National Children's Home or even some of the Roman Catholic organizations. I (site owner) am presently researching ALL of the organizations which brought children and young women to Canada between 1833 and 1939."
http://ist.uwaterloo.ca/~marj/genealogy/homeadd.html

 

Transportation

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A small selection of relevant sites;

Here is an interesting snippet concerning Transportation warrants.
The details are based on an item published in Family Tree Magazine (Uk May/04) in John Titford's Guide to auctioneer's and booksellers' catalogues of manuscript material article..

Dated 4th December 1767, a Treasury warrant from Lord North ordering payment of £970 to John Stewart for the whole charge of transporting 194 persons. It lists the number of prisoners from each prison in the country, each costing £5 per head for transportation. These to be transported aboard the Justitia (Colin Somerville, master) to "some of His Majesty's Colonies or Plantations in America ". The Justitia was the most important transportation vessel at this time and Somerville was certainly a notorious  transportation master. Transportation to America ceased with the War of Independence and the Justitia was switched to transporting  prisoners to Australia.  The vessel ended her days as a prison hulk in the Thames estuary and claims a place in literary history by being the model for the prison hulk featured in   Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.
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