Immigration to Australia 1841- Myths and Misconceptions

"My" John Hingerty of Templemore, Tipperary, Ireland sailed from Plymouth in October 1840 arriving in Sydney in February 1841 on the ship the Jane Gifford.

John, and his fellow 257 passengers, were "Bounty Immigrants" having been recruited and paid for by the Immigration Agent John Marshall- what did that mean?

A very short history of white immigration to Australia pre 1841.

The first European people to come to Australia to stay (not just explore and map and then leave) were convicts and their gaolers.

Prior to 1824, it was a crime to 'seduce' an artisan to emigrate to Australia. Only convicts, approved families of convicts and their gaolers were allowed in.

From the mid 1820s, it was decided that it would be a good idea to encourage 'men of means' to assist in the development of the fledgling colony. Such men were given large free land grants on their arrival. Labour was supplied by convicts and ex-convicts.

These policies resulted in a gross gender imbalance and a severe lack of skilled and general labour.

To address these issues, in 1831, it was decided that no more land would be handed out for free, but must be purchased from the Crown and that the proceeds from these sales would pay for a system of planned settlement that included free or heavily subsidised passage for selected workers and their families and single women (Rippon Regulations 1831).

The schemes were financially supported by both the British government and philanthropists, and, after the Poor Laws changed, by Poor Law Unions.

At the time of John Hingerty's migration, the schemes were managed by the government and private immigration agents answerable to the government.

"Bounty Immigrants" were those who came to Australia under schemes run by private immigration agents who answered to the government and were repaid a set amount per immigrant (the Bounty) upon arrival and approval by the immigration officials.

John Marshall was paid a Bounty of ten pounds Stirling for John Hingerty.

Those who wished to come to Australia under these schemes had to first make an application to receive an application form, complete the application form and be approved by the Colonial Office as a suitable immigrant. In 1831 the form required: name, age, trade or calling, singe or married, age of wife, names and dates of birth of children, desired destination, applicant's own funds available to defray costs, one reference, readiness to embark. Ten years later the number of references required was increased to four.

Immigrants usually had to pay for their own transportation to the docks (or if they could not afford a coach, they had to walk to the docks), passage across the Irish Sea to Plymouth, accommodation in Plymouth prior to departure and their own clothes and personal items e.g soap, for the voyage, all to be stored in a box supplied by the immigrant.

The scheme produced mountains of paperwork and was monitored by the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission of the Colonial Office (note the direct link between land and emigration- one would pay for the other).

Unfortunately, not all this paperwork has survived. The agent John Marshall submitted more than 6 boxes of paperwork to the Colonial Office as part of an enquiry into shipwrecks.

All that paperwork was then kept by the government, stored in the Public Records Office in Kew and blown to bits during The Blitz in World War II!

Myths and Misconceptions:

1. John would have been coming to Australia to flee the Famine (The Great Hunger). NO.

The potato blight did not hit Ireland until 1845 and the Famine soon followed.

Leaving Plymouth in late 1840, John would not have experienced the Famine.

It was still 5 to 6 years away.

He would have been leaving behind a very difficult economic situation and would have been enticed by the numerous flyers and pamphlets and newspaper articles extolling the virtues of emigration, but he would not have been fleeing the famine.

2. The Immigrants were the destitute, the starving, anyone who turned up at the docks. NO

The images of the so called "Coffin Ships", with hoards of starving Irish peasants arriving at the docks and jumping on board the first available ship do not relate to Australian immigration.

Those ships were heading to the USA- no applications, no requirements.

Australian immigration from Ireland, and the rest of the UK, was controlled and bureaucratic.

Only those who had skills needed by the colony and had the means to meet the regulations could be selected.

There were some schemes aimed at single women- e.g. orphan girls from the Workhouses- but they had the same regulations re applications and approval. The one difference was that usually ALL expenses were paid and the girls were supplied with cloth, clothes and a basic kit of gear that they would need for the voyage and to start their new life. Even their pre- embarkation transportation and accommodation costs were paid for.

John must have had some money in order to be able to meet the requirements.

He was not starving and destitute.

3. The information on the forms is not to be believed- the agents were just writing whatever they wanted. YES and NO

While agents and hopeful immigrants alike would have been trying to paint the best picture possible to have applications approved and finally the Bounty paid and may have 'bent the truth' a bit to qualify, there were many checks and balances in the system - references of good character to be signed, questioning by government immigration committees, reviews of processes etc

NSW Government Gazette 3 March 1840

Not all the forms were completed by the agent. Some of the forms were to be completed by the migrant themselves (or someone they asked to fill it in for them).

The Bounty was not paid until each and every immigrant on board the ship, prior to disembarking, had been interviewed by the immigration officials and all paperwork cited and approved.

NSW Government Gazette 30 March 1841

Even so there were regular complaints of abuses of the system, of forged documents, unsuitable candidates being approved and of parishes writing good references in order to rid themselves of undesirables- no system is perfect.

3. The agents were 'chancers' who's only interest was to get their hands on the Bounty. YES and NO

There may well have been agents who were unscrupulous. Ultimately, the government took over the total administration of the immigration scheme in order to ensure no abuses of the system.

John Hingerty was recruited by John Marshall, he was the most active of the immigration agents operating in the UK at the time.

John Marshall was a successful ship owner and merchant. He saw the opportunity the Bounty scheme offered to a man with his skills and connections.

While still maintaining his shipping interests, he leased ships to be engaged in what became a very large immigration enterprise to all parts of the British Empire.

He also benefitted from using the journey back to England for freight from the colonies. This served his own economic interests and reduced freight costs between the Colonies and England.

He did not however cut corners in his immigration enterprise and his regulations and requirements for the preparation, provisioning and conduct of the ships were later adopted as the standard by the government. At a time when ships could easily be lost at sea, not a single ship leased by Marshall for transporting emigrants was lost.

His ships were known to be clean, orderly with excellent medical assistance, healthy food and very few deaths during the many voyages.

John Marshall was not a fly by night chancer.

The level of accountability to the government was high. Every receipt and provisioning list could be reviewed. While John Marshal did well out of the scheme, he had to follow the rules in order to gain the Bounty at the end.

John Marshall seems to have had the interests of the migrants at heart, just as much as he had an eye to the money he could make. Realising the difficulties that migrants faced in the rough and crime ridden port of Plymouth while waiting for passage, he established a reception depot at Plymouth. The government later adopted his model and established a replica reception centre at Birkenhead (Liverpool).

For further information about John Marshall, see the book

"John Marshall. Shipowner, Lloyd's Reformer and Emigration Agent. Elizabeth Rushen. Anchor Books 2020

Conclusion:

The journey of the Jane Gifford from Plymouth to Sydney seems to have been a successful one.

Sydney Herald 15 Feb 1841

The male passengers/immigrants (including John Hingerty) expressed their appreciation in an open letter later that month. (I wonder who William Moore O'Farrell was???)

The Australian 25 Feb 1841

Although not everyone in Sydney felt that the recruitment and delivery of the migrants had been a great success for Sydney.

Sydney Gazette 18 Feb 1841

No system is perfect!

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