NSW assisted immigration

… the immigrants appear almost universally to have arrived in good order, and well-satisfied with their treatment: ten significant objects/documents relating to assisted emigration from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 1830-1890

Free assisted emigration from Great Britain and Ireland was the cornerstone of the rapid growth in NSW’s population in the 19th century. Seventy-seven per cent of all immigrant arrivals into Sydney between 1830 and 1890 were ‘assisted’, a mass movement financed overwhelmingly by funds raised in NSW.

These immigrants would have been aware of Emigration Agents; the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners in London; Surgeon-Superintendents, Matrons and Water Closet Constables on the voyage; the members of the NSW Immigration Board who interviewed them on arrival; and the efforts of the NSW Immigration Agent to ease their passage into the colony. By the standards of the time, it was a highly organised journey and, amazingly, it has left behind a large paper trail of official documents – not just the ships’ lists (the delight of family historians), but also the thousands of other pieces of paper that provide a picture of how the system was set up and experienced.

This webinar is published with the permission of Dr. Richard Reid, who retains the copyright.