• Title
  Australian Packet Ships. Emigration to New South Wales [printed broadsheet], 1839. Inscribed with handwritten letter by emigration agent John Marshall.
• Creator
  John Marshall
• Call number
  MLMSS 10031/Box 1X
  
• Level of description
  fonds
• Date
  
  1839
• Type of material
  Textual Records
• Reference code
  9589486
• Physical Description
  0.44 metres of textual material (1 outsize box) - manuscript
  
• ADMINISTRATIVE/ BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY
  
  John Marshall was a well-known shipowner, bounty operator and emigration agent in London, who promoted and organised packet ship emigration to Australia over a period from around 1831 to the early 1840s. This printed broadsheet outlines all information and requirements for emigration to New South Wales under a “conditional nearly-free passage”. This includes British government sponsorship of emigrants, emigration requirements of the colonial government, and the organisation and planning of ship voyages. There are many details about promised conditions on board, which contrast with the reality suggested by some original sources of the time. There are also some amendments made in ink, altering the fare to be paid by single women into a free passage.
  Marshall was the agent of the Committee for Promoting the Emigration of Females to the Australian Colonies in London, and wrote many reports and pamphlets both on the Committee’s behalf and his own. He promoted emigration in England, Ireland and Scotland, and was particularly active in the promotion of female emigration. Marshall was paid a government bounty for each emigrant of a required type; for example, single women aged between 15 and 30, or those with occupations in demand such as stonecutters, dairy workers and house servants. These emigrants were afforded free or a reduced fare passage.
  The handwritten letter by Marshall, addressed to Robert Davy, refers to one of Marshall’s ships, the Strathfieldsaye, which Davy has evidently suggested may be lost at sea. The Strathfieldsaye arrived safely in Sydney in July 1839, carrying 185 Bounty emigrants including Henry Parkes, who recorded a description of the ship’s terrible overcrowding.
  
  Reference: Library correspondence file
• Collection history
  Helen Girgs states that this document was found in a book given by her grandfather.
• Scope and Content
  Printed broadsheet, 1839, folded to 41 x 25 cm, advertising 'nearly free' passage aboard the packet ships 'William Metcalfe' and 'Mary' to Port Phillip. The broadsheet is published by John Marshall, Austalian Emigration Agent, London. The lower blank portion of the second page is inscribed with a handwritten letter by Marshall to Robert Davy, which refers to another of his packet ships, the 'Strathfieldsaye'. The verso is inscribed 'Robert Davy Esq. Ringwood'.
• Copying Conditions
  Copyright status:: In copyright
  Research & study copies allowed: Author has been deceased for more than 50 years
• Name
  William Metcalfe (Ship)
  Mary (Ship)
  Strathfieldsaye (Ship)
  
• Subject
  Great Britain--Emigration and immigration--19th century.
  Australia--Emigration and immigration--19th century.
  
• Open Rosetta viewer
  IE8979868

View Media Files

1.

2.

3.

4.

Show more