Emigration
The Vision "We now come," wrote William Booth in 1890, "to the third and final stage of the regenerative process. The Colony Over-Sea." "We propose to secure a tract of land in one of these countries, [South Africa, Canada, Western Australia and elsewhere] prepare it for settlement, establish in it authority, govern it by equitable laws, assist it in times of necessity, settling it gradually with a prepared people, and so create a home for these destitute multitudes." "A journey over sea is a very different thing now to what it was when a voyage to Australia consumed more than six months, when emigrants were crowded by hundreds into sailing ships, and scenes of abominable sin and brutality were the normal incidents of the passage. The world has grown much smaller since the electric telegraph was discovered and side by side with the shrinkage of this planet under the influence of steam and electricity there has come a sense of brotherhood and a consciousness of community of interest and of nationality on the part of the English-speaking people throughout the world. To change from Devon to Australia is not such a change in many respects as merely to cross over from Devon to Normandy." To us, such a move would represent a major uprooting and change. But to Booth, speaking with a British Empire mindset, this was not such a big deal: "The constant travelling of the Colonists backwards and forwards to England makes it absurd to speak of the Colonies as if they were a foreign land. They are simply pieces of Britain distributed about the world, enabling the Britisher to have access to the richest parts of the earth." Booth was aware of the dangers of simply dumping people abroad, noting that in the past: "men and women have simply been shot down into countries without any regard to their possession of ability to earn a livelihood, and have consequently become an incubus upon the energies of the community, and a discredit, expense, and burden. The result is that they gravitate to the towns and compete with the colonial workmen, and thereby drive down wages. We shall avoid that mistake. We need not wonder that Australians and other Colonists should object to their countries being converted into a sort of dumping ground, on which to deposit men and women totally unsuited for the new circumstances in which they find themselves." The plan The stages of the "Over-Sea Colony plan" were outlined by Booth as follows: "(1) In the preparation of the Colony for the people.
(2) In the preparation of the people for the Colony.
(3) In the arrangements that are rendered possible for the transport of the people when prepared." As for the so-called "colonists for the colony over-the-sea," Booth declared that: "They would be prepared by an education in honesty, truth, and industry, without which we could not indulge in any hope of their succeeding. While men and women would be received into the City Colony without character, none would be sent over the sea who had not been proved worthy of this trust. They would be inspired with an ambition to do well for themselves and their fellow Colonists. They would be instructed in all that concerned their future career. They would be taught those industries in which they would be most profitably employed. They would be inured to the hardships they would have to endure. They would be accustomed to the economies they would have to practise. They would be made acquainted with the comrades with whom they would have to live and labour. They would be accustomed to the Government, Orders, and Regulations which they would have to obey. They would be educated, so far as the opportunity served, in those habits of patience, forbearance, and affection which would so largely tend to their own welfare, and to the successful carrying out of this part of our Scheme." Booth admitted that "all my proposals here are necessarily tentative and experimental." The ‘colonists' were to be helped "By opening a Bureau in London" which would offer special travel deals, introductions, banking facilities and job assistance etc. The reality In the event it was the "paternal emigration" model espoused by Bramwell Booth which took place, as opposed to the "colony oversea" model advocated by his father - this was mainly due to lack of money and political opposition abroad. And William Booth's grand vision of constructing 'Salvation ships' did not materialise; instead, existing commercial vessels were chartered. Earliest emigration The earliest recorded emigration occurred as early as 1882 when The Salvation Army had taken part in finding women emigrants for Australia. Then, in 1885, a regular series of advertisements began to appear in the Army's press, a typical one reading: "EMIGRATION TO QUEENSLAND
Free passages are now granted to
female domestic servants
between the ages of seventeen and
thirty-five years, for whom there
is a great demand at high wages.
The rates ruling at the present
time are from 15s. to 30s. per
week for cooks; 12s. to 20s. for
laundresses; 10s. to 17s. for
housemaids and general servants,
with board and lodging.
For all further particulars,
apply W.H. Hawkins, the Shipping
Department, The Salvation Army..." Colonel Henry Thurman In 1891 Colonel Henry Thurman was appointed Secretary for Emigration, Social Wing and nine months later 95 emigrants had been booked, in many instances situations having been arranged for them beforehand.
Then, in in May 1894, Commissioner John Carleton was given direction of the Colony Oversea office at International Headquarters.
At the same time an Emigration Board was formed with Bramwell Booth as president. Commissioner David Lamb In the autumn of 1903 Commissioner David Lamb, then in charge of the Hadleigh Farm Colony, from which small batches of men had, after training in agriculture, been emigrated to Canada, was despatched to that country to make inquiries with regard to starting general emigration on a large scale. In April 1904 it was announced that nearly 200 Hadleigh men had sailed in the course of one week; the first batch had left three years before. Upon his return from Canada Commissioner Lamb was placed in charge of the Army's Emigration Work, with two rooms at International Headquarters as offices. An Emigration Advice Bureau was at once put into operation. In April 1905 three hundred migrants left for Canada. Will Crooks, then M.P. for Woolwich, addressed the emigrants: "You must all be grateful for the way in which plans have been carried out for you to leave the old world, which perhaps has been none too kind to you, and for sending you to the new world. Commissioner Lamb has taken considerable trouble to make every arrangement for your comfort." New headquarters By December 1905 the work of the department had so developed that a building, 27 Queen Victoria Street, for its use became necessary. Lamb had visited Canada to enquire into the possibility of large scale emigration, and then returned to London as its director. By the summer of 1908, more than 36,000 migrants had travelled under the auspices of the Army. The 1922 Empire Settlement Act, which provided government-assisted passage for migrants and land settlement schemes, stimulated the flow of migrants still further.
By 1938, though the first world war had interrupted the work, the number of people settled overseas by the Emigration Department was close upon 250,000. In the post-war period, the Emigration Department was involved in further resettlement but was eventually absorbed into Reliance World Travel, the Army's travel agency. The proactive role of The Salvation Army in emigration had thus come to an end. Advice on researching emigrants Researching emigrants Personal records of individuals who emigrated have not survived, but we can provide general information from contemporary booklets, reports and articles from 'The War Cry'. If necessary we can put you in contact with the Salvation Army Heritage Centre of the relevant country, where they may have personal information. The 'Emigration Gazette', an Army publication offering advice and information to those thinking of migrating, would also be a helpful resource and can be found at The British Library. If you are searching for information regarding a person who you believe to have emigrated with the Army's assistance, we need to know their name , and as much genealogical information as possible. If this type of information is not known, The Family Records Office is a useful contact at 1 Myddleton Street, London EC1R 1UW. As well as knowing the date the person travelled, it is also important that we know the age they were at that time, as different emigration schemes applied to different age groups. It is important that we know the country to which the person travelled as some details vary depending on the destination. It is also useful for us to know the name of the ship as we have some material relating to actual vessels and there are sometimes specific references in The War Cry. If we do have detailed information it enables us to give the most accurate account of a person's experience of emigration. If you know the name of the ship, the passenger list may be available from The National Archives , Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU.
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