Orphan Emigration Scheme

Famine Orphan Emigration Scheme 1848-1850

Replica trunk for Irish orphan girl Eliza Dooley from Parsonstown Workhouse (Birr, Co Offaly). Birr Historical Society Conference on Birr Workhouse, 7 September 2013 (Image: Author)

The need for domestic female labour in the mid-nineteenth century in Australia, along with the related gender imbalance in the colonies, coincided with an excess of female inhabitants in the workhouses in Ireland. The result was an emigration scheme, under the direction of the Colonial Secretary, Earl Grey, that sent 4,114 girls aged between 14 and 20 years, from 117 Irish workhouses, to the ports of Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide in the years 1848 to 1850.

The Famine Orphan Emigration Scheme provides a contrast in many ways to the flood of emigration heading to Northern American ports. The Scheme had strict administration and control by the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners (CLEC) in London, the Irish Poor Law Commissioners (PLC) through the Boards of Guardians of each of the Poor Law Union workhouses in Ireland, and the Orphan Immigration Committees in Australia.

Free passage to Australia was offered to young females, with the cost of the Scheme borne by the Australian colonial authorities, provided that the Boards of Guardians of each workhouse was willing to bear the cost of outfitting the girls and conveying them to either Dublin or Cork and thence to Plymouth.

The CLEC’s requirements for the outfitting of the girls was meticulous. Each girl was to be supplied with a lockable trunk containing new clothes and other personal items. The dimensions of the trunk was specified to be 2 feet long x 14 inches wide x 14 inches deep, and was to be painted, with the Emigrant’s name painted on the front. The list of required items was pasted on the inside of the lid of the trunk. The girls were to be in good health, vaccinated against smallpox, and of good behaviour, including moral character.

Boards of Guardians who opted to partake in the scheme made selections of appropriate females, and a list of girls was forwarded to the PLC. Following this, the CLEC’s representative in Dublin, Lieutenant Henry, visited each of the Poor Law Unions who chose to participate in the Scheme. The Boards of Guardians were responsible for the sustenance and transport of the girls until they arrived in Plymouth, including their conveyance to either Dublin or Cork, and final transfer by steamer to the port of Plymouth.

Third Annual Report of the Commissioners for Administering the Laws for Relief of the Poor in Ireland with Appendices, Dublin 1850. Appendix B – Tables: No. XVII, p. 133 (Image: Enhanced British Parliamentary Papers on Ireland. Click on image to open source)

Third Annual Report of the Commissioners for Administering the Laws for Relief of the Poor in Ireland with Appendices, Dublin 1850. Appendix B – Tables: No. XVII, p. 134 (Image: Enhanced British Parliamentary Papers on Ireland. Click on image to open source)

In Plymouth the Irish orphan girls, along with all other government assisted emigrants to Australia, were admitted to the Government Immigration Depot, under the care of the CLEC. On the voyage the emigrants to Australia were supervised by a Surgeon-Superintendent, who had complete responsibility for health and welfare, and especially for the moral protection of single young females. Protecting the reputation of single young women was of upmost importance to the CLEC and the colonial authorities, as these girls were arriving as future domestic servants to the middle and upper classes of the Australian colonies and any scandals could damage their possibilities of employment. During the period of the Orphan Emigration Scheme, the Surgeon-Superintendent was supported by Matrons and sub-Matrons who were also assisted emigrants on the ship, receiving a gratuity for their appointments to the posts.

Irish orphan girls on the voyage to Australia. Pencil drawing on pale blue paper of shipboard life on the 'Thomas Arbuthnot', 1849. Image: National Museum of Australia. Used with permission.

Hyde Park Barracks, 1848. Image: Joseph Fowles, 'Sydney in 1848'

On arrival in Australia the care of the Irish orphan girls was transferred to Immigrant Orphan Committees, whose members included the Immigration Agent, the Police Magistrate, and representatives of each religious denomination. The ships were met by the Immigration Agent, and personal details of every immigrant was recorded. The Committees established depots for the girls to be housed until they were hired, and they also arranged the official hiring agreements, whether apprenticeship for the younger girls, or regular indentures. In Sydney the Immigration Depot was located at Hyde Park Barracks, a former convict barracks. Immigration Depots were also located in Parramatta, Wollongong, Maitland, Bathurst, Melbourne and Moreton Bay (Brisbane).

The Scheme was ultimately criticised in Australia due to growing unrest as to the calibre of the immigrants arriving on its shores, and the perceived use of the colony for the British government’s "unwanted population" (Reid, 2011, p. 147), and it was ceased after only two years of operation. In all, the CLEC had sent 20 ships with 4,114 Irish orphan girls to the Australian colonies; 2,253 to Sydney, 1,255 to Melbourne, and 606 to Adelaide. In addition 61 girls from Wexford were sent to South Africa.

Of the 4,114 girls sent to Australia, 137 were from Mayo workhouses, and were sent to Sydney and Melbourne over the period 1848-1850.

‘Hiring Immigrants at the Depot, Hyde Park’ (detail), Australian Town and Country Journal, 19 July 1879. Image: State Library of New South Wales, a9553008. Used with permission.

Richard Reid's Farewell my Children (2011) is a comprehensive, accessible account of Irish assisted emigration to Australia, with a detailed explanation of the Orphan Emigration Scheme, and has been the main source for the information provided on this page.

For more information, and additional sources, see Further Reading for a list of publications that discuss the Orphan Emigration Scheme.