Genealogy Chat

Can some one please tell me if a boy who was supposed to be an orphan was in a work house would he be earning enough to pay his own way to Australia in 1880 when he was 16 or would he have to have someone in Australia pay his way for him to go there on an unassisted passage, such as his father or an employee??

Unlikly. He probably joind a ship and whent as crew (cabin boy?) then eather left or jumped ship in OZ

There were various schemes designed to get fit young men out of the Workhouse and into Australia. Are you SURE he paid his own fare? Marjorie

Hi Peter and Marjorie the reason I asked this on the other thread where I asked for help re finding shipping passenger lists from the UK Mary Mary replied that she had found a 6 yr old in Cheshire work house listed as an orphan and it would fit age wise with this Charles Walsh who is on the unassisted passenger list of a ship called Marpesia arriving in Victoria Australia, in Dec. 1880, then age 16 as I said in the other thread my G/grandfather also a Charles Walsh married in Sydney Aust. in 1888 on his marriage cert it had father Patrick and no mothers name and on his death cert the same so I'm at a loss to decide how to find where he came from or his mum's name Im going to see if i can more details on the ships arrival here from the archives but otherwise I'm ata stand still thanks for your input Lara xx

Marjorie would the schemes you are talking about be paid from that end or by the ozzie end do you think or no please ? thanks lara xx

As far as i can tell, there were lots of Agencies involved in sending people to Australia and other places. Sometimes the Government of thein-going country paid for the passages, but I think this would have meant a ticket, rather than cash being handed over, if you see what I mean. Often the Governors of the Workhouses would pay to send inmates, probably young, fit and healthy men, although the New Zealand and Australian Governments had several drives to attract young healthy women - there being a shortage of women in the Colonies. Also, many Churches had a 'whip-round' and paid the fare, perhaps for the orphaned sons of their congregation. Remember, it was a cheap way of getting rid of the poor and the Rate-payers were all for it. I very much doubt if money would ever be handed over in these cases, but a ticket would be purchased in their name and they would be recorded as a 'Paying Passenger' on the Ship's Records. The only thing I can suggest is to try to find records of the Workhouse your rellie was in, although I dont hold out much hope that they would have kept the records once they had got rid of a 'burden on the rates'. Sorry I can't be more helpful. Marjorie