NDFHS

The notices of births, marriages and deaths trancribed and indexed here, together with the letters home and news, were extracted from the Newcastle Courant newspaper in 1993 in preparation for a talk to be given to the Northumberland & Durham FHS in September of that year on the subject of emigration to Australia and New Zealand from the north-east of England. The notes were subsequently annotated and revised to form the basis of a lecture on migration to students at Newcastle University's Advanced Genealogy course.

In undertaking the survey of the Courant the first object was to assemble a database of emigrant ships advertised between 1852 and 1861. This database has not been published, but the information gathered was interesting in itself, some 700 voyages having been advertised during the ten year survey period. The average of seventy a year is undoubtedly larger than during the previous ten years; however, a similar survey for the period 1842 to 1851 was not undertaken. Nevertheless, a quick glance at the shipping columns of the Courant for the 1840's reveals a modest, yet growing interest in the Australian colonies. It was gold which ignited the passion of all and sundry in their rush to get rich; the Courant of 10 December 1852 refers to the Emigration Commissioners' observation that the number of letters received in June 1850 requesting information on assisted passsages to the colonies amounted to 1,564, whereas in June 1852 they amounted to no fewer than 18,910!

Whether or no they received assisted passages the vast majority of migrants from the north-east would have embarked at Liverpool - some 635 of the 700 voyages advertised were to depart from this port. The port of London (with Gravesend) occurs next in the listing of voyages advertised with forty-one references. This contrasts with a total of eighteen voyages advertised to depart from north-eastern ports, twelve of them from Newcastle, four from Sunderland and one each from Berwick-upon-Tweed and Hartlepool. This left one voyage each for Glasgow and Dundee.

It must be pointed out, however, that these are adverts for sailing; they are not proof of departure or arrival. Some ships may have have been diverted to the Atlantic crossing; indeed, one ship, originally advertised to sail for Australia, was later noted as having sailed for New Orleans. Nor did all the ships carry emigrants. Some were advertised for the benefit of local manufacturers and merchants, and carried cargoes. They are few, however, and the fact is usually mentioned in the adverts. Even so, most cargo vessels were able to accomodate passengers.

The second phase of the survey was to extract all the Australian and New Zealand births, marriages and deaths mentioned in the Courant. Originally extracted to a standard format, they first appeared in the Victorian FHS journal Ancestor. These were retranscribed, and earlier errors of ommision were corrected by locating missing issues of the Courant. They have since been extended to cover a twenty-five year period 1840 to 1864.

The births, marriages and deaths require no comment here other than a caution about the mis-spelling of names and places. Some of these have been noted where they are obvious to me, others have not. The town of Sydney, for example, is sometimes noted as Sidney, but the meaning is clear and correction seemed unnecessary. Local knowledge admitted noting the correct name and place with the marriage of Henry Kemmis, of Yankalilla, to Isabella Daglish (October 1851): he is noted as H. Kenwis of Tankalille. Seven of Dr Isaac Earl Featherston's children are noted between 1842 and 1857, but his initials are variously given as J.E., F.E, T.F. and T.E. It seems that even the most conscientious and hard-working mid-nineteenth century compositor was prone to error! Where known to me, such errors have been indexed correctly.

The third phase of this survey was to extract all the references to Australia and New Zealand in the news and editorial pages of the Courant. These are littered with articles about the colonies during the survey period 1852 to 1861. Some of these items have already appeared in the Journal of the Northumberland & Durham FHS and elsewhere, but the project has come a long way since then with earlier references expanded or extracted in full. The news items range from presentations to individuals about to depart for the colonies, to the record-breaking runs of emigrant ships such as the Marco Polo. Not all of these news items first appeared in the Courant; some are taken from Liverpool newspapers and describe pre-embarkation conditions of migrants at Birkenhead, others are taken from national newspapers. Frequent mention is given to the Emigration Commissioners' annual reports.

From a family history viewpoint, the real value of these news items lies in the letters home of migrants. Dozens of them appeared at the peak of the gold rush in 1852 and 1853 and it is appropriate to mention here something about the aspirations of these fortune-seekers. In the words of Thomas Brown, who emigrated from Sunderland in 1852, in five out of six cases, the emigrants' purpose was "to get all they can and be off home again as soon as possible". Thomas Brown's letter, written in 1854, is not reproduced here, but his observation is borne out by references to deaths at sea on the voyage home of some of those in the vanguard of the gold rush, and also by news items such as the following:

6 June 1856 (8b) EMIGRATION OF COLLIERS TO AUSTRALIA.- Fifty colliers left Lumley, on Monday last, to try their fortunes in Australia. Some of them have taken their wives. The origin of this movement is the return of two of the fortunates, who have dazzled their late comrades with a profusion of jewellery and cash in hand.

The Durham miners emigration movement was a local phenomenom, but it probably had parallels elswhere in the country. All the Courant references to the movement are reproduced in this publication. However, it is not possible to republish here every reference to Australia and New Zealand in the ten years surveyed. Rather a general selection of items have been selected for inclusion, along with many of the letters home.

The problems such mobility poses to family historians is widely understood and accepted, but the colonies are often overlooked. Yet one of the conclusions to be drawn from this survey is that we shouldn't regard the colonies as distant outposts of the Empire, but as remote counties of Great Britain. Another conclusion to be drawn from this survey has to do with the variety and richness of sources available locally to family historians with emigration problems. This survey spanned ten years of only one newspaper in Newcastle; other titles are available for study.

Local research should also include national newspapers and magazines - The Times and the Illustrated London News are two obvious titles to consult. Both are available in the region, and their usefulness is enhanced by the fact that they are indexed. Why, then, waste time and money on a visit to the British Library's Newspaper Library at Colindale when so much of the spadework with emigration problems can be done in your own backyard?