SHIP "BARBADOES"
COPIES or EXTRACTS of Communications to or from the
Office of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, in
reference to the Emigrant Ship "Barbadoes."
Colonial Office, Downing Street 16 May 1843 - G.W.HOPE
( Mr. William S.O'Brien.)
COPIES or EXTRACTS of Communications to or from the
Office of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, in
reference to the Emigrant Ship "Barbadoes."
- No. [number?] 1 -
Copy of a LETTER to Lord Stanley
My Lord,
I respectfully beg leave to call your attention to
the brig "Barbadoes," now in the London Docks, and bound
to Prince Edward Island.
This vessel is about to leave the port under such
circumstances as in my opinion to call loudly for your
Lordship's inteference.
I am,&c.
- No. 2 -
Copy of a LETTER from J. [James?] Stephen Esqr. to the
Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners.
Gentlemen, Downing-street 7 October 1842
I am directed by Lord Stanley to transmit to you the
copy of a letter, representing that the brig "Barbadoes"
bound to Prince Edward Island, is about to leave the
port of London under circumstances which, in the opinion
of the writer, "call loudly for my interference;" and I
am to convey to you his Lordship's instructions to
inquire whether there is any peculiarity attending the
outfit of this vessel which calls for observation, and
to report the result to me for his information.
I am, &c.
(signed) Jas. [James?] Stephen.
- No. 3 -
Copy of a LETTER from the Colonial Land and Emigration
Commissioners to [James?] Stephen, Esqr.
Colonial Land and Emigration Office
9, Park-street, Westminster, 12 November 1842.
Sir,
We beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of
the 7th ultimo. [last month], in which, with reference
to a letter therewith enclosed, stating that the
"Barbadoes" was to leave London under circumstances
which called loudly for Lord Stanley's interference, you
direct us to inquire whether there is any peculiarity
attending the outfit of the vessel which calls for
observation.
We have the honour to report, that we lost no time in
referring to Lieutenant Lean, directing him to ascertain
if possible, what were the circumstances
to which the writer alluded. Upon
finding from him that he had already inspected the
vessel several times, and considered her fit for the
voyage, and in all respects well found, we requested Mr
[name ommitted] to state to us more explicitly what were
the objections which might be urged to the departure of
the vessel. He informed us that he referred to the
nature of the contracts which had been made with the
emigrants on board; but expressed his apprehension, if
he disclosed all he knew, of subjecting himself to legal
proceedings, We, therefore, directed Lieutenant Lean to
pursue the investigation of the subject, with the view
of ascertaining whether there were any circumstances
connected with the undertaking which involved a breach
of the law, or would justify the proper Department in
withholding the clearance of the ship. We then learnt
that the vessel had been chartered by an association,
called the North American Association, and that the
emigrants had bound themselves to the service of a
private individual (Mr. Haldon), and were to repay the
cost of their passage by their labour. They were,
however, to proceed, and to be placed in the colony
under the protection of the association, which had made
itself responsible for their care. In proof of this
fact, it was stated to us that a communication had been
made to the superintendent of the association, Mr.
Woodman, who resided on the property of the association
in that part of Prince Edward Island to which the
emigrants were going (consisting of 72,000 acres, and
upon which a scattered population of nearly 800 souls
were now located), desiring him to prepare a barrack to
be ready to receive the emigrants the moment they
arrived; and further, that a store was already provided
in the colony, containing provisions, clothing, tools,
&c., from which the emigrants were to be sustained by a
supply of rations and necessaries. By the terms of the
agreement made by Mr. Haldon with the emigrants, we
observed that the length of service and rates of wages
were fixed; but it was arranged that all money was to be
paid and taken in notes of the Holland-Bay Land Banking
Company, which were to be exchangeable at the stores of
the British-American Association in the island. This
bank, however, we should state, did not appear upon
inquiry to be in existence. Provisions was further made
in the agreements for assigning five acres of land, upon
certain conditions, to each head of a family. We mention
these particulars not for the purpose of offering any
opinion on the proceedings of the association, or of the
individual who was more directly concerned in the
engagement of the emigrants. The arrangements amongst
all the parties were of a private nature, and they have
moreover been made the subject of repeated investigation
before the Lord Mayor, by whom every requisite
protection which the law entitled him to afford would
doubtless have been extended to the emigrants. As,
however, the acting members of the association had
communicated to our agent that the course intended to be
pursued in respect to the settlement of the emigrants
upon their arrival was as we have just described it, we
think it might be desirable to forward a copy of our
present communication to the Lieutenant-governor of
Prince Edward Island for his information; he will then,
perhaps, be enabled to assist the poor persons in
maintaining their right should any difficulty arise in
fulfilling the engagements made with them, and his
report upon the subject would be useful when an opinion
had again to be formed on any future proceedings of the
association.
We have further to report, that having, as we
before stated, ascertained that the ship was seaworthy,
and that the provisions on board were good, and in
quantity sufficient for the passengers, and having
further obtained the payment of the detention money to
which the passengers had become entitled under the
Passenger's Act, and seen that in all respects the
requirements of the law had been complied with, we had
no longer any objection to offer to the clearance of the
vessel at Customs; but the period of her departure
having now been long delayed, we became so strongly
impressed with the sense of the great risk which must
be incurred by attempting at this advanced season to
take the vessel to her destination, that we thought it
necessary to address a communication to the Society
upon the subject, and to instruct Lieutenant Lean to
inform the officers of Customs, before the clearance
was granted, of the step we had thus taken. We further
directed him, in case the detination of the vessel
should not be changed, to have recourse to the only
practical measure which would yet remain for us to
take, viz., to warn the people themselves of the
chance of hardship and suffering, and the risk even to
their lives, which might attend an endeavour to reach
Prince Edward Island at this season of the year, and to
impress upon them that the approval of the ship and the
preparations for the voyage by a Government officer in
no degree implied the sanction of the Government to the
enterprise itself. This step was accordingly taken by
Lieutenant Lean; but the people on board, having
probably thrown up their employments in this country,
expressed no desire to be removed from the ship. We beg
to enclose a copy of the letter which we addressed on
this occasion to the Association, and of the reply which
we received from them, from which it will be seen that
the directions given to the master in respect to his
destination have been modified, in consequence of our
remonstrance. We have only to repeat, in conclusion,
that the vessel left Gravesend on the 1st inst., with
all her passengers on board.
We have, &c.
(signed) T. Fred Elliot.
Edward E. Villiers.
Enclosure 1, in No. 3
Colonial Land and Emigration Office,
9, Park-street, Westminster, 29 October 1842
Sir,
I am directed by the Colonial Land and Emigration
Commissioners to acknowledge the receipt of your letter
of this day's date, written on behalf of the British-
American Association, requesting to be furnished with a
copy of the Report made by Lieutenant Lean on the
"Barbadoes". Lieutenant Lean's Reports being made
expressly for the use of this Board, the Commissioners
cannot comply with your request for copies of them. But
I am authorized to acquaint you, that so far as regards
the "Barbadoes," the effect of Lieutenant Lean's
representations has been to show that she is a good
vessel, and properly found, and complies with all the
regulations of the Passengers' Act.
I am at the same time to take this opportunity of
requesting that you will draw the serious attention of
those concerned in despatching this vessel to the change
which the lapse of time has produced in the propriety of
sending her to Prince Edward Island. The Commissioners
believe that after the delay which has occurred, she
cannot be sent from the Port of London to that island
without considerable risk. You will find their views
embodied in the enclosed copy of the directions which
they have felt it necessary this day to issue to
Lieutenant Lean, and they earnestly hope that, under the
circumstances, the Association will make some different
arrangements to meet the change which has occurred by
the advance of the season, since the date when the
vessel was originally intended to sail.
I am, &c.
(signed) John Walpole,
Asst [Assistant?] Secretary.
W. Henry Buckerfield Esq.
British-American Association.
Colonial Land and Emigration Office,
9, Park street, Westminster, 29 October 1842
Sir,
With reference to the Report made by you personally
to-day upon the "Barbadoes," I am directed by the
Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners to acquaint
you, that understanding from you that this brig is
seaworthy, and properly found, the Commissioners
consider that it would not fall within your power, in
the discharge of your official functions, to refuse the
usual clearing certificate for a vessel which appears to
have complied with all the requisites of the law; but I
am at the same time to instruct you to warn the parties
that the Commissioners believe it to be an enterprise
attended with the most serious risk to despatch
emigrants at this late season from the Port of London to
Prince Edward Island; that they apprehend it is very
doubtful whether they can ever reach their destination,
and if they do not, then at best great hardships must
be looked for in retracing their course, and
endeavouring to get into some Port in the Atlantic
Ocean. The Commissioners trust, therefore, that the
parties concerned in the depatch of the vessel will see
the propriety of not persisting in now sending her to
Prince Edward Island; but if they adhere to that
intention, you will explain to the collector of Customs
that you have granted your certificate, because the
vessel itself complies with the Passenger's Act, and not
from in any way approving the enterprise. And the Board
consider that, in this case, it would be right that the
passengers themselves should understand the same, in
order that they may not be misled by the Government
sanction, or induced by it to suppose that their
passages can be made to the present destination of the
vessel without the probability both of hardship and of
danger.
I am, &c.
(signed) John Walpole,
Assistant Secretary,
Lieutenant Lean, R.N.
Enclosure 2, in No. 3.
British-American Association,
29, New Bridge-street, Blackfriars,
London, November 1842.
Sir,
In reference to your letter of the 29th instant, I am
directed by the Commissioners of this Association to
inform you, that the delay in the sailing of the
"Barbadors" has in no respect originated with them, as
she was by the charter party engaged to sail on the 20th
September, and they have since done all in their power
to compel the owner to fulfil his engagement.
In reference, however, to your suggestion in relation
to this brig, I have to inform you that, in accordance
therewith, they have given directions to the master,
that if on his arrival in the American seas he shall
deem his reaching Holland Bay attended with risk or
danger, he shall be at liberty to run into Halifax, and
to take measures for the maintenance of the emigrants
there, and their subsequent conveyance to the island.
You may probably have learnt from Lieutenant Lean,
that over and above the necessary rations for 100
persons on board, one month's further supplies have
been shipped to meet any unforeseen casualty; and that
warm clothing to the extent of 51l. 17s has also been
sent on board for the use of such emigrants as may
stand in need of it during the voyage. It appears also
by a letter received yesterday by the superintendent of
the association at Holland Bay, that 16 log-houses were
nearly completed on the 10th ultimo, ready for their
use.
The inhabitants now on the estates amount to nearly
900, and there has been an abundant supply of provisions
and stores laid in there, in addition to those sent out
by the "Bardadoes".
I take this opportunity of adding, that the
association has nothing to do with the engagement or
employment of these men, or of the terms on which they
were engaged, nor have they any control over them either
here or in the colony, but they took them under their
care, and adopted them as their charge, immediately on
their coming on board the ship, and they have most
carefully and liberally provided for their comfort. The
same care will be extended to them on their arrival in
the island, where they will of course be in Mr. Haldon's
employ, though under the protection of the association,
and it must be observed that they are not going out to
a desert shore, or merely to form an agricultural
settlement; they are going to perform certain works, for
which their employer is about to contract under the
Association, for the purpose of preparing for a much
larger emigration in the spring. It is therefore
important that they should arrive with as little delay
as possible, and it is for this reason alone that the
vessel is despatched at this season of the year,
notwithstanding the extra expense necessarily attending
such a step, and which must, of course, fall on the
Association alone.
I may add, that the captain is an experienced seaman,
who has made nine voyages to New Brunswick, and has
left Mirimachi so late as the 1st of January.
I have, &c.
(signed) Wm. [William?] Henry Buckerfield,
Secretary.
Stephen Walcott Esq.
&c. &c. &c.
- No. 4 -
(No. 49)
Copy of a DESPATCH from Lord Stanley to Sir H.V. Huntley
Sir, Downing Street, 18 November 1842.
My attention having been called to the case of the
ship "Barbadoes," in which a body of emigrants lately
proceeded to Prince Edward Island, I directed the
Commissioners for Colonial Lands and Emigration to make
inquiry into the circumstances connected with that
vessel.
I enclose for your information a copy of the Report
which I have received from them on the subject; you will
perceive that these emigrants have gone to the colony
under the protection of the "North American Association"
but bound to the service of Mr. Haldon. I should wish
you to watch the proceedings of the parties concerned in
this transaction, and to favour me with any observations
which the case may appear to demand.
I have, &c.
(signed) Stanley.
- No. 5 -
Copy of a LETTER from the Colonial Land and Emigration
Commissioners to J. Stephen Esq.
Colonial Land and Emigration Office, 9 Park-street,
Westminster, 28 March 1843.
Sir,
We beg leave to refer to our letter of the 12th
November last, in which we stated for Lord Stanley's
information the circumstances under which certain
emigrants had been sent to Prince Edward Island in the
ship "Barbadoes."
Our letter concluded by stating that the vessel had
sailed on the 1st November; we have now to report that
she failed in reaching her destination, and having got
as far as the Banks of Newfoundland, was compelled to
return to this country, and arrived at Cove, in a
completely disabled state, on the 23rd of December.
Seeing the fact noticed in the public papers, we
immediately directed the Government agent at Cork to
inquire into the circumstances which had led to her
return, and to ascertain the condition of the passengers
and the prospect held out to them of ultimately reaching
the colony. In reply to the latter inquiry we were
informed that it had been determined that the passengers
should be maintained on board, and that the voyage
should be resumed about the 20th of March.
In the month of February, reports reached us that the
owners and charterers of the vessel were in pecuniary
difficulties; that the provisions on board would before
very long be exhausted; and that the parties connected
with the ship had neither money nor credit with which to
procure a fresh supply. Subsequently it appeared that
the vessel had in point of fact been mortgaged in London
for the supplies and stores put on board for her first
voyage, and that the mortgagee was about to send an
agent to seize the vessel, and turn the passengers out
of her.
Under these circumstances, we first addressed a letter
to Mr. Haldon, the person for whom the emigrants had
engaged to work upon their arrival in Prince Edward
Island; but we could obtain no reply from him. We then
applied to the British-American Association, as the
parties on whose account the vessel had been sent out,
and who had expressly declared themselves responsible
for the care and maintenance of the emigrants from the
time of their embarkation. We received an apparently
satisfactory reply from the secretary of the association
dated the 14th instant, informing us, in the name of the
"Commissioners" by whom it is managed, of various
measures which had been taken for the relief of the
passengers since the return of the ship; and adding,
that the Commissioners would "themselves take care to
give special instructions to the ship-owner to see that
the 'Barbadoes' be properly victualled before resuming
the prosecution of her voyage to her original
destination."
We have since learned, that at the time this letter
was written, the vessel had been seized by the mortgagee
and as the Government agent at Cork was informed, notice
to that effect had been served on the association in
London. An attempt has since been made by Lieutenant
Lean to obtain, at a personal interview with any of the
managers, some explanation of the circumstances, but
without success, no person competent to enter upon
business being found at the office of the association.
We have now received a letter from the Government
agent at Cork, informing us that orders for the sale of
the "Barbadoes" have been received, and that she is to
be sold in the course of this week. We regret to add,
that the passengers are reported to be without bread to eat;
and although they have been advised, in accordance with our
instructions, to remain on board the vessel as long as
possible, the Government agent fears that there is no longer
any means of avoiding their being put on shore, and in a state
of complete destitution.
Under these circumstances, it would be in vain, we think,
to make any further application to the association; in fact,
the report is that it dissolved itself in the course of last
week. The question, therefore, occurs, whether any relief can
be obtained for the emigrants under the provision of the
Passengers' Act?
The 24th cause requires that they shall not be landed by
the master without their previous consent at any place other
than that at which they contracted to be landed.
And again, the 6th clause requires them to be regularly
supplied with provisions, which will now have ceased to be
the case. We have instructed the Government Emigration Agent
to bring the matter by summary process before two magistrates
as authorized by the 24th cause, with the view of recovering
such penalties as the magistrates may award against the
parties connected with the ship; but we much fear, from the
condition of such of those parties as would be within their
jurisdiction, that no practical good would result to the
emigrants from their conviction.
The only course, therefore, which it remains for us to
suggest, if there be no legal objections to it, is, that the
bond to the Crown, required by the 35th clause, should be put
in immediately, in hopes that, should a judgement be obtained
upon it, some of the parties who entered into it might prove
to be solvent, and that the amount recovered from them might
be applied to the relief of the emigrants.
Should Lord Stanley think proper to direct that this
question should be legally considered, we would further
suggest that, as on a former similar occassion, we should be
authorized to communicate to the solicitor to the Treasury
all the evidence which we possess on the subject.
The deplorable condition of the emigrants, and the
approaching sale of the property, render the case very
urgent.
In concluding our report, we beg leave to submit to Lord
Stanley's notice the enclosed prospectus of the association
under whose auspices these poor persons were about to
emigrate. The Duke of Argyll, and we believe, Lord Elibank,
retired as soon as the circumstances connected with the
despatch of the "Barbadoes," last November, transpired before
the Lord Mayor. But in drawing attention to the long array of
distinguished names which appear under the head of
"President, Vice-Presidents, Consulting Council, and
Commissioners," we are compelled to declare that no case has
occurred within our experience in which the poor have had so
much reason to rely upon the respectability of the persons
by whom they were invited to emigrate, and none where they
have been reduced to a state of such helpless misery and
destitution.
We have, &c
(signed) T. Fredk Elliot.
Edward E. Villiers.
Enclosure in No. 5
BRITISH-AMERICAN ASSOCIATION for EMIGRATION and COLONIZATION
Capital, œ1,000,000 in œ.20 Shares.- Deposits, œ.5
per Share.
President.-His Grace the Duke of Argyll.
VICE-PRESIDENTS.
*The Marquess of Huntly, K.T. The Earl of Dunmore.
The Marquess of Downshire, K.P. The Earl of Castlestewart.
The Marquess of Bute. *The Earl of Gosford, G.C.B.
The Marquess of Lorn. *Lord Scarsdale.
The Earl of Carnwath Lord Forbes.
Lord Duffus. *Lord Belhaven. Lord Elibank.
Lord Kilmaine. Lord Mcdonald.
CONSULTING COUNCIL.
Sir James Gordon, Premier Baronet of Scotland and Nova Scotia
Sir Thomas Livingstone, Bart. Sir Robert Preston, Bart.
Sir James Colquhoun, Bart. Sir James H. Turin, Bart.
Sir William Murray, Bart. Sir Neil Menzies, Bart.
*Sir John Ogilvie, Bart. *Sir William Maxwell, Bart.
Sir Wm [William?] Alex [Alexander?] Maxwell, Bart.
Sir John Maxwell, Bart. Sir James Cockburn, Bart.
*Sir Charles Bannerman, Bart. *Sir John Campbell, Bart.
Sir John Pringle, Bart. Sir John Murray, Bart.
Sir William C. Seton, Bart. Sir Michael Bruce, Bart.
Sir Richard Greirson, Bart. Sir John Forbes, Bart.
Sir James Broun, Bart. Sir Edward Crosbie, Bart.
Sir James W. Mackenzie, Bart. Sir John C. Fairlie, Bart.
Sir Fitzroy G. Maclean, Bart. Sir John Reid, Bart.
*Sir Frederick Hamilton, Bart. Sir George S. Mackenzie, Bart.
*Sir William Pilkington, Bart. *Sir Robert Abercromby, Bart.
Sir Wm [William?] Dunbar, of Durn, Bart.
Sir Francis Mackenzie, Bart. Sir James Stuart, Bart.
Sir John Gordon, Bart. Sir Robert Keith Dick, Bart.
The Lord Provost of Edinburgh. The Lord Provost of Glasgow.
The Chisholm. The Rev. Dr. Norman Macleod.
Mr. Sheriff Alison. &c. &c. &c.
COMMISSIONERS.
Sir William Ogilvie, Bart. Sir Robert Barclay, Bart.
Sir William Dunbar, Bart. Sir Allan Napier Macnab.
Sir Richard Broun. Thomas Rolph, Esq.
Superintendent of Settlers in Canada.- Sir James D. Hamilton
Hay, Bart.
STANDING COUNSEL.
England. A. E. Cockburn, Esq., Q. C.
" George Barrett Lennard, Esq.
Canada. C. R. Ogden, Esq., Attorney-General, East Canada.
" J. H. Peters, Esq., Solicitor-General, Prince Edward
Island.
BANKERS.
London. Messrs. Glyn, Hallifax, Mills & Co.
" Messrs. Cockburn & Co.
Edinburgh. Sir William Forbes & Co.
Glasgow. The Union Bank of Scotland.
SECRETARY.- W. H. Buckerfield, Esq.
OFFICES, 29, New Bridge-street, Blackfriars, London.
_______________________
The object of the British-American Association is to
promote the colonization of our North American possessions,
by a transfer of the surplus population of the United Kingdom
upon a national scale; and by such an infusion of capital
into them, as shall lead to an immediate and wide development
of their inexhaustible resources.
Our North American possessions present the most
advantageous field for these operations, whether we consider
their easy distance from the mother country, now abridged by
the application of steam navigation; the fertility of their
soil; the salubrity of their climate, and freedom from those
occasional droughts which so seriously injure the Australian
colonist; or the still more important consideration of a
long-established trade, and of the settlers being placed in a
comparatively civilized country, with all the benefits of
British society and British laws.
The operations of the Association are intended to be
commenced in several Seignories lying on the north bank of
the St. Lawrence, about half-way between Quebec and Montreal,
for the purchase of which agreements have been prepared. These
tracts, comprehending nearly 200,000 acres have been selected
as being admirably adapted, from their geographical position,
to form together the centre of the transactions of a great
and powerful Association.
The Board of Commissioners will also acquire, either by
grant or purchase, such Seignories and other lands as may be
calculated to promote the interests of the Association, and
be necessary for the location of the emigrants placed under
its care and protection.
The whole of the lands and properties progressively
acquired will be administered by the Board of Commissioners
under the supervision of the Consulting Council. The
improvements necessary to complete the colonization of these
lands will be effected or aided by the funds of the
Association, and the lands will then be let or sold, and the
income or profits divided periodically among the shareholders.
The great distress into which a considerable portion of the
population of Great Britain is now plunged, and particulary
that of the western districts of Scotland, renders Emigration
on a large scale almost imperative; the evidence taken before
a Committee of the House of Commons showing, that in a very
limited district of the Hebrides, and adjoining mainland there
are no less than 44,600 persons requiring immediately to be
removed to afford any perceptible relief. Nor is the condition
of the poor much better in the neighbourhood of Glasgow,
Paisley, and other manufacturing towns, where the hand-loom
weavers have long been exposed, by the deprivation of
employment arising from the improvements in machinery, to the
extremity of distress. It is to these districts that the
promoters of this Association have directed their first
attention. They hope to alleviate the sufferings of a hardy,
patient and meritorious race, by removing them to a country
where their labour will meet an abundant reward, and where,
by that frugality and industry for which they have always
been remarkable, they cannot fail to place themselves and
their families in comparative affluence, without breaking
that connecting tie between the landlord and his tenantry
which has hitherto formed the characteristic of the Scottish
people. Nor will this change of abode be less beneficial to
the nation at large than to themselves; placed in a situation
where their labour will be less productive, they will become
useful members of society, instead of a mere burthen on its
resources; and they will, as their countrymen who have
preceded them in the path of Emigration have done, prove, in
time of need, the most able and zealous defenders of their
country, and profitable consumers of the manufactures of the
parent state.
There is one feature in the constitution of this
Association, as connected with Scotland, and with the
interests of the Scottish Emigrant, too important to be passed
over. The undertaking will be supported by an [a?] union with
the Baronets of Scotland and Nova Scotia, an order originally
created to further the settlement of British North America,
by which its objects are closely interwoven with the interests
of a large portion of the Scottish nobility; and by the
members of that order assisting in its councils and conducting
its management, a careful supervision is provided over all the
interests, not only of the shareholders but more especially
of the emigrants confided to its care; a supervision not
ceasing with their landing in a new country, but continuing
till they shall be located on their settlements, and providing
for their future happiness and advantage.
The promoters of this national undertaking call on all
interested in the well-being of the poor, but especially on
the noblemen and gentlemen of the United Kingdom, to aid in
this good work, the results of which are neither speculative
or problematical.
It will be the especial duty of the Commissioners to
promote and receive voluntary contributions from the
benevolent, to be applied, under the supervision of the
Consulting Council, either in the location of poor emigrants,
on the nomination of the donor, or in the erection of
churches, chapels, hospital, schools, or any other charitable
foundation, in furtherance of religious worship and of
education, as he may direct.
The undertaking, combining the three great elements of
wealth - Land, Population, and Industry sustained by Capital
- obviously secures an ample pecuniary return; and as an
investment for money, presents inducements of the highest
description.
_________________________
CONDITIONS
1. The capital of the association 1,000,000 l., divided into
shares of 20l. each; upon each of which a deposit of 5l. per
share will be required at the time of subscribing; the balance
to be called for by instalments not exceeding 5l. each; of
which 21 day's notice shall be given.
2. The commissioners, with the consent of the consulting
council, have no power to augment the capital when required by
the extended transactions of the association, in which case
the holders of shares in the original capital will have a
pre-emption for the shares in the new before they be offered
to the public.
3. The commissioners have the power to form branches for
distinct objects, in respect of which separate shares will be
issued.
4. The responsibility of each shareholder limited to the
amount of the shares held by him, and every contract or
agreement to contain a condition admitting such limitation.
5. The president, vice-presidents and members of the
consulting council possess a deliberative power, and have a
supervision of the affairs of the association, for the
protection of the shareholders and emigrants.
6. The commissioners have the power to enforce the payment
of the calls, and to declare all shares forfeited upon which
a call shall be in arrear for two months.
7. The operations of the association to be commenced
whenever, in the opinion of the commissioners, a sufficient
amount of capital for the purpose shall be raised or
subscribed.
8. The commissioners authorized, with the approbation of
the consulting council, to issue debentures, bearing interest,
secured on all or any part of the lands of the association,
for sums not less than 25l. each.
9. The commissioners empowered to appoint sub and local
committees, either to superintend any particular branch, or
for such other purposes and with such authority as shall
from time to time be deemed necessary.
10. A fund, to be raised by donations and voluntary
contributions, whether to assist in removing any individual
or particular body of emigrants, for religious, educational
or other benevolent objects, shall be administered by the
commissioners, by and with the sanction of the consulting
council.
11. A court of the association will be held quarterly, or
oftener, if required; to be composed of the president, vice-
presidents, the consulting council and the commissioners.
12. The commissioners, subject to the supervision of the
consulting council, have the conduct and management of the
ordinary business of the association.
13. The consulting council, including the president and
vice-presidents, not to exceed 200 in number, and to consist,
in addition to the baronets of Scotland and Nova Scotia, of
peers and landed proprietors of the United Kingdom interested
in emigration; and vacancies occuring after the first five
years to be filled up, at meetings of the shareholders, by
parties qualified as landed proprietors, or as the holders of
1,000l. in the capital stock of the association, or of
debentures to the same amount charged thereon.
14. The commissioners to be the owners of properties
containing at least 10,000 acres to be vested in the
association in futherance of its objects, the holders of at
least 1,000 l. stock each in the capital of the association,
or have a mixed qualification of land and money.
15. No person qualifying for office, by shares in the
capital stock, to disqualify by the sale of his shares,
without first offering them to the association.
16. Monthly reports will be made by the commissioners to
the consulting council, and half-yearly reports will likewise
be made for the information of the shareholders and others
interested in the prosperity of the undertaking.
17. Each shareholder to be entitled to one vote in respect
of every five shares held by him or her.
18. No share to be transferred while any call is in arrear,
and, until one-half of the amountof each share shall be paid,
every transfer to be subject to the approbation of the
commissioners.
19. Articles of agreement, for the regulation and management
of the association, are open to the inspection of the incoming
shareholders; and a deed of settlement is in preparation, which,
when approved by the commissioners and settled by
counsel, shall be binding upon all parties interested.
20. The commissioners have power to apply for a Charter, or
for an Act of Parliament, for the incorporation of the
association.
21. The commissioners have the authority to make bye-laws
for the better government of the association.
Applications for shares and for prospectuses to be made to
the secretaries, at the house of the association, No. 29, New
Bridge-street, Blackfriars, London, or to the agents of the
establishment in their respective districts.
______________________________
- No. 6 -
Copy of a LETTER from Dr. Rolph to the Colonial Land
Emigration Commissioners.
Colonial Society, St. James's Square,
31 March 1843.
Gentlemen,
A large and influential body of land-owners in Canada having
formed themselves into an Association, in 1840, under the
immediate sanction and patronage of the late Lord Sydenham,
for the express purpose of establishing a system of
colonization, by which their waste lands might be rendered
productive, through the employment and settlement on them of
the superabundant and unemployed population of the United
Kingdom, and having appointed me to act as their secretary
in this country, I sedulously directed my attention, after my
arrival in England, in the early part of last year, to the
formation of a society in this country, which might assist in
those objects, and act in unison with the land proprietors in
Canada.
The project met with general approbation and concurrence
throughout the United Kingdom; and at a meeting over which
his Grace the Duke of Argyll presided, in the month of June
last, in London, after much deliberation it was resolved to
open a subscription list for shares, take the necessary
measures to procure a Charter and Act of Parliament, resolve
on a constitution, and proceed to the necessary election of
competent directors to carry out this great undertaking.
I left England on the 19th of August, having been
instrumental, as you will perceive by the enclosed
correspondence, in preventing the removal of a large number
of emigrants from Belfast who were desirous of proceeding to
Canada in July, and who postponed their intention, from the
earnest advice which I gave to them to select the early
spring months for their removal from Ireland to America.
Believing that the Association would be adopting measures
for its future operation, I was preparing in Canada to obtain
the assent of the Colonial Legislature to these arrangements.
This was impracticable, from the unusually short session of
last autumn.
Soon after my departure from England, one of the officers
of the Association entertained a proposition made by a Mr.
Haldon, to the effect that he would head and take out to
Prince Edward Island a body of selected workmen, and
introduced a Mr. Duncan Campbell, as a merchant in the City,
who would furnish the necessary stores. This proposition the
officer in question most unfortunately and improperly
entertained; but instead of the ship sailing as chartered on
the 10th of September, she did not, in consequence of the
total inability of this Mr. Campbell to carry out his
arrangement, clear the river until the beginning of November.
Whilst, owing to the complaints made by the Lord Mayor and the
attacks made by the public press, his Grace the Duke of Argyll
withdrew his patronage from the Association. A series of
embarassments have since ensued, which has eventuated in its
dissolution.
I felt it my duty to make every inquiry into all the
circumstances connected with the "Barbadoes;" whilst
condemning the whole proceeding, I think it but right to add,
that every attention was paid by the Commissioners of the
Association to ensure the comforts of the emigrants, so far
as seeing that the vessel was properly provisioned before
sailing, and that every preparation was also made for their
reception on their arrival in Prince Edward Island. The ship,
after being out 54 days, having been driven back to Cork, as
might almost been anticipated, has led to the further
disappointment of these attending emigrants; and the measure
being altogether one to which I was no party, and which has
always met with my complete condemnation, I have considered
it imperative on me to make this statement.
I subjoin my correspondence with the Canadian Government
for your information,* and have, &c.
Thomas Rolph.
* This correspondence did
not relate to the "Barbadoes."
_________________________
- No. 7 -
Copy of a LETTER from S. Walcott, Esq. to Dr. Rolph.
Colonial Land and Emigration Office,
9, Park-street, Westminster, 1 April
1843.
Sir,
I am directed by the Colonial Land and Emigration
Commissioners to acknowledge your letter of yesterday's date,
relative to the constitution of the British-American
Association, and to your connexion with that body.
With reference to that part of your letter in which you
state that you felt it your duty to inquire into all the
circumstances connected with the despatch of the "Barbadoes,"
I am directed to inform you, that the emigrants who were
induced to proceed in that vessel are now reduced to a state
of destitution, and, in fact, are in hourly danger of being
turned out of the vessel, and put on shore in Ireland, almost
without clothes and without food; I am, therefore, to state
that the Commissioners would feel obliged to you for informing
them, if within your knowledge, whether there is any one of
the long list of distinguished persons, by the influence of
whose names as members of the Association these poor emigrants
may have been supposed to have been induced to leave their
homes and occupations, to whom application might be
successfully made to relieve them in their urgent distress.
I have, &c.
(signed) S. Walcott, Secretary.
_________________________
- No. 8 -
Copy of a LETTER from Dr. Rolph to S. Walcott, Esq.
Colonial Society, St. James's Square,
April 5, 1843.
Sir,
It was with extreme pain that I learnt from your
communication of the 1st, that the emigrants on board the
"Barbadoes" were "now reduced to a state of destitution, and,
in fact, are in hourly danger of being turned out of the
vessel and put on shore in Ireland, almost without clothes
and without food;" because I had been informed, and
distinctly understood, that Mr. Leslie, of St. Dunstan's
Hill, had despatched an agent, on the 30th ultimo, to Cork,
for the express purpose of bringing the ship and emigrants of
bringing the ship and the emigrants round to the port of
London.
With regard to their being "without clothes and without
food," I have ascertained that they all have received one
entire suit of clothing, with shoes, since the return of the
ship to Cork, from the slops on board, amounting in value to
100l.; and with respect to food, I am informed that, in
addition to all the ship's stores, which they have consumed,
and which were most abundant, they have been further supplied
with rations from Messrs. Barry, King and Burke, of Cork, to
the extent of from 80l. to 90l. supplies of provisions.
No person has more strongly and unhesitating condemned the
whole proceedings connected with the "Barbadoes" and its
departure than myself; indeed, I have no difficulty in stating
my conviction, that the period when she left England was too
late a period even for her arrival at any port beyond the
Gulf of the St. Lawrence; at all events it was extremely
hazardous, and manifestly improper, to make the attempt. I
addressed a letter from Pictou, Nova Scotia, on the 1st of
September 1842, which reached England, and was published in
the London newspapers of the 19th of September, most strongly
condemning the late departure of emigrants for any portion of
British North America. I was instrumental in preventing a
number of emigrants quitting Ireland, even in July, and
therefore I am not at all disposed to anticipate any line of
defence which those parties may urge, on whom the
responsibility of depatching a vessel from England to Prince
Edward Island in the month of November altogether rests.
The project was concocted, resolved upon and carried into
execution during my absence from England, in express defiance
of my recorded sentiments; and I regret to add, that the
emigrants themselves were heedless of the warnings and
monitions of the Commissioners, who had instructed the
Government emigration agent to remonstrate and expostulate
with them on the risks, peril and danger they would encounter
in undertaking the voyage at that time; and, regardless of the
warnings also of the chief magistrate of the City of London,
by whose interference the vessel was actually detained several
days. I would further remark, that not one of the emigrants
paid any portion of their passage-money, and that they have
been altogether supported by the Association from the period
of their embarkation in November until the present time. I
regret that it is not in my power to point out any parties
"to whom application might be successfully made to relieve
them in their urgent distress;" but I think, if it should be
unfortunately necessary to make such an appeal, that there is
no one to whom it could be made with more justice and
propriety, than to Alderman Pirie, the late Lord Mayor of the
City of London.
I am, &c.
(signed) Thomas Rolph.
______________________________
- 9 -
Copy of a LETTER from J. Stephen, Esq. to the Colonial
Land and Emigration Commissioners.
Downing-street, 29 March 1843.
Gentlemen,
Having laid before Lord Stanley your letter of the 28th
instant, I am directed by his Lordship to inform you that
the Lord's Commissioners of the Treasury have been requested
to instruct their Lordship's solicitors to co-operate with
you in putting the law in force against the owners and others
connected with the emigrant ship "Barbadoes."
I have, &c.
(signed) J. Stephen.
______________________________
- No. 10 -
Copy of a LETTER from J. Stephen, Esq. to C.E. Trevelyan
Esq.
Downing-street, 29 March 1843.
Sir,
I am directed by Lord Stanley to transmit to you the
enclosed copy of a Report from the Commissioners of Colonial
Lands and Emigration, relating to the case of a body of
emigrants who proceeded to Prince Edward Island, in November
last, in the ship "Barbadoes," but were compelled by stress of
weather to return to Ireland in the following month, where
they have hitherto remained at the charge of the vessel. As it
appears that these persons are about to be ejected from the
"Barbadoes" in a destitute state, it becomes necessary to take
steps for procuring them some relief, and the appropriate
course would seem to be to put in suit against the parties
connected with the vessel the bond to the Crown required by
the 35th clause of the Passenger's Act, and to apply the
amount recovered to the benefit of the emigrants, if there
should be no legal objection to the measure. I am therefore
to request that you would move the Lords Commissioners of the
Treasury to instruct their Lordships' solicitors to co-operate
with the Land and Emigration Commissioners in putting the law
in force against the owners and others connected with the
"Barbadoes."
I have, &c.
(signed) J. Stephen.
______________________________
- No. 11 -
Copy of a LETTER from G.J. Pennington, Esq. to J. Stephen
Esq.
Treasury Chambers, 31 March 1843
Sir,
I am commanded by the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's
Treasury to acquaint you, that, agreeably to the suggestion of
Lord Stanley, conveyed by your letter dated 29th instant,
their Lordships have instructed their solicitor to adopt the
proceedings by his Lordship in reference to the emigrants on
board the ship "Barbadoes," in communication with the Land
and Emigration Commissioners, unless there should appear to
be any legal or other material impediment thereto.
I am, &c.
(signed) G.J. Pennington.
