Throughout the 19th Century there were many ways people were assisted to emigrate to Australia. Join eminent researchers Dr Perry McIntyre AM and Dr Liz Rushen AM in this double session as they take you through a selection of these schemes.

Bounty and Government immigrants 1820-1840

During the nineteenth century, hundreds of thousands of people migrated to Australi

a under a mixture of government and bounty schemes. This paper looks at the early schemes available until the formation of the Colonial Land and Emigration Commission in 1840, with a focus on their experiences as they left home, were housed in the emigration depots in Britain, life on the ship and arrival at their destination. Here we glimpse the processes of emigration and the realities of the emigrant’s experiences.

Convict family reunion and assisted immigration after 1840

Convict family reunion formally commenced in 1817 and was the earliest form of assisted migration. The Irish orphan girls from the workhouses in 1848-50 and children of ‘bounty’ emigrants were the other two groups of poor who obtained a free passage to Australia. There were, of course, other ways emigrants arrived to Australia after 1840. Using relevant source documents, this paper will give an overview of these schemes.

Skill level: All

Presenters: Dr Elizabeth Rushen AM & Dr Perry Mcintyre AM

About the Presenters: 

Dr Liz Rushen AM is on the editorial board of the Australian Dictionary of Biography, a director of the Melbourne Maritime Heritage Network and a Research Associate in the Faculty of Arts, Monash University. A former Executive Director of the Royal Historical Society of Victoria and former Chair of the History Council of Victoria, Liz is widely published in migration history, including her major work Single and Free Migration to Australia, 1833-37. Her latest book is John Marshall: ship owner, Lloyds reformer and emigration agent (Anchor Books Australia 2020). In 2021, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to community history and heritage preservation.

Dr Perry McIntyre AM has worked as an historian, archivist and genealogist for over 40 years. She has been a councillor at the Society of Australian Genealogists (1991-2011), the History Council of NSW (President 2005-06), the RAHS, Australian Catholic Historical Society, the Great Irish Famine Commemoration Committee (Chair 2012-15; 2018-2020) and Mosman Historical Society. She has published and spoken widely on immigration and family history. Her PhD on convict family reunion, was published as Free Passage in Ireland in 2010 & by Anchor Books Australia in 2018. She was awarded an Order of Australia in 2021 for significant service to history preservation and genealogical organisations.

This session will be recorded so you can attend live or watch the recording later.