APPLICATIONS for FREE PASSAGE to SA 1836-1840

A COLONIAL DREAM

In 1829, a group in Britain led by Edward Gibbon Wakefield were looking to start a colony based on free settlement rather than convict labour. After problems in other Australian colonies arising from existing settlement methods, the time was right to form a more methodical approach to establishing a colony. In 1829 an imprisoned Wakefield wrote a series of letters about systematic colonisation which were published in a daily newspaper. He suggested that instead of granting free land to settlers as had happened in other colonies, the land should be sold. The money from land purchases would be used solely to transport labourers to the colony free of charge, who were responsible and skilled workers rather than paupers and convicts. Land prices needed to be high enough so that workers who saved to buy land of their own remained in the workforce long enough to avoid a labour shortage.

In 1834 the South Australian Association, with the aid of such figures as George Grote, William Molesworth and the Duke of Wellington persuaded the British Parliament to pass the South Australian Colonisation Act and the British government appointed a Board of Commissioners from people nominated by the South Australian Association, with the task of organising the new colony and meeting the condition of selling at least £3,500 worth of land. 		  


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The following webpages present a comprehensive list of 9236 applicants who applied for FREE PASSAGE [both Successful and Unsuccessful] including details of their occupations and address at the time of applying, all transcribed by Diane Cummings, Bob May, Ros Dunstall and members of The Pioneers Association of South Australia. Surnames and Details in Blue indicate Application was unsuccessful. Research indicates that a number of these applicants eventually made their way to South Australia.


1836-1841 FreePassage Applicants: A-B

1836-1841 FreePassage Applicants: C-D

1836-1841 FreePassage Applicants: E-G

1836-1841 FreePassage Applicants: H-J

1836-1841 FreePassage Applicants: K-L

 1836-1841 FreePassage Applicants: M-N

1836-1841 FreePassage Applicants: O-R

1836-1841 FreePassage Applicants: S-T

1836-1841 FreePassage Applicants: U-Y


APPLICATION for FREE PASSAGE to SA 1836-1840

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    People from England, Wales, Cornwall and Scotland emigrated for many reasons. Whilst some fled from religious persecution, most left for economical reasons, especially poverty at home and the inducement of a new life abroad. Public lectures were held to promote emigration within the working classes, encouraging labourers, mechanics and artisans to apply for Free Passage to South Australia. 9236 applied for Free Passage. Of these, 4730 applicants received notice that their Application was successful, and they embarked on the longest journeys of their lives - Bound for South Australia. Some 4506 Applications were not successful. Research indicates that a number of these applicants eventually made their way to South Australia.

Australian Joint Copying Project - Public Record Office, London

The Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP) began in 1945 when an agreement, to copy material relating to Australia and the Pacific held in repositories in the United Kingdom, was signed by the National Library of Australia and the State Library of New South Wales. Filming began in 1948 and for ten years the work of the Project was confined entirely to the Public Record Office (PRO) in London. The AJCP was probably the longest-running project of its kind in the world. It located, described and filmed thousands of classes and collections of Australian, New Zealand and Pacific records held in hundreds of institutions, organisations and homes in almost every part of Britain and Ireland. It produced and despatched to Australia over 10,000 reels of microfilmed records dating from 1560 to 1984.

Of these 10,000 reels of microfilm there are two reels which record 9236 Applications for Free Emigration to South Australia. Much of the information recorded on these Application Forms were transcribed in what is known as the FREE PASSAGES REGISTER [a copy of which is held at the State Library of South Australia].