Life could be grim during the nineteenth century for poor immigrants disembarking at Victorian ports - unless relatives or nfriends looked after them until they found employment and could affort to rest a cottage or rooms.
Until the early 1850s, the government accepted a short-term responsibility for only assisted immigrants; then it was forced to proved shelters for gold seekers and others who inundated Melbourne. The government's Houseless Immigrants' Homes, usually the result of ad hoc, parsimonious and expedient decisions, could not accomodate the flood. Fortunately, concerned citizens also built and operated immigrant homes during this period.
The government and philanthropists believed that the immigrants should rapidly become self-reliant, hard-wroking members of society. Consequently, the shelters were no more than staging posts between shipboard life and colonial employment. The austere buildings, poorly furnished and equipped, in which the inmates were subjected to strict rules and regulations did not tempt anyone to prolong their stay.
Where, when and how ere the Victorian immigrant shelters erected during the nineteenth century? Who was permitted to enter, and what were the conditions and rules under which they lived? Answers are found in newspapers, letters, official documents and the immigrants' recollections.
Contents:
Acknowledgements
Chronology
Abbreviations
Prologue
Introduction
1. The Port Phillip Settlements
2. Government Immigrant Shelters of the 1850s
3. Regional Immigrant Depots
4. Hospitals and Quarantine Stations
5. Philanthropic Immigrant Shelters
Conclusion
Notes
Appenidx A. Governors of New South Wales
Appendix B. Emigration from Britain and Ireland to Port Phillip
Appendix C. Arrivals, departures, net ummigrant intake into Port Phillip
Appendix D. Populations of Port Phillip, Victoria and Melbourne 1836-1900
Appendix E. Extracts from colonial correspondence and reports
Appendix F. Rules, regulaions of Government Houseless Immigrants' Homes
Appendix G. Regulations, by-laws of Public Houseless Immigrants' Homes
Appendix H. Rules, regulations of Wesleyan Immigrants' Home 1853
Appendix I. Instructions to Matron at Hyde Park Barracks 1853
Appendix J. Regulations to be observerved in hiring of immigrants 1853
Appendix K. Female apprentice contract 1853
Appendix L. Tender offer to construct Chisholm's shelter sheds
Appendix M. Chisholm's shelter sheds - locations and notes
Bibliography
Index
