‘The idle and the drunken won't do there’: Poverty, the new poor law and nineteenth‐century government‐assisted emigration to Australia from the United Kingdom∗

∗ Thanks to members of the Economic History Seminar at the University of New South Wales and the History Seminar at Flinders University for their constructive criticisms of earlier versions of this paper; to Ralph Shlomowitz for his detailed responses: to the Australian Research Council for funding the research and writing; and to two anonymous referees whose criticisms led to a radical reshaping of the article.

Abstract

Rather than exploiting parish rates to sweep their institutionalised poor onto the decks of Australia‐bound ships, poor law guardians used emigration subsidies as a means of rewarding their ‘deserving poor’, those who had bypassed the workhouse gates. This paper argues that tight bureaucratic scrutiny prevented workhouses from serving as conduits for the overseas eviction of paupers, and examines ways in which the labouring poor tapped public and private subsidies enabling them to secure a passage to Australia where their skills were in demand.

Notes

∗ Thanks to members of the Economic History Seminar at the University of New South Wales and the History Seminar at Flinders University for their constructive criticisms of earlier versions of this paper; to Ralph Shlomowitz for his detailed responses: to the Australian Research Council for funding the research and writing; and to two anonymous referees whose criticisms led to a radical reshaping of the article.