Emigration back to 'Research'
The Salvation Army ran emigration schemes to all parts of the Empire during the early years of the twentieth century.
The Army usually appointed a ‘conductor’ to accompany the emigrating groups, providing support throughout the journey. Demand was such that eventually The Salvation Army had to charter suitable ocean liners, and let them ‘fly the Army flag’. These vessels would have carried just one class of passenger, who need not have been migrants, and could have been of any religious denomination.
The Army also addressed the issue of how much money was needed by migrants to allow them to live in reasonable comfort during their journey. Those who were assisted by the Army under the ‘Empire Settlement Act’ were often issued with a free railway ticket to the port of departure, and if they desired, would have been guaranteed work in the country they were emigrating to. In the main this would have been domestic work for the women and girls, and farm or industrial work for the men and boys. Many of the men and boys would have spent a period of training at The Salvation Army’s Hadleigh Land and Farm Colony in Essex.
Personal records of individuals who emigrated have not survived, but we can provide general information from contemporary booklets, reports and articles from ‘The War Cry’. If necessary we can put you in contact with the Salvation Army Heritage Centre of the relevant country, where they may have personal information. The ‘Emigration Gazette’, an Army publication offering advice and information to those thinking of migrating, would also be a helpful resource and can be found at The British Library.
If you are searching for information regarding a person who you believe to have emigrated with the Army’s assistance, we need to know their name , and as much genealogical information as possible. If this type of information is not known, The Family Records Centre is a useful contact at 1 Myddleton Street, London EC1R 1UW.
As well as knowing the date the person travelled, it is also important that we know the age they were at that time, as different emigration schemes applied to different age groups.
It is important that we know the country to which the person travelled as some details vary depending on the destination. It is also useful for us to know the name of the ship as we have some material relating to actual vessels and there are sometimes specific references in ‘The War Cry’. If we do have detailed information it enables us to give the most accurate account of a person’s experience of emigration.
If you know the name of the ship, the passenger list may be available at the Public Record Office, Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Surrey, TW9 4DU. www.pro.gov.uk/FamilyHistory/default.htm.
We are open to visiting researchers by appointment: Tues, Weds &Thurs / 9.30-3.30 (Telephone: 020 7737 3327) For visiting researchers, we charge £5 for ½ day (up to 3 hours), or £10 for a full day (up to 6 hours), and for research undertaken by our staff, we charge £5 for an initial search (whether we find any information or not) and £5 for each additional hour’s research (up to a maximum of 5 hours).
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