Byrne Settlors

[grayham]

My g/g/grandfather, Laurence Suttie, and his brother/s left Buckhaven in Fife Scotland in 1850/1 and went to South Africa as one of the settlers with the Byrne Immigration Scheme. Does anyone know anything about the Scheme, where they sailed from and the ships they sailed on.

[down-under]

Genealogy world seems to have the 1850s Byrne Settlers

www.genealogyworld.net


Pam

[down-under]

The Byrne Settlers 1849-1851
The Term Byrne Settler was any emigrant bought to Natel by the company, J.C.Byrne and Co. These people landed  in Natel on 20 ships
during the years 1849-1851. Allotments were laid out in the Byrne Valley, near Richmond.

J C Byrne offered prospective emigrants a passage plus 20 acres of land at the following rates. L10 for a steerage passage(L15 was the usual fare) and L19 for an intemediate berth.
Children under 14 were charged L5 and were entitled to 5 acres. Cabin passages  could travel for L35, but were not entitled to land ( on the ship`s list they appeared as passengers while the others were labelled 'emigrants')
To take advantage of the land Allotment an emigrant had to be approved by Her Majesty`s Land and Emigrant Commissioners his/her age had to be maximun 45, unless accompanied by adult offspring. The only acceptable occupations were the practicals ones of farmers, blacksmith,wheelwright,waggon maker, dairymaid and agriculteral labourer, ect.

Byrne was fortunate  to obtain the suveyor and civil engineer  John Swales Moreland as his agent in Natal.
Moreland was committed to his task, energetic, and loyal, despite the various trials he was called on to bear.

The first vessel, The Wanderer, sailed on the 24th Jan 1849 with 15 emigrants. She arrived on the 16th May, followed in July by the Washington, on which John Moreland was a passenger.

Byrne miscalculations eventually scuttled his scheme. He would have been saved these had he actually visited the Colony.
Many emigrants rejected their allotments as not worth the payments of survey fees, and either found jobs in near by towns. Or purchased, or leased land at very little cost elsewhere. They were not going to buy Byrnes land at 5/- an acre.

Moreland found it extremely difficult to find suitable land for the emigrants ie: well watered with good soil, access to timber for fire and building.

Things went from bad to worse and eventualley in sept 1850  Byrne surrendered his estate.


Pam

[grayham]

Hello Pam

Thank you very much for the information on the Byrne settlers. I have been trying to find something on them for a long time.

Regards

Grayham

[forkman]

It looks like Lawrence Suttie is also my g/g/grandfather. My mother's mother, Florence Suttie, was a daughter of Lawrence's son William. Would like to know more about the Suttie's.