female immigration depots - northern NSW

[maddison]

Female Immigration Depots NSW
Does anyone know whether, during 1850s there were other immigration depots in northern NSW besides the one in Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney?  Have heard there was one at Grafton - perhaps some girls travelled north looking for work.  Are there any lists of occupants/dates or whether the inmates were successful in obtaining employment or/a husband?  Appreciate any info. Thank you.  maddison.

[Neil Todd]

If you are talking strictly immigration then NEWCASTLE one of the main one's. Not that it had an Immigration Port as such but then Port Macquarie was used as a shipping point. There were many others tried but failed as shipping points. There was no Highway as such so shipping was the main way of getting around.

Neil

[judb]

I don't have comprehensive knowledge but I know that there were some non-government privately run amenities for women and girls in NSW and Victoria. 

For example, Caroline Chisholm ran homes/hostels for immigrant women searching for work such as this one in Maitland:
http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/ahdb/search.pl?mode=place_detail;place_id=1254

TROVE has many mentions of Immigration Depots including this one giving the numbers of those looking for work from east Maitland in 1855
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/706004

However the reporting in TROVE is not very helpful and it's difficult to know if these refer to Government or provately run establishments..

You may find something here:
http://investigator.records.nsw.gov.au/Entity.aspxPath=%5CActivity%5C115%5CSeries%5CRelated

If you are particularly looking for Grafton possibly the local historical society could help?
http://www.clarencehistory.org.au/

Sorry, not very useful 

Judith

[majm]

http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/women-in-colonial-times 

"
Caroline worked hard to educate the women and get them paid work. She expanded her welfare agency beyond Sydney, setting up sixteen emigrant women's hostels around the colony."

Fingers crossed this link is useful.   I have not used it previously.

Cheers,  JM

[Neil Todd]

Maddison do you have the girls name, sometimes this can pinpoint exactly where she was?

Neil

[maddison]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions.  Trying to work out how in 1850s a young single female immigrant  would have found her way up the north coast from Sydney.  I know she was married in Ballina but was wondering just how she got from the Female Immigration Depot, Hyde Park Barracks in Macquarie Street to Ballina.  Your reference to Trove proved helpful - found a reference to Government providing some immigrants with free rail and steam boat tickets.  So perhaps these women had a little freedom in seeking employment or/husband.  Possibly she was able to travel upstream by boat from Sydney to Ballina but I don't think there would be passenger lists for 1850s. Thanks again for your help.  Maddison.

[judb]

This bio of Caroline Chisholm states that she "became a familiar figure on her white horse personally leading parties of young women into the interior where they would take on work as servants on country properties."

http://www.dbb.org.au/diocese/dsp-default.cfm?loadref=328

And - "She (Caroline Chisholm) soon had resting stages and employment agencies at a dozen rural centres"

http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/chisholm-caroline-1894

Once again no specific info but shows that there was some support for single girls and later for families.

Judith

[Neil Todd]

Quote
"Possibly she was able to travel upstream by boat from Sydney to Ballina but I don't think there would be passenger lists for 1850s"

She would most certainly have traveled by boat, if not all the way, most of it. Many, many boats both sail and steam plied between all the coastal ports from Sydney to Moreton Bay. It was the only way of effectively moving both produce and timber, always in demand in a growing Sydney. The ship owners got paid both ways if they could pick up passengers after dropping off the cargo. Trove has many notifications of passenger arrivals and departures from either Sydney or into Sydney. Those with a local newspaper like Newcastle and Port Macquarie likewise. Grafton was also a busy port town in those days. unfortunately you may need a more accurate time frame of her movements, but possible there is something on TROVE. But you haven't specified WHO she was, for some of the experts to check.

Neil

[Jennaya]

Possibly she was able to travel upstream by boat from Sydney to Ballina but I don't think there would be passenger lists for 1850s.

Hi Maddison, I think it is more correct to say that she travelled by sea (rather than upstream) from Sydney to Ballina on the mouth of the Richmond River. There is a good Wikipedia article about the Richmond River and its early settlement. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond_River  it was a major port from the 1840s.

Regards Jennaya