Migration from Rural East Sussex circa 1840

 This is an expanded version of a 1000-word essay written for a study Unit on migration, part of a Diploma of Family History at the University of Tasmania. The essay was to be about “the migration journey of an individual ancestor or family group”. The essay was a sort of follow-up to an essay on convict transportation for an earlier Diploma Unit which looked at transportation of convicts from East Sussex to Tasmania in the 1830s and 1840s.

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 My spouse’s great-grandmother, Emily Apps, was the granddaughter of two couples (William Apps and Philadelpia Foots, Charles Butcher and Elizabeth Chapman) who migrated from East Sussex in 1839 (Figure 1).^1,2 Both couples had relatives on the ships they arrived in. Philadelphia Apps had a sister, an uncle and two cousins on the Florist and Elizabeth Butcher had a brother on the Susan.³ There was a high percentage of Sussex-born passengers on both these ships (95% of the migrants on the Florist originated in Sussex).⁴

Figure 1: The English-born antecedents of Emily Apps.^1,2

  Both couples settled in the Macarthur region of the colony.^2,5-7 Later the families intermarried: two of Charles’ daughters married sons of William Apps and a third married a Chapman cousin.^8,9 The fourth daughter married William Apps himself after both were widowed.¹⁰ Of the other offspring of William Apps, Harriet and Seymour respectively married Samuel and Caroline Friend, offspring of Thomas and Mary Friend who migrated from East Sussex in 1841, and Reuben married his cousin Mary Foots who migrated in 1859.^11-14 Thus all of Charles Butcher’s daughters and five of William Apps’ nine adult offspring eventually married people with East Sussex roots. All the adult offspring of both the Butchers and the Appses eventually left the Macarthur district and moved to the Southern Highlands, the Goulburn Plains and beyond.¹⁵ How typical was their experience of Sussex migrants at this time?

 By the late 1830s rural Sussex had been struggling economically for over 20 years.^16,17 The drop in demand for produce at the end of the Napoleonic Wars meant that the dependence of agricultural labourers on employment for subsistence (a result of enclosure) began to be felt.^18,17 Combined with the steady mechanisation of agricultural processes, this led to high levels of poverty, unemployment and unrest.^19,20 In the absence of industrial development to provide alternative employment, parish rates had to be dramatically increased to support the unemployed. The answer was to encourage emigration.¹⁷

 The importance of migration as a solution to unemployment was shown by the inclusion of a clause authorising the use of parish rates to assist migration in the 1834 Poor Law Act.^21,22 The numbers of people assisted by each parish had to be reported to the Poor Law Commissioners for publishing in the Commission’s annual reports.²³ While it is estimated that only 5.4% of migrants received parish assistance, these figures give a snapshot of the differences in rates of migration between areas in England and Wales.^24,25 In the years 1835-40 34% of such migrants were primarily from Kent and Sussex.^23,26 In Sussex assistance rates were greatest in the extreme east of the County, the native area of the Butchers and the Appses (Figure 2).²³

Figure 2: Numbers assisted by Sussex Poor Law Unions 1835-1843.²³

  Meanwhile the Macarthur area of New South Wales had been settled between 1805 and 1816 by large grants to wealthy free settlers. These formed a “squattocracy” whose economy was supported by low-cost convict labour.^27,28,29 An important point about convict labour is the continual turnover in the workforce. As convicts were emancipated, fresh convicts were required to replace them. By the late 1820s New South Wales was “importing” ~3,000 male convicts per year.³⁰ The need for land for the emancipated convicts and new free settlers was also driving the expansion of settlement into the Southern Highlands and Goulburn Plains, the town of Goulburn being established in 1833.^27,31,32

 In New South Wales, opposition to convict transportation grew steadily with the growth of the free population in the 1830s.^33,34 Additionally, most free migrants to New South Wales primarily aimed to be wealthy gentry or entrepreneurs.^35,34,36 The cost of travel to the colony was prohibitive for the free migrant workers required by such landholders and businessmen.^34,17 If or when transportation ended another way would have to be found to supply servants and labourers to the wealthy. In 1835 Governor Bourke proposed the subsidisation of the cost of the voyage to New South Wales for selected migrants with desirable skills and a minimum outfit.³⁷ In 1838 the assignment of convicts to the private sector ceased.^37,38,34 The migrants to replace the convicts were selected by agents in England.²⁴ Sussex had initially used the parish assistance scheme to assist with travel costs to Canada.²³ With colonial subsidies for travel they started assisting by outfitting prospective migrants for New South Wales with ~250 migrants assisted in 1838 and nearly 500 in 1839 (Figure 3). Given the low percentage of migrants subsidised this is indicative of high levels of migration from Sussex in these years.²⁵ Parish support continued in later years but at a lower level. The Appses and the Butchers were part of this migration boom.

Figure 3: Number of migrants assisted per month by Sussex Parishes.²³

 The intermarriage between families originating in East Sussex was not limited to the Appses and Butchers. Another of the Friend offspring married Caroline Funnell who had also arrived in NSW from East Sussex on the Florist in 1839.^39,40,41 Altogether I have found 16 families or individuals related to my spouse by blood or marriage who arrived in Australia from East Sussex between 1838 and 1841.⁴² Of these sixteen arrivals, fourteen initially settled in the Macarthur or Southern Highlands region. Of the families which settled elsewhere there were no marriages to persons with Sussex-born origins. Like the Appses and Butchers, most of the offspring of the Macarthur families eventually settled further south and west, beyond the Great Dividing Range (Figure 4).

Figure 4: Early residence in NSW of the migrant families (green pins) and the final working residence of their offspring (yellow pins). Pin size reflects the number of offspring in a location (maximum is 11). Two offspring moved to the Far North Coast.⁴²

 In conclusion the Appses and Butchers were part of a migration boom from East Sussex driven by long term unemployment. This occurred at a time of major economic change in NSW caused by the phasing out of convict labour. The migration of poor labourers was enabled by assistance schemes covering the cost of the voyage, with numerous migrants selected for agricultural skills.  Many of these replaced convict labour in the “squattocracy” of the Macarthur region. Large numbers of families from East Sussex in a relatively small area meant that intermarriage between families from Sussex was common. However, as their offspring grew up they found themselves in the same situation their parents had been in in Sussex and took the same solution, migration. Most moved south and west to the Goulburn Plains and beyond to areas where there was less European settlement and more opportunity for property ownership.

Sources

1. Baptism certificate of Emily Apps, born 11 February 1867, Thomas Apps, born 9 November 1844, Ellen Butcher, born 18 December 1846, Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, New South Wales, 5826 Vol: 121C, 1634 Vol: 30a, 2889 Vol: 32a.
2. New South Wales State Archives, NRS-5314 Entitlement certificates of persons on bounty ships, unpaginated, Entitlement Certificates for William & Philadelphia Apps, 1839 and for Charles & Elizabeth Butcher, 1839, Ancestry.com, ‘New South Wales, Australia, Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1828-1896’, accessed 18 Apr 2021.
3. New South Wales State Archives, NRS-5314 Entitlement certificates of persons on bounty ships, unpaginated, Entitlement Certificate for Thomas & Elizabeth Selmes, 1839, for Edward Britt & daughter Jane, 1839, for John & Ann Venness, 1839 and for William & Harriet Chapman, 1839, Ancestry.com, ‘New South Wales, Australia, Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1828-1896’, accessed 18 Apr 2021.
4. New South Wales State Archives, 'Passenger List for Florist, 26 Oct 1839', https://indexes.records.nsw.gov.au/ebook/list.aspx?series=NRS5313&item=4_4780&ship=Florist, accessed 25 Apr 2021.
5. New South Wales State Archives, NRS-12937 Registers of baptisms, burials and marriages 1878-1856, Transcript of Registers of St Peter's Church Campbelltown, page 97, baptism entry of Agnes Butcher, baptised 19 April 1840, page 98, baptism entry of Elizabeth Apps, baptised 3 May 1840, page 108, baptism entry of Julia Butcher, baptised 4 July 1841, page 105, baptism entry of Harriet Apps, baptised September 1842, page 123, baptism entry of Seymour Apps, baptised 28 March 1847, page 210, baptism entry of Mary Anne Apps, baptised 23 September 1849, page 227, baptism entry of John Apps, baptised 25 January 1852, page 293, baptism entry of Julia Apps, baptised 15 September 1853, page 386, baptism entry of Charles Apps, baptised 23 September 1855, page 229 and burial entry of Julia Apps, buried 21 February 1855, ARK Reel 5006-5015.
6. New South Wales State Archives, NRS-12937 Registers of baptisms, burials and marriages 1878-1856, Transcript of Registers of St Thomas' Chapel Narellan, page 89, burial entry of Agnes Butcher, buried 6 May 1840, ARK Reel 5006.
7. New South Wales State Archives, NRS-12937 Registers of baptisms, burials and marriages 1878-1856, Transcript of Registers of St John's Church Camden, page 133, baptism entry of Emma Butcher, baptised 2 June 1844, page 100 and baptism entry of Alfred Butcher, baptised 15 July 1849, ARK Reel 5008-5010.
8. Marriage certificates of William Apps and Julia Butcher, married 19 January 1860 and of Thomas Apps and Ellen Butcher, married 17 October 1870, Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, New South Wales, 1860/001467.
9. Marriage entry for George Chapman and Emma Butcher, married 30 December 1861, Marriage Register of St Paul's Church Emu Plains, page 185, Sydney Diocesan Archives, Anglican Church Diocese of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, Ancestry, Sydney, Australia, Anglican Parish Registers, 1814-2011, accessed 30 April 2021.
10. Marriage certificate of William Apps and Sarah Ferguson, married 3 Apr 1889, Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, New South Wales, 1881/002810.
11. Marriage certificates of Seymour Apps and Caroline Friend, married 23 September 1874 and of Samuel John Friend and Harriet Apps, married 8 May 1862, Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, New South Wales, 2452/1874, 1734/1862.
12. New South Wales State Archives, NRS-5314 Entitlement certificates of persons on bounty ships, unpaginated, Entitlement Certificate for Thomas & Mary Friend, 1841, Ancestry.com, ‘New South Wales, Australia, Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1828-1896’, accessed 18 Apr 2021.
13. Marriage certificate of Reuben Apps and Mary Foots, married 7 April 1859, Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, New South Wales, 1859/001680.
14. New South Wales State Archives, NRS-5316 Persons on bounty ships (Agent's Immigrant Lists), unpaginated, Passenger List for "Daphne" arrived NSW 16 January 1859, Ancestry.com, ‘New South Wales, Australia, Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1828-1896’, accessed 18 Apr 2021.
15. Death certificates of William Apps, died 14 June 1911, of Reuben Apps, died 28 June 1898, of Elizabeth Worner, died 17 May 1915, of Harriet Friend, died 5 July 1930, of Thomas Apps, died 5 August 1911, of Seymour Apps, died 8 March 1917, of Mary Ann Headland, died 15 Jan 1925, of John Apps, died 23 April 1872, of Charles Apps, died 18 August 1946, of Sarah Apps, died 29 January 1889, of Julia Apps, died 9 May 1913, of Emma Chapman, died 27 Aug 1917, of Ellen Apps, died 26 November 1896, and of Alfred Butcher, died 27 Jul 1915, Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, New South Wales, 1911/008334, 1898/005461, 7806/1915, 14339/1930, 1911/010077, 3626/1917, 2736/1925, 4071/1872, 17434/1946, 1889/006574, 9561/1913, 13345/1917, 1896/013565, 12943/1915.
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40. New South Wales State Archives, NRS-12937 Registers of baptisms, burials and marriages 1878-1856, Transcript of Registers of St John's Church Camden, page not readable, baptism entry of Caroline Funnell, baptised 28 Aug 1857, ARK Reel 5009.
41. New South Wales State Archives, NRS-5314 Entitlement certificates of persons on bounty ships, unpaginated, Entitlement Certificate for James and Esther Funnell, 1839, Ancestry.com, ‘New South Wales, Australia, Assisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1828-1896’, accessed 18 Apr 2021.
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