London Emigration Committee Between the years of 1833 and 1837, a total of fourteen ships sponsored by the London Emigration Committee departed from England and Ireland as part of a scheme to send female emigrants to Sydney, Hobart and Launceston Australia where young women of good character were said to be in high demand. About 4000 […]

In July of 1851, Victoria’s first gold rush began and before the end of the year, gold fever had spread across Australia and beyond. Workers on Victoria’s sheep farms, lured by tales of gold, abandoned their posts and went in search of their fortunes. In an effort to fill the resulting labour shortage, Britain’s Emigration Commission was sponsoring emigrant families […]

Thomas Thistlewood inherited £200 sterling on the death of his father Robert in 1727 when he was but six years old although the bulk of the Thistlewood estate was left to Thomas’ elder brother John. And so it was that when he became of age, Thomas Thistlewood made the decision to leave England , anxious to seek adventure and […]