Tales from the Rails Week Two: Emigration

As part of our Tales from the Rails event, Connor Emerson, Curator of Social History at the museum, highlights objects from the museum’s collection relating to this week’s theme of emigration.

This week, as part of our Tales from the Rails event, we’re focusing on the role the railways played in emigration, so I’ve gathered a couple of pieces of interesting ephemera from our collections which highlight the work done by emigration agents in the mid to late 1800s.

The first piece is a pamphlet that was requested to be published, talking about the passage on Allan Line transatlantic crossings. The letter has been sent to Mr Thomas King of Bailieboro, from James Campaign. James travelled on the ‘Peruvian’, an Allan Line ship, which was built in 1863 by Robert Steele & Company, a shipbuilding firm based in Greenock, Scotland.

The ship James was on sailed from Liverpool to Quebec, stopping to take on emigrants at Londonderry, which is where he embarked, later arriving on 25^th April 1876 in Quebec, taking 11 days on the Londonderry to Quebec leg. James must have enjoyed his journey, saying, “I never saw passengers getting as good treatment as I have seen on my last voyage.” He goes on to talk highly of the people and the ability to have an agricultural business in Canada.

The second pieces of ephemera relate directly to the work of Emigration Agents in the North East. A letter from Richardson, Spence & Co explains that the recipient has been accepted as a local agent for American Line ships. The American Line seems to have formed in Philadelphia in 1872 as the American Steamship Co, carrying passengers and mail between Liverpool and Philadelphia via Cobh (Queenstown at this time) in Ireland.

Richardson, Spence & Co were a company that worked out of Liverpool, providing representation for shipping companies, acting as shipping brokers for passage. It is them who sent the letter appointing the recipient, presumably an emigration agent working in Chester-le-Street at this time.

Of note in the letter, is the different options that the emigration agent has available to them to sell on to any prospective emigrants, and the commission percentages that they will be paid on each different aspect. Although it is difficult to read due to the condition of the paper, it appears that this amounted to six per cent on ocean journeys, both outward and homeward, that were booked through them.

However, the interesting part is the line below, that states that the agent can also receive five per cent commission on railroad fares in America that are booked with them before travel. The agent would also have received a ‘Green Book of Railroad Rates’ which would have enabled them to charge the appropriate amount to the emigrant, which had to be paid up front. The emigrant would then be handed a receipt, which would be exchanged at the dock for the onward travel inland in America.

Alongside this there is a blank ‘Railroad Form’ which would have been filled in by the emigration agent when the payment was taken. The emigrant themselves would then have taken this form to the dock and exchanged it in Liverpool before leaving for America.

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This summer we’re marking Rail 200 by exploring the importance of the railway throughout different time periods. Each week we will be focusing on a different theme.

Visit this week (28th July – 3rd August) to learn about the Board of Guardians in The 1900s Town, and head to M G Armstrong’s to get help on the pros and cons of emigrating.

Next week, (4th – 10th August) be immersed in the campaign for Women’s Suffrage.

Use your Beamish Unlimited Pass or Friends of Beamish membership to enjoy Tales from the Rails. Pay once and visit free for a year!