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The Petworth emigration experiment |
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A better life for some
Months of disquiet followed, but all was not lost for the workers. On 1st March 1832, the Reverend Thomas Sockett, Petworth parish vicar, William Knight, a corn chandler, and Thomas Chrippes, auctioneer, cabinetmaker and upholsterer and George Wyndham, the Earl of Egremont, established the "Petworth Emigration Committee". It centred on the Earl of Egremont's Petworth estate. Their resolution was to attract many hundreds from neighbouring parishes and from all over the south of England.
It was principally these men who sought to alleviate the appalling conditions in which the poor were forced to work and live, by controlling the workers' destiny, ostensibly "for their own good". The committee's scheme was to provide financially assisted emigration to Upper Canada for the poor farm labourers. 
The Atlantic journey's end was welcome
© National Archives of Canada |
But the committee's intentions were not entirely philanthropic.
Landowners, including the Earl of Egremont, were committed to paying a Poor Rate for their workers within the respective parishes. Although workers were becoming increasingly redundant through labour saving agricultural practices, the Poor Rate still applied. But, with the Petworth Emigration Committee paying for free passage to Canada, landowners were relieved of their on-going financial responsibilities.
Between 1832 and 1837, 1,800 men, women and children from the Petworth area travelled from Portsmouth to Upper Canada under the auspices of the Petworth Emigration Committee. The cost of the passage from Portsmouth to York, in Upper Canada was set at: adults - £10, children under 14 - £5 and infants under 12 months - free.
The Committee made sure those who decided to take advantage of the journey to Canada were made aware of what they would need to initially survive both the journey and settlement. A list of items to take, from warm great coats to four pairs of stockings, was issued, as well as advice on taking working tools, kettles and bedding. It seemed they had the emigrant's best interests at heart.
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