EMIGRATION TO PORT PHILLIP BAY
Author: Craig Buerckner
WHY AUSTRALIA?
In 1846, the Port Phillip District was recovering from depression of the early 1840s, which meant there was a high demand for labour, not only in rural areas but also in towns. New South Wales (now Victoria) looked enviously at the neighbouring South Australia, where a steady flow of German immigrants had been arriving since 1844 to join a group of German settlers that had arrived there in
1838 and 1839. An editorial in the Port Phillip Gazette in December 1846 stated:
A healthy, useful, and moral emigration has been taking place during the last five years between Germany and South Australia. Our Adelaide contemporaries speak in the highest terms of their German Colonists - they are most industrious, temperate and peaceable in their habits, unexceptionable in their morals, and of sound religious principles. They have been accused of being narrow in their expenditure; but this is more than counterbalanced by the fact
that they buy everything for ready money; in a word the thrifty German forms the
beau ideal of a useful Colonist, and his industry is calculated to be of no ordinary advantage to the Colony he has selected for his future abode. We do not envy our neighbours their good fortune in possessing such a useful class of Colonists; but we think that, if possible, this District ought to take some steps to obtain a supply from the German Ports. We believe those persons who emigrate from that country pay their own passage, and commonly bring capital to
some extent with them. They generally settle in communities and cultivate the soil, and are adverse to parting company and spreading over the face of the country. Port Phillip possesses many agricultural districts, which would be eminently fitted to receive these hard-working emigrants, and we are inclined to think that if they could be in anyway acquainted with the resources, and the capabilities of this District, we might expect a fair portion of those inclined to emigrate.
This article was redefined and advertised in Germany as a way to entice Germans to immigrate to Australia. The Germans emigrated for various reasons, but mainly on religious or economic grounds as well as freedom from the stifling autocracy and bureaucracy. Those who immigrated to Australia amounted to only a few per cent. In the period of 1847 to 1851 about 174,00 persons emigrated from Germany to the United States of America, and only 5,600 came to Australia.
To obtain a place on the ship, a prospective employer had to apply to the government with a list of the people he wished to bring out, stating their names, ages and occupations. To be eligible, married couples had to be less than 50 years of age and singles over the age of 21 years.
The menu that was set out on brochures aboard J.C Godeffroy & Son ships was:
Sunday ? lb meat with dumplings or pudding and dried fruit.
Monday « lb bacon with peas and potatoes.
Tuesday ? lb meat with beans or sour lentils.
Wednesday « lb bacon with pickled cabbage.
Thursday ? lb meat with rice and potatoes
Friday « lb bacon with peas and potatoes
Saturday groats with plums and syrup.
In addition, each adult received « lb of butter, 5 lb of bread and ¬lb of sugar per week and coffee and tea in the morning and evening.
The fares were 200 Reichsthalers courant in the cabin without wine and spirits and 80 Reichsthalers in the steerage including meals, sleeping place and medical aid. Each steerage passenger had to provide his own bed, as well as eating and washing utensils. It was also required that he put his clothes and utensils in a sack which was to be laid on the sleeping place during the day. Each person was allowed to bring a box three feet long, 2« feet wide and 2« feet
high.