Emigration to the Cape of Good Hope. ( Official Circular.)

The following circular has been addressed to the parties whose lists of the individuals engaged to proceed with them as settlers to the Cape of Good Hope have been approved of by the Colonial Department: –

Downing Street, London, 30th Sept. 1819.

Sir – I am directed by Earl Batburst to acquaint you, that he has under consideration your letter of, and that he accepts the proposal which you have mde, to take a party of able bodied settlers, with their families, to the Cape of Good Hope, where a grant of land will accordingly be assigned to you on your arrival, in conformity with the regulations laid down by his Majesty’s Government.

I have therefore to request, that you will immediately transmit to me three separate lists of the individuals who have placed themselves under your direction, and I inclose to you proper returns for that purpose ; at the same time, I deem it necessary to mention, that it is absolutely requisite that the details respecting the individuals of your party which you are called upon to state in your returns should be correctly specified, as any erroneous statement upon these heads, but more particularly in respect of the age of the individuals, could not fail to be productive of much inconvenience. Upon receiving there returns, I shall lose no time in stating to you the amount of the money which you will be required to deposit under the existing regulations, and the mode in which the payment is to be made.

I am, Sir, your most obedient servant,

(Signed) Henry Goulburn.

P.S. – If there be any Officers on the half pay of the army or navy, or military of naval pensioners among the individuals proceeding under your direction, it will be necessary that you should transmit to me a (fourth) list, specifying their usual place of residence, and the designation under which they are respectively known at the War Office, and at the Admiralty, in order that I may take the necessary measures to enable them to receive their allowances in the colony.

These persons should, on their part, immediately apply to the Secretary at War, and to the Secretary of the Admiralty, stating their intention to emigrate to the Cape of Good Hope, and requesting instructions for their guidance in respect to the receipt of their allowances.

In making your arrangements for embarkation, it will be necessary that you should bear in mind, that you will be allowed tonnage for the conveyance of the baggage of your party, at the rate of one ton (measurement 40 cubic feet) for each single able bodied individual, and two tons for each able bodied individual who is accompanied by his family.

The above circular is accompanied by a form of the required return ; the several heads of which are distinguished in separate columns, as follows:

Return of settlers proceeding to the Cape of Good Hope, under the direction of – Names of the men – their age – profession or trade. Names of the women – their age. Names of the male children – their age. Names of the female children – their age. Deposit money payable by the respective settler.


Citation: Caledonian Mercury (Edinburgh, United Kingdom), 11 October 1819, available at the Scissors and Paste Database, http://www.scissorsandpaste.net/154.