Emigration.–Official
Enquiries and applications having been addressed to the Colonial Department respecting emigration to His Majesty’s foreign possessions, it has been deemed convenient, with a view to the information and guidance of individuals interest in this subject, to state, that, 1 stly, Persons are not provided with passages, at the public expense to any of his Majesty’s settlements. 2 dly, Persons proceeding at their own expense to North America, and to the Cape of Good Hope, and desirous of settling there, require no previous authority from his Majesty’s Secretary of State to enable them to obtain grants of land, the Governor of those settlements being fully empowered to assign lands to applicants, proportioned to the means which they actually possess for bringing them into a state of cultivation. The extent of these grants must depend upon their quality, position, and other circumstances, which can only be ascertained in the Colony. 3 dly, Persons desirous of settling in New South Wales or Van Diemen’s Land must be provided with the sanction of his Majesty’s Secretary of State ; and this can only be obtained upon written application, accompanied by references to two or more respectable persons, as to the character of the applicant, and the extent of his capital, which must amount to Five Hundred Pounds, at the least.
Colonial Department, London. January, 1822.
Citation: Scotsman (Edinburgh, United Kingdom), 26 January 1821, available at the Scissors and Paste Database, http://www.scissorsandpaste.net/174.