Australian Colonies.–We have seen a printed circular containing extracts of a letter from Mr John Sullivan, surgeon-superintendent of the Emigrant ship Canton, dated Sydney, 6th October 1835, addressed to Edward Forster, Esq. chairman of the Emigration Committee, London. In this letter Mr Sullivan mentions that the female emigrants, on landing, were placed in spacious and commodious buildings, adjoining the Government House, at Sydney, where every attention was paid to their comfort and security from improper intrusion. The writer further states :–” We landed in Sydney a greater proportion of well conducted, industrious, and virtuous young women, than were ever before landed from any of the ships of the Emigration Committee that came to these Colonies. Three-fourths of the young women were engaged, and went into comfortable situations, on the first and second days after landing ; and before a week all the useful and good servants, viz. laundresses, cooks, servants of all work, dairymaids, and housekeepers, were in places, many of them in Syndey and the surroundings districts ; several were taken up the country to Maitland and Bathurst ; and as many more cooks, laundresses, dairymaids, or farm servants as we had, could obtain places in that time, for these are the descriptions of female servants in demand throughout the colony. The wages varied from t8 to t20. Some, who were not very good servants of all work and housemaids, got t8 to t10 ; cooks and laundresses, t12 to t16 (the latter are much wanted) ; housemaids and needlewomen, t10 to t12 ; housekeepers, t16 to t20. Governesses also are much sought for it ; if we had had twenty qualified they could have got situations in respectable families and schools ; but the salaries to this class are small, say t25 to t40. Nursery governesses got t20. All the male emigrants who understood agriculture, or the management of stock in general, but particularly sheep, were engaged immediately, at salaries varying from t40 to t50, with a house and rations for family use.” We understand that the Canton had a number of females from Edinburgh and its neighbourhood, and the above information must be highly satisafactory to their relatives.
Citation: Scotsman (Edinburgh, United Kingdom), 16 April 1836, available at the Scissors and Paste Database, http://www.scissorsandpaste.net/256.