On the subject of early emigration and unscrupulous agents, I see that in
the Local Government Act of 1894 (Sec 27) the new district councils took
over from "justices out of session" the power or duty to "grant licenses for
passage brokers and emigrant runners."
This power probably stemmed from a desire to control these unscrupulous
people but I have been unable to find any definition or detailed description
of the activities of a passage broker or an emigrant runner. Or whether any
were actually licensed after the 1894 Act.
It may be that "passage broker" is simply an early name for what we now call
a "travel agent"
Brian Read
> From: Peter King <[log in to unmask]>
>
>
> K. Morgan, Bristol and the Atlantic Trade (1993), 124-7 discussed the
> servant trade briefly. He refers to newspaper adverts. there were also
> dealers, some of them unscrupulous who rounded up potential emigrants.
> The emigrant was offered a 'free' passage but found himself on arrival
> indentured to a settler often for seven years to pay for their passage.
> Morgan cites a number of books and articles, but some of his sources are
> manuscript.
>
> Peter King
>
>
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