| |
extracted from
1847-1849 Colonization Circulars' No.s 7-9 Hints to Emigrants to the North American Provinces ca.
1847-1849
| 1. |
|
Caution against proceeding to New Brunswick &c. via Quebec:— Emigrants
whose destination may be New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, or
Nova Scotia, are particularly cautioned against taking passage to
Quebec, as there are no regular means of conveyance from that port
to any of the Lower Provinces. The charge of passage by occasional
schooners, is to Miramichi, New Brunswick, 15s. (shillings), to Prince
Edward Island, 20s. (shillings), to Halifax, Nova Scotia, 25s. (shillings),
each adult, without provisions ; length of passage from ten to twenty
days. The route to St. John, New Brunswick is much more difficult,
as vessels seldom leave Quebec direct for that port, and the general
mode of conveyance is by schooner to Miramichi, and thence by land.
Several weeks may elapse without a vessel offering for any of these
ports. |
| |
|
|
| 2. |
|
Caution to keep Contact Tickets:— Emigrants ought
to keep possession of their contract tickets, as otherwise, in the
event of the ship's being prevented by any accident from reaching
her destination, or of the passengers, for any other reason, not
being landed at the place named in the tickets, they may have a difficulty
in obtaining a return of their passage money, to which in that case
they would by law be entitled. |
| |
|
|
| 3. |
|
Caution to provide mean for subsistence and transport after
arrival:— Many
emigrants having latterly been found to rely on public funds for
their assistance in the colonies, they are hereby warned that they
have no claim of right on such fund, and that they should provide
themselves with sufficient means of their own for their subsistence
and conveyance into the interior from the port where they land.
In Canada, a recent law expressly prohibits relief from the Emigrant
Tax fund, excepting in cases of sickness on the part of destitute
emigrants. |
| |
|
|
| 4. |
|
Tools:— It is not generally considered desirable
that agricultural labourers should take out implements of husbandry,
as these can be
easily procured in the colonies ; but artisans are recommended to
take such tools as they may possess, if not very bulky. |
| |
|
|
| 5. |
|
Time to arrive in the Colony:— The best period is
early in May, so as to be in time to take advantage of the spring
and summer work, and to get settled before the winter sets in. |
| |
|
|
| 6. |
|
Average Length of Passage:— |
| |
|
| To Quebec |
46 days |
| Prince Edward Island (say) |
40 days |
| Nova Scotia |
38 days |
|
| |
|
By the Passengers' Act, provisions are however required to be laid
in for 70 days to which period passengers are sometimes protracted. |
| |
|
|
| 7. |
|
Maintenance on arrival, &c.:— Passengers are
entitled by law to be maintained on board in the same manner as during
the passage for 48 hours after arrival, unless within that time the
ship should quit the port in the prosecution of her voyage. The water
of the river St. Lawrence is stated to have a strong tendency to
produce bowel complaints in strangers. It should at first, therefore,
be drunk as sparingly as possible. |
| |
|
|
| 8. |
|
Colonial Tax on Emigrants:— |
| |
|
Canada.—
By a Colonial Law of 1849 the capitation tax of the previous year
has been modified and reduced. It is now 7s.6d. currency,
payable by the master, for every passenger of 15 or upwards, and 5s.
currency for each person between 5 and 15 ; children under 5 are
exempted.
If embarked, however, without the sanction of Her Majesty's Government,
ascertained by a certificate from an officer of Customs at the
port of embarkation, the tax is 10s. currency for every passenger.
|
| |
|
New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.—
By recent Acts of the Colonial Legislatures, to be in force for a
limited period, a tax of 10s. is levied for each emigrant
in ships reported by the master to the colonial authorities on
arrival between
the 1st April and 1st September in any year. If the report of arrival
be made between 1st September and 1st October the tax is increased
to 15s. a head, and if between the 1st October and the
1st of the ensuing April, to 20s. An additional rate is
charged, as in the case of Canada, for emigrants on board ships
placed in quarantine, except for purposes of cleaning or observation
: this rate is 5s. a head ; and if the ship be detained in quarantine
more than 10 days, a further sum of 5s.
|
| |
|
Prince Edward Island.—
The tax, according to the latest information, is two dollars,
or 10s. currency (equal to about 8s.4d. sterling),
on each adult coming from the United Kingdom, reckoning every
person above
fourteen, and two children between seven and fourteen, and
three children under seven years of age, as an adult. No charge
is made
on children under one year of age. The tax is doubled if the
emigrants arrive after the 1st of September, and trebled if
after the 1st of October. The Act to be in force for two years
|
| |
|
In each of the Colonies the tax is made payable by the master of
the ship. |
| |
|
|
| 9. |
|
Caution not to refuse good wages:— Until emigrants become
acquainted with the labour of the country, their services are of
comparatively small value to their employers. They should therefore
be careful not to fall into the common error of refusing reasonable
wages on their first arrival. |
| |
|
|
| 10. |
|
Route for Emigrants to Canada:— Emigrants intending
to settle in Canada will find it in all respects more advantageous
to proceed by Quebec.
As there is competition among the Steam-boat Companies at Quebec
and the Forwarding Companies at Montreal, emigrants should exercise
caution before agreeing for their passage, and should avoid those
persons who crowd on board ships and steam-boats, offering their
services to get passages. &c.
Emigrants destined for Upper Canada are advised not to pause at Quebec
or Montreal, but to proceed at once on their journey. If, however,
they require advice or direction, they should apply only to
the Government Agents, who will furnish gratuitously all requisite
information. |
| |
|
|
| |
|
The following is the usual route for emigrants from Quebec,
as far as Hamilton:— |
| |
|
Steamers leave Quebec for Montreal
every afternoon at five o'clock (Sundays excepted), calling at Three
Rivers, Port St. Francis and
Sorel, and arrive early the next morning. * On reaching Montreal,
emigrants proceeding further west should go at once to the emigrants'
sheds at the entrance of the Lachine Canal, where shelter and medical
advice, if required, may be obtained gratis. The Royal mail steamers
leave the Lower Canal Basin every day at half-past 10 o'clock for
Kingston, calling at all the intermediate places on the route, and
completing the passage in about 26 hours. The mail steamers leave
Kingston every morning after the arrival of the boats from Montreal,
calling at Coburg [sic], Port Hope, Toronto, Hamilton, Niagara and
Queenston. The steerage passage by this line of steamers, from Quebec
to Hamilton, a distance of 580 miles, is 27s.6d. currency,
or 22s.
sterling ; time, 3 days.
Steamers and screw propellers leave Montreal every afternoon for
Toronto and Hamilton, and all the intermediate landing-places, passage
from Montreal to Toronto or Hamilton 15s. currency, or 12s. sterling
each adult ; and occasionally, during the summer of 1848, this class
of steamers was running direct between Quebec and Hamilton. They
are longer on the route than the mail steamers ; but emigrants are
carried much cheaper, and they avoid all the expense of trans-shipment.
The steamer "Free Trader," made several trips
in 1848, from Quebec to Chicago, on Lake Michigan, a distance of
more than 1800 miles without trans-shipment, and several additional
vessels are expected to be on this route in 1849. They offer great
advantages to emigrants proceeding to the Western States, as they
make the route of the St. Lawrence much shorter and cheaper than
by way of the United States.
Steamers leave Montreal daily for Bytown,
through the Rideau Canal, to Kingston. This route is seldom used
but by travellers to the Ottawa or Bathurst district.
The probable expense of provisions may be taken at 1s. per day ;
making the expense from Quebec to Hamilton, about 30s. currency per
adult.
Emigrants will, on application to the
Government Agents at Montreal, Kingston, and Toronto, obtain permission
to stop in the emigrant sheds, and thus avoid the expense of lodging,
which is from 4d. to 6d. per night. |
| |
|
|
| |
|
Table of Distances, Fares, and other Particulars
relating to the Route from Quebec to Hamilton |
| |
|
Usual Route for
Emigrants |
Dis-
tance in
Miles |
Fare
for each
Adult |
Charges
for Per-
sonal
Baggage |
Time
on the
Journey |
| From Quebec to Montreal, calling at Three Rivers,
about 90 miles : Port St. Francis, 99 miles : and Sorel, 135 |
180 |
5s.
(2s.6d. in
July, 1844) |
No charge |
Abt. 14 hours |
* From Montreal to Kingston
(via Bytown, 120 miles) |
247 |
4s. |
2s.6d.
per cwt. |
Abt. 6 days |
| From Kingston to any Port of the Bay of Quinté |
35 to 70 |
2s. |
2s.6d.
per cwt. |
Abt. 6 days |
| From Kingston to Cobourg, or Port Hope |
90 |
5s. |
2s.6d.
per cwt. |
Abt. 9 hours |
| From Kingston to Toronto |
180 |
7s.6d |
2s.6d.
per cwt. |
Abt. 18 hours |
| From Kingston to Hamilton |
220 |
10s. |
2s.6d.
per cwt. |
Abt. 22 hours |
| Total from Quebec to Hamilton |
667 |
19s. |
2s.6d.
per cwt. |
Abt. 8 days |
| * The completion hitherto maintained upon this
portion of the main Canadian route has very much influenced the
fare for this passage ; but it has seldom exceeded 3s.9d. currency
in the steerage, and during the greater part of the season of
1848 it was as low as 6d. sterling each person. |
* 1848 note: During the year 1846, owing
to the completion of the Beauharnois and St. Lawrence Canals,
a shorter
route was opened from Montreal to Kingston, and steamers now
perform the distance regularly in about 28 hours, without any
increase in the charge for passage. The whole distance from
Quebec to Hamilton by this route appears to be 571 miles, and
is performed in about 72 to 80 hours, a less time than required
to go from Montreal to Kingston by the Rideau Canal route.
The cost of passage is 30s. currency, or 24s. sterling for
each adult.
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
From Kingston to Darlington, Whitby,
or Bond Head, 8s.9d.,
Oakville,
12s.6d. To Niagara or Queenston, 13s.9d., [for
1848, From Kingston to Darlington, Whitby, or Windsor,
120 miles,
6s.3d. to Niagara 7s.6d...] and to Ports
Burwell and Stanley, on Lake Erie, by schooners through the
Welland Canal, 7s.6d. to 10s. Land carriage
from 1d. to 2d. per mile. The rates here given
are for adults above 12 years ; for children between twelve and three
years of age, half
price is charged, and children under three years go free. One cwt.
of luggage allowed to each passenger.
Owing to the completion in the present season (1849), emigrants now
being carried from Quebec to Toronto for 7s.6d. currency, and to
Hamilton for 10s. currency. |
| |
|
|
| 11. |
|
Route from New York to Canada:— The following information
respecting this route has been furnished through Her Majesty's Consul
at New York, by a firm in that city. |
| |
|
|
| |
|
Canada, via Rochester ; by fast Steam-boat daily from
New York, thence by Railroad, or Erie Canal, to Rochester, and daily
line of Steam-boats on Lake Ontario, every evening, at 7 o'clock,
during the Summer months, and 6 o'clock during the Spring and Autumn. |
| |
|
|
| |
|
| From New York |
Fast Steamboat
and Erie Canal |
Fast Steamboat
and Railroad |
| Time |
Cost |
Time |
Dis-
tances |
Cost |
| to Cobourg or Port Hope including Peterboro'
(rear of Cobourg) |
Six to
Seven
Days |
16s.8d. |
2½ to
3
Days |
From
400 to
550
Miles |
25s.5½d. |
| to Bond Head and Darlington |
17s.8½d |
26s.6d. |
| to Whitby (Windsor, Scarboro' and Pickering) |
17s.8½d |
26s.6d. |
| to Toronto, Newmarket &c. |
17s.8½d |
28s.7d. |
| to Hamilton, Paris, Guelph and London |
19s.9½d |
29s.7½d |
| to Queenston, including Port Robinson on Welland Canal |
20s.10d |
29s.7½d. |
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
Passengers on the canal are allowed fire and water without extra
charge ; board on the canal one cent (equal to ½d.) a mile.
Cabin passage about double the above rates. Forty lbs. baggage on
the canal, and 100 lbs. on the lakes and rivers allowed free to each
adult passenger. Extra baggage, including river, canal and lake fare,
(75 cents to 1 dollar) 3s.1½d. to 4s.2d. per 100 lbs. for
the whole route. On the railroad emigrants' baggage goes entirely
free. All baggage transhipped at Albany from steam-boat to canal
or railroad, also at Rochester to the lakes. |
| |
|
|
| |
|
Opening / Closing Dates of the Ports / Canals in Canada and the
Hudson River, Erie Canal and Lake Erie |
| |
|
|
| 12. |
|
Expense or erecting a log hut:— The cost of a log
hut, such as settlers usually erest, may be stated at from £5
to £12. But when the chief part of the work is performed by
the emigrant himself, the cost is much less. These huts, if properly
constructed, are very warm and comfortable. |
| |
|
|
TheShipsList
TheShipsList®™ - (Swiggum) All Rights Reserved - Copyright © 1997-present
These pages may be freely linked to but not duplicated in any fashion
without written consent of
.
Last updated: January 07, 2007 and maintained by
and M. Kohli
|
