Historical writing reflects the fact that Canada is a nation of
immigrants. Most accounts, however, concern the twentieth century
and are not about the English. This book about the Petworth Project
is an exception and, although narrow in scope, greatly adds to our
understanding of nineteenth century immigration to Canada.
Between 1832 and 1837, eighteen hundred men, women and children travelled
from Portsmouth, England to Upper Canada under the auspices of the
Petworth Emigration Committee. They came mainly from parishes around
Petworth in West Sussex in southeastern England and settled in what
is today south-central and western Ontario. This book, filled with
personal accounts, tells the story in marvellous detail: its English
setting, the voyages across the Atlantic and settlement in Toronto,
Hamilton, London and their vicinities.
The Petworth immigrants were primarily poor agricultural labourers
and their families who received both private and public assistance
to migrate. The Earl of Egremont (who owned much of the land around
Petworth), the local parishes, the British government, and colonial
officials in Upper Canada were all involved. The central character
in the story was Thomas Sockett, rector of Petworth, personal chaplain
to Egremont and founder of the Petworth Emigration Committee. He initiated
the emigrations, chartered the ships, recruited prospective immigrants
and, through correspondence, carefully observed their adjustment to
life in Canada. Sockett deserves much of the credit for the success
of the Petworth migrations.
The emigrations occurred during the time of the "Swing Uprisings"
in southern England. Threatening letters were circulated by a mythical
Captain Swing, and during the winter of 1830-1831 there were a series
of local protests involving strikes, arson, machine breaking and mass
demonstrations by unemployed agricultural labourers. Those in authority
grew increasingly alarmed. Egremont, Sockett, and Sir John Colborne
(Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada) were Tory paternalists who supported
government assisted emigration and settlement for humanitarian reasons
because they believed it would solve the problem of rural social unrest
by removing the unemployed poor from the local English parishes and
giving them a new start in Canada. Thus, it is interesting to see
that there was a link between the famous Captain Swing and some pioneers
on the frontier of Upper Canada.
During the 1830s, however, a new attitude toward the poor in the
countryside was emerging within the British government and, in the
aftermath of the Swing disturbances, a new Poor Law was introduced.
It was based on free market principles and on the belief that government
assistance only perpetuated poverty by encouraging dependency on public
relief. It rejected the rationale behind the Petworth emigrations.
Soon this new doctrine of laissez-faire liberalism was in place in
England and among government officials in Upper Canada. In 1836 Sir
Francis Bond Head (who is best remembered for precipitating the uprising
led by William Lyon MacKenzie) arrived in Upper Canada and replaced
Colborne as Lieutenant-Governor. Bond Head was fresh from his success
of efficiently introducing the new Poor Law in England's Kent county
and was opposed, in principle, to government assistance to immigrants
on either side of the Atlantic. The new political ideas which were
current in England and in Upper Canada help to explain why the Petworth
Project did not continue and why there was no large scale government
assisted emigration and settlement in the years that followed. Thomas
Sockett and those of similar views opposed the poor law reforms but
their paternalistic humanitarianism was out of favour in mid-nineteenth
century England.
Assisting Emigration to Upper Canada is a significant contribution
to the study of nineteenth century Canada and will mainly be read
by historians and used in university level studies. However, immigration
topics are a part of most high school Canadian Studies courses, and
the Petworth Project can be used by teachers to illustrate how immigrants
are affected by events in both their country of origin and their new
homeland. Too often we fail to emphasize that events in Canada do
not occur in isolation from the rest of the world. Wendy Cameron and
Mary McDougall Maude make clear that developments in England during
the 1830s, particularly those in rural parishes, were directly connected
to the lives of the people of Toronto, Hamilton and the Canadian frontier.
I strongly recommend this book to all serious students of nineteenth
century Canadian history. It is a remarkable achievement based on
an immense amount of research, much of which, due to space limitations,
has not been described in this review.