Origins
Contrary to what is widely
supposed, though the child emigrants were all from disadvantaged backgrounds,
not all of them were orphans. Some had either one or both parents still living, or
other relatives. According to the Society’s regulations, the consent of the
child was obtained before emigration; this also applied to the consent of parents
or guardians. There were complaints later that a few children had been sent
overseas without parental consent. Whether these claims were true or not, it is
unlikely that the CFS would have risked undermining its public image in this
way and inviting the downfall of its scheme.
Most of the juveniles came from
parish workhouses. Some were taken
out of prisons such as Coldbath Fields and Newgate, but child emigrants were not sent to the Cape Colony
A whistle woke the boys at 5.45
a.m.; they washed and dressed; there was a 6.15 roll call followed by
inspection, scripture reading and prayers; from 7.15 to 8 a.m. they attended
school – the commandments, reading, spelling and writing. At 8.00 breakfast,
eaten in silence, continued until 8.45 a.m.
From 9 a.m. to noon they were working in the fields. Dinner was at 1
p.m., followed by library or playtime (carefully supervised to ensure there was
no gambling) until 2 p.m. They worked in the fields till 5 p.m. Tea was from 6
to 6.15, then further studies – maths, reading and spelling. Afterwards there
was another roll call, then more scripture, prayers, and bed at 8.30 p.m. A long
day: the boys must have tumbled gratefully into their hammocks.
The girls’ regimen was equally
gruelling, though directed towards feminine pursuits under Brenton’s dictum,
‘The Bible and the spade for the boy, the Bible, broom and needle for the
girl’: equality of the sexes wasn’t high on his list of priorities. At
Chiswick, where there were 55 girls in 1835, they were taught dairy-keeping,
cleaning, laundry, sweeping and scrubbing, laying and clearing tables, and
making clothes. They spent three months in the institution before they were
considered suitable to emigrate. One ‘very bad girl’ who had previously been in
prison was kept at Chiswick for seven months, as she was ‘a thief, and much given
to falsehood’. In addition, she ‘bit a piece out of one of her companions’
shoulders’. These imperfections didn’t prevent the biter being sent to the Cape .
Arrangements
Under the terms of the indenture,
a weekly sum of 4d (rising to 6d when the child reached the age of 16) was to
be paid by the Cape employer, part of it to
the apprentice and two thirds into a savings bank for the child’s future
benefit. A sum of about seven pounds was also paid by the employer to defray
expenses of the voyage from England
and any incidental charges which arose in the Colony. In theory, this sum was a
form of insurance that the apprentice would be well-treated by the employer,
and in cases of ill-treatment the indenture would be cancelled, the master
losing the services of his apprentice and thereafter never being allowed to
take on one of the Society’s children.
In practice, these safeguards weren’t always properly implemented.
Applications for apprentices were
made to the treasurer of the CFS commissioners at the Cape
and, on the arrival of the emigrants, masters were selected for the children by
the commissioners according to the latter’s ‘knowledge of the applicants and
description of character and disposition in the boys and girls’. This must have
involved some guesswork. Certainly, not all apprentices remained with the
masters to whom they were initially indentured.
The commissioners were appointed
by the CFS to administer its operation in the Colony from 1834. As increasing
numbers of children were sent out, sub-committees were formed at places such as
Paarl, Wynberg, Stellenbosch and Caledon
- evidence that the CFS wished to maintain control of the situation and that
the distances between centres proved more of a problem than the Society had
envisaged. This is another example of poor colonial reconnaissance on the part
of the CFS.
Departure
Brenton wrote in September 1833
after the departure of the Bolton for Algoa Bay
It could be that their cheers
were occasioned more by excitement at their departure – or perhaps relief at
escaping the strange mix of piety and drudgery at the CFS ‘asylum’ - than in
appreciation of the Society’s efforts on their behalf. After the rigorous
training phase, a three-month sea voyage would be a lark.
The young emigrants had no grasp of geography and the Cape of Good Hope might as well have been another planet
for all they knew of that Colony or the future awaiting them there. The CFS,
while setting up complex arrangements for the reception, dispersal, and
apprenticeship of the children through its commissioners in the Colony, failed
to take into account prevailing colonial conditions. Idealism and Reality were
set on a collision course.
To be continued
 |
| G F Angas: Cape Town from the Camps Bay Road |
No comments:
Post a Comment