I’m researching a Ketley mining family of nine who emigrated to America in the late 1870s. I have discovered at that time it cost $30 (£7) per person in steerage, a huge amount for a family to find. Was there any assisted passage for a miner and his family emigrating to America?
John,
Many thanks for your reply. A very interesting article and after reading it goes a long way to answering many of my questions about my relative in America. Arrving as a miner then after a couple years saving, a farmer on a homestead of 160 acres.
Thanks again, John
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John,
You ask a good question. I also had relatives who emigrated from East Shropshire to find work in American industry. Unfortunately, I have no information on assisted passage schemes to America specifically for East Shropshire. However, I found the general information below to be helpful.
According to the Liverpool Maritime Museum:
https://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/archivesheet64#
“There were many assisted emigrants to Australia and New Zealand in the 19th century, also to Canada, especially in the early 20th century. There were a number of private emigration schemes to the US, but none had government backing since they did not contribute to British interests in what later became the Empire, and later still, the Commonwealth.”
According to the research article “Immigration of British Coal Miners in the Civil War Decade”:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/F5F620BC14B55E23521638F0BFDF0021/S0020859000005848a.pdf/immigration_of_british_coal_miners_in_the_civil_war_decade.pdf
“When employment in the American coalfields was readily available in the 1860's and early 1870's, the risk involved in spending hard-won savings on the journey [to America], which cost approximately £5 and took ten days by steamer, appeared reasonable. In comparison with other wage earners, coal miners in Britain were relatively well-paid. They could, therefore, accumulate the cost of the trans-Atlantic passage during "good-times" [in the mining industry] at home.”
Interestingly, the article reports that, during the same time period, leaders of British Miners’ Unions encouraged emigration by miners on the theory that a reduction in the number of available workers would help keep wages high. In particular, they promoted the creation of “Emigration Societies” and supported recruitment of miners by overseas mining companies.
--John