“Royal George“
John APPS 1798-1872 Ann HUMPHRYS 1795-1865
John APPS and Ann Humphreys brought their family of six boys to Australia for a better life. I don’t know the exact details as to why, but looking at the history of the 1830s it was not a good time in England due to ‘Industrialisation’ and land owners fencing property. The ordinary agricultural labourer found it very difficult to eke out a living. .
Before enclosure the cottager was a labourer with land, after enclosure he was a labourer without land…..families that had lived for centuries in their dales or on their small farms and commons were driven before the torrent.
The Village Labourer, 1911; J L & Barbara Hammond
Life in England during the 1830s was publicised in writings such as “Oliver Twist” written by Charles Dickens……….”You want more?????
This came about due to the erosion of capital caused by U. K.’s involvement in the American War of Independence ending in 1783 and then the French Revolution and the War with France, 1793-1815, drained their resources further. Emigration was opposed to during these times due to the man power required for their defence. After these events unempolyment became high and ex-servicemen could not find work. The population rose, industrialisation increased, bad harvest and the corn laws were passed and the decline in English Southdown wool. . Hence, food prices rose, wages fell and families could not put food on the table or a roof over their heads. The Workhouses filled to capacity and Parish officials could no longer cope. Emigration was a means to an end and New South Wales was in desperate need of workers to develop the colony. The Apps family would have been great asset to Australia
Under the Bounty Scheme the settlers were permitted to recruit their own workers in the U.K. Most employed agents to do so. The Government also had an Agent-General in London after 1837, and Agents in other embarkation Ports.
Therefore, the settler who wanted workers paid the Emigrants’ passages.. On arrival these workers were examined by the Board appointed by the Government and, if the Board were satisfied, the settler would be issued with a Certificate entitling him to claim the Bounty money back from the Government.
Highlighted are the names of John APPS, wife, Stephen & Horace. They had an enclosed cabin as sleeping quarters. Their other sons, William, George, Daniel and James slept in hammocks that were removed each morning to accomodate for their dining arrangements.
On the opposite side of the page the names Charlotte & Mary DAVIS are noted accommodated in a cabin with Fuller girls. Their parents were a little way further on. Charlotte married into the Sheather family and Mary married young William APPS. They perhaps became attracted to one another on board the voyage, even though Mary was only ten years old and William being sixteen at the time of the voyage.
“In the English summer of 1838 Thomas Law Hodges, Lord to the Manor of Benenden in Kent, went down to Gravesend to see off the men and women from his neighbourhood who had entered the service of his friends the Macarthurs, and who were now going as bounty immigrants to New South Wales. This was the last of three English shiploads handpicked for Camden Park. Hodges spent two hours on board admiring all he saw, and especially the pains taken by Edward Macarthur to reassure, as he put it, ‘the hopes and courage of these landsmen and women.’ This was the Royal George. In her best cabin she carried James Macarthur and his bride Emily, the daughter of a London banker, who had been married in July, Between decks were 16 single men and 17 couples, most of them with children, and three more babies were born at sea. The ship reached Sydney in March 1839 and the people were then taken to Parramatta by steamer, where they were loaded on drays for the 65 kilometre ride to Camden.”
Atkinson, Alan Camden. Farm and village life in Early New South Wales , 2008, Melbourne, Australia. p.,176-181
So, here lies the beginning of our Apps family settling in Australia. I hope you enjoyed my research as much as I have enjoyed pursuing their history.
My Alcove 