Welsh Migration in the 19th Century

Migration from Wales in the 19^th Century was borne from a number of factors, affecting both rural and urban populations alike. The effects of changes in the industrialized population's centres, the economic conditions of the rural areas and the shifts in socialization patterns were beginning to change the perspectives of some parts of the Welsh citizenry. The lure of new beginnings and a fresh approach to life for the unmarried populace, as well as those with young families often proved to be a catalyst to leave their land of birth and venture into the great unknown. For others, their criminal tendencies often left them facing a transportation order to the other side of the globe to work off their sentence or judgments as indentured servants for periods of up to 14 years. The migrants, whether leaving their country by choice or by force, often never returned to Wales, but finished out their lives in a new homeland, but one infused with the traditions and culture of the native Wales.

There were four primary areas to which the Welsh migrants chose to settle; America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Other areas included India and South Africa. However, there was also a smaller influx of Welsh into the South American settlement of Patagonia, located in Argentina. The migration to these areas reflected both the economic and social pressures prevailing in Wales in the period. But these migrations also show a people who were willing to brave unknown conditions to break the cycle of poverty or social exclusion.

Migration in General

The period between the mid 19^th century and World War One saw a massive increase in the flow of emigration from Britain as a whole. The bulk of the migrant population went to the United States in the eighteenth century, although Canada and Australia were also popular designations. After the dawn of the 20^th century, America fell behind Canada and Australia in attracting large groups of emigrants, and South Africa was beginning to make some headway into the emigrant numbers. In 1911, more than 450, 000 Britons left the United Kingdom for new homes outside of Europe, almost half of this number settled in Canada, nearly a quarter of the migrants settled in Australia and approximately one tenth in South Africa.

Organized emigration became bug business in the18th century. Subsided emigration made it possible for certain sections of the population to be sent abroad, most to North America and Australia. The removal of so called 'paupers' from areas in Wales and all over Britain was one feature of the migrant population. The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 secured the passage of more than 25, 000 'paupers' by 1860 and the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners were able to help 370, 000 émigré's get underway to Australia between 1840-69. The criminal element serving out transportation sentences also was another group, which contributed to the swells of migrants leaving Britain. Rural areas suffered from the loss of agricultural areas and the employment this infused to the rural economies. Others still were forced out by changes in landlord-tenant holdings and even areas that were becoming overwhelmed by resource shortages due to heavy population influxes. But overwhelmingly the vast numbers of migrants left their homes were those forced out by changes in the employment and economics of industry.

Young men tended to make up the vast majority of migrants, although couples and family units were also prominent. Migrants were workers from many different types of occupations, the most of course being miners or those employed in works such as iron, steel, copper and tin. However, workers classes as general labourers and worker of the building trades often figured prominently in migrant numbers. There also were varied occupations such as textile workers, engineers, farmers, clerical and commercial workers and the like were also represented. Other prominent occupations such as physicians, lawyers and bankers are not among those noted; possibly give rise to the idea that emigration was indeed a venture that only the working classes or the poor undertook with any form of regularity.

Children comprised large numbers of emigrants to Canada and Australia in the mid 18^th century. Some were sent by order of courts to serve out sentences, but others were the victims of what was termed 'philanthropic abduction' or 'pre-emptive rescue' of children of the working class parents by person such as Dr. Barnardo, to become ready-made sources of child labour.[1]

Migration to America

Migration to America began long before the turbulent period of the 1800s. It started in the late 1500s as people left the United Kingdom in search of freedom from religious and social persecution, but was largely unsuccessful until the early 1600s. As the 1700s progressed the influx of migrants continued, only slackening during the American Revolution and the Napoleonic eras.[2] In the period from 1794-1801, it was estimated that well over 1000 Welsh people went to America, and the migration continued in small amounts over the next few decades, the largest peaks occurring just before the 1860s and then again in the 1880s and appears to hit its highest numbers in 1921, when there are a reputed 2.6 million Welsh living in America. The Welsh migration numbers in America were small in comparison to that of the Scots, Irish and English. The British as a whole comprised roughly 20 percent of all European emigrants during the 18^th century, topped only by emigrants of Ireland, Italy and Norway.

Even the rest of the British peoples tended to outnumber the Welsh in terms of migration to America. Gwyn Williams argues "in the years which sent so many across the Atlantic, for every 77 per 10,000 Irish who emigrated annually, there were 20 Scots, 12 English and only three Welsh".[3] Williams intimates there was no need for the Welsh to emigrate. Williams' viewpoint suggests that if Wales had not been as industrialized as it became in the 19^th century, that its emigration figures could have possibly been as substantial as that for her German or other nationalistic counterparts. While it is true that there was 'emigration', or rather migration, of the indigenous populace from the rural areas of Wales to the industrialized areas, and that large numbers of these migrants remained in the cities and towns of the industrialized areas, it can be argued that substantial numbers left these centres as the 19^th century moved to its conclusion, as the economic boom of the mid century was lessened by, for instance, the conversion of the ironworks to the production of steel, thereby decreasing the amount of jobs available to a large workforce.

Many of the Welsh left Wales simply because of this economic downturn and the availability of jobs in the iron works of the towns of Pennsylvania and other scattered across the mid section of the American Eastern seaboard. Large numbers of workers from the agricultural sector, the iron, copper and coal industries, and later the tin-plate industry were the largest groups of employment related migration. [4] Other migrants to America left Wales because of extreme poverty and to a lesser extent, religious differences and persecution. Scores of criminals were sent via transportation order to serve a sentence as an indentured servant for periods averaging seven years. The Welsh migrants imported their culture with them and it remained steadfast, most notably in the religious aspects of life.

The Welsh in America tended to settle in mostly the northern regions, with Pennsylvania remaining the strongest choice of settlement, although areas of the Midwest such as Wisconsin are shown to have good Welsh population numbers. In the latter part of the 20^th century, Welsh populations could be found in almost any major city or metropolitan area of the country, such as what had been in the Scranton area of Pennsylvania, or even in highly culturally diversified area as Los Angeles on the western coast of America. The Welsh migration to America may have been small in number, but has been one of the instrumental forces of pushing American economy and culture to new heights.

Migration to Canada

Migration to Canada actually began in the 1700s under the auspices of the colonization of the land, subject to British control. Around 70,000 Britons left the American colonies when the American War of Independence was started and these souls fled to Canada, back to the arms of 'Mother Britain'. Soldiers and farmers suffering from economic hardship after the Napoleonic Wars followed this. Children were often sent to Canada via such methods as child migration schemes. Large numbers of children were sent to Canada between 1870 and 1914. While an exact breakdown of the areas that they children came from could not be found, it is likely that there were significant numbers would have come from Wales, given the economic conditions of the times, and looking at the migration picture as a whole. These children may well have been orphans that had been in the workhouses at one time, but again the numbers are not readily available, so this is open to scrutiny.

In his book A History of Wales, Gareth Evans states that Australia was one of the highly favoured destinations of emigrants from Wales, but gives no precise details as to numbers of Welsh emigrants or periods of their migrations. This appears to be the case in numerous other publications concerning British emigration. There are numerous references to the Welsh leaving the country, but the finer details of the Welsh migration is often left for the reader and historians to dwell upon and perhaps deduce their own ideas and conclusions.

Migration to Australi

The settlement of Australia began life as a penal colony in 1788. As convicts were sent into Australia, often spouses and children followed them and settled in the country. Farmers and tradespeople were often found among the settlers, having emigrated in hope of a new life and employment opportunities, as was seen amongst the Irish seeking to leave behind the famine, and welcomed by an Australian economy that was facing a sever labour shortage. Child emigration was also figuring substantially into the Australian framework in the 19-20^th centuries, although the largest influx was after World War 2.

Again, as with details of the emigration of the Welsh to Canada, details of the emigration of Welsh to Australia are sketchy at best. Save a few dates, there is precious little mention in the publications that were gathered for the basis of this essay. Most entries were little more than notes in passing, and research via other methods such as the Internet proved just as inconclusive.

Patagonia and the Welsh

The settlement of Patagonia was borne out of recognition of people who had observed the seeming devaluation of the Welsh culture in America. Men such as Michael D. Jones were aghast at the prospect of losing the culture and they set out to find am area that could be settled as an established area of Welsh life and culture. They formed a society called Y Gymdeithas Wladfaol in Liverpool and from this was born the Welsh settlement in Patagonia.[5]

Migration to Patagonia was mostly comprised of unmarried persons or young families. Very few emigrants were unable to pay passage to Patagonia; however, no one was denied passage. Evans stated that most of the emigrants were those suffering extreme economic hardships, or had very little money to start with.

Although Patagonia suffered with the ups and downs of her own economic hardships, emigrants still continued to come to the settlement. Evans states there were three peak periods of migration to Patagonia: 1784-76, 1880-87 and 1904-12, which not surprising coincided with British emigration to Argentina in roughly the same time periods.[6] An interesting note is of the settlers coming into Patagonia between 1874-76; approximately 70 percent of these were from industrial emigrants, the Rhondda Valleys of South Wales showing the largest singular group, undoubtedly owing to the increasing downturn of jobs available in the heavy industries associated with this area of South Wales.

The largest influxes of migrants to Patagonia occurred between 1874-76, with numbers of around 500, and in 1886 when 462 new settlers arrived, including a small contingent from the area around Neath. There was some loss of emigrants from Patagonia to Canada in 1902, relating to tensions the Welsh and their Argentinean neighbours. However, Patagonia to the present day remains a vibrant Welsh settlement which much of the Welsh cultural aspects intact.

Conclusion

The Welsh were forced to leave their homeland because of economic hardship, the changes of the industries which employed them, notably the loss of jobs because of better equipment, new manufacturing processes and conversion from industries such as iron to steel. Other factors were loss of agricultural employment, overcrowding of urban areas, religious differences and severe economic hardship. These factors led the Welsh people to often undertake the dangers and unknowns of a sea voyage, just to give themselves a new start and a better chance at a good life for themselves and their families.

While it can be argued that the Welsh were infinitesimal in the grander scheme of British migration in the 18^th and early 19^th centuries. However, the influx of Welsh into America cannot be refuted. The Welsh influence particularly in the mining areas of Pennsylvania would be considerable to the emergence of the American Industrial period. The skill of the migrant Welsh workforce proved invaluable to the country and her economic growth. The seeming loss of Welsh culture and traditions in America prompted a group of Welsh to opt for life away from Britain and America. Patagonia was established as a destination that would allow its inhabitants to retain the 'Welshness' while giving them the chance at a new beginning for a better life and chance of economic prosperity. The migrants to Patagonia suffered with hardship at various points, but persevered and have managed to maintain themselves to the present day.

The Welsh also chose migration to Canada, Australia and South Africa and settled in these countries with little trouble. There is evidence of small numbers going to other Commonwealth countries such as India and New Zealand, and other areas such as Brazil, but these countries are often single sentence mentions in historical books and there is little detailed information on the Welsh in these areas.

Indeed, the Welsh emigrations from Britain were small in number. But the contributions of these men and women who left their homeland cannot be discounted. They have created legacies in the lands they choose to settle in that will have far reaching influence for years to come, and show that even a small group of people who left the land of their birth, with little or nothing, are and can making a difference in the grand scheme of history.

Footnotes
[1] Edward Royle, Modern Britain: A Social History 1750-1997, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997) 67

[2] D. Gareth Evans, A History of Wales, 1815-1906, (Cardiff: University of Wales Press:1989), 62-63

[3] Gwyn A. Williams, When Was Wales?, (London: Penguin Group, 1985) 180

[4] Evans, "A History of Wales", 63

[5] Evans, A Story of Wales, 64-65

[6] Evans, A Story of Wales, 64-65

Bibliography

D. Gareth Evans, A History of Wales, (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1989)

Gareth Elwyn Jones, Modern Wales: A Concise History c.1485-1979, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984)

Prys Morgan, Ed., The Tempus History of Wales, (Gloscestershire: Tempus Publsihing, 2001)

Denis Richards and J.W. Hunt, An Illustrated History of Modern Britain 1783-1964, (London: Longman Group, 1965)

Edward Royle, Modern Britain: A Social History 1750-1997, (London: Hodder Headline Group, 2002)

Simon Schama, A History of Britain: The Fate of Empire 1776-2000, (London, BBC Worldwide, 2001)

Gwyn A Williams, When Was Wales?, (London: Penguin Books, 1985)John Williams, Was Wales Industiralised? Essays in Modern Welsh History, (Llandysul: Gomer Press, 1995)