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The Madras government proposed sending children from its military orphan asylums to New South Wales after officials struggled to find employment for older pupils leaving the institutions. The proposal took shape in the late 1830s, but the voyages documented in Margaret Makepeace’s account arrived in Sydney in 1841: seven boys on the Sesostris in February and five on the British Sovereign in December.
Why did Madras propose sending asylum children to New South Wales?
The Madras government approached New South Wales authorities with a plan to send children from the Madras Military Male Orphan Asylum and the Madras Female Orphan Asylum to be apprenticed. The institutions faced difficulty finding employment for pupils old enough to leave. Officials presented the scheme as a way to use the children’s education and moral training, and Makepeace reports that they considered the children a potential benefit to the colony, especially the girls.
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New South Wales agreed subject to eligibility requirements and apprenticeship conditions. The plan was therefore a late-1830s proposal, not evidence that the named children arrived in that decade. The documented arrivals in Makepeace’s account took place in 1841.
What were the eligibility and apprenticeship conditions?
As reported by Makepeace, children had to be at least 12 and of “pure European descent.” Their passage to Sydney was to be free. The account describes these terms as conditions of the scheme; the quoted eligibility wording is not attributed to a named official or verified here against the original correspondence.
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- Term: boys were apprenticed until age 21; girls until age 21 or marriage.
- Care: masters or mistresses were expected to provide suitable food, clothing and bedding.
- Savings: employers were expected to deposit money in the Savings Bank of New South Wales for the apprentice to receive, with interest, at the end of the term.
- Religious attendance: attendance at divine service was expected when practicable.
- Complaints and conduct: the reported rules provided for justices to investigate complaints about ill-treatment or inadequate provisions, as well as apprentice misconduct.
Which boys travelled to Sydney, and when?
Makepeace’s account names twelve boys in two arrival groups. The first list, recorded by the Madras Military Male Orphan Asylum in August 1840, comprised seven boys willing to emigrate. Their listed ages ranged from 12 to 14. The account notes their literacy and, for some, vocational skills; John Harris worked as a printer at the asylum press.
| Ship as named in the account | Boys | Reported Sydney arrival |
|---|---|---|
| Sesostris | Samuel Hobart, James Marlow, John Harris, James McKin (also rendered MacKin), Christopher Connors, William Bird and James Barry | February 1841 |
| British Sovereign (also called the Royal Sovereign) | Matthew Thornhill; brothers Matthew and James Bradshaw; James Callaghan; and Edward Wallace | December 1841 |
The account gives birth and parent information for several of the five boys on the second voyage, but lists Wallace without those particulars. Its total of twelve refers to these boys and voyages, not to a broader migration statistic.
What is known about the boys after arrival?
Makepeace’s account establishes the names and reported voyages, but it does not describe the boys’ individual lives after reaching Sydney. The ships’ arrival dates should not be mistaken for evidence of how their apprenticeships proceeded or what became of them later.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Where can readers look for asylum records?
The British Library catalogue record IOR/F/4/1558/63799 describes papers concerning administration of the Madras Military Male Orphan Asylum, including a July 1835 pupil list and a copy of institutional regulations. It offers context for the asylum’s records, but it is not the specific emigration correspondence.
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For the female asylum, the Families in British India Society describes a transcription of records drawn from India Office Records collection F/4/1855. Its metadata says it combines girls who left between 1829 and 1838 with girls attending in 1839. This is a transcription and finding aid, not a substitute for the original papers: Madras Military Female Asylum 1839.
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