Assisted Emigration (not Transportation) from Dorset to Australia in 1853
The story of Dorset unfortunates like the Tolpuddle Martyrs, deported as convicts to Australia in the 1830s, is well known. A more obscure Shaftesbury ne’er-do-well, Elijah Upjohn, transported at the age of 16, achieved some kind of fame in 1880 by deputising for the hangman at the execution of the notorious outlaw Ned Kelly. Less familiar is the experience of respectable Shaftesbury families such as the Tomkins who in the 1850s sought a better life on the other side of the world, and were helped to achieve assisted passages.
Our temporary exhibition of documents from the Archives shows the original emigration papers which enabled Job Tomkins of St James Shaftesbury to emigrate to Sydney with his family. Their first application in March 1853 was rejected on the grounds of the extreme youth of Job’s daughters. The length of the voyage in cramped conditions and occasionally through stormy seas was conducive to outbreaks of disease, sometimes fatal for vulnerable children. The Tyne-built sailing ship the Ellenborough (above, under tow by a steam tug into Sydney Harbour) could carry up to 400 emigrants from Southampton. On a passage of 107 days in 1854, considered a success by the Maitland Mercury, there were 7 deaths and 2 births. The Tomkins eventually set sail from Southampton aboard the Ellenborough on 10 July 1853 and by the time of their arrival on 12 October there was an addition to the family in baby George.
The documents were kindly donated to Gold Hill Museum by the New Forest Heritage Centre and they include Assisted Immigration papers and forms dating from 1853. The accompanying testimonials were written by local solicitor Llewellyn Rutter.
Volunteer Heather Blake has transcribed the documents and investigated the history of the Tomkins family using online sources from this country and Australia. The result is a fascinating story that can be read in the exhibition area outside the museum library from April to June 2026.
Also available alongside the exhibition are two articles by Hilltop History’s Dave Hardiman on other 19th century Shaftesbury emigrants to Australia, Elizabeth Hunt nee Lemon, and the less salubrious William Sims. The latter was something of a persistent rogue and transported in 1830. You can read his full story in a past issue of the Byzant here
