'Solving an empire problem': the Salvation Army and British Juvenile migration to Australia.

Daniel, Esther

The history of British juvenile migration dates from 1618 when the first group was sent to Richmond, Virginia. Thereafter, juveniles were sent to other parts of the world including North America, Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. Officially, British child migration ended in 1967 when the last group of children was sent to Australia. During the twentieth century Australia became the main destination for British juvenile migrants. Organisations which implemented British juvenile migration programmes included the Salvation Army, the Big Brother Movement, Fairbridge, and the Church of England. These organisations claimed they could offer Australia the 'ideal' migrants to protect, develop and strengthen white British Australia, aims which were consistent with the White Australia Policy. The British juveniles were to assist in the development of the rural economy and white British occupation of the land. It was claimed they could be easily trained (at minimal cost) and sent where there was a need for labour, particularly in rural areas. British juvenile migration to Australia was viewed in terms of its economic benefit, especially in being a supply of cheap white labour. The youths were mainly needed as agricultural labourers and the girls were employed as domestic servants, and were also wanted as wives. The juveniles were considered to be ideal migrants. They were of white British stock and did not pose an immediate economic threat since they were placed in areas in which there was a need for labour. (1)

This article provides a discussion of the unaccompanied British juvenile migration programme to Australia by the Salvation Army (henceforth, the Army) within the context of the imperialist ideas of William Booth and the racist White Australia Policy, as well as Booth's ideas regarding the 'training' of children. The programme was complex in character and diversity, particularly in relation to its philosophy, aims and objectives. One of the central themes of the Army's programme was support for British imperialism and expansion of the British Empire by populating its Dominions with large numbers of white British migrants: hence it was referred to as 'emigration and colonisation'. Such migration was regarded as vital to generate economic growth and a strong defence of the Empire. The Army claimed that its migration programme would be of national benefit as it could provide Australia with migrants with significant economic potential. (2)

At the time of its formation in 1865 the Army was concerned with the problem of 'overcrowding' in Britain, and the plight of the increasing multitude of unemployed, poor, destitute adults and juveniles who faced a bleak future with little chance of ameliorating their dismal existence. Booth introduced an elaborate social scheme which included a large-scale emigration programme to transfer some of these people to the British Dominions as a panacea for those who endured economic and social hardship. It was perceived to offer adults and juveniles a chance for a decent life, and provide the Dominions with a much needed supply of labour. (3)

The Army's programme for Australia combined complex motives including the protection of white British Australia, British imperialism, and economic, social and religious themes that were predominantly enunciated by Booth. Two books written by Booth in the late nineteenth century were the basis for the programme. In Darkest England and The Way Out (1890) is based on Booth's social scheme of caring for the poor, destitute and unemployed in England. It is from this book that the Army's emigration scheme originated as a panacea for alleviating poverty, homelessness and unemployment. Training of Children: or How to Make Children into Saints and Soldiers of Jesus Christ (1888) is based on Booth's guidelines regarding how children must be 'trained'; that is, as 'soldiers of Christ to prepare them for the Kingdom of God'. The Army's juvenile migration programme to Australia during the 1920s reflected aspects of this training regime. It serves as a valuable source in understanding the character of the Army's programme; why the Army established farm training programmes for boys in Britain and the Dominions as opposed to placing them into other occupations including those based in the city or involving education; why girls were trained for domestic service; and why young children were not placed in institutionalised care but were placed for adoption or fostering. The Training of Children has not been acknowledged in any discussion on the Army's juvenile migration programme thus far. (4)

This article is divided into three main sections. The first examines aspects of Booth's social scheme for caring for the poor, destitute and unemployed in Britain, as outlined in In Darkest England. The second section focuses on some of Booth's ideas concerning the 'training' of children. The significance of this discussion is to amalgamate some of the ideas of training children with the juvenile migration programme the Army introduced to Australia. The third section centres on the Army's juvenile migration programme. In this section the programme will be linked back to the ideas which were developed in the first two sections. The discussion on the programme focuses on the 1920s, which was the most active period, particularly regarding the Army's youth migration programme to Queensland.

There may be some confusion regarding the term 'juvenile'. In this article it is used to encompass both child and youth migrants. In specific circumstances either 'child' or 'youth' will be used, where the term 'child' refers to persons under the age of fourteen; and 'youth' refer to males between the ages of fourteen and eighteen. The term 'unaccompanied' means not being accompanied by parents or guardians; and the term 'orphans' is used broadly to include juveniles who were poor, illegitimate, destitute or abandoned. (5)

William Booth and the Salvation Army

Booth was born in Nottingham, England, in 1829, and died in London in 1912. Booth converted to Christianity in his early teenage years, and became a Methodist minister during the 1850s. He also became a successful revivalist preacher, and subsequently resigned from the Methodist Church and continued with his preaching, which was so successful that it grew into a ministry and eventually led to the formation of the Salvation Army in 1865.

Booth was raised in poverty in the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution. He claimed that increased mechanisation of many industries resulted in the loss of employment opportunities, thus adding to the social and economic problems which prevailed in vast sections of the community. This situation was exacerbated by land closures and consequent loss of employment in rural areas, which contributed to the increasing drift to the already overcrowded urban centres. He became concerned about the increasing number of men, women and children who were trying to survive in the cities. Booth believed that one-tenth of the population of England, whom he labelled as the 'submerged tenth', were living in abject poverty. Booth devised a social scheme to improve their miserable existence which he outlined in In Darkest England. (6)

The aim of this discussion is to delineate certain elements from In Darkest England that were directly related to Booth's plan to regenerate the 'submerged tenth'. In the discussion certain themes will become evident: a dominant Christian ethos; imperialist ideology; emancipating the poor in a physical, economic and spiritual sense; and bringing people back to the land to work and live, either in Britain or in the Dominions. He wanted to convert the waste labour of England, whom he referred to as the 'human sludge', into a labour force capable of furthering British imperial ambitions. It was a combination of imperialism and evangelical philanthropy which was based on a combination of religion, moral, social and physical salvation. Booth was referred to as 'the imperialist General'. (7)

Inherent in Booth's scheme was the nexus between social reform and imperialist ideology. In 1883 the historian Seeley linked poverty and unemployment with the concept of imperial expansion through his advocacy of widespread emigration of the pauper population to the 'white' colonies. Emigration offered the benefits of removing from Britain those who were perceived as a costly economic burden, such as the unemployed, training them and then transferring them to the British Dominions where there was a need for their labour. Booth also postulated that emigration was a viable alternative to alleviate the plight of those who endured miserable conditions. His idea was to create a 'bridge across the sea ... to some land of plenty'; to pass the surplus population from the deplorable conditions of the cities of England to the 'empty' lands of the Empire. The scheme was to save 'not only the lost amongst the British poor but also the Empire, that many late Victorians worried Britain might be on the verge of losing'. One description of the scheme refers to it as one of cleaning out London and buttressing the Empire by relocating the poor to overseas colonies. This interpretation carries considerable weight. (8)

Booth adopted the explorer Henry Stanley's analogy of Darkest Africa (1890) which he used as a parable to describe his perception of, and prescription for, the miseries which permeated the 'jungles of Darkest England'. It is a popular fallacy that the Army's entire social scheme emanated from In Darkest England, because much of its social work began well before the book was published. Booth felt that a more comprehensive scheme was needed to rescue people in 'darkest England'. The 'urgency', he claimed, was to rescue the 'lost', the outcast and the 'disinherited of the world'. The 'lost' were those people who were lost in a social and moral sense; those who struggled to survive and lived on earnings from vice such as prostitution and the proceeds of crime. They also included the homeless, criminals in prisons and those dependent upon them, paupers, lunatics, and many children. These were the 'submerged tenth'. He criticised the remedial measures that were usually enunciated through Christian programmes and applied by Christian philanthropy as being inadequate, claiming that only a few people were rescued through such programmes while the majority remained in miserable conditions. He also emphasised that 'in providing for the relief of temporal misery, I reckon that I am only making it easy where it is now all but impossible for men, women and children to find their way to the Cross'. (9)

The scheme Booth devised consisted of a concentric system of colonies. The purpose was to place people into self-sustaining communities, referred to as colonies. Each was to be a co-operative society or a patriarchal family, governed and disciplined by the principles of the Army. The colonies were based on a system of promotion from one class to another. The first and lowest class was the city colony. It was followed by the second class, the farm colony and then the third class, the overseas colony. Promotion from one class to another was determined by a person's aptitude and dedication to progress. A prominent aim in this system was putting people on the land either in Britain or the Dominions. (10)

The city colony was perceived as being in the very centre of the 'ocean of misery'. The Army had established 'harbours of refuge' for those who had been 'shipwrecked' in life, character or circumstance. These harbours included food depots, night shelters, workshops and labour yards, a labour bureau, rescue homes for women and children, a poor man's bank, industrial schools and refuges for children. Booth felt that once a man could learn to stand on his own two feet, it would instil in him hope for the future and enable him to seek a path of moral and religious regeneration. (11)

The Army regarded the care of children as of the utmost importance, and focused predominantly on young people from the working class. It established industrial schools to train juveniles to enable them to find work, and refuges for the protection and care of children. An important aspect of Booth's ideas of caring for children in the city colony was that he opposed long-term institutional care. He was horrified by the Victorian institutions of the type described by Dickens with their regimented methods, orphans clad in dreary garb, and by the utter lack of home life or anything but the most formal religious teaching. Booth perceived life in institutions as being detrimental to the physical, moral and social wellbeing of a child, as they did not provide a child with the healthy and wholesome lifestyle to which the Army subscribed. (12)

A prominent theme of the farm colony was to reverse the drift to the cities and towns, and to bring people back to the 'Garden of Eden'. Booth extolled the virtues of the Arcadian lifestyle, believing that life on the land was a good, clean and wholesome one which brought people closer to God. Booth's proposal to establish a farm colony had two main aims. The religious moral one was based on the hope that once people entered the farm colony they would begin a process of 'reformation of character', as they would be isolated and insulated from the sins and degradation which existed in the cities. The other aim was to carefully select and skill people in agriculture, and then send them to the overseas colony which Booth hoped would be established. The concept was analogous to a 'working man's agriculture university'; that is, training people for the life they would lead in the new countries. (13)

'Place the landless man on the manless land'. This phrase is an accurate description of Booth's vision of establishing an overseas colony as part of the third and final stage of his social scheme to regenerate the submerged tenth. It was to be a large-scale emigration scheme. Encapsulated within this idea was an imperialist ideology to enhance the expansion of the British Empire. Booth's vision was to obtain millions of acres of 'vacant' productive land in other countries (preferably the British Dominions) with a pleasant climate and a high demand for labour. He claimed that the British Dominions were 'not foreign land' but 'pieces of Britain distributed about the world enabling the Britisher to have access to the richest parts of the earth'. This nexus between philanthropy and British imperialism was also evident in other juvenile migration schemes such as the one introduced to Western Australia in 1913 by Kingsley Fairbridge. (14)

Booth was unsuccessful in obtaining land in South Africa, Rhodesia, New Zealand or Australia, and hence he was unable to bring this plan to fruition. His failure was due to either an outright rejection of his proposal or to a lack of funds from some of the governments. Booth visited Australia in 1891 and put forward a proposal to establish an 'overseas colony'. His proposal was firmly rejected by sections of the community, including various Trades Hall Councils. There was a fear that thousands of the 'submerged' from Britain would 'submerge the toilers living down under' by 'emptying refuse' onto Australian shores. The development of the Army's emigration scheme for adults and juveniles to Australia did, however, reflect some of the principles which were contained in this proposal. (15)

William Booth and Training of Children

The emerging new attitudes towards children and their welfare during the nineteenth century reflected a concern that children needed to be 'rescued' from immoral and physically dangerous surroundings which were considered to be detrimental to their emotional, physical and spiritual wellbeing. By this time children were recognised as a vulnerable group in society which had specific needs. These attitudes were also embraced by sections of the philanthropy movement from the mid-nineteenth century including Thomas Sedgwick and Kingsley Fairbridge who advocated 'saving' the child; hence they were often referred to as the 'child savers'. Sections of the philanthropic movement also began to incorporate a strong religious ethos into their 'rescue mission' which was referred to as evangelical philanthropy. One of the most prominent organisations to emerge was the Army. The work of most of these organisations entailed rescuing children from depressed, deprived, and morally and physically dangerous situations, where hope for a better life was virtually non-existent. Evangelical philanthropy was based upon the belief that it was not enough simply to preach the gospel of salvation to the poor and destitute. To use this approach would be to fight a losing battle. Therefore, a more comprehensive approach was needed and emigration was considered to be a solution for those who 'needed' to be rescued (including children) from miserable conditions in Britain, and to transplant them to far-off lands with 'empty spaces'. (16)

Central to the evangelical philanthropy movement was a belief in 'Arcadia', that is, in the idealism of rural life--one which would enhance a person's spiritual and physical regeneration and wellbeing by placing 'the spade in one hand and the Bible in the other'. Booth advocated bringing children back to the 'Garden of Eden'. This ideal permeated the Training of Children and the Army's juvenile migration programme to Australia. Certain aspects of this book provide important evidence which helps to understand the objectives of the Army's programme. (17)

The training regime that Booth outlined encompasses many aspects of a child's life, such as education, vocation, companions, recreation, amusements, health, dress, habits such as the consumption of tobacco and alcohol, and above all, religious and moral teaching. Booth stated that 'good Christian parents' would follow the methods and instructions he provided. One of the most striking features of the book is the language Booth uses. He deliberately chose the word 'training' instead of raising or rearing with the specific aim 'of preparing children for the Kingdom of God'. He explained: In teaching the children we more especially influence their minds: in training them we especially deal with their wills, that is, with their hearts. When we teach them we show them what they ought to do; when we train them we accustom them to do it. In teaching the children we show them how to do their duty and why it should be done, but in training we create in them the habit of doing it. (18)

Booth used the analogy that training children was like training a tree. He explained that a tree is pruned and straightened to follow a certain direction until the desired shape is achieved. Similarly, children should be trained and moulded to be obedient servants of Christ, and for the final Judgement. Booth also claimed that the city-bred child was disadvantaged compared with the country-bred child as life in the city militated against a healthy and wholesome childhood.

In Training of Children Booth outlined various forms of training which he considered essential for a righteous life and to make children into little soldiers of Christ. He said that parents who encouraged their children to achieve higher worldly ideals such as wealth, physical comfort, and higher education were failing in their rightful duties. Similarly, parents who sought to promote their own self-interest and indulgence through their children were admonished as being selfish. (19)

According to Booth, increased urbanisation led to the deterioration of the family and family values. He was critical of women seeking employment as their long hours of labour resulted in children being left without adequate supervision. He claimed that in such circumstances the parents were failing to discharge their parental duties. He stressed that the main cause for the decay of the cities was the Industrial Revolution, claiming the creation of new industries encroached upon family life and the Sabbath by creating work for twenty-four hours of the day. In the country, darkness restored the labouring father to his family, whereas in the city gas and electric lights enabled the employer to rob children of their father and sometimes of their mother as well. In such circumstances children were not born into a home but 'spawned into to the world like fish'. (20)

A wise and healthy 'family government' was considered a necessary prerequisite to the successful training of children. Booth used the analogy that good government is essential for the physical, political, economic and social welfare of nations. Similarly, good 'family government' was essential for the physical and moral health of a child. One of the most important characteristics of good 'family government' was that parents must be firm. Parents were instructed to instill in their children that they must do as they are taught. He described children as being 'little better than animals', influenced by instinct and feeling rather than by reasoning. They must therefore understand that they are 'under authority'. Other characteristics of good 'family government' included justice and fairness, and a spirit of mercy and love. (21)

Booth advocated that young children should be educated and trained to qualify them to take up the 'fight' for good against evil, thereby becoming soldiers of Christ. He claimed that if the spirit of God is instilled in children: ... they will pity other children who have it not, who are living in sin, and growing up to be wicked men and women on the way to hell, and they will want to save them, and will not be happy unless they can put forth some effort to do so. (22)

Booth felt that this was a perfectly natural lesson to teach a child. He was not concerned that such teaching would lead to segregation among children, especially in a public arena such as a school. Rather he was worried about integrating 'innocent' young children who were ignorant of the vices and sins of the city with children whose parents were habitually drunk and whose mothers earned their daily bread through sinful means, such as prostitution. Booth claimed that it would be a cruel awakening for parents if they discovered that their tenderly raised and carefully guarded child 'was initiated by a companion into the mysteries of abomination'. Segregation of 'innocent' Salvationist children was therefore strongly recommended so they might bear the Cross in later life. Booth hoped that in time little Salvation soldiers would be found in schools throughout the land. (23)

Booth also attacked the education system for contributing to the 'lost generation of children'. He said that children were merely being 'schooled' and not educated, that is, they were taught to a standard that gave them a 'certain acquaintance with the ABC of pothooks and figures', but they were not educated in the sense of developing their latent capacities to make them capable of discharging their duties in life. Education was to be the foundation of a holy and useful character. He was also concerned that in an attempt to acquire 'good education' for their children, parents endangered the moral and spiritual instructions that were taught within the home. Booth saw a conflict between the education of the school and education in the home, claiming that the two systems were incompatible in training children to become soldiers of Christ. He warned parents that in pursuing 'superior education' for their children they would destroy their moral and spiritual character. Such education was perceived as 'giving in' to worldly temptations, materialistic desires and selfish pleasures. If a child expressed an interest in higher education the child should be instructed to pursue it for moral and physical salvation. Thus, if a child wanted to learn a foreign language, parents were instructed to encourage the child to select a language that would be useful in the work of the Army in a foreign country. (24)

Booth provided clear instructions to parents regarding reading material for their children claiming that there was too much pernicious and harmful literature. The type of reading material he recommended included the Bible, and the Army's publications such as: Salvation Soldier's Guide, Little Soldiers and the War Cry, and those on subjects such as history, natural history, biographies and travel. Reading materials were to be of sound moral character. He forbade the little soldiers from reading novels such as Jack and the Beanstalk, and Jack the Giant Killer, which were perceived as instilling rubbish in the minds of the children. In regard to religious education, Booth believed that children should be taught as early as possible (and according to their capacity to learn) about the relationship in which they stood with God, the kind of children God wanted them to be, their privilege to know God, and the type of life God wanted them to lead. He insisted that parents must teach their children to say every day: 'Thy will be done'. (25)

Juvenile Migration to Australia

As the British Empire gained prominence from the late nineteenth century, an integral component included the dispersion of white British migrants throughout the Empire, especially by putting people on the land in the Dominions. From the late 1800s evangelical philanthropy waned in its justification for British juvenile emigration and was perceived in a new light of 'imperial philanthropy'. The Army however retained its religious edict in its philanthropic work. Juvenile migrants were now regarded as 'bricks' to build the Empire and consolidate it for future generations. The economic justification for sending juveniles overseas related to the cost and lack of availability of care for poor and destitute children in Britain. Seeking alternative practices was therefore of primary concern. Emigration of both adults and juveniles eased the economic burden on the British government and was considered beneficial in terms of alleviating the unemployment problem in Britain and simultaneously assisting the Dominions' need for labour. (26)

The Army assisted all categories of people including juveniles in its emigration programme. Selected immigrants were supported financially by the Army, for example, through assisted passage schemes. The programme was based on a 'push' and 'pull' factor. It recognised that the British Dominions were in need of labour and a population of white British migrants, and believed that Britain had a surplus in both. Bramwell Booth (son of William and second General of the Army) once claimed that: 'the Salvationist saves the unhappy Englishmen from despair and the Empire from separation'. Australia was perceived as a country of millions of square miles, with rich lands and natural resources, some 'underdeveloped', some 'undiscovered', with sufficient untapped wealth to sustain a large population of white British migrants. Lieut. Colonel Taylor of the Army described the Army as not only one of the most successful emigration agencies in the world, but also the 'best and largest of the building societies of the British Empire'. (27)

The Army's emigration programme was also justified on religious grounds. Bramwell quoted a passage from the Bible to justify the filling of 'empty spaces' of foreign lands to make it productive as God had intended: 'Behold, the Lord hath set the land before thee: go and possess it ... fear not, neither be discouraged'. This view is also indicative of the nexus between imperial expansion and racist ideology which Booth and the Army embraced. For example, the Army supported the expropriation of certain foreign lands, particularly those which were inhabited by the 'inferior coloured races', as being justified on religious and imperialist grounds. The Army promoted the racist rhetoric that emanated from the development of 'racial theories' in western Europe from the late eighteenth century. These asserted that Christians could be the custodians of land, as the right to do so was derived from God's grace. Conversely, infidels, 'heathens' and 'savages' such as those who belonged to the 'inferior coloured races' could not rightfully own land. This dogma was evident in the Army's emigration and colonisation scheme, and also characterised much of European colonisation. (28)

The Army believed that it had the right to prevent 'wastage' of land and to utilise it for the betterment of humanity. Land usage and wastage was judged according to European traditions and values which did not acknowledge those of non-Europeans. In regard to Australia, this view was indicative of the Army's disregard of the rights of the Aboriginal people and their spiritual and physical relationship with their land. The Aborigines were regarded as having neglected and wasted the land upon which they 'roamed' and left 'idle', and they did not provide 'evidence' of establishing any physical, moral or political claim over it.

Once the Army's Emigration Department was established in England in 1903, Booth introduced three important principles which the emigration programme was to be based on: it must be helpful to the individual; beneficial to the Motherland; and acceptable to the country receiving the migrant. Booth was adamant that people should not be 'dumped' in foreign lands. To facilitate its emigration program the Army had established an elaborate infrastructure in Britain, which included an Emigration Advice Bureau and a Shipping Department to organise the transportation of emigrants. Selection of immigrants was determined by their physical fitness and character, economic viability, and recommendations from employers and town officials. Migration departments were also established in the Dominions which assisted in the selection of immigrants and provided information regarding employment. The Army began its emigration program by sending adults and juveniles to Canada, and by 1914 approximately 150, 000 had been sent there. (29)

The Great War exacerbated social and economic problems in Britain, placing further strain on government services and voluntary agencies. In this situation Bramwell (now General of the Army) regarded emigration as a viable solution for those enduring hardship in Britain. After the Great War, and especially during the 1920s, British migrants showed a particular preference for Australia, and Australian governments seized this opportunity to introduce schemes to encourage their migration. The introduction of the Empire Settlement Act (1922) by the British Government helped to stimulate the flow of British migrants to Australia. Voluntary organisations in Britain, including the Army, which were involved in emigration, welcomed the introduction of the Act and the financial assistance which it provided. Other prominent organisations in Australia, including the Big Brother Movement and the Church of England, availed themselves of the assistance which the Empire Settlement Act provided, as well as other forms of financial assistance which were offered by the Commonwealth and various State Governments to encourage British juvenile migration programs. As a result, there was a short-lived boom in British juvenile migration to Australia during this time. It was subsequently interrupted by the Great Depression. (30)

During the 1920s the Army launched a campaign to persuade Australian governments, employers, unions and the community that its migration program for both adults and juveniles would be of economic and social benefit to Australia's future development by providing skilled young men, particularly in agriculture, young single women for domestic service and youths who would be trained as farm labourers.

Commissioner David Lamb (a Director of the Army's Emigration Department) reiterated the exasperation and fears of sections of the white Australian community of the 'threat' of invasion to solicit support for the Army's British adult and juvenile migration program to Australia. Lamb claimed that in many parts of the world the 'yellow' and 'coloured' races of 'alien tongues' and different ideas were 'casting longing eyes over the vacant lands of the Empire'. He claimed that the 'unoccupied' lands within the Empire, including Australia, made them vulnerable, and if Britain did not develop them somebody else would. Bramwell reinforced this rhetoric of fear by suggesting that Australia had an immense capacity to absorb a large population to protect the hegemony of white British Australia. He said that Australia could easily carry a population of 100 to 120 million people. (31)

The Army's juvenile migration program was assisted by the British Government. In addition the governments of the Dominions to which the migrants were sent assessed the programmes individually and offered various forms of assistance. In 1912, the Army estimated that there were approximately 350, 000 children in Britain who were 'parentally unprovided for', with a cost to the community of 10 million pounds per annum. Australia was regarded as a good place to send children and youth, particularly since there was so much 'wide open space', economic opportunity, and the chance for a better life. Bramwell claimed that 'a wonderful return is assured to any Dominion which will rear and encourage these little ones ...' The Army operated three types of programmes for juveniles: young children (usually under the age of ten years); farm youth labourers between the ages of fourteen and eighteen years; and domestic service for girls aged between fourteen and nineteen years. (32)

The Army gave an assurance that the juveniles would not be exploited. The programme for young children involved fostering and often legal adoption. Once the children arrived in Australia, they were maintained in the Army's Emigration Department Recovery Homes until such time as suitable foster parents were found. The Emigration Department supervised the children and obtained periodical reports from Army officers. The Army stated that when the children were placed in private homes they would be welcomed as one of the family. The principles underlying this programme were consistent with Booth's idea in Training of Children. He had firmly opposed institutional care for children and emphasised the importance of raising children within a healthy family environment which reflected sound moral, spiritual, physical and social values.

There were a number of requests from Australian families for children for adoption, for example in 1923 the Army had received requests for one hundred 'blue-eyed, bright, healthy boys' between four and six years of age. These requests were met expeditiously. Earl Grey on behalf of the Army, had urged the Australian authorities not to neglect an opportunity so extraordinarily promising to secure an increment in its population. He stressed that in many respects the healthy child immigrant is the best sort of citizen to procure. (33)

The Army's main juvenile migration programme to Australia was youth farm labourers. The programme was designed to give British lads a chance to lead a productive, healthy and decent life on the land, one which would keep them from the sins and degradation of the cities, and thus also reflected Booth's teachings in Training of Children. The 'youth problem' was a concern for the Army, and Bramwell claimed that migration was the most viable practical solution for the lads who spent years in occupations that led nowhere. He explained that those years which should have been: ... utilised in apprenticeships to a useful calling had been lost in some form of work which promised a large remuneration, but now the lads stand on the threshold of manhood with no other prospect than a certain drifting into the ranks of casual labour. (34)

He also said that the Dominions that were willing to accept these lads would do so with the assurance that they would be adequately trained in scientific farming and an understanding of the conditions of the new land. He hoped the scheme would be launched in Australia where, he claimed, the Army had received a favourable response. Two schemes operated in relation to the farm youth migration programme to Australia. One involved training youths at the Hadleigh Farm Training Colony in Essex, England, and sending them to Australia to be placed on farms. The other was to send youths to Australia to the Army's Riverview Training Farm, near Brisbane, Queensland. (35)

The Hadleigh Farm Training Colony was established in 1891. It was initially established to train men to work on the land in Britain and the Dominions, such as Canada. Between 1904 and 1912, 6870 men had been admitted, of which 4297 had gone to situations in Britain and 407 had been sent overseas. From the early 1920s the Hadleigh Farm Colony was used for training youths who would be likely to succeed if sent overseas and placed on the land. The main objective of the Hadleigh Farm Training Colony was to inculcate the lads with a 'land sense' before they emigrated. The training consisted of general farm and market garden work. The course covered dairying techniques, ploughing, treatment of sheep, fruit picking, growing crops, operating machinery and domestic hygiene. The duration of the training was approximately six weeks. The lads' physical and spiritual wellbeing was considered to be very important and they were required to attend the Army's religious service on Sundays.

The programme was funded by the British Government. Approximately 5000 youths who were trained at Hadleigh were sent to the Dominions. The first group was sent to Australia in 1923, and by 1928 approximately 1000 youths had arrived and been placed on farms in Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia. The Army monitored the lads until they reached the age of eighteen years and foster parents were selected. (36)

The Army also established a training farm of 363 acres in Riverview, Queensland, in 1926. It considered the training farm to be of national importance in providing Australia with the 'right kind of settlers' that is, young, healthy white British farm labourers to assist in the development of the rural economy. The aim of the training programme at Riverview was to teach British lads farming techniques under Australian conditions. They arrived in groups of thirty-five, and received practical and theoretical training for approximately three to four months. The farm consisted of crops, dairy cattle and horses and the curriculum included training in general farming, dairying, pig raising, vegetable culture, carpentry, and household duties. The lads also received tuition and lectures in various subjects such as agriculture. They were required to complete various forms of assessment and were examined regularly. Recreation was also encouraged and the lads were able to take part in various sports. The Army believed that the training farm would benefit the lads in a moral, social and physical sense. They would be in a healthy environment, learn the virtues of honest hard work, and be spiritually guided.

Upon completion of their training the lads were sent to farms in southern Queensland. The Army monitored them to ensure that they were well cared for, and dispensed guidance when necessary. In regard to funding, the British, Commonwealth and Queensland Governments contributed to maintenance and training at Riverview. Although the total number of lads who received training is not available, from its establishment in 1926 until December 1928, 134 lads were trained at the facility. The programme at Riverview came to an end with the onset of the Depression and the outbreak of the Second World War. The farm became neglected and its physical condition deteriorated. While attempts were made to restore the farm and recommence the training programme during the 1950s, less than one hundred British lads were received at the farm and the programme was official abandoned in the early 1960s. This coincided with employment opportunities through increased mechanisation and the development of secondary industries which attracted people to urban centres. (37)

There were no similar extensive training programmes for British girls. Most girls and single women who were sent to Australia were employed in domestic service. Lodges, such as the Brightview Lodge in Perth, were established in some Australian cities to assist, care for, and place some girls in employment. By 1928, 118 girls had been placed in domestic positions from Brightview. (38)

The onset of the Depression and the subsequent suspension of assisted migration schemes until 1938 brought the Army's juvenile migration scheme to a complete halt. General Evangeline Booth referred to the Army's work in migration as one of 'privilege and aspiration', and she claimed that it was of 'vital importance in Empire life and structure'. She stressed the importance of the earliest renewal of overseas migration of British adults and juveniles, including to Australia. Evangeline stated that this was necessary not only to alleviate the hardship which many Britons endured as a result of the Depression, but also to ensure the redistribution of the white population of the Empire to keep it intact. In 1937 she wrote to Prime Minister Lyons and impressed upon him the urgency to recommence assisted migration schemes to Australia. However, the outbreak of the Second World War meant that such migration schemes were to remain suspended until hostilities ceased. (39)

Conclusion

The Army's British juvenile migration programme was a complex merger of intrinsically linked ideologies. Booth embraced the nexus between social reform and imperialist ideology. He amalgamated the amelioration of the 'submerged tenth' with the idea of imperialist expansion through a large scale emigration programme to skill and transfer these people to the British Dominions. The benefit was also to assist in the development of the British Dominions, and to strengthen and preserve the British Empire for future generations. In comparison to other similar programmes during the early twentieth century, for instance that of the Big Brother Movement, the Army's programme was moderate in the number of juveniles who were sent to Australia. It had established an elaborate infrastructure to facilitate its emigration programme of both adults and juveniles to British Dominions since the late nineteenth century, and was one of the major migration organisations of its time. (40)

The character of the Army's juvenile migration programme also revealed an important link with Booth's conservative ideas as expressed in Training of Children. This work provides valuable evidence of Booth's ideas of how children were to be 'trained' as 'soldiers of Christ', and the type of life they should adopt that would bring them the greatest chance of physical, moral and spiritual fulfilment. They were to be prepared for the Kingdom of God.

The central purpose of the 'training' regime was to bring children back to the 'Garden of Eden' and thus closer to God. Booth believed that life on the land would provide the physical, emotional and spiritual nourishment which they needed and one which would isolate them from the sins and degradation of the city. He was concerned about the deterioration of a wholesome family life, and the creation of the 'lost generation' of children. Training youths as farm labourers and girls for domestic service in the Dominions was also considered a cost-effective way of managing the problem of juvenile homelessness and poverty. Other inherent benefits were to remove the juveniles from overcrowded urban centres, reduce the burden on the State to care for them and simultaneously offer the Dominions a much needed supply of cheap labour.

Booth was very critical of the education system, claiming that children were not being educated, but merely 'schooled' with only a rudimentary acquaintance with basic scholastic skills. He claimed that children must be equipped with the appropriate skills which would not only enable them to be employable, but also to maintain a morally and spiritually sound lifestyle. Training and placing juveniles on the land would serve this purpose. According to his teachings, the aim of education was to create and mould 'little soldiers of Christ'. Education was to be based upon a curriculum which emphasised the importance of teaching a child to obey God's commandments and to live in a manner which served Him, and not according to artificial ideals such as higher education, wealth, and material possessions. The 'purity' of life on the land was therefore considered ideal in attaining these goals.

Finally, young children who were sent to Australia were not placed in institutions. Booth disapproved of this practice claiming that it was detrimental to a healthy upbringing of a child. He regarded institutions as regimented and impersonal. Booth wanted children to be raised in homes with a healthy family environment and positive moral and spiritual influences, and therefore favoured fostering and adoption.

(1) This article is based on research done by the author. See E. Daniel, 'British juvenile migration to Australia: case studies on the programs of the Big Brother movement, the Salvation Army and the Church of England between 1920 and 1960', Ph.D. Thesis, La Trobe University, Melbourne, 2004. Also see, G. Wagner, Children of the Empire, London, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1982; G. Sherington and C. Jeffrey, Fairbridge: empire and child migration, Perth, Woburn, 1988; and B. Coldrey, Good British Stock: child and youth migration to Australia, National Archives Research Guide, Canberra, National Archives of Australia, 1999.

(2) See R. Sandall, The History of the Salvation Army: social reform and welfare work, London, Nelson, 1966; and Salvation Army, Empire Migration and Settlement Report, NAA: A1, 1937/10056.

(3) Empire Migration and Settlement Report, pp. 4-8.

(4) W. Booth, In Darkest England and the Way Out, London, Carlyle Press, 1890; and W. Booth, Training of Children: or how to make the children into saints and soldiers of Jesus Christ, London, Carlyle Press, 1888.

(5) For a discussion on the definitions see Daniel, pp. 11-12; and A. McVeigh, A history of child and juvenile migration schemes to Australia, Ph.D. thesis, Queens University, Belfast, 1995, Ch. 1.

(6) See Sandall, History of the Salvation Army, B. Bessant, The Land Hunger, Commentary and Documents, Topics in Australian History Series, Melbourne, Nelson, 1980; and Booth, In Darkest England.

(7) See M. Langfield, 'Voluntarism, salvation, and rescue: British juvenile migration to Australia and Canada 1890-1939', The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History, vol. 32, no. 2, 2004, pp. 86-114; and T. Boone, Youth of Darkest England: working class children at the heart of Victorian empire, London, Routledge, 2004, p. 91.

(8) See Wagner, Children of the Empire, p. 163; Williams, 'A way out of our trouble: the politics of empire', in S. Constantine (ed.), Emigration and Empire: British settlement in the Dominions between the wars, Manchester, Manchester University Press, 1990, p. 26; Booth, In Darkest England, p. 94; and Boone, Youth of Darkest England, pp. 91-2.

(9) Booth, In Darkest England, p. 17; and Sandall, History of the Salvation Army, p. 79.

(10) See C. Spence, The Salvation Army Farm Colonies, Tucson, University of Arizona Press, 1985; and Booth, In Darkest England, pp. 92-3.

(11) Fairbanks, Booth's Boots: social service beginnings in the Salvation Army, London, Campfield Press, 1983, p. 149; and Booth, In Darkest England, pp. 90-4.

(12) See Booth, In Darkest England, 94-114; J. Sandall, History of the Salvation Army, p. 216; and War Cry, 23 February 1898, London, 1898.

(13) Spence, Salvation Army Farm Colonies, p. 12; and Booth, In Darkest England, pp. 124-42.

(14) Quotation cited in F. Coutts, Bread for my Neighbour: the social influence of William Booth, London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1978, p. 149; Booth, In Darkest England, p. 93; and Sherington and Jeffrey, Fairbridge.

(15) See L. Tarling, Thank God for the Salvos: the Salvation Army in Australia, Sydney, Harper & Row, 1980, pp. 8-42; and Bolton, Booth's Drum: the Salvation Army in Australia 1880-1980, Sydney, Hodder & Stoughton, 1980, pp. 226-30.

(16) See P. Aries, Centuries of Childhood, translated by R. Baldick, London, 1962; J. Pinchbeck and M. Hewitt, Children in English Society, London, 1973; and Sherington and Jeffrey, Fairbridge. Also see, A McVeigh, A history, and P. Bean and J. Melville, Lost Children of the Empire, London, Unwin Hyman, 1989, pp. 34-5.

(17) See Wagner, Children of the Empire, p. 25; and Booth, Training of Children.

(18) Booth, Training of Children, p. 69.

(19) Booth, Training of Children, Ch. 1-3.

(20) Booth, In Darkest England, pp. 64-5.

(21) Booth, In Darkest England, pp. 64-5; and Training of Children, pp. 41-2.

(22) Booth, Training of Children, p. 175.

(23) Booth, Training of Children, pp. 174-5 and 194-6; and Booth, In Darkest England, pp. 62-3.

(24) Booth, In Darkest England, pp. 63-5; and Booth, Training of Children, pp. 194-202.

(25) Booth, Training of Children, p. 52, and pp. 201-4.

(26) See McVeigh, A history, pp. 156-8; Bean and Melville, Lost Children of the Empire, pp. 34-5; and Wagner, p. 25.

(27) War Cry, 28 January 1922, p. 5; Wagner, Children of the Empire, pp. 162-3; and C Taylor, 'Migration Works', in Social Problems and Solutions, Papers read at the International Social Council conducted by General Bramwell Booth, London, 1921, pp. 274-6.

(28) Quotation cited in New Settlers in a New Land, Melbourne, Salvation Army Migration Service, 1995, p. 15. For a discussion on 'scientific racial theories' see M. Banton, Racial Theories, London, Cambridge University Press, 1998.

(29) Cited in Langfield, 'Voluntarism', p. 90. See also War Cry, 3 October, 1908, p. 8.

(30) See Sandall, History of the Salvation Army, p. 157; Wagner, Children of the Empire, p 220; and Daniel, British juvenile migration, Ch. 3-5.

(31) Empire Migration and Settlement Report, pp. 8-18; War Cry, 22 January 1922, p. 6 and 28 January 1922, p. 5.

(32) War Cry, 29 June 1912, p. 10; and Empire Migration and Settlement Report, pp. 8-18.

(33) Empire Migration and Settlement Report, pp. 8-18 ; War Cry, 29 June 1912, p. 10, and 19 May 1923, p. 8.

(34) War Cry, 5 December 1924, p. 5.

(35) See Training at Hadleigh Farm Colony, NAA: CP211/2/1, 74/9; and Salvation Army: Migration, NAA: CP211/2, 53/83.

(36) Sandall, History of the Salvation Army, p. 141; and Training at Hadleigh Farm Colony.

(37) Salvation Army: Migration; Salvation Army Training at Riverview, 1927-8, NAA: CP211/2, 74/39; and Riverview Training Farm, NAA: J25, 1958/3052.

(38) See The Salvation Army Migration Department, A Report of the work in Australia, Melbourne, 1928, p. 19.

(39) See correspondence between Evangeline Booth and Lyons in NAA: A1, 1937/10056.

(40) The Big Brother Movement, for example, assisted in the migration of approximately 12, 264 youths between 1924-1983. See Big Brother Movement, British Youth Migration, 1925-1987, Sydney, Strathfield, 1987.

Esther Daniel is currently teaching in the Faculty of Arts at Deakin University and has previously taught at the National Centre for Australian Studies at Monash University. She completed her Ph.D. degree through the Faculty of Education at La Trobe University in 2004. Her main area of specialisation is in immigration research with a focus on the history of British juvenile migration to Australia. In addition she is doing research on the development of child welfare theories and practices during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Britain and Australia; and on religious organisations. Email: ec5_daniel@yahoo.com.au