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Women and Imperialism: The Colonial Office and Female Emigration to South Africa, 1901-1910

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 July 2014

Brian L. Blakeley
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Extract

The emigration of women to South Africa and the other parts of the empire had been periodically promoted throughout the nineteenth century, but it was that great imperial crisis known as the Boer War which gave such emigration an immediate political and patriotic importance. The emigration of women, especially single women, was increasingly viewed not only as a means of assisting unfortunate, superfluous individuals but as a way of strengthening the empire—a matter of imperial urgency. By 1901 the issue of female emigration had become a part, and some argued the most important part, of the larger question of how to secure the South African colonies to the British Empire in more than name. An organized program for sending single women to South Africa was therefore jointly developed by the Colonial Office and the emigration societies which had long been interested in this work. This alliance between the hard-nosed bureaucrats of Downing Street and the amateurish gentlewomen who ran such organizations as the British Women's Emigration Association seldom, as events proved, operated smoothly, contributing in part to its limited success. This attempt to stimulate the settlement of women in South Africa is important, however, in illustrating the national mood in the aftermath of the victory in South Africa, the increased involvements of women in imperial affairs, and the difficulties facing the advocates of female emigration.

The origins of Joseph Chamberlain's, and hence the Colonial Office's, interest in female emigration is difficult to pinpoint. The preliminary report of 1900 of the Lands Settlement Commission chaired by H.O. Arnold-Forster drew the attention of the office to the demographic weakness of the British position in South Africa.

Type
Research Article
Information
Albion , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , Summer 1981 , pp. 131 - 149
Copyright
Copyright © North American Conference on British Studies 1981

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References

1 Minutes on “Report of the Lands Settlement Commission, South Africa,” 28 November 1900, P.R.O., CO. 417/339.

2 For a general discussion of Milner's plans for “immigrants, anglicisation, and prosperity,” to use the words of Arthur Keppel-Jones, see Keppel-Jones, , South Africa: A Short History (London, 1961), pp. 140–144Google Scholar; Le May, G. H. L., British Supremacy in South Africa, 1899-1907 (Oxford, 1965), pp. 155–191Google Scholar; Pyrah, G. B., Imperial Policy and South Africa, 1902-10 (Oxford, 1955), pp. 182–216Google Scholar; Marlowe, John, Milner: Apostle of Empire (London, 1976), pp. 132–159Google Scholar; and Nimocks, Walter, Milner's Young Men: the “Kindergarten” in Edwardian Imperial Affairs (Durham, N.C., 1968), pp. 30–53.Google Scholar

3 Susan, [Harris, ], Countess of Malmesbury, The Life of Major-General Sir John Ardagh (London, 1909), pp. 382–387.Google Scholar

4 These memos plus Colonial Office minutes and related documents are found in the Ardagh Papers deposited at the Public Record Office (Kew).

5 Minutes on “Ardagh's Memo,” June 1901, P.R.O., CO. 417/368.

6 Sir John Ardagh, Memo of 22 January 1901, “Association for Facilitating and Promoting the Emigration of Selected Young Women under Proper Supervision to South Africa,” P.R.O. 30/40/18 (Ardagh Papers), pp. 1-2.

7 Ibid., pp. 3-4; Ardagh, Memo of 21 April 1902, “The Repatriation and Rehabilitation of the Burghers after the War,” P.R.O. 30/40/18.

8 Ardagh, “Confidential Memo of 6 March 1902,” P.R.O. 30/40/18.

9 Ardagh, “Confidential Memo of 12 June 1902,” P.R.O. 30/40/18.

10 Ardagh, “Second Memorandum,” P.R.O. 30/40/18.

11 The Times (London), 15 March 1901Google ScholarPubMed. Because of the obvious value of Chamberlain's support, the B.W.E.A. reprinted his speech as a pamphlet for distribution.

12 Henry Lambert's minute of 13 June 1901 on Ardagh's memo, P.R.O., CO. 417/368, and CO. to Governors, 23 March 1901, P.R.O., CO. 417/339.

13 For the background and work of the B.W.E.A. see Monk, Una, New Horizons: One Hundred Years of Women's Migration (London, 1963), pp. 1–17Google Scholar; and Hammerton, J.A., Emmigrant Gentlewomen: Genteel Poverty and Female Emigration, 1830-1914 (Totowa, N.J., 1979), pp. 148–153.Google Scholar

14 U.B.W.E.A., Council Minutes of 22 March 1899, Fawcett Library 1. The records of several female emigration societies are deposited at the Fawcett Library presently located at the City of London Polytechnic. The reference numbers refer to the boxes at the Fawcett Library in which the manuscript materials are kept.

15 U.B.W.E.A., Council Minutes of 14 June 1899, Fawcett Library 1.

16 Malmesbury, , Life of Ardagh, pp. 440–441Google Scholar

17 U.B.W.E.A., Council Minutes of 15 February 1901, Fawcett Library 1. The delay was to provide Milner with the opportunity to react to Ardagh's plan.

18 The Times (London), 22 March 1901, p. 12eGoogle ScholarPubMed, and Hansard, 4th Series, 91 (25 March 1901): 11621191.Google Scholar

19 U.B.W.E.A., Council Minutes of 18 April 1901, Fawcett Library 1.

20 U.B.W.E.A., Council Minutes of 1 May 1901, Fawcett Library 1.

21 Malmesbury, , Life of Ardagh, p. 440Google Scholar. This claim was vigorously challenged by Joyce who argued that the organization had evolved naturally from the B.W.E.A. Joyce to Malmesbury, 26 January 1909, P.R.O. 30/40/18.

22 Chitty, , “Imperial Patriotism,” The Imperial Colonist 3 no. 25 (January 1904): 15–16Google Scholar. Women were also active in educating the public in imperial matters through such recently founded organizations as the Victoria League (1901) and the League of Empire (1901). Greenlee, J.G., “Imperial Studies and the Unity of the Empire,” Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 7 no. 3 (May 1979): 322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

23 The Imperial Colonist 1–12 (1902–1914)Google Scholar. The annual meetings of the B.W.E.A. were held at the Imperial Institute and were much less elaborate and impressively attended. The list of the S.A.C.S. Vice-Patrons (1902), including Devonshire, Balfour, Selborne, Milner, Asquith, Chamberlain, and Edward Grey, indicates that it had little difficulty in attracting support from the leaders of both major parties. S.A.C.S., Report of 1903, p. 3Google ScholarPubMed, Fawcett Library 41.

24 The Imperial Colonist I no. 1 (January 1902): 2.Google Scholar

25 For example see “Annual Meeting of the S.A.C.S.,” ibid., 4 no. 43 (July 1905): 76.

26 Ibid., 1 no. 2 (February 1902): 11.

27 Ibid., 1 no. 5 (May 1902): 40.

28 S.A.X., Minutes of 18 June 1901, 3, 11, and 17 July 1901; and 6 November 1901, Fawcett Library 1.

29 U.B.W.E.A. to C.O., 19 July 1901, P.R.O., CO. 417/340; CO. to War Office, 18 June 1901; and Chamberlain's minute of 30 May 1901 on Ardagh to Lord Monk Bretton, 27 May 1901, P.R.O., CO. 417/339.

30 Lambert's minute of 22 May 1901 on J. Edith Bairnsfather to Joyce, 28 March 1901, P.R.O., CO. 417/339.

31 Fiddes' minute of 28 May 1901 on Ardagh to Monk Bretton, 27 May 1901, P.R.O., CO. 417/339.

32 C.O. to Governors of Cape, Natal, and South Africa, 23 March 1901, P.R.O., CO. 417/339; Walter Hely Hutchinson to Chamberlain, 26 April 1901, P.R.O., CO. 48/552; and Monk Bretton to Joyce, 20 August 1901, P.R.O., CO. 219/179.

33 Chamberlain to Milner, tel., 21 June 1902, and Milner, to Chamberlain, , tel., 12 August 1902, Parliamentary Papers, vol. 45Google Scholar, “Further Correspondence Relating to Affairs in South Africa,” Cd. 1463, 1903, pp. 1-3.

34 Lambert's minute of 14 August 1902 on Milner to Chamberlain, tel., 12 August 1902, P.R.O., CO. 291/41.

35 Girls' Friendly Society, Minutes of the Imperial, Colonial, and Overseas Committee, 5 July 1901, 17 July 1901, 24 October 1901, 16 June 1902, and 1 October 1902, Class 1, Ref. 87. The records of the G.F.S., used with the permission of Dame Marion Kettlewell, are deposited at the G.F.S., Townsend House, London. In addition to Bairnsfather, London emigration leaders such as Mrs. Joyce and Lady Knightley of Fawsley were also active in the work of the G.F.S. For a general account of the work and ideals of the G.F.S. during this era see Harrison, Brian, “For Church, Queen, and Family: The Girls' Friendly Society 1874-1920,” Past and Present 61 (November 1973): 107–138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

36 Cape Times, 22 April 1901, enclosed in Hely Hutchinson to Chamberlain, 22 April 1901, P.R.O., CO. 48/552.

37 For a discussion of the relations between these two organizations and Bairnsfather's criticism of the S.A.C.S.'s work see S.A.X., minutes of 9 April 1902 and Malmesbury's “Report of the Committee of Enquiry on the Criticisms contained in the letter from the Hon.” Sec. of the S.A.I.A. (dated Feb. 4. 02),” Fawcett Library 41.

38 Clipping from The Star (Johannesburg), 28 April 1902Google ScholarPubMed, P.R.O. 30/40/18.

39 J.M. Russell (W.I.D.) to S.A.X., 16 August 1902 and 1 September 1902, P.R.O., CO. 291/51.

40 The S. A.C.S. approved Milner's Transvaal arrangements on 6 August 1902. S.A.X. to CO., 29 August 1902, P.R.O., CO. 291/51.

41 S.A.X. to CO., 4 September 1902, P.R.O., CO. 291/51.

42 The work of the S.A.X. was done out of rooms at the Imperial Institute. S.A.X., minutes of 4 June 1902, and Alecia M. Cecil to Mrs. Matthews, copy, 27 June 1902, Fawcett Library 41.

43 Milner to Chamberlain, tel., 17 November 1902, P.R.O., CO. 291/44.

44 Milner to Chamberlain, tel., 14 November 1902, and Chamberlain's minute, P.R.O., CO. 291/44; and minutes on S.A.X. to CO., 21 November 1902, P.R.O., CO. 291/52.

45 Cecil to Russell, copy, 31 October 1902, Fawcett Library 41.

46 S.A.X. to CO., 21 November 1902, and S.A.X. to C.O., 12 December 1902, P.R.O., C.O. 291/52.

47 Minutes on S.A.X. to CO., 21 November 1902, P.R.O., CO. 291/52, and S.A.X. to CO., 8 January 1903, P.R.O., CO. 291/65.

48 C.O. to S.A.X., 5 February 1903, P.R.O., CO. 291/65, and Hunt to Onslow, 17 December 1902, P.R.O., CO. 291/52.

49 The Imperial Colonist 3 no. 30 (June 1904): 62, 65–66Google Scholar. For a detailed breakdown of these women see S.A.C.S., Report for 1903, pp. 47–49Google ScholarPubMed, Fawcett Library 41.

50 The Transvaal figures for selected years are: 1904 (233), 1905 (193), 1906 (182), 1907-08 (299), and 1910-11 (213). S.A.C.S., Annual Reports (1904–1911)Google ScholarPubMed, passim, Fawcett Library 41.

51 S.A.X., Minutes of 5 March 1902, Fawcett Library 41.

52 S.A.C.S., Report for 1905, pp. 48–49Google ScholarPubMed, Fawcett Library 41. See also “Dr. Neville Wood's Report,” S.A.C.S., Report for 1904-05, pp. 19–23Google Scholar, Fawcett Library 41.

53 S.A.C.S., Report for 1903, p. 52Google ScholarPubMed, Fawcett Library 41.

54 S.A.C.S., Report for 1905, p. 50Google ScholarPubMed, Fawcett Library 41.

55 See especially the private letters from Cecil to the members of the Transvaal Committee in Johannesburg. Cecil to Russell, copies, 6 November 1902, 23 January 1903, 5 February 1903, and 25 May 1903, Fawcett Library, 41.

56 Minutes on S.A.X. to CO., 21 November 1902, P.R.O., CO. 291/52.

57 Graham's minute of 14 November 1902 on Milner to Chamberlain, 20 October 1902, P.R.O., C.O. 291/43.

58 S.A.X., Minutes of 7 May 1902, Fawcett Library 41.

59 For a description of the school at Stoke Prior see The Imperial Colonist 10 no. 126 (June 1912): 102–105.Google Scholar

60 Minutes on S.A.X. to CO., 21 November 1902, P.R.O., CO. 291/52.

61 G.F.S., Minutes of the Sectional Committee for South Africa, 4 October 1911, Reference 93, Class 1.

62 Hammerton, A. James, ”Feminism and Female Emigration, 1861-1886,” in Vicinus, Martha, ed., A Widening Sphere: Changing Roles of Victorian Women (Bloomington, Ind., 1972), pp. 52–71.Google Scholar

63 Friendly Leaves (G.F.S.), 28, no. 323 (July 1903): 253.Google Scholar

64 S.A.C.S., Report for 1905, p. 53Google ScholarPubMed, Fawcett Library 41. Of the 995 women only 23 were classified as governesses or teachers and only 25 were lady-helps.

65 S.A.C.S., Minutes of 2 December 1903, Fawcett Library 41.

66 Cecil to Russell, copy, 27 February 1903, Fawcett Library 41.

67 Alice Balfour to Chamberlain, 15 May 1903, and CO. to Hervey, 28 May 1903, P.R.O., CO. 291/65; and Edith Lyttleton Gell to Chamberlain, 17 June 1902 and minutes, P.R.O., CO. 417/367.

68 S.A.C.S., Report for 1903, pp. 3–7Google ScholarPubMed, Fawcett Library 41. Changes in the original organizational structure of the S.A.CS. can be traced in the annual reports.

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70 S.A.X., Minutes of 2 July 1902, Fawcett Library 41.

71 J. Gordon Sprigg to Malmesbury, copy, 5 February 1903, and S.A.X., Minutes of 4 March 1903, Fawcett Library 41.

72 S.A.C.S., Minutes of 1 July 1903, Fawcett Library 41.

73 Thomas G. Town to Mrs. Logan, copy, 24 July 1907, enclosed in E.I.O. to S.A.C.S., 11 September 1907, P.R.O., CO. 291/122. Town reported that one Johannesburg daily had 92 ads from domestics seeking work.

74 Logan to Town, copy, 6 August 1907, enclosed in E.I.O. to S.A.C.S., 11 September 1907, P.R.O., CO. 291/122.

75 Cecil to Logan, copy, 4 October 1907, and E.I.O. to S.A.C.S., 11 September 1907, P.R.O., CO. 291/122.

76 Cecil to Logan, copy, 4 October 1907, P.R.O., CO. 291/122.

77 Vivian to Lambert, 19 November 1907, and Lambert to Vivian, 20 November 1907, P.R.O., C.O. 291/122. For the private correspondence on this muddle see Cecil to Logan, 4 October 1907, and Cecil to Lady Selborne, 10 November 1907, Fawcett Library 41.

78 Lambert's minutes of 2 December and 4 December 1907, P.R.O., CO. 291/122.

79 Chamberlain's minute of 30 May 1901, on Ardagh to Lord Monk Bretton, 27 May 1901, P.R.O., CO. 417/339.

80 C.I.L., Minutes of 23 February 1910, Fawcett Library 37.

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83 Ibid., 132 (24 March 1904): 658-661; and idem, 143 (30 March 1905): 1784-5.

84 For a discussion of these press attacks in such diverse places as the Edinburgh Evening News, the Daily Mail, The Times, and “popular rags” like the People's Journal see S.A.C.S. to C.O., 24 March 1904, P.R.O., CO. 291/65; and Cecil to Russell, 29 July 1903 and 12 August 1903, Fawcett Library 41.

85 The shortage of domestics, the servant problem, was frequently discussed in the pages of The Nineteenth Century, the Contemporary Review, and The Fortnightly Review. See also Branca, Patricia, Silent Sisterhood: Middle Class Women in the Victorian Home (Pittsburgh, 1975), pp. 30–34.Google Scholar

86 C.I.L., Minutes of 23 February 1910, Fawcett Library 37.

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89 Cecil to Russell, copy, 15 May 1903, Fawcett Library 41. The name change was also a part of the power struggle to assert the independence of the S.A.CS. from the B.W.E.A.

90 The Imperial Colonist 4 no. 43 (July 1905): 76Google Scholar; and ibid., 6, no. 78 (June 1908): 3.

91 Parliamentary Papers, vol. 76, “Minutes of Evidence taken before the Departmental Committee [to consider Rider-Haggard's report on settlement colonies],” Cd. 2979, 1906, p. 84.

92 The Times (London), 17 December 1903Google ScholarPubMed, and S.A.C.S., Report for 1903, p. 53.Google ScholarPubMed

93 Marx to Cecil, copy, 25 February 1906, enclosed in S.A.C.S. to C.O., 20 March 1906, P.R.O., C.O. 291/112.

94 Lambert's minute of 11 January 1904, and Lucas' minute of 12 January 1904, on Stanley to Cecil, copy, 4 January 1904, and Lambert to Vivian, 14 January 1904, P.R.O., CO. 417/405.

95 Hansard, 4th Series, 132 (24 March 1904): 658–661Google Scholar; idem, 143 (30 March 1905): 1784-85; and idem, 164 (14 January 1906): 1395-96.

96 Ibid., 167 (17 December 1906): 943; and Parliamentary Papers, vol. 76, “Report of the Departmental Committee Appointed to Consider Mr. Rider-Haggard's Report on Agricultural Settlements in British Colonies,” Cd. 2978, 1906, pp. 24-25.

97 Cecil to Lady Selborne, 7 August 1907, 10 November 1907, and 22 November 1907, Fawcett Library 41; and S.A.C.S., Report for 1907-08, pp. 36–41Google Scholar, Fawcett Library 41.

98 The Imperial Colonist 6 no. 78 (June 1908): 7–8.Google Scholar

99 S.A.C.S., Report for 1906, p. 35Google ScholarPubMed, Fawcett Library 41.

100 S.A.C.S., Report for 1910-1911, pp. 37–38Google Scholar; and Report for 1914-1915, p. 5, Fawcett Library 41.

101 S.A.C.S., Report for 1914-1915, p. 103Google Scholar, Fawcett Library 41.

102 Harrison, , “For Church, Queen, and Family,” p. 107.Google Scholar