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Younger sons in Britain
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Message 1.聽
Posted by Caro (U1691443) on Saturday, 22nd October 2011
I am reading a book on immigration from England to New Zealand on the ship London in 1842. The author, Jenny Robin Jones, has set herself on the shop talking to her great-great-grandmother, who came out on it. Two diaries form the basis of her book and she has used many other diaries and historical records to 鈥榯ell鈥 her ancestor the history that preceded and followed her journey. Sometimes it gets a bit 鈥榣ectury鈥 but generally it鈥檚 full of interesting snippets of history.
But the bit I wanted to check out was from a lecture on emigration by Charles Hursthouse. The author doesn鈥檛 date this or comment other than to say he is the brother of John, who came to New Zealand that same year on a different ship and gave an extension written account of the voyage. But I don鈥檛 know if Charles also came out or was just encouraging emigration from Britain in Britain. He says, 鈥淣ew Zealand offers a noble field for the enterprise of that large class 鈥榶ounger sons鈥 who here fritter away life in the chase of trifles. Assume that one of these unfortunates inherits 4000l [拢] to 5000l [拢]; his capital is not large enough to support him in idleness; his interest not sufficient to place him in that frequent refuge for the destitutes, 鈥榩ublic office鈥; the professions are crowded to excess. He wastes prime years in fruitless efforts to secure a position; and then, perhaps, sinks into the 鈥榟anger-on鈥 of some favourite of fortune; his ambition confined to amusing his patron, to the set of a coat, or the tie of neckcloth; and at fifty, we find a pithless, valetudinarian old bachelor forcibly-feeble in white and twaddle...Let such younger son [come] to New Zealand; lead out a band of his father鈥檚 tenantry and engage in the glorious work of colonisation...Then a long and happy life of honourable enterprise would create him an estate which might vie with the old family one at home; and he would bequeath his children not only wealth, but a name honourable in the land as one of its greatest benefactors.鈥
Now, some of these colonising sentiments don鈥檛 quite gel with modern ideas (though it is a lot easier to be scathing of them from a settled ancestry in Britain than as a child of a descendant of these people who are often (and still) honoured in their new countries, really. Not all of them 鈥 the Wakefields themselves running this enterprise haven鈥檛 been totally vindicated by history).
But it is the younger sons bit that I am interested in. Novels set in this period and earlier do talk of idle young men in London spending hours tying their cravats and neckcloths, but I haven鈥檛 necessarily equated this lack of activity with younger sons. Why were there not enough professions? It isn鈥檛 now usually professional people who run out of work chances 鈥 if there鈥檚 too many lawyers they become consultants or open a different business using those skills. And there never seem to be enough doctors or nurses (I don鈥檛 suppose nursing would have been considered quite the thing for a younger son of someone of wealth). We seem nowadays to be able to soak up educated people 鈥 it is working people who are wanted, then not wanted and have to look for employment now.
Was it really as bad as Charles Hursthouse made out, or has he exaggerated this for effect? I don鈥檛 know if he was a emigration agent or not.
Cheers, Caro. -
Message 2
Posted by stanilic (U2347429) on Sunday, 23rd October 2011
Caro
A younger son had to make his own fortune as his elder brother could expect to inherit the family silver. This applied to all the propertied classes, including the tenantry, unless special arrangements were applied by the father before his decease.
I have an ancestor in the eighteenth century who as a younger son of a gentleman was reduced to a labourer as his elder brother inherited before any proper provision was made for him and his younger sister. Nothing quite like sibling rivalry! The sister married one of the tenants so escaped a dire fate.
The colonies in America and later in Australia and New Zealand presented opportunities to the ambitious but not all found it easy. An Australian relative has a tale of an ancestor selling a small property in southern England for a far larger holding in Victoria but finding himself unprepared for cultivating it from scratch when he arrived: they made it in the end but had a very tough time.
The professions at that time were not usually a place for young gentlemen to adorn themselves. Entry was usually through what was known as Articles in that an agreement was drawn up usually between the father of the young man and a suitable local attorney who would then induct the young man over a seven year period into the ways and manners of the profession: much like apprenticeships. If the youngster was talented enough he could become accepted by his peers through election: many sadly ended up as clerks but even then this was a fair living.
The great tragedy of the nineteenth century for many was that economic and technological change degraded both social status and skills. Either you harnessed yourself to the new ways or you went into both economic and social decline.
I fear we may be in a similar situation now where educated people are finding the public purse less generous than before. As a member of a heritage charity who also works in industry I am getting a tad tired hearing the complaints of over-qualfied and previously arrogant people who had a jolly nice sinecure from taxpayer funds expecting to be bailed out by the seriously underfunded voluntary sector. Moan over! -
Message 3
Posted by Caro (U1691443) on Sunday, 23rd October 2011
When you read the stories of early settlers here, you do wonder what on earth conditions could have been like at home to make it seem preferable. But I suppose they didn't necessarily know how primitive life would be for them, at least in the more isolated farming areas. Even the towns were pretty basic in the 1850s. They must have some idea of how ghastly the ship life would be coming over though and still some people came with 4 or 5 children. Bad enough travelling to Britain now with one child in a plane.
Quite a lot of people left NZ finding it more than they could cope with, but of course they aren't the ones whose ancestors are here, so we don't hear so much of them. And although everyone talks of how tough they were - and they often were, working very hard, living in huts, walking 15 miles for groceries or work, etc - some either left or took more drastic action. One of the family histories in our museum has a long section about a young mother who committed suicide, with the newspaper reports and coroner's report etc. And men often took to drink or deserted their families. Or died and left their wives to carry on the farm or business.
Farms here still have to cope with its division on retirement and there are courses and workshops on succession, but the (usually) son buying the farm does have to pay for it, and other kids are catered for fairly. (Just as often no one wants it and it is sold. My sister has five children, none of whom want the family farm.)
I thought the army was also a place to dispose of extra sons. There were people sent to NZ (Fencibles) with their families in case they were needed in a war situation. NZ did have quite a lot of remittance men and I used to be uncertain what these were - their function was never defined very well, but they were usually black sheep of the family, I think, or ne'er-do-wells. But maybe sometimes nothing more than younger sons.
Cheers, Caro. -
Message 4
Posted by raundsgirl (U2992430) on Sunday, 23rd October 2011
'Remittance Men' were those who had disgraced themselves at home to the extent that their families bought them a one-way ticket and paid them an allowance to stay away. A long way away! -
Message 5
Posted by Peggy Monahan (U2254875) on Tuesday, 25th October 2011
I thought the army was also a place to dispose of extra sons.聽
If you read widely in novels set in in or written in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the question of providing for younger sons figures largely as estates were usually entailed. The Church and the Army were the two options for the upper classes - but for the Church you had to find somebody to give you a living and in the army buy promotion. And once the Napolonic wars were over there weren't so many opportunities for promotion.
Sending young men to the colonies (starting with the US pre-Independence, then India, Australia, Canada) was indeed a solution for black sheep and/or young sons. Black sheep often of coruse being younger sons becayse they had neither money nor responsibility to keep them on the right track. -
Message 6
Posted by Temperance (U14455940) on Wednesday, 26th October 2011
Younger sons often married for money. There's a very interesting conversation in Chapter XXXIII of "Pride and Prejudice" on this very subject. Elizabeth Bennet is talking to Darcy's cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam. The colonel clearly admires Lizzy, but he is very cautious. Dare I risk another of one of my long quotations? I really do hope this one is relevant to the topic:
" ' A younger son, you know must be enured (sic) to self-denial and dependence.'
'In my opinion the younger son of an earl can know very little of either. Now, seriously, what have you ever known of self-denial and dependence? When have you been prevented by want of money from going wherever you chose, or procuring anything you have a fancy for?'
'These are home questions - and perhaps I cannot say that I have experienced many hardships of that nature. But in matters of greater weight, I may suffer from the want of money. Younger sons cannot marry where they like.'
'Unless they like women of fortune, which I think very often they do.'
'Our habits of expense make us too dependent, and there are not many in my rank of life who can afford to marry without some attention to money.'
'Is this,' thought Elizabeth, 'meant for me?' and she coloured at the idea; but, recovering herself, said in a very lively tone, 'And pray, what is the usual price of an earl's younger son? Unless the elder brother is very sickly, I suppose you would not ask above fifty thousand pounds.' "
Black sheep often of coruse being younger sons because they had neither money nor responsibility to keep them on the right track. 聽
In "Mansfield Park" the heir, Tom Bertram, is the irresponsible one - gambles and drinks. Indeed he very nearly dies because of his drunken excesses, and Mary Crawford - who very much likes Tom's brother, the serious and dutiful Edmund - actually hints (jokingly) that it would be better for all concerned if Tom were to die. Edmund would then become the heir to the Bertram estate. Possibly Tom's death would be a convenient outcome (well, for Mary at least), but it's very unwise of her to admit to such uncharitable and tactless - if honest - thoughts. (She puts them in a letter too - even worse!) Mary certainly likes and esteems Edmund, but she has no intention of committing herself and her fortune (I think around 拢20,000) to him while he is just a younger son.
Such situations must have been fairly common. -
Message 7
Posted by Peggy Monahan (U2254875) on Wednesday, 26th October 2011
" ' A younger son, you know must be enured (sic) to self-denial and dependence聽
Why do you say (sic)? It's an acceptable dictionary alternative to "inure", not a mistake.
Such situations must have been fairly common.聽
Pride and Prejudice notwithstanding literature more often has younger sons as black sheep. But I have not made a study of the question! -
Message 8
Posted by Temperance (U14455940) on Wednesday, 26th October 2011
I thought it was an old-fashioned variant of "inured". It looked a funny spelling to me! But you're right - enured or inured - either is correct.
PS I should point out that younger son Edmund was not just interested in Mary Crawford for her money. He was seriously attracted to her. But I expect the 拢20,000 helped. (She was actually not a good choice - far too wordly for a cleric's wife and Edmund was destined for the Church). -
Message 9
Posted by Temperance (U14455940) on Wednesday, 26th October 2011
...far too wordly for a cleric's wife...聽
Not a bad thing for the Rector's wife to be chatty.
I meant *worldly*! -
Message 10
Posted by Vizzer aka U_numbers (U2011621) on Saturday, 29th October 2011
In Thomas Hardy's 'Tess of the D'Urbervilles' (1891) the character of Angel Clare is described as being the youngest son of Reverend James Clare 'a poor parson'. So the youngest son of a younger son perhaps?
We also learn of the Reverend Clare that 'all his sons except our Mr Clare be made parsons too'. But that Angel 'was the only son who had not taken a university degree, though he was the single one of them whose early promise might have done full justice to an academical training.' Instead his object was 'to acquire a practical skill in the various processes of farming with a view either to the Colonies or to the tenure of a home farm as circumstances may decide.'
Intriguingly Hardy then has Clare announce that (rather than going to the Colonies or even to America) he has decided instead to go to 'the Empire of Brazil'. This sets the timeframe of the novel to being at least before 1889.
Angel's low church mother is appalled:
"Brazil! Why they are all Roman Catholics there surely."
He replies: "Are they? I hadn't thought of that."
The reasons given for his decision are not just that 'land was offered there on exceptionally advantageous terms' with 'great advantages for the emigrating agriculturalist' but also that 'Tess could eventually join him there and perhaps in that country of contrasting scenes and notions and habits the conventions would not be so operative which made life with her seem impracticable to him here.'
In this way Hardy shows that decisions regarding emigration were (are) not necessarily made on strictly economic grounds but that social factors etc also play an important part. -
Message 11
Posted by stanilic (U2347429) on Sunday, 30th October 2011
The advantage of Remittance Men to the colonial authorities was that they brought cash into the local economy ensuring the development of a local urban society. There was always the possibility that some of the Remittance Men would invest in local industry and agriculture thus ensuring economic development.
The Remittance Man was more useful than a labourer as there was always sufficent muscle in the colonies due to sailors quitting their vessels but never enough cash. -
Message 12
Posted by Caro (U1691443) on Sunday, 30th October 2011
Thank you all for that. stanilic, while at times there was an overabundance of labour in NZ, at other times it was what was desperately needed for road building. I suppose some remittance men used their money for the good of the country, but you do read of a lot of them who were educated down-and-outers really. Someone the other day was telling me of one here they knew, who came out aged 25, always spoke in a rather posh accent, never talked of his background, and was a constant drunk. They thought he must have trained to be a doctor since he seemed to have that sort of knowledge. Someone else was shocked that a family could send their child away, but I suppose he had been sent down from university perhaps, there was no future for him there, and they hoped a change might bring a change in him.
Some young farmer labourers and servants were snapped up the second they got off the boat especially if the labourers had a dog with them. The young women were sometimes grabbed to be a wife before they were taken to be a servant. I don't know how these marriages worked out.
Cheers, Caro. -
Message 13
Posted by stanilic (U2347429) on Sunday, 6th November 2011
Caro
There wouldn't be so many of you if those marriages hadn't worked out. -
Message 14
Posted by Caro (U1691443) on Sunday, 6th November 2011
There's not that many of us as it is. Five and a half million apparently, but a million of those live overseas, so we only think of our population as 4 and a half million.
I expected to see something I had added here, but of course I wrote it yesterday when the boards were closed and forgot to post it last night (boards don't open at the moment till 11pm here). Here it is now, off on a tangent, really.
It wasn鈥檛 only younger sons sent out, of course. Or not always on their own, anyway. The heritage magazine I am reading has an article about Josip Babich. He was one of a family of 7 boys, 5 of whom were sent to New Zealand by their parents in Dalmatia ( ruled by Austria and now called Croatia), beginning with the oldest. They were very poor, basically illiterate, with no English and desperate. Jakov arrived in 1904 to take advantage of work on the kauri gumfields (which are still known as the place the 鈥淒allies鈥 worked at) and send money home. I don鈥檛 know how old he was but I would be surprised if he was over 20. Two other brothers followed in 1906 and 1908 and then Josip aged 14 with his 17-year-old brother, Stipan. The trip took days of walking to Makarska and then various boats to Naples and Rome and then to Auckland. Met by his brothers, Josip worked on the gum, but didn鈥檛 like it and at 16 planted his first grapes and produced the first wine in 1912. For a 拢1 sale he had to make an 80 mile delivery on horseback and the minimum sale had to be two gallons. They shifted near Auckland and Babich Wines is now an award-winning international brand, selling to more than 20 countries, and still a family business. It was only in 1980 they first sold their wine overseas. His oldest brother returned to Dalmatia and was killed in WWI. The others stayed.
Not an aristocratic younger son or a remittance man, but no doubt one of many sent overseas to better themselves. (New Zealand kids are now making the return journey to Europe for much the same reason.)
Cheers, Caro.
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