B is for Bounty Scheme

As part of my Blogging from A to Z Challenge this April, I'm exploring stories of migration that shaped my family's history—one letter at a time. Today's focus is on 'B,' for the Bounty Scheme that brought my ancestors from England to Australia.

Gloucestershire, England

In 1841, Bisley, Gloucestershire, was a village in crisis.ⁱ The collapse of its once-thriving wool and cloth industry had plunged countless families into poverty, leaving nearly 200 houses abandoned.ⁱⁱ

Among those struggling to survive were my 4th great-grandparents, Reuben Wheeler and his wife Elizabeth (née Thomas), their two young children Selina (my 3rd great-grandmother) and George, and a 14-year-old lodger named Peter Aldridge.ⁱⁱⁱ Remarkably, young Peter was the sole breadwinner in their household, as no occupation was listed for Reuben in the Census. For families like the Wheelers, this harsh reality was all too common across rural England.

Faced with economic despair, families like the Wheelers turned to emigration as their only hope for survival. The Bounty Scheme, an assisted immigration program to New South Wales, offered them a chance at a new beginning.

Assisted immigration programs were created to help people migrate to Australian colonies by subsidising or fully covering their passage costs.^iv v These schemes addressed labour shortages in the colonies while giving families who couldn’t afford migration a chance at a new life. One such program was the Bounty System.^vi Under this scheme, private sponsors, like employers or shipping agents, paid for immigrants’ passages upfront.^vii 

Upon arrival in New South Wales, these sponsors were reimbursed by the colonial government with a 'bounty' payment if the immigrants met specific criteria like age, health, and skills.

But what drove so many families like the Wheelers to seize this opportunity in 1841? To understand their decision, we must look at what became known as 'The Great Emigration of 1841”.

The Great Emigration of 1841

For families like the Wheelers, 1841 offered an unprecedented opportunity for escape from poverty. That year saw a surge in emigration from Britain to New South Wales under the Bounty System.^viii Thousands sought new beginnings in the colonies, driven by economic despair at home and the promise of opportunity abroad. For parishes like Bisley, emigration wasn’t just an option, it was a solution to mounting poverty.^ix Parish officials actively helped residents qualify for assisted immigration schemes as a way to ease local financial burdens while giving emigrants hope for a brighter future.

When Reuben and Elizabeth Wheeler married in 1833, they signed their certificate with an 'X,' indicating they were illiterate.^x Yet by 1841, their shipping manifest recorded them as being able to read and write, a puzzling discrepancy. 

Did they learn literacy skills within eight years? Or were their records 'enhanced' to meet eligibility requirements for assisted immigration? It’s possible that emigration agents exaggerated qualifications or that parish officials supported such embellishments to ensure families qualified for passage. Alternatively, it may simply have been an error in record-keeping, a common occurrence at the time.

While we may never know the true story behind these records, it reflects a broader reality of assisted immigration during this period: a system shaped by economic desperation, bureaucratic pressures, and sometimes creative interpretations of eligibility requirements.

A Life-Altering Decision

For Bisley’s poor, emigration wasn’t just an opportunity, it was often their only path forward. The Wheeler family’s decision to leave England behind was part of a larger wave of migration that reshaped both colonial Australia and rural Britain forever. Their story reminds us that migration is rarely an easy choice; it is often born out of necessity, a leap into uncertainty fueled by hope for something better.

After their life-altering journey, Reuben and Elizabeth Wheeler, along with young Selina and George, arrived at Port Philip in the Colony of New South Wales in 1841.

As one of my earliest ancestral families to settle in Australia, preceded only by a single convict forebear, the Wheelers represent just one branch of my rich Australian heritage, which would eventually include 22 other direct ancestors who made similar journeys to these shores.

Tomorrow we will look at the journey of my Convict ancestor, William Carbis.

About the Ship: Himalaya

• Built: 1840 by Peter & Sampson Mills in Deptford, Durham

• Owner: Edward Robson Arthur of North Shields

• Dimensions: 111.0 ft (length), 24.7 ft (breadth), 19.0 ft (depth); 477 tons

• Type: Barque (featured square sails on the foremast and mainmast, and fore-and-aft sails on the mizzenmast)

• Captain: Hew Burn (since 1840)

The Himalaya was on its third journey between England and Australia when the Wheeler family travelled aboard in 1841/42, already establishing itself as a reliable vessel on this route.

Useful Links for Background

This April, as part of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge (#AtoZChallenge), where I’m sharing my ancestor's travel stories—one letter at a time. From long voyages by sea to overland treks, each post will focus on the journeys themselves—the routes they took, the challenges they faced, and the experiences along the way.

WikiTree Links:

• WikiTree profile for Reuben Wheeler
• WikiTree profile for Elizabeth (Thomas) Wheeler
• WikiTree profile for Selina (Wheeler) Jones aka Crump
• WikiTree profile for George Wheeler

Blog Post Meta Data

The URL for this post is https://ancestralresearchjournal.blogspot.com/2025/04/b-is-for-bounty-scheme.html originally published 2 April 2025

Author 2025, Sandra Williamson

Sources:

i   Gloucestershire Genealogy Website (https://www.glosgen.co.uk/),Gloucestershire Genealogy, Bisley Notes, (2018). [online] Available at: http://www.glosgen.co.uk/records/bisley.htm [Accessed 22 Jan. 2018]

ii  A People’s History Chapter 5 http://radicalstroud.co.uk/a-peoples-history-chapter-5/ accessed 18 March 2025

iii 1841 England Census" The household of Reuben & Elizabeth Wheeler in in Besbury, Burley, Gloucestershire, England; Class: HO107; Piece: 362; Book: 7; Civil Parish: Minchinhampton; County: Gloucestershire; Enumeration District: 8; Folio: 23; Page: 10; Line: 23; GSU roll: 288774

iv Joyce, Jenny. ‘Notes on Assisted and Bounty Migration to Australia’. (accessed https://jennyjresearch.com/index : 25 March 2025)

v  MHNSW, Assisted Immigrants Index, 1839-1896, "Learn more about Assisted Immigrants Index 1839-1896," (accessed https://mhnsw.au/indexes/immigration-and-shipping/assisted-immigrants-index/ : 25 March 2025)

vi  Jetties and Piers – A Background History of Maritime Infrastructure in Victoria. Vol. Part Two Thematic history of maritime infrastructure, n.d. (https://livinghistories.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Jetties-ONL-Part-2-Chp-1_3.pdf : 25 March 2025)

vii  Jetties and Piers – A Background History of Maritime Infrastructure in Victoria. Vol. Part Two Thematic history of maritime infrastructure, n.d. (https://livinghistories.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Jetties-ONL-Part-2-Chp-1_3.pdf : 25 March 2025)

viii  McDonald, John & Richards, Eric, The Great Emigration of 1841: Recruitment for New South Wales in British emigration fields, Population Studies, 51 (1997), 337-355 p.341

ix  (https://www.glosgen.co.uk/records/bisley.htm : accessed 16 March 2025)

x  Marriage of Ruben Wheeler to Elizabeth Thomas on 27 Jan 1833 in Pitchcombe, Gloucestershire, England, England Marriages, 1538–1973, citing Digital film/folder number: 007906609; FHL microfilm: 855626 (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NL9R-6XZ?lang=en : accessed 16 March 2025)