Emigration and empire : the life of Maria S. Rye / Marion Diamond.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Diamond, Marion, 1948-

Series:

Garland reference library of the humanities ; vol. 2035.

Garland reference library of the humanities. Literature and society in Victorian Britain ; v. 6.

Garland reference library of the humanities ; v. 2035. Literature and society in Victorian Britain ; v. 6

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rye, Maria S.

Feminists--Great Britain--Biography.

Feminists.

Emigration and immigration.

History.

Great Britain.

Women philanthropists--Great Britain--Biography.

Women philanthropists.

Great Britain--Emigration and immigration--History--19th century.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

xix, 304 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Garland Pub., 1999.

Summary:

Maria S. Rye, a woman motivated by both feminist and philanthropic ideals, devoted her life to the migration of women and girls out of England. This biography gives an account of Rye's activities from her early engagement with liberal feminism through her association with the "Langham Place group" in the 1850s, her work as a journalist and with the Society for Promoting Women's Employment, through to her efforts in women's and children's emigration.

Between 1861 and 1896, Maria S. Rye sent many hundreds of single women out to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, and more than four thousand children to Canada, all with the promise of a better life in the British colonies than they could expect at home in England. Like many nineteenth century advocates of emigration, she saw it as a panacea for many social ills, taking people from impoverishment in the old world to the hope of better prospects in the new. Unlike other advocates, she linked this enthusiasm for emigration with the ideals of liberal feminism, arguing that women and girls should share the opportunities for advancement that the colonies offered to men and boys.

Rye played a central role in developing organizations to facilitate the migration of women and girls, starting with the Female Middle Class Emigration Society in 1861. After 1869 she concentrated on the migration of so-called "gutter-children" to Canada, where her pioneering efforts were followed by numerous other philanthropic associates, such as Barnardo.

This biography analyzes how feminism and philanthropy intertwined in her activities, and how her early concerns with the rights of women to economic opportunity came to be over-ridden by an authoritarianstreak that led to the tragic excesses of her work in juvenile migration.

Contents:

Ch. 1. A Chelsea Childhood 3

Ch. 2. With the Ladies at Langham Place 29

Ch. 3. Solutions for Surplus Women 65

Ch. 4. New Zealand 93

Ch. 5. Australia 135

Ch. 6. An Emigration Agent in London 157

Ch. 7. A New Field in Canada 181

Ch. 8. 'Our Gutter Children' 197

Ch. 9. Our Western Home 221

Ch. 10. Emigration and Empire 257.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [285]-297) and index.

ISBN:

0815325282

OCLC:

39706940