British Female Emigration Societies and the New World, 1860-1914
ISBN: 9783319501796
Platform/Publisher: SpringerLink / Springer International Publishing
Digital rights: Users: unlimited; Printing: unlimited; Download: unlimited
Subjects: History;

This book focuses on the departure of Britain's 'surplus' women to Australia and New Zealand organised by Victorian British female emigration societies. Starting with an analysis of the surplus of women question, it then explores the philanthropic nature of the organisations (the Female Middle Class Emigration Society, the Women's Emigration Society, the British Women's Emigration Association, and the Church Emigration Society). The study of the strict selection of distressed gentlewomen emigrants is followed by an analysis of their marketing value, and an appraisal of women's imperialism. Finally, this work shows that the female emigrants under study partook in the consolidation of the colonial middle-class.


Marie Ruiz is Associate Professor in British History at Université de Picardie Jules Verne, France. Her research focuses on nineteenth-century British female emigration societies and the surplus of women question. She is currently editing International Migrations in the Victorian Era (2018).
Philippa Levine is the author of the book's preface. She is the Mary Helen Thompson Centennial Professor in the Humanities at the University of Texas, USA, and Co-Director of the University's Program in British Studies. Her recent books include Prostitution, Race and Politics: Policing Venereal Disease in the British Empire (2003) and The British Empire, Sunrise to Sunset (2007).
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