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<\/a><\/p>\nCaptain Edward Pelham Brenton established the Society for the Suppression of Juvenile Vagrancy (later known as the Children’s Friend Society) in London.<\/p>\n
The precedent for assisted child migration to Swan River was first established in 1834 by the Society for the Encouragement of Juvenile Emigration. [4] In accordance with the regulations advertised juvenile indentures were carefully restricted to ensure none exceeded the maximum age of 21 years for boys and 18 years for girls. In addition to being clothed and fed the juveniles received a small age related wage for their labour. Despite the Society being forced to deny accusations of \u2018kidnapping\u2019, the scheme did not have the power to send Juveniles out of the country without the consent of the child and their parents. [5] Whilst these guidelines were strictly adhered to, the Swan River colonists remained apprehensive concerning this form of immigration, arguing that the children were unable to \u2018recognise the advantages and disadvantages\u2019 of such a decision. [6] However, it was mounting criticism in Britain, regarding the welfare of the children sent to the Cape of Good Hope, which eventually brought the scheme to a close in 1839. Despite transporting only 70 juveniles this initial form of \u2018assisted migration\u2019 played an instrumental role in the colony\u2019s next phase of coerced labour.<\/p>\n
Parkhurst Prison 1847<\/p>\n Located on the Isle of Wight in Britain, Parkhurst Prison was designated for the correction and reform of convicted boys in 1838. Although Parkhurst was recognised by the Home Office as having a \u2018beneficial effect\u2019 on the prisoners, the risk of recidivism remained a concern. [7] In an attempt to reduce the risks and provide the boys with an \u2018honest\u2019 and \u2018creditable livelihood\u2019 the British government proposed a plan to promote their \u2018emigration\u2019. Whilst the system shared many similarities to the rejected juvenile emigration schemes of the 1830s the emphasis had fundamentally shifted from the suppression of juvenile crime to the reformation of those already convicted. This change in status, from vagrant to convicted juvenile, altered the colonist\u2019s opinion concerning the boy\u2019s welfare and provided Swan River with the ability to employ children in a method that was now considered socially acceptable.<\/p>\n In the process of selecting suitable immigrants the boys were divided into two classes. The first group was designated for the older boys who were classified as free emigrants and deemed able to find situations in the colonies with only minimal assistance. Whilst the second was reserved for the younger boys whose youth and inexperience, they felt, rendered them in need of an apprenticeship. The original framework of the \u2018juvenile immigration\u2019 system to Van Diemen\u2019s Land, New Zealand and Western Australia was outlined in 1842 by the members of the Parkhurst Prison Committee. Early guidelines for \u2018juvenile apprentices\u2019 suggested the length of the indentures be set for a minimum of two and a maximum of five years. Once in the colony the juveniles were to be placed under the protection of one individual, the Guardian of Government Juvenile Immigrants, whose responsibilities included the boys overall welfare and progress. In sharp contrast to these stipulations, decisions regarding the terms of their pardon and the additional legal powers required to control the juveniles remained unclear.<\/p>\n Whilst the colonists\u2019 concerns in the removal and use of pauper children from Britain did not extend to convicted juveniles, the concept of introducing a criminal element into their free society remained an obstacle. In an attempt to transform the prisoners into acceptable immigrants the Colonial Office intervened recommending that each apprentice be granted an immediate pardon on condition of signing an indenture. In deference to the colonists feelings on convict labour the Colonial Secretary further stated that \u2018in no case\u2019 should the original sentence of transportation be revived. [8] Yet, once the juveniles, whose ages ranged from only 10 to 21 years, received a pardon they were far from free. Instead the boys were assigned without consultation to masters by the Guardian of Juvenile Immigrants. An arrangement that Gill notes, draws striking similarities to the assignment system employed in Eastern Australia\u2019s penal colonies. [9] An oversight which emphasises the colonist\u2019s increasing capacity to ignore the use of more controversial forms of labour.<\/p>\n The distinction between \u2019juvenile apprentices\u2019 and convicts was further distorted following the government\u2019s decision to fund the scheme. Unlike previous efforts to encourage the immigration of free settlers, the government gave way to the colonists\u2019 anxieties relating to the costs involved, agreeing to pay for \u2018conveying\u2019, maintaining and supervising the boys on their arrival. The readiness Britain demonstrated to financially assist imperial labour systems heavily influenced later discussions to introduce convicts. Thus, in a bid to reconcile the economic and social needs of the colony Swan River inadvertently paved the way to its conversion as a penal colony.<\/p>\n [1] Friend, M. A, Journal of a voyage to Hobart with first eye-witness account of the settlement on the Swan River, 1829-1831<\/em> ,<\/em> State Library of Western Australia, ACC 8578A, pg. 15-16 http:\/\/purl.slwa.wa.gov.au\/slwa_b1761196_1<\/a><\/p>\n [2] Trove, \u2018Legislative Council, Perth, Tuesday, May 15th<\/sup>, 1838, Memoir on the Subject of Labor\u2019, The Perth Gazette and Western Australian Journal (WA: 1833 – 1847), pg. 79, <\/em>http:\/\/nla.gov.au\/nla.news-article639535<\/em><\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n [3] Blackburn G, The Children\u2019s Friend Society, <\/em>Access Press Publication, Western Australia, 1993, pg. 39. Gill, A, W, Convict Assignment in Western Australia, The Parkhurst Apprentices 1842-1851<\/em>, 2nd<\/sup> edition, National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication data, 2004, pg. 1<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n