Remittance man

[Sharon Medley]

It has been rumored that our GGgrandfather was a "remittance man" and sent away from England to live in Canada. He was born in 1832 and shows up on the 1861 Canadian census. Are there any searchable English records to see what kind of trouble he got into for his family to banish him?
Siuncerely,
Sharon

[Geoffers]

It has been rumored that our GGgrandfather was a "remittance man" and sent away from England to live in Canada. He was born in 1832 and shows up on the 1861 Canadian census. Are there any searchable English records to see what kind of trouble he got into for his family to banish him?
Not really, such an arrangement would be a private family matter which the family would probably not really want broadcast. Your best bet is if he had been a bit of a naughty lad and had done time in Gaol - hopefully at the time of earlier census returns, 1841 or 1851.

If he had been sowing wild oats, or perhaps embezzled a fortune from the family firm, you'd have to hope that some private papers had suvived in the family.

Geoffers

[Sharon Medley]

Thank you Geoffers, should have known nothing was going to be easy.
Sharon

[Trish]

My understanding of the term "remittance men" is that it was usually used to describe young men from wealthy backgrounds who didn't stand to inherit the family fortune because they weren't the first born. So their families packed them off to the colonies. They weren't necessarily in trouble or troublemakers -- just extra baggage.

A prime example: In the 1880s, a Captain Pierce started a settlement in southeastern Saskatchewan called Cannington Manor. It was to be a cut above the normal pioneer community, populated with gentleman farmers in pursuit of the finer things in life. He advertised back in England for wealthier families to send their sons out to Cannington Manor.

Three such "remittance men" men, The Beckton brothers, fueled by family money, built a 26-room stone house accessorized with a stone stable, gatehouse and barn, all surrounded by a racetrack for their thoroughbred horses. They proceeded to hold fox hunts [with foxhounds imported from the Isle of Wight] and grand balls. Other remittance men joined them and stayed in an section of the house called "the rams' quarters".

In a few short years, they spent and partied themselves out and left the area. Today, the house is a sad pile of rubble, sitting in the middle of a farmer's field.

Trish

[Fulhamster]

Hiya Trish,
Thank you for this. Would I be correct in assuming that Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington) was a 'remittance man'? I beleive that he was a younger brother and was 'farmed-out' to work in India, perhaps for his older brother who had a grander post out there?

[Trish]

Hiya Trish,
Thank you for this. Would I be correct in assuming that Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington) was a 'remittance man'? I beleive that he was a younger brother and was 'farmed-out' to work in India, perhaps for his older brother who had a grander post out there?Reg,

Sounds like an appropriate assumption to me!

For those who are interested, there is more information on Remittance Men at the Government of Canada's Digital Collections site (http://collections.ic.gc.ca/kootenay/text/ethnic/rmen.asp). The information is somewhat specific to the British Columbia area but has some general content.

Trish

[Sharon Medley]

Thank you Trish, I don't think that is the case with my "remittance man". He was the 4th of seven boys and was reputed to be a drunk when he came to Canada. But interesting information none the less.
Sharon

[chasdobie]

I well remember a remittance man in the 1950's when I was a teenager living in Atikokan, Ontario. His name was Graham Harris, and he was a gentle and cultured elderly man who lived in a tarpaper shack and dressed in rags. He was obviously well educated and had an accent worthy of a member of the Royal Family. He wrote poetry which our local newspaper, the Atikokan Progress, published, devoting several columns of space to each one. Mr. Harris died in the 1960's when his shack caught on fire. There were many rumours about his life story but I don't think anyone knew the truth. I still have a photograph of him somewhere, a formal portrait taken when he sat for our local camera club. Cheers, Chas. Dobie.