Oh Help! I'm a bit dim!

spison

spison

Well-Known Member
I have been elected as our FHS journal editor (which is why I have not been on the forum very often of late). My first print day is within a week but I left this little problem thinking I could solve it with the 19th Century newspapers. It's a 20th century problem! *Shakes head* :eek: I just don't have time to try to work out how I can access a 20th C British newspaper as I am running out of editing time.

One contributor has written a wonderful article about the Dreadnought Boys. She has a copy of an advertisement from Saturday, 29 March 1924, advertising for "A Career For British Boys" from "The Director of Migration and Settlement, Australia House Strand." She clearly didn't know the newspaper as she uses the term "A British Newspaper". I suspect that there was more than one containing this advertisement at this time. As editor I would like to help her out as well as nail down the exact paper so I can put that in her article. As her ancestor came from the IoW I have posted it here but it could easily have been placed on any of the English forums so if a mod. thinks this should be in general please move it.

Either that or tell me how I can access some 20th century papers here as I have looked where I thought I might find some! *Shakes head again* :confused:

Over to you my trusted friends. It's not urgent but would be a good little addition!

Jane (who isn't completely stressed yet!)
 
Find My Past claims to have newspaper collections for that time frame. If not a member does Newcastle Library have access?

Though as much as I can make out the IOW Observor only seems to cover 1900 - 1909 - though it may only be for 1900. Very vague...
 
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If, as Doug says, you can access FMP at your library, there are a number of articles about the Dreadnought Boys in Newspapers across Britain. There is one dated 16th June 1860 in the Sheffield Independent, for example, and another as late as 8th June 1927 in the Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette. So, quite a wide spread. o_O
 
There are several articles in the papers concerning the Dreadnought Boys, but I can't find an advertisement. The article dated nearest to the 29th March 1924 is one in the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer for the 5th June 1924, which is entitled "Emigration to Australia - Revised and Extended Schemes"

Unfortunately, there are no newspapers on the BNA site which cover the IOW (or Hampshire) later than 1900.

I'll have another look later on to see if I can turn anything up

Ann
 
Jane, a "google" search for the Dreadnought Boys brings the NAA up as a "result".

There's a good deal to read, and this is part of it:

A461, G349/17
Prime Minister's Department, 'Immigration Encouragement. New South Wales. Dreadnought Boys' [3 cm, 1921–45]
The Dreadnought Scheme originated before World War I in a New South Wales bid to raise money towards the gift of a Dreadnought [battleship] to Great Britain and was later devoted to assisting British boys to emigrate. The file contains correspondence, cablegrams and press cuttings from 1921 relating to requisitions by New South Wales, financial arrangements and terms and conditions under which Dreadnought boys were brought to Australia. The Dreadnought Trustees paid £8 towards each fare; the Commonwealth government made a free grant of £12. The Trustees also provided free of charge, 3 months' training at the government training farm at Scheyville or twelve months' at one of several Apprentice Farm Schools under the direction of the New South Wales Department of Agriculture. Each boy had to deposit £2 which he could collect on arrival and, for those engaged in the longer training, a further £5 was made available. On completion of the training boys were guaranteed positions on farms; until then they were trainees. There are some criticisms of the Scheme and the government responses. Other correspondence relates to the inclusion of the Dreadnought Scheme within the New South Wales Immigration and Land Settlement Agreement (signed in June 1923) which led to a new set of conditions. From that time the Overseas Settlement Committee required regular lists and particulars of boys accepted, of which several are included in the file. The Trustees ceased maintenance contributions in June 1924 and the advantages derived by Dreadnought boys from the 1923 Agreement in regard to the acquisition of farms on special terms, ceased to operate in 1926. A further agreement was made between the British Government and the Dreadnought Trustees in 1926 (copy enclosed). By 1927, difficulty was being experienced in obtaining boys. An uneasy relationship between the ANZAC Fellowship of Women, Sydney, and the New Settlers' League, both of which concerned themselves with the reception and welfare of Dreadnought boys, is revealed in a letter from Dr Mary Booth in 1928.



There is also mention of a magazine "The New Australian", put out by the Big Brother Movement which seems to be related to the scheme. Trove has a number of mentions of the scheme but I didn't check them to see if there were any ads shown.

If I can stay up long enough I'll have another look and see if I can find anything you might be able to use.
 
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Thanks Philippa. The Dreadnought Boys were yet another fascinating scheme encouraging immigration to Oz. I can't really add to or change the story and the author has used her ancestor's diary written on the voyage out. His diary has also been published. He responded to an ad in the British papers. I am trying to find out which paper as I (presumably) have the date it appeared. She still has immediate ancestors on the IoW who I (sort of) presumed had provided the image of the actual ad. I have left the text of her article as is and if I do discover the name within the next few days I will change it. Perhaps today or tomorrow I will have a chance.

Jane
 
Just checked again on google images. There is a black and white ad 'Australia's Offer for British Boys' seems to have come out of a newspaper!
 
Archie's Mum said:
Just checked again on google images. There is a black and white ad 'Australia's Offer for British Boys' seems to have come out of a newspaper!
Click to expand...
Not sure if this is what you are after.
But it goes on to say: Boy's, Australia makes you an attractive offer. She places before you an opportunity of coming to a new land, a rich land, and a healthy land and upon your arrival, of immediately putting you in the way of earning a good living and of soon becoming a prosperous citizen...........
 
I saw those too, AM, but unfortunately it doesn't even give a hint at where and when the ads were placed. I'd hoped to find something at the National Archive but didn't luck on a productive link and chickened out after seeing the number of references that a search of Trove produced.

These sites just have no consideration at all. Here we are trying to do the right thing and they keep hiding stuff from us all the time. Par for the course, I guess.

I'll keep digging when I'm upright again, Jane, but that will be a couple of hours away. Who knows - we might just get lucky (odds are vividly illustrated by that squadron of porcine chappies flying overhead).
 
I thank you all for your efforts. People who forget to include references annoy me intensely! I have decided that the article will remain with the date and "an English newspaper" and I will not try to locate the actual paper as I don't have the time now. I may plod along after we print! I hope that we all learned something about the Dreadnought Boys. I certainly did (and it had nothing to do with horrible monsters)!
Jane
 
Jane, you do realise that having said you aren't going to bother chasing sources and will let things ride, the very next time you decide to search for info about the Dreadnought Boys that one advert and all the information about its publication will probably be top of the results? Murphy's Law, my love!!

I'm not going to test my theory - coward that I am I'm off to bed.

Take care.
 
Philippa said:
Jane, you do realise that having said you aren't going to bother chasing sources and will let things ride, the very next time you decide to search for info about the Dreadnought Boys that one advert and all the information about its publication will probably be top of the results? Murphy's Law, my love!!

I'm not going to test my theory - coward that I am I'm off to bed.

Take care.
Click to expand...
That'd be right! I'm ready to print!
Jane
 
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