Contributed by Elizabeth Davies Follows parts of a letter to the Stamford Mercury from William BAKER 2 Mar 1877, who had recently arrived in Adelaide from Boston, Lincs. "I'm 34 years of age, and I've a wife and four children. I was born and brought up in Lincolnshire, and have been working all my life at farm labouring and in the drains which we have in those parts to keep the land dry"....." I first thought about emigrating after the last winter we had in England. It was dreadful hard one"..." I saw Mr. Banks [trade union activist William Banks], who used to come to Kirton, four miles out of Boston, at the club on meeting nights. We used to meet once a month, and pay 2d a week, and then the club helps us when we want to shift or emigrate."..." Next time I saw him he said that the head officer in London had written that I must pay £3 for one of the children. They said that the rule was only three children could go over one and under 12 years of age."..." I told him I coudn't pay the £3. I was working 2s 6d a day, and because it was a dreadful wet winter very often we couldn't get on the land to work. If it was a very wet week sometimes we used to be three or four days out of work; and then when it was a hard frost we couldn't work."..." It was dreadfully cold, and plenty of us hadn't had enough to eat during the winter. We used to live on foreign bacon and bread, and a little bit of lard and butter. Oh, you couldn't get meat; a sheep's head and pluck make eighteen-pence. Well Mr. Banks heard again from London that they would take us, and we set about making ready. We found from the Government papers that came down from London that we had to make up a lot of clothes. There were a great deal more than we wanted or ever had, and we didn't use all of them coming out.....that's a thing that ought to be altered. It's no use talking; if a man's got five or six children he can't get those clothes. I shouldn't have been able to manage to raise the money if I hadn't had a couple of pigs of my own." He says of his life in Australia "I've averaged £2 a week, with wood, water, and house-rent free.... I've written home...but I've not told him a good deal because they wouldn't believe it... if I were to have told them that I had a quarter of a bullock in my house now they'd think it was a lie."..." the only thing that stops people coming out here is that some of the regulations make you have to get together more money than most labouring men at home can manage. I've never lived so well for eight years as I'm living now.... I wouldn't go back to Kirton again if they paid my passage back, and gave me $2 a week from the time I went on board ship." Many of the countries offered free passage to young strong families - the Stamford Mercury Newspaper advertised Dec 26th 1873 "Free passages to New Zealand. Free passages are granted by the Government of New Zealand as under:- To Married and Single Agricultural Labourers, Navvies, Ploughmen, Shepherds, Mechanics, etc.; also to Female Domestic Servants, as Cooks, Housemaids, Nurses, General Servants, Dairy Maids, etc." 4 Feb 1876 the same paper advertised free emigration to Queensland and gave examples of the superior wages they would earn on arrival "Wages £30 to £50 a year, with board and lodging." This compared with a report from Lincoln of the hiring fairs in May that year "Very high wages were asked, young ploughmen £18 to £20, and waggoners up to £30." [Head waggoner seems to be the top rank of ag lab, below bailliffs and foremen.] Others offered reduced rates: "July, 18th, 1879 To Canada for Four Pounds Reduction in fares by the Beaver Line. Emigrants can now be booked by the splendid and powerful Steamers of the Canada Shipping Company at the reduced rate of Four Pounds to Canada and Five Guineas to the United States." Many of you will be aware that the Methodist religion was extremely strong in Lincolnshire, where the Wesleys were born, and particularly strong amongst the working classes, who felt its simple form spoke to them. The Methodist churches often raised funds to help families emigrate, as well as the Unions and Friendly Societies. Also in many cases, a "forward guard" went first - young single men, who worked for a while and then were able to help their families to follow.