Black '47: Britain and the Famine Irish

309 Pages·1997·20.967 MB·English

by  Frank Neal

BLACK '47

Black '47
Britain and the Famine Irish
Frank Neal
Professor of Economic and Social History
European Studies Research Institute
The University ofSalford
Salford, England
m
First published in Great Britain 1998 by
MACMILLAN PRESS LTD
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London
Companies and representatives throughout the world
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 0-333-66595-3
First published in the United States of America 1998 by
& ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC.,
Scholarly and Reference Division,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
ISBN 0-312-17662-7
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Neal, Frank, 1932-
Black '47 : Britain and the famine Irish / Frank Neal.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-312-17662-7
1. Irish—Great Britain—History—19th century. 2. Great Britain-
-Emigration and immigration—History—19th century. 3. Ireland-
-Emigration and immigration—History—19th century. 4. Great
Britain—History—Victoria, 1837-1901. 5. Famines—Ireland-
-History—19th century. 6. Ireland—History—1837-1901. I. Title.
DA125.I7N43 1997
941 '.0049162—-dc21 97-16913
CIP
©Frank Neal 1998
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made
without written permission.
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written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by
the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 9HE.
Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to
criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance
with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and
sustained forest sources.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2
07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 99
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire
In loving memory of Frank and Lizzie Neal
my parents

CONTENTS
Acknowledgements viii
List of Figures and Tables ix
List of Appendices xii
Glossary of Abbreviations xiv
1 Introduction 1
2 The Urban Environment and Pre-famine Irish Settlements 13
3 Escape 47
4 Arrival 89
5 Liverpool and die Irish Fever 123
6 Glasgow, Soudi Wales and the Irish Fever 157
7 Survival and Dispersal 177
8 Removal 217
9 The Cost of the Famine Immigration 239
10 Postscript 277
Bibliography 282
Index
Acknowledgements
Throughout the researching for, and preparation of this book, I have received
help and assistance from a large number of people. The staff of various libraries
and archives provided advice and cheer fill effort to trace material. In particular
I would like to thank the library staff at Cheltenham, Durham City Library,
Gateshead, Liverpool City Library, in particular the microfilm unit, Manchester
Central Library, Mitchell Library, Glasgow particularly the staff of the
Strathclyde Archives, Newcastle, Newport, the staff of the Library of
Propaganda Fide, Rome, the staff of the Local History section of Salford City
Library. I am especially indebted to Gordon Read and his staff at the
Merseyside Maritime Museum Archives. Mary McHugh, Archivist of the
Glasgow Archdiocese kindly gave me the information on the deaths of Catholic
priests in Glasgow.
Academic colleagues at Salford and elsewhere, many of them outside of the
discipline of history, read various chapters and made helpful comments. These
include Roger Mason, John Dobson, Carole Roberts, Mike Crosbie and Bill
Lukin of Bolton Institute of Higher Education. Mervyn Busteed of the
University of Manchester has provided many suggestions for improving the text.
I owe a huge debt to Josie McCann for her mammoth task of extracting over
six thousand entries from the Liverpool Workhouse Admissions and Discharge
Register for the year 1847. These have enabled me to provide new material on
the Irish famine refugee experience in England. Similarly, I am indebted to
Josie, Tom Mclntyre and Keith Fox for also extracting over seven thousand
Liverpool pauper burial records for the year 1847.1 am indebted to Mary Carey
who transcribed more than two thousand burial records for St Anthony's
Catholic Church, Scotland Road. Thanks are especially due to my wife Evelyn
and daughter Joanne for inputting these records on to a database. I would not
have been able to cope without their assistance. This large body of archival data
has yet to be fully exploited. My gratitude is also expressed to Gus Dobrynski
of the Department of Geography who produced the maps inserted in the text.
I am very much indebted to Stuart McAllister and to the H.M.V. Music
Group for financial assistance for a research project on Irish communities in the
north east of England. I would also like to thank the committee of the Simon
Fellowship at the University of Manchester for the award of a Simon Senior
Research Fellowship during the academic year 1990-1. This gave me time to
think. Conversations with Patrick O'Sullivan were invariably stimulating and
thought provoking.
Finally, my greatest indebtedness is to Marnie Mason, whose skills in
wordprocessing and her intelligence in understanding both the text and the best
layouts for the material have enabled the project to be finished on time.
Frank Neal
University of Salford
January 1997
vm
Figures
3.1 Principal shipping routes between Ireland and Britain in 1847. 52
3.2 The Nimrod and Patrick loading at Cork bound for Liverpool. 59
5.1 Distributions of deaths from fever and diarrhoea in Liverpool during
1847. 130
5.2 Engraving commemorating the ten priests who died in Liverpool. 148-9
7.1 Map of Manchester township. 194
Tables
1.1 Irish-born population of England Scotland and Wales 1841-1861. 7
1.2 The Irish born population of the nine northern counties, 1841 and
1851. 8
1.3 Irish born residents of Liverpool, Glasgow, Manchester, Salford and
London, 1841-91. 9
1.4 The size of the Irish born population in 16 towns of England,
Scotland and Wales in 1851. 9
2.1 The population inhabiting the twelve wards in the parish of Liverpool
in 1842 distinguishing between courts and cellars. 25
2.2 The geographical distribution within Manchester of 1551 families of
handloom weavers identified by the Relief Committee in 1840. 35
2.3 The numbers in each occupational group within the textile industry
as recorded in the 1841 census for the city of Glasgow and its
suburbs. 37
3.1 The tonnage of vessels arriving at Liverpool, Glasgow, London,
Bristol and Newport from Ireland during 1847. 53
3.2 The average time taken by steamships on routes from the principal
Irish ports to Liverpool, distinguishing between screw driven vessels
and paddle steamers, in 1847. 54
3.3 The number and tonnage of vessels arriving at Liverpool from Irish
ports during the year 1847, distinguishing between sailing vessels
and steamers. 55
3.4 The number and tonnage of vessels (sailing ships and steamers)
arriving at Glasgow from Irish ports during 1847. 56
3.5 The number and tonnage of vessels (sailing ships and steamers)
arriving at London from Irish ports during 1847. 57
3.6 The number and tonnage of vessels arriving at Bristol from Irish
ports during 1847, distinguishing between sailing vessels and
steamers. 60
3.7 The number of Irish poor arriving at the port of Liverpool 1847-54
(inclusive) distinguishing as far as possible those who remained in
England from those who had emigrated overseas. 61
IX