Pilgrims, Paupers or Progenitors: Religious Constructions of British Emigration from the 1840s to 1870s

This article examines the public attitudes of various religious commentators in Britain towards emigrants and emigration in the mid‐Victorian decades. These figures include bishops, Anglican clergy (but also those of some other denominations), those directly involved in ministry to emigrants, and lay proponents of emigration. It also contrasts their views with those of more secular commentators influenced by political economy. The article argues that while religious commentary proposed emigration to be a good thing, for emigrants and for the expansion of Christianity and the British empire, this contrasted with a more sceptical attitude towards steerage immigrants by Thomas Malthus. It also contrasted with a focus on amelioration of conditions for emigrants by those in emigration ministry, who saw emigrants as assisting the extension of the Church rather than the empire.