Delivering the curriculum through Ireland Victorian Liverpool: Ireland, Famine & Migration Ireland in Schools week History, Year 3 St Cleopas Church of England JMI School, Liverpool by? Ireland in Schools Liverpool Pilot Scheme Liverpool City Council
Lesson outline Time 90 minutes Context Ireland, Famine & Migration forms part of our study of Victorian Liverpool. It looks at Irish migration to Liverpool in the nineteenth century, what life was like for the migrants before they left and after they arrived. Lesson objectives To know that many Irish people migrated to Liverpool during the Victorian period because of the potato famine. To use historical sources (newspapers, letters) to find out about the conditions for Irish people travelling to and settling in Liverpool. Activities We are going to do some detective work and find out why. Fact 1. People have travelled from Ireland to Liverpool. Look at a large map and identify that Liverpool is a large port close to Ireland. Fact 2. Liverpool was a growing city in Victorian times. Recap previous work on the city. Fact 3. In Victorian times, many more people moved to Liverpool. Why? Evidence 1. Read the sheet Living in Ireland about farmers in Ireland and the effects of the potato blight. Establish date is in Victorian period. Evidence 2. Read the story of Bridget O Donnell. Evidence 3. Read Dangerous passage in the sheet Sailing to Liverpool. Evidence 4. Read the sheet Poor conditions. Discuss all the evidence. Why did so many people leave Ireland? Design a poster advertising your ship to Liverpool. What would people be worried about? (SEN to have adult support.) Imagine you are like Bridget O Donnell - evicted, starving, ill etc. It is the day before you set sail for Liverpool. Write a diary entry. How do you feel? Resources Large map of British Isles Evidence sheets 1-4 taken from Divided Ireland by V. Kelly et al. (for Famine) and Ireland in Schools resources Migration 1: Leaving Ireland Migration 2: Settling in Britain Blank paper Colouring pencils St Cleopas, Yr 3 History, page 2
Evidence 1 Living in Ireland in the Victorian period Landlords & tenants In the 19 th century most people earned their money from the land. Not very many people actually owned the land they farmed. Most farms were part of huge estates which were owned by one family. Farmers paid money to the owner. This money was called rent and the owner of the land was called the landlord. People who paid rent were called tenants. If the farmers didn t pay their rent, they could be evicted (thrown out) from their farm. The landlord and his family lived off the rent of his tenants. Some landlords lived in England instead of living on their Irish estates. The landlords became known as absentee landlords. They were not popular with their Irish tenants. The picture on the left is of a tenant farmer. The picture on the right shows a landlord. Famine Between 1845 and 1849 there was a great famine in Ireland when many potatoes went bad and rotted because of a disease called potato blight. This was very serious because, for a large number of people, potatoes were the main food they had to eat. A. This is what a blighted potato looks like. They turn really mushy and smell awful. You can still get blighted potatoes today. During the famine many poor people starved. Some tenants would not pay their rent and were put off their farms. This is called eviction. For many of those hungry people who had been evicted, the workhouse was their only way to get food and shelter. Ireland was not a wealthy country at this time. Workhouses had been set up in 1838 to provide food and shelter for people who were starving and had nowhere to go. Match these words to the right meaning: Landlord Tenant Estate Rent Absentee Money paid for use of land Person who owned land Irish landowner who lived in England instead of Ireland Large area of land Person who paid rent to a landowner for farmland. Key words: landlord, tenant, absentee, rent, estate. People like this are called destitute people. B. This is a diagram of an Irish workhouse. Inmates were separated into male and female, young and old. Even husbands and wives were separated. Key words: famine, eviction, destitute, inmates, workhouse, magistrate. St Cleopas, Yr 3 History, page 3
Evidence 2 Bridget O Donnell The picture on the left tells a story from the famine. This woman is Bridget O Donnell. Her husband had seven acres of land and the rent was 7.25 a year. The family was evicted when they could not pay and men came to knock down their home. Bridget was pregnant and had a fever. Her husband went off to find work. C. Bridget O Donnell Neighbours took in Bridget and her children. The baby was born dead and then they all got fever. Her 13 year old son died of hunger while the rest were sick. I entered some of the houses and was shocked. First I saw six famished and ghastly skeletons. They looked dead. They were in a corner lying on filthy straw and sick with fever. The police opened a house which had been shut up for days. They found two dead bodies lying on the mud floor, half devoured by rats. D. This description was written by a magistrate after he had visited Skibbereen in Co. Cork in December 1846. It was published in The Times, which is a very famous English newspaper.! On Evidence sheets 1 & 2 you will see some items marked with a letter of the alphabet - A, B, C, D. These items are called sources. Look at all four sources and say which of them tell you the following things: Families were separated in the Workhouse. People were thrown out of their houses. People died of hunger. Newspapers wrote about the Famine. Blighted potatoes turn brown. St Cleopas, Yr 3 History, page 4
Evidence 3 Sailing to Liverpool Why Liverpool? Because Ireland is an island people leaving for new countries had to travel by sea. The port of Liverpool - the first landfall for many Irish emigrants Liverpool was the main port of entry to Britain for people wishing to move to towns in Britain. As an important and busy port, Liverpool was also the first stage in the journey of people who wanted to travel longer distances. Ships sailed from Liverpool to North America, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The fare from Liverpool to America was the cheapest available - 3 to 5 for the cheapest type of passage known as steerage. The fare to Australia and New Zealand was between 15 and 20. A dangerous voyage The journey from Ireland to Liverpool was comparatively short but could be dangerous and many did not survive. In 1848 almost half the passengers on the ship, the Londonderry, died during the voyage from Sligo, in the west of Ireland, to Liverpool. This is how one newspaper described the incident when this 'coffin ship' arrived in Derry. On the evening of Friday 1st December, the Londonderry left Sligo. It carried a crew of 26 and 177 passengers as well as a cargo of livestock. There was space for about 50 passengers. The others were meant to remain on deck. When a storm broke out, many of the people on deck headed into the cabin for shelter. The door of the cabin came off and one of the crew was ordered to cover the doorway with a tarpaulin. This was held in place with rope and nails. It meant that no air could get into the cabin. When the tarpaulin was removed, the crew found many had died and they dragged the bodies out onto the deck and left them beside the animals who had also died in the storm. Twelve hours later the boat arrived at Derry Quay. A policeman went on board and found 72 bodies - 23 men, 31 women and 18 children. They were piled on top of each other just like sacks. The Captain was tried for allowing this to happen but he got off. St Cleopas, Yr 3 History, page 5
Evidence 4 Poor conditions A sorry state Those lucky enough to arrive safely in Liverpool were often in a very sorry state. This is how in 1847 The Liverpool Mercury reported on the pitiable condition of many of the migrants: The fact is that in the cold and gloom of a severe winter thousands of hungry and half naked wretches are wandering about, not knowing how to obtain a sufficiency of the commonest food nor shelter from the piercing cold. The numbers of starving Irish men, women and children on our quays is appalling; and the Parish of Liverpool has at present the most painful and most costly task to encounter, of keeping them alive, if possible. A long wait There could be a long wait for a ship. People often spent as long as ten days waiting for a ship to sail. During this time, they usually stayed in lodging houses which were often dirty and overcrowded. A disturbing experience However, migration was still an upsetting and confusing experience, as the picture below also shows. As emigrants were looking for lodgings and passages, swindlers, runners and mancatchers preyed on them. They often robbed the emigrants of baggage and carefully saved cash. Not all were poor Not all Irish people arriving in Liverpool were poor and starving. On the right is a famous picture of an Irishman arriving in the city. Does he look hungry and halfnaked? St Cleopas, Yr 3 History, page 6
Delivering the History curriculum through Ireland Using the 1871 census Irish settlement in Liverpool From Victorians, September 1998 Liverpool City Council Liverpool Pilot Scheme Ireland in Schools St Cleopas, Yr 3 History, page 7
St Cleopas, Yr 3 History, page 8
Figure 13No 7 Court, Cartwright Place (an area similar to Rose Place) Figure 14Abercromby Square St Cleopas, Yr 3 History, page 9
Tasks Look at the census information on the poster to answer the questions below: 57 Rose Place 1. How many families lived at 57 Rose Place? 2. Were they rich or poor? Why do you think that? 3. 57 Rose Place was a terraced house with four rooms in it, but no bathroom or kitchen. What would it have been like to live there? 4. Where did most of the families come from? When do you think the Peacys came over to England? 5. Why were they living here in England? See if you can find out. 6. What job did Patrick Peacy have? What sort of things would he have to do? 19 Abercromby Square 1. Which family lived at 19 Abercromby Square? 2. How many children lived there? 3. Where did the Walkers come from? 4. What evidence is there that Mr and Mrs Walker have travelled a lot? 5. Were the Walkers wealthy? Can you explain your reasoning? 6. What would their house have been like? How could you find out more about the Walkers and their house? Look at the pictures of Abercromby Square and No.7 Court, Cartwright Place (a similar area to Rose Place). Which area would you rather live in and why? Do you think Cartwright Place would have been a healthy place to live? Why do you think that? Look at the characters below. Do you think they lived in the Square or the Place? Mr Jenkins, banker Miss Russell, laundry-woman Mr Roberts, factory worker Miss Savage, nannie Mrs Peck, governess Mr King, chimney-sweep St Cleopas, Yr 3 History, page 10