Proponents
The South Australian Government
The South Australian Government was the administrator of the farm
apprenticeship scheme, under the South Australian
Immigration Act
1911 and Immigration Act Amendment Act 1913.
Detail from South Australian Government brochure How to Commence Farming with Limited Means (c. 1913)
The 1913 legislation (tabled by Archibald Peake's Liberal Government) enacted the farm apprenticeship scheme. However, the 1911 legislation (tabled by John Verran's Labor Government) applied to:
- boys from the SS Beltana and Geelong, which arrived before the Immigration Act Amendment Bill was passed; and
- boys aged 19 years or over when they signed their apprenticeship agreement upon arrival in Adelaide (this was due to a misunderstanding by the Government's London-based staff, who thought the age limit applied to when the boys departed Britain six weeks earlier).
Those employed under the 1911 Act were obliged to find employment on South Australian farms for 12 months, while those employed under the 1913 Act undertook a 3 year apprenticeship.
The Acts and apprenticeship agreement (see pages 14-15 at the rear of the brochure Opportunity for Boys to Become Farmers) outline the boys' employment conditions, including the requirement to pay back their assisted passage/fare and the enforced saving of wages.
Frederick Young was the Commissioner of Crown Lands and Immigration and signed apprenticeship agreements on the Government's behalf. However, the boys had most contact with Immigration Officer Edgar Field.
Summary of key members of South Australian Government:
- Sir Day Hort Bosanquet, Governor (1909-14);
- Sir Archibald Henry Peake, Premier (1912-15);
- Sir Frederick William Young, Commissioner of Crown Lands and Immigration (Agent-General from 1915);
- Andrew Alexander Kirkpatrick, Agent-General for South Australia (London);
- Edgar John Field, Immigration Officer;
- Richard Champion, Emigration Agent (London); and
- David R. Davidson, Immigration Clerk.