The famine orphans
1848: The girls, 4,000 in all, come from every part of Ireland -- from the shores of Galway to the Glens of Ulster and Belfast's teeming streets -- to board ships bound for Australia. All were chosen from Ireland's crowded workhouses. Most are orphans. The Earl Grey Scheme was presented as an opportunity for young women to gain employment as domestic servants in the Colony. But there is another, unstated purpose -- the girls are to "civilize" the...
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