The Salvation Army's overseas settlements and colonies, 1890-1939

From the end of the 19th century to WWII, The Salvation Army was a global organisation in two key respects. First, it was the largest voluntary migration society in the British Isles, organising the emigration of 250,000 people from Britain to Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Second, it established land and farm colonies for these migrants, as well as Indigenous and 'native' people, in the white settler colonies and in the USA, Southern Rhodesia, South Africa, and British India.

The metropolitan and imperial dimensions of The Salvation Army's work came together in founder William Booth's In Darkest England and the Way Out (1890), a three-stage plan to 'save' the poorest 10% of Britain's population. The plan hinged on their progressive movement from 'City Colony' to 'Farm Colony' and then to the 'Colony Over-Sea'. The City Colony was the term applied to the metropolitan shelters run by The Salvation Army after 1891. The Farm Colony was to engage men in agricultural training and moral rehabilitation so that they would become 'capable, industrious citizens.' The 'Colony Over-Sea' sought to establish closely regulated settlements specifically for the 'submerged tenth', and pathways of migration open to all. Concurrently, the Salvation Army was engaged in the establishment of Indigenous and 'native' farms and colonies, for instance in British India and Southern Rhodesia. There has been some (limited) academic work on The Salvation Army's metropolitan city and farm colonies, but almost no research has been done on either the creation of the 'Colony Over-Sea' or its associated migration. Likewise, though academic work has engaged with some of the Salvation Army's settlements for colonized peoples (notably for so-called 'criminal tribes' in India), there is little or no work on others. This project will fill these significant gaps in the historiography, and present a transformative vision of the connection between poverty and social reform in Britain and its Empire, as well as the nature of imperial governance and governmentality in the colonies.

This project will begin with an interdisciplinary literature review, focusing on the economic and social history of Britain, Empire, poverty and welfare, social reform, colonialism, evangelical Christianity, and migration. This will enable me to identify further my own historical interests, as well as key gaps in the historiography.

This project is a collaborative studentship with the Salvation Army International Heritage Centre (SAIHC), and so most of the primary research for this project will take place at the archive held within the centre. This project will look at three overseas case studies (which will be chosen after a review of the material available at the SAIHC), and thus to refine the project's key research question and sub-questions. Using the SAIHC, my research will collate sources which include (but not limited to) books, pamphlets, biographies, periodicals, personal papers, territorial records, annual reports, photographs, and yearbooks. In addition, this project will also explore archives in relevant overseas nations (where possible) to get a broader understanding of the socio-economic, imperial, and political landscapes of these nations.