Early Sri Lankan
Migration to Australia

Following the expansion of sugarcane farming in the late 1800s, planters in the sugar industry faced a dilemma. They believed that sugarcane plantation work was unsuitable for Europeans, but did not wish for non-Europeans to come and settle in Queensland.

As a solution to this, it is estimated that more than 60,000 South Sea Islanders were transported to Queensland and Northern New South Wales between 1863 and 1904 for work on sugarcane plantations, in a practice termed 'blackbirding'⁴. These people were from more than 80 Pacific Islands, often brought using coercion, or force. It is estimated that one-third of workers brought were kidnapped or brought through trickery.

The poor and arduous conditions of sugarcane plantation work, and the lack of labour contracts to protect the rights of the workers, meant that these workers were effectively treated as slaves and many died on the plantation fields. In the 1870s and 80s, the mortality rate exceeded 6 percent, and in 1885, was just under 10 percent⁵.

The high mortality rates and opposition from the Anti-Slavery Society in Britain soon made this practice unsustainable, and in the search for cheap, indentured labour, sugarcane planters looked to various parts of Asia, including Ceylon.

No mass migration out of Ceylon had occurred in the past century, and scholars cite several factors motivating these migrants to emigrate.

Swan writes the fall of the coffee industry in the 1870s and 1880s changing the attitudes of many who may not have otherwise decided to embark abroad⁸. Caulfield cites adventurousness, writing that they were 'keen on seeing what the outside world was like'.

Although opposition to South Sea Islanders was almost non-existent upon their arrival in Queensland, the success of Chinese migrants in Australia and accounts of Indian workers prospering and competing with locals in British colonies created paranoia and fear about non-European migrants, resulting in the formation of groups titled 'anti-coolie leagues'.

This resulted in the Devonshire contingent facing significant opposition from locals upon arrival in Queensland.

The Devonshire arrived in Mackay on November 3, 1882. Although the ship was pelted with stones by locals upon arrival, the migrants were able to go to their lodging without great interruption.

Unlike in Mackay, Bundaberg had multiple local newspapers engaged in rivalry with one another. The arrival of the new migrants gave the newspapers an opportunity to 'put on show their journalistic skills', causing greater media attention upon their arrival. One newspaper, the Bundaberg Star, announced the arrival of the Devonshire 'enclosed in thick, black bands in the manner of an obituary notice', prompting fear and excitement from locals.

As evidenced by newspaper articles and records, many migrants refused to work, instead opting to go to jail. As a result, many workers broke their contracts, and drifted into other parts of Queensland and northern New South Wales. Many found it challenging to work due to the reluctance to hire non-Europeans.

Those able to afford the return passage returned to Ceylon due to homesickness and oppressive conditions towards non-Europeans in Australia. As most had broken their contracts, many were no longer entitled to the free passage listed on their contracts and remained in Australia after federation in 1901. This is in contrast to many South Sea Islanders that were forcibly deported from Australia under the Pacific Island Labourers Act 1901. Those who remained on the Australian mainland quickly lost their cultural connections and identity.

Others migrated to Thursday Island in North-Eastern Queensland in the Torres Strait, where a significant number of non-European migration took place due to its proximity to Asia and the pearling industry. The formation of a distinct Sri Lankan community on Thursday Island is documented by Stanley Sparkes and Anna Shnukal in the book Navigating Boundaries⁶.

To answer the research questions, I set out on a journey to recreate the missing list of 500 passengers onboard the Devonshire. I looked to the Queensland State Archives, ancestry.com and findagrave.com, and the Coloured Labour and Asiatic Labour Index 1913, which contained some names of those residing in locations such as Townsville & Rockhampton.

The passenger list of the Devonshire has been lost, and until now, none of the graves of the migrants have been located. Additionally, many of the names have been miswritten and confused with other non-Europeans, such as South Sea Islanders, British Indians or Javanese, making it difficult to identify the migrants.

I then assembled a spreadsheet containing date & location of birth/death, occupation, location of burial and cause of death. As a result, I was able to identify around 70 of the 500 Devonshire migrants. From this list, I have chosen to feature the stories of 30 migrants in this project.