This article examines the Lady Kennaway assisted emigration scheme, designed to send women from Ireland's workhouses to the eastern frontier of the Cape Colony in Southern Africa. First proposed by Colonial Secretary Henry Labouchere in 1857, the scheme's purpose was to provide wives for the British German Legion, which had been resettled to British Kaffraria the previous year. Initially, the plan appeared to be of benefit for both Ireland and the Cape Colony. According to colonial officials and emigration commissioners, Ireland would be rid of a superfluous population, the Irish women would attain social and economic advancement, and the Eastern Cape would gain much-needed female settlers. Emigration authorities quickly found their optimism tempered by realities, however, as many Irish Poor Law guardians and workhouse women refused to participate. The Lady Kennaway scheme—so named after the ship that carried the emigrants—demonstrates the ways in which local interests could, and often did, shape imperial practices. Moreover, in tracking the decisions of emigration commissioners in London, colonial officials in Southern Africa, Poor Law guardians in Ireland, and potential female emigrants, this analysis reveals the multitude of individuals who molded Britain's mid-nineteenth-century imperial project.

这篇文章探讨了肯纳威夫人协助移民计划，旨在将爱尔兰济贫院的妇女送往南部非洲开普殖民地的东部边境。该计划于 1857 年由殖民地大臣亨利·拉布歇尔首次提出，其目的是为前一年被重新安置到英国卡夫拉里亚的英国德国军团提供妻子。最初，该计划似乎对爱尔兰和开普殖民地都有好处。根据殖民官员和移民专员的说法，爱尔兰将摆脱过剩的人口，爱尔兰妇女将获得社会和经济进步，东开普省将获得急需的女性定居者。然而，移民当局很快发现他们的乐观情绪受到现实的影响，因为许多爱尔兰济贫法监护人和济贫院的妇女拒绝参与。这肯纳威夫人计划——以载有移民的船只命名——展示了当地利益能够并且经常影响帝国实践的方式。此外，通过追踪伦敦的移民专员、南部非洲的殖民官员、爱尔兰的济贫法监护人和潜在的女性移民的决定，这一分析揭示了塑造英国 19 世纪中叶帝国计划的众多个人。