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I have the original Accounts Rendered document prepared in London, England for my GX3 Grandmother Mrs Kate Fitzmaurice and dated April 1851. This document shows the distribution of the estate of her brother, Major Thomas Roche Meade. In this document, it is stated that two amounts of money were sent in 1850 and 1851 to Sydney Australia.

Can anyone explain how this transfer of money would have occurred?

PolyGeo
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Helen Shimitras
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    I'm not writing this up as an answer yet because I'm unconvinced that I've got my own head around it - but see the Letters of Credit section on this link http://www.victorianlondon.org/publications8/guide_to-02.htm This may NOT be the right answer for these circumstances as it seems to imply someone traveling. One of the other options may suffice. Interesting question. Grateful for any other comments. – AdrianB38 Mar 29 '16 at 22:29

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There are a number of ways money might have been sent abroad. But in your case it would have probably have been via a company.

Around the time that countries and empires had colonies in the Americas and Australia, companies such as Western Union started to emerge due to the increased need (or want) to send money back and forth to family members. These companies would be paid to transfer money via telegraph, this would involve having a widespread network of telegraphs working together that would "Authorize" payments rather than sending material money.

Other methods that would be less likely but still very possible in your case would be either:

  • Personally, i.e someone physically took the money out to a family member.
  • Through the governing body, this was very much in the interest of colonial powers as they could not only profit from transferring money but also it would mean that money was being sent out to colonies which would in turn strengthen their economies.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Union

Danny B
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