"Sydney, Jan. 21st, 1802.“Honoured Madam,“With pleasure I cannot describe, I am permitted to take up my pen and write to you, to acquaint you with my arrival in safety at PortJackson, Sydney, New South Wales, on December 20, 1801. As I left the ship, and was about to be landed, the shore, as I approached it, put me very much in mind of the Cliff on the banks of the river Orwell. The houses, backed by the hills, so much resembled that happy spot, that it put me in good spirits; and had I but seen your smile to welcome me, I should have been happy indeed. But I thought of you, of your prayers, your advice, your kindness and consolation; and when I saw land so much like my own dear native home, I really felt as if I was not entirely banished from old England.“Your advice relative to my conduct on board the convict-ship was strictly followed; and every morning I prayed that I might keep it, and every evening I thanked God for his help. I had much influence with the female convicts who came out with me, and prevented many murmurs and one outbreak among them. So that, you see, dear lady, others reaped the benefit of your instructions as well as myself.“Captain Sumpter gave me a good character to the governor; so that I was not two days upon the stores, but was taken off them by Mr. John Palmer, a gentleman of the highest respectability in the colony. He came out as purser in theSirius, with Captain Arthur Phillip and Captain John Hunter, in January, 1787. Captain Phillip was the first governor of this place. Mrs. Palmer is very kind to me, and is as benevolent as yourself. She is a niece of a famous physician in London, Sir William Blizzard; and she says, dear lady, that she has heard her uncle speak of you. Only think that I should be so fortunate as to find a good mistress, who had some knowledge of you, even in this distant land! I feel this a great blessing.“After the loss of theSirius, on a reef off Norfolk Island, Mr. and Mrs. Palmer undertook the management of the Female Orphan Asylum. This institution was established by Governor King, who purchased, for the residence of my master and mistress, the elegant house in which they now live, of Lieutenant Kent, who returned toEngland two years since in theBuffalo. He had built it entirely at his own expense, but he found that the country did not agree with him.“You know, my dear lady, how fond I always was of children, and here I have many cheerful young faces around me. We have already sixty female children, who are taken as good care of as if they were all one family belonging to Mrs. Palmer. So you see how happily I am employed. Have I not reason to be thankful to God for His great mercies to so unworthy a creature as myself? I know you will rejoice to hear of my situation. You desired me to write anything I could for your instruction. I wish my opportunities were greater, that my letter might be more entertaining; but Mrs. Palmer has afforded me some facilities, and I hope, when I write again, to give you the benefit of them.“This country is much more like England than I expected to find it. Garden-stuff of all kinds, except gooseberries, and currants, and apples, are abundant. The gardens, too, are remarkably beautiful; the geraniums run up seven or eight feet in height, and look more magnificent than those which I used to see in your own greenhouse. The country is very woody, so that I cannot go out any distance from Sydney without travelling through woods for miles. They are many of them very picturesque, and quite alive with birds, of such exquisite plumage that the eye is constantly dazzled by them.“I assure you, my dear lady, that, in taking a ramble through them with my mistress and some of the elder orphans, I felt just as I imagine your own dear children used to feel when they walked with me to the Grove near Hog Island, I was so pleased with the birds, and trees, and flowers. I only wish I could send you one of the beautiful parrots of this country, but I have no means of so doing at present, as my money is all laid out for my future benefit. I have no money given to me for wages. I have board and lodging; and, if I conduct myself well, Mrs. Palmer says she will lay up a littlestore against the day of my emancipation or my marriage. With God’s help, in whom I trust, I am determined to be independent of all men. I have no desire to be married and settled, as some people seem to say I shall be. I have no wish of the kind, neither do I now nor do I hope to desire any better situation than that I now enjoy, unless it were a return to England.“I grieve to say, my dear lady, that this is one of the wickedest places in the world. I never heard of one, excepting those of Sodom and Gomorrah, which could come up to it in evil practices. People are so bold, so shameless, and so sinful, that even crime is as familiar as fashion in England. Religion is the last thing thought of, even by the government, which sends out criminals that most want it. The Rev. Mr. Johnson, who is almost the only clergyman in the whole country, comes frequently to the Foundling Asylum; but he tells my mistress that the town of Sydney is like a place of demons. Government is at great expense in the police establishment, to keep our poor bodies in subjection; but I am sure, if our souls were but a little more thought of, government would find us ten thousand times better subjects.“Is it not dreadful, dear lady, that in such a country as this so many souls should utterly perish? Surely it will never be blessed with the blessing from Heaven, until God shall induce our government to send us out some able ministers of the Gospel. I will write more upon this subject at another time. I trust in God, who has brought me over the broad sea, that He will keep me from all evil upon this wide land.“The wheat harvest was almost over when I landed. Wheat is here eight shillings per bushel at this time. There are two crops, I understand, each summer, one of wheat and another of Indian corn. I am told that the winter is very short; I cannot give you any certain information yet, as I have been only one month in the country. This letter, for the same reason, will be but a poor one; my next will, I hope, be more worthy your perusal. I will makeminutes, according to your wishes, of all things which come under my observation. Never, never, my dearest lady, shall I forget your goodness to me, and especially on the last day before I left Ipswich.“All the things you gave me arrived in safety with me, and are of great service to me. Oh! how I wish that many poor creatures, whom I see around me, had some of the blessings which I have! There are some who have been here for years, who have their poor heads shaved, and are sent up the Coal River. They have to carry coals from daylight until dark. They are badly fed; and though very bad men, who actually sell their rations of bread for three days for a little rum, yet they ought not to be left without instruction, as they totally are, until they perish.“Norfolk Island is a terrible place to be sent to. Those only who are incorrigible are sent to this place, with a steel collar round their necks, to work in gangs.“I have no government work to do; nor has the officer of government anything to do with me. When there is a general muster of the convicts, then only I shall have to appear, and give account of myself. Some days I am permitted to go and see a friend at a distance, if I have any, either at Paramatta, twenty miles, Gabley, thirty, or Hawkesbury, forty miles from Sydney; but then I shall have to get a passport, or I should be taken up, and put into prison as a runaway. A very little will get a person into prison here; but it requires a great deal of interest to get him out again.“I want to say a great deal more, but time will not permit me, for I expect the ship to sail very soon, I have been very ill since I came on shore. At one time I was thought to be dying; but by the blessing of God and the attentions of my mistress, I am now strong again. I was very well during my whole voyage, though we were tossed about tremendously in the Bay of Biscay. I was very glad to see land, after so many months’ confinement; yet I should not mind just such another voyage at this moment, if it were but to bring meback again to dear old England. I cannot say yet that I like this country, or that I think I ever shall; God only knows. The governor has a great many very beautiful cows, and so has Mr. Palmer, who is very partial to agricultural pursuits. There are a great many horses at Sydney, and some very neat whiskeys and little clay-carts. There are a great many passage-boats, but all numbered and registered, and secured, lest the convicts should use them to attempt their escape.“Pray, my dear madam, let good Doctor Stebbing have the other side of this sheet. I hope this will find you and all your good family well. Pray, my dear lady, do not forget your promise of writing to me by the first transport-ship that comes out; and direct to me at Mr. Palmer’s, Female Orphan Asylum, Sydney; and with deep love to all my friends, I remain"Your faithful servant,"Margaret Catchpole."
"Sydney, Jan. 21st, 1802.
“Honoured Madam,
“With pleasure I cannot describe, I am permitted to take up my pen and write to you, to acquaint you with my arrival in safety at PortJackson, Sydney, New South Wales, on December 20, 1801. As I left the ship, and was about to be landed, the shore, as I approached it, put me very much in mind of the Cliff on the banks of the river Orwell. The houses, backed by the hills, so much resembled that happy spot, that it put me in good spirits; and had I but seen your smile to welcome me, I should have been happy indeed. But I thought of you, of your prayers, your advice, your kindness and consolation; and when I saw land so much like my own dear native home, I really felt as if I was not entirely banished from old England.
“Your advice relative to my conduct on board the convict-ship was strictly followed; and every morning I prayed that I might keep it, and every evening I thanked God for his help. I had much influence with the female convicts who came out with me, and prevented many murmurs and one outbreak among them. So that, you see, dear lady, others reaped the benefit of your instructions as well as myself.
“Captain Sumpter gave me a good character to the governor; so that I was not two days upon the stores, but was taken off them by Mr. John Palmer, a gentleman of the highest respectability in the colony. He came out as purser in theSirius, with Captain Arthur Phillip and Captain John Hunter, in January, 1787. Captain Phillip was the first governor of this place. Mrs. Palmer is very kind to me, and is as benevolent as yourself. She is a niece of a famous physician in London, Sir William Blizzard; and she says, dear lady, that she has heard her uncle speak of you. Only think that I should be so fortunate as to find a good mistress, who had some knowledge of you, even in this distant land! I feel this a great blessing.
“After the loss of theSirius, on a reef off Norfolk Island, Mr. and Mrs. Palmer undertook the management of the Female Orphan Asylum. This institution was established by Governor King, who purchased, for the residence of my master and mistress, the elegant house in which they now live, of Lieutenant Kent, who returned toEngland two years since in theBuffalo. He had built it entirely at his own expense, but he found that the country did not agree with him.
“You know, my dear lady, how fond I always was of children, and here I have many cheerful young faces around me. We have already sixty female children, who are taken as good care of as if they were all one family belonging to Mrs. Palmer. So you see how happily I am employed. Have I not reason to be thankful to God for His great mercies to so unworthy a creature as myself? I know you will rejoice to hear of my situation. You desired me to write anything I could for your instruction. I wish my opportunities were greater, that my letter might be more entertaining; but Mrs. Palmer has afforded me some facilities, and I hope, when I write again, to give you the benefit of them.
“This country is much more like England than I expected to find it. Garden-stuff of all kinds, except gooseberries, and currants, and apples, are abundant. The gardens, too, are remarkably beautiful; the geraniums run up seven or eight feet in height, and look more magnificent than those which I used to see in your own greenhouse. The country is very woody, so that I cannot go out any distance from Sydney without travelling through woods for miles. They are many of them very picturesque, and quite alive with birds, of such exquisite plumage that the eye is constantly dazzled by them.
“I assure you, my dear lady, that, in taking a ramble through them with my mistress and some of the elder orphans, I felt just as I imagine your own dear children used to feel when they walked with me to the Grove near Hog Island, I was so pleased with the birds, and trees, and flowers. I only wish I could send you one of the beautiful parrots of this country, but I have no means of so doing at present, as my money is all laid out for my future benefit. I have no money given to me for wages. I have board and lodging; and, if I conduct myself well, Mrs. Palmer says she will lay up a littlestore against the day of my emancipation or my marriage. With God’s help, in whom I trust, I am determined to be independent of all men. I have no desire to be married and settled, as some people seem to say I shall be. I have no wish of the kind, neither do I now nor do I hope to desire any better situation than that I now enjoy, unless it were a return to England.
“I grieve to say, my dear lady, that this is one of the wickedest places in the world. I never heard of one, excepting those of Sodom and Gomorrah, which could come up to it in evil practices. People are so bold, so shameless, and so sinful, that even crime is as familiar as fashion in England. Religion is the last thing thought of, even by the government, which sends out criminals that most want it. The Rev. Mr. Johnson, who is almost the only clergyman in the whole country, comes frequently to the Foundling Asylum; but he tells my mistress that the town of Sydney is like a place of demons. Government is at great expense in the police establishment, to keep our poor bodies in subjection; but I am sure, if our souls were but a little more thought of, government would find us ten thousand times better subjects.
“Is it not dreadful, dear lady, that in such a country as this so many souls should utterly perish? Surely it will never be blessed with the blessing from Heaven, until God shall induce our government to send us out some able ministers of the Gospel. I will write more upon this subject at another time. I trust in God, who has brought me over the broad sea, that He will keep me from all evil upon this wide land.
“The wheat harvest was almost over when I landed. Wheat is here eight shillings per bushel at this time. There are two crops, I understand, each summer, one of wheat and another of Indian corn. I am told that the winter is very short; I cannot give you any certain information yet, as I have been only one month in the country. This letter, for the same reason, will be but a poor one; my next will, I hope, be more worthy your perusal. I will makeminutes, according to your wishes, of all things which come under my observation. Never, never, my dearest lady, shall I forget your goodness to me, and especially on the last day before I left Ipswich.
“All the things you gave me arrived in safety with me, and are of great service to me. Oh! how I wish that many poor creatures, whom I see around me, had some of the blessings which I have! There are some who have been here for years, who have their poor heads shaved, and are sent up the Coal River. They have to carry coals from daylight until dark. They are badly fed; and though very bad men, who actually sell their rations of bread for three days for a little rum, yet they ought not to be left without instruction, as they totally are, until they perish.
“Norfolk Island is a terrible place to be sent to. Those only who are incorrigible are sent to this place, with a steel collar round their necks, to work in gangs.
“I have no government work to do; nor has the officer of government anything to do with me. When there is a general muster of the convicts, then only I shall have to appear, and give account of myself. Some days I am permitted to go and see a friend at a distance, if I have any, either at Paramatta, twenty miles, Gabley, thirty, or Hawkesbury, forty miles from Sydney; but then I shall have to get a passport, or I should be taken up, and put into prison as a runaway. A very little will get a person into prison here; but it requires a great deal of interest to get him out again.
“I want to say a great deal more, but time will not permit me, for I expect the ship to sail very soon, I have been very ill since I came on shore. At one time I was thought to be dying; but by the blessing of God and the attentions of my mistress, I am now strong again. I was very well during my whole voyage, though we were tossed about tremendously in the Bay of Biscay. I was very glad to see land, after so many months’ confinement; yet I should not mind just such another voyage at this moment, if it were but to bring meback again to dear old England. I cannot say yet that I like this country, or that I think I ever shall; God only knows. The governor has a great many very beautiful cows, and so has Mr. Palmer, who is very partial to agricultural pursuits. There are a great many horses at Sydney, and some very neat whiskeys and little clay-carts. There are a great many passage-boats, but all numbered and registered, and secured, lest the convicts should use them to attempt their escape.
“Pray, my dear madam, let good Doctor Stebbing have the other side of this sheet. I hope this will find you and all your good family well. Pray, my dear lady, do not forget your promise of writing to me by the first transport-ship that comes out; and direct to me at Mr. Palmer’s, Female Orphan Asylum, Sydney; and with deep love to all my friends, I remain
The following is her letter to Dr. Stebbing, written on the same sheet of paper:—
“Dear Sir,“This is to acquaint you with our safe landing at Sydney, on the 20th of December, and that we all arrived in good health. Barker bore the voyage the worst of the three, and was so terrified at the sea that she could scarcely bear to look at it; and whenever it was rough she would never be persuaded to come on deck. She used frequently to cry out that she wished you were near her. She is just the same as ever, now she is on land: I regret to say, no better. Elizabeth Killet lives very near to me, and is very well. She and I were both taken off the stores on the same day. We have not to go to government work, as the horses do; but we have both obtained respectable places, and I hope we shall continue in them.“I am sorry to say that Barker has to spin for government, her character not being such as to deserve a good report: she is still upon the stores. But shecan get her stint of work done by one o’clock if she chooses to work hard at it, and then her time is her own till six. Pray, sir, give my kind remembrance to all my fellow-prisoners, and tell any of them that may be sentenced to come out to this country not to be dead-hearted, as I was, about Botany Bay; for if they are sent out, and will only conduct themselves well, they will be better off than in prison.“The greater part of this country is not yet explored; and if inhabited, it is by natives of a very low caste and hideous features. Those that I have already seen are of a very ferocious aspect. They carry along with them spears of great length, made of hard wood, and a sort of hatchet, made of bone, stone, or very hard wood. They look half-starved, and have very long, lank visages, most hideously distorted by various customs; such as knocking out a front tooth to denote their arrival at manhood, painting their brows, and putting quills through the cartilage which separates the nostrils of their wide-distended noses.“Their females, I am told, are in a very degraded condition, and are generally stolen from other tribes, and brutally treated, being beaten into immediate subjection by their husbands, who steal them. The men seem to me a very subtle race. If they meet an unarmed white man at a distance from home, they will spear and rob him. They behave themselves well enough when they come into the town, and visit, as they do sometimes, the Female Orphan Asylum, where I live. If they did not they would soon be punished; still they are very sly and treacherous, and can take up things with their long toes as easily as we do the same with our hands.“They often have a grand fight among themselves, either to gratify their leader or to settle some dispute between the tribes. Twenty or thirty join in the fight, whilst all the others look on, as if it was only a game of play; but some of them are sure to be killed. There is nothing said or done to them for killing each other inthis manner. What horrible barbarians they must be!“The crops of wheat are very good in this country. Forty bushels per acre are commonly grown; it is a very fertile place, and fruitful in every respect. I will write more fully of the country another time. Population increases rapidly. Some things, which we cannot obtain, are very dear: tea is 25s.per pound; sugar, 2s.; salt beef, 1s.; and mutton, 2s.per pound. A pair of shoes, 15s.; 10s.a pair of stockings; 5s.for a yard of common print; calico, 3s.per yard; soap, 3s.per pound; onions, 6d.per pound; potatoes, 2d.per pound; a cabbage, 6d.; rum, 5s.per bottle; a quart of porter, 2s.Fish is as cheap as anything we can buy; but we have no money here to trade with.“Pray, my dear sir, remember me to Mrs. Ripshaw, and tell her that one of Mr. Ripshaw’s daughters, who lives up in the country here, paid a visit to the Orphan Asylum last week. She asked me, when she heard my voice, if I was not a Suffolk woman. This led to my knowledge of her being the daughter of Mr. Ripshaw’s first wife. Pray, write to me as soon as you can. I shall never forget your goodness to me, from the day I rode the pony to your door till the day I left Ipswich. I shall never forget your dear daughter, so clever, so kind to every one. Remember me to your faithful servant, who was such a friend to me, and give my duty to all inquiring friends. We had not a single death in our ship, though we had near two hundred females on board.“Just as I am writing this a messenger has come flying into the town to say that the Blacks have killed eight men, women, and children. One man’s arms they have cut, and broke his bones, and have done the same by his legs up to his knees. The poor fellow is just now carried past to the hospital, but he looked more dead than alive, and death would be a blessing to him. The governor has sent out troops after them, with orders to shoot all they can find. I hope I may be able to give you a better account of the natives whenI write again. Pray send me word if you know where Dinah Parker and her child were sent to. Give my love to my uncle and aunt Leader. My brother Edward should not have deserted me; I always loved him affectionately. God bless you, dear doctor, and direct your letter to me at Mr. John Palmer’s, Female Orphan Asylum, Sydney; and ever think of me as your faithful and humble servant,"Margaret Catchpole.“ToJohn Cobbold, Esq., Cliff, Ipswich."Favoured byCaptain Sumpter.”
“Dear Sir,
“This is to acquaint you with our safe landing at Sydney, on the 20th of December, and that we all arrived in good health. Barker bore the voyage the worst of the three, and was so terrified at the sea that she could scarcely bear to look at it; and whenever it was rough she would never be persuaded to come on deck. She used frequently to cry out that she wished you were near her. She is just the same as ever, now she is on land: I regret to say, no better. Elizabeth Killet lives very near to me, and is very well. She and I were both taken off the stores on the same day. We have not to go to government work, as the horses do; but we have both obtained respectable places, and I hope we shall continue in them.
“I am sorry to say that Barker has to spin for government, her character not being such as to deserve a good report: she is still upon the stores. But shecan get her stint of work done by one o’clock if she chooses to work hard at it, and then her time is her own till six. Pray, sir, give my kind remembrance to all my fellow-prisoners, and tell any of them that may be sentenced to come out to this country not to be dead-hearted, as I was, about Botany Bay; for if they are sent out, and will only conduct themselves well, they will be better off than in prison.
“The greater part of this country is not yet explored; and if inhabited, it is by natives of a very low caste and hideous features. Those that I have already seen are of a very ferocious aspect. They carry along with them spears of great length, made of hard wood, and a sort of hatchet, made of bone, stone, or very hard wood. They look half-starved, and have very long, lank visages, most hideously distorted by various customs; such as knocking out a front tooth to denote their arrival at manhood, painting their brows, and putting quills through the cartilage which separates the nostrils of their wide-distended noses.
“Their females, I am told, are in a very degraded condition, and are generally stolen from other tribes, and brutally treated, being beaten into immediate subjection by their husbands, who steal them. The men seem to me a very subtle race. If they meet an unarmed white man at a distance from home, they will spear and rob him. They behave themselves well enough when they come into the town, and visit, as they do sometimes, the Female Orphan Asylum, where I live. If they did not they would soon be punished; still they are very sly and treacherous, and can take up things with their long toes as easily as we do the same with our hands.
“They often have a grand fight among themselves, either to gratify their leader or to settle some dispute between the tribes. Twenty or thirty join in the fight, whilst all the others look on, as if it was only a game of play; but some of them are sure to be killed. There is nothing said or done to them for killing each other inthis manner. What horrible barbarians they must be!
“The crops of wheat are very good in this country. Forty bushels per acre are commonly grown; it is a very fertile place, and fruitful in every respect. I will write more fully of the country another time. Population increases rapidly. Some things, which we cannot obtain, are very dear: tea is 25s.per pound; sugar, 2s.; salt beef, 1s.; and mutton, 2s.per pound. A pair of shoes, 15s.; 10s.a pair of stockings; 5s.for a yard of common print; calico, 3s.per yard; soap, 3s.per pound; onions, 6d.per pound; potatoes, 2d.per pound; a cabbage, 6d.; rum, 5s.per bottle; a quart of porter, 2s.Fish is as cheap as anything we can buy; but we have no money here to trade with.
“Pray, my dear sir, remember me to Mrs. Ripshaw, and tell her that one of Mr. Ripshaw’s daughters, who lives up in the country here, paid a visit to the Orphan Asylum last week. She asked me, when she heard my voice, if I was not a Suffolk woman. This led to my knowledge of her being the daughter of Mr. Ripshaw’s first wife. Pray, write to me as soon as you can. I shall never forget your goodness to me, from the day I rode the pony to your door till the day I left Ipswich. I shall never forget your dear daughter, so clever, so kind to every one. Remember me to your faithful servant, who was such a friend to me, and give my duty to all inquiring friends. We had not a single death in our ship, though we had near two hundred females on board.
“Just as I am writing this a messenger has come flying into the town to say that the Blacks have killed eight men, women, and children. One man’s arms they have cut, and broke his bones, and have done the same by his legs up to his knees. The poor fellow is just now carried past to the hospital, but he looked more dead than alive, and death would be a blessing to him. The governor has sent out troops after them, with orders to shoot all they can find. I hope I may be able to give you a better account of the natives whenI write again. Pray send me word if you know where Dinah Parker and her child were sent to. Give my love to my uncle and aunt Leader. My brother Edward should not have deserted me; I always loved him affectionately. God bless you, dear doctor, and direct your letter to me at Mr. John Palmer’s, Female Orphan Asylum, Sydney; and ever think of me as your faithful and humble servant,
"Margaret Catchpole.
“ToJohn Cobbold, Esq., Cliff, Ipswich."Favoured byCaptain Sumpter.”
By her good conduct in her new situation as cook and superintendent over the dairy of Mr. John Palmer, she was found to be a very useful and confidential person, and was soon looked upon as likely to be a very valuable wife for a free settler. Her fondness for children, and her management of them, came under the particular notice of Mrs. Palmer, who, without any family of her own, had from the most humane and benevolent motives undertaken the entire management of the Orphan Asylum. She found Margaret as willing and as well qualified an assistant as she could wish for.
This school was founded in the year 1800, by Governor King. It was for sixty female orphans. A grant of 15,000 acres of land was given to this foundation for the maintenance and support of the children. They were to be educated usefully and respectably, brought up to industrious habits, and to receive the best religious instruction which could be obtained for them. Few things in Sydney gave such general satisfaction as this benevolent institution; few things at that period more tended to the amelioration of the conduct of those who, from being the offscourings of such a densely-peopled country as England, were of course so deeply depraved as to be very difficult to recover from their evil habits. Destitute female children were taken into this establishment. A portion was given to each one brought up in this place of 100 acres of land, on her marriage-day, provided she married a free settler, and was herself a goodcharacter. This was a great inducement for the elder ones to set a good example, as well as to induce young free men to be approved of by the governor as worthy to receive so great a boon. Hence, in later days, have arisen many sterling characters in the neighbourhood of Sydney.
In this benevolent arrangement, the governor was mainly prompted and assisted by a free settler, who had been eight years in the colony, and was one of the first who arrived in theBellonatransport, in 1793, and settled upon a spot then called Liberty Plains. This was no other than the reader’s friend, and we hope his favourite, John Barry, whose steady and upright character was observed by the governor; he was taken into his confidence, and was a most admirable pattern for all settlers. For his strict integrity and early business habits, he was chosen as the great government agent for the distribution of lands; and he it was who suggested to Governor King the plan of forming this Orphan Establishment. In the sale of every 180 acres to free settlers, this gentleman was allowed a certain percentage, which in a short time realized to him a considerable property, in addition to that which he had already acquired.
John Barry was also the first to propose, and to assist with his wealth, the building of the first church, that of St. John’s, at Sydney. He often lamented that government would not make a noble grant of land for church purposes, and in that early day he tried hard for a public grant for the Church of England, and mourned over the supineness of colonial legislation upon such a vital subject. Had this good man lived but to see the arrival of a British Bishop of Australia, it would have added one more joy to the many which his good conduct provided for him; indeed, he always said that such would be the case. Mr. Barry had a very handsome house at Windsor, on the green hills of Hawkesbury; also a fine estate, consisting of the most extensive pastures and the finest corn district in the whole region.
John Barry had kept his solemn word with Margaret, and had never entered into any matrimonial alliance, though he was looked upon as the most eligible match in the whole colony.
And this was the person formerly known to the reader as Jack Barry, the young farming lad, the son of the miller at Levington Creek, on the River Orwell. With small means, good introductions, steady conduct, and active habits, this youth rose from the day he purchased his first hundred acres in the colony until the day of his death. Two of his sisters had gone out to him before Margaret’s committal to prison for any offence, and all that they could tell him of her was that she was at service at the Cliff at Ipswich, and that Laud was in the British navy. This gave him unfeigned pleasure, though it did not permit him to hope that he should ever see Margaret.
Had he been certified of Laud’s death, there is little doubt that he would have returned to England. But his own family, in their correspondence with him, never mentioned either one or the other person.
Indeed, after Margaret became so notorious in the county of Suffolk, they never named her to him, or sent him the papers which mentioned any word concerning her. He very seldom named her to his sisters. He knew nothing of her career, and she had actually been living some years within a short distance of his own residence in Australia, without his either seeing or hearing anything of her. In her most confidential communications with Mrs. Palmer, she had never mentioned his name, or an explanation must have taken place. She had the narrowest chance of meeting him in July, 1803, when Mr. Barry came to inspect the Asylum. A day only before he came, Margaret had been sent to a free settler’s, a relation of Mrs. Palmer’s, who had the misfortune to lose his wife, and being left with two very small children, he wanted a person like Margaret to take care of them, and to superintend his domestic concerns. Mrs. Palmer consented to let Margaret go, if she would, at least for a time, until herrelative could meet with an eligible person. This gentleman’s name was Poinder, and his house was at Richmond Hill. Margaret did not raise any objection, though all felt sorry to part with her from the Asylum; she went to oblige her mistress, and received a handsome present from her at parting.
The first money which this faithful creature received was devoted to the purchase of many curious things for her dear mistress in England. These she treasured up, anticipating the pleasure of forwarding them from Sydney, when she had obtained sufficient to fill a chest.
Though many letters and presents had been sent from her friends in England, it would appear by a letter to her uncle Leader, dated December 20, 1804, that she never received any of them. That uncle conveyed her letter to Mrs. Cobbold, who took a copy of it, from which it is here transcribed. Three years had passed away since the date of her first letter, and the poor creature had been vexed greatly at the non-arrival of any tidings from her friends.
"Sydney, December 20th, 1804.“My dear Uncle and Aunt,"With great pleasure I once more take up my pen to write to you, and all your dear children, as well as all inquiring friends, hoping that they may all be in as good health as I am at the time this letter leaves this country. I bless God, dear uncle, for his past and present mercies towards me, which have been and are very great. I am as young as I ever was; indeed I may say that I am in spirit, if not in body, younger, freer, and happier, than I ever was at any former period of my life. I should be almost ready to jump over St. John’s Church, which is the first church built in this country, if I could only hear from you, or some of my dear friends in England. You may well suppose how overjoyed I should be to snatch up any tidings of any of you.“I cannot think why I have not heard from some of you. England is, I know, in a very disturbed state and engaged in a maritime war. This is the fourth time I have written. I sent a letter by Captain Sumpter, on the return of the vessel I came by; my next I sent by theGlutton, and my next by theCalcutta. I did hope that I should have received a letter before this time. My anxieties have been so great as almost to make me go out of my mind; for I see so many letters arriving from London, but none for poor me. I should be unhappy indeed if I thought that no friends in England cared for me.“I am so grieved and disappointed that my dearly loved mistress has not written to me once since we parted! I cannot bring myself to believe that if she is alive, and is able, she has not already done so. I fear that some accident has occurred to the ship by which she has written to me, and that she is waiting for some reply. Do not neglect me this time, dear uncle, for it makes me very unhappy to think that I cannot hear from you, or any of my friends in England.“I am in great hopes that, if I continue in the same state that I am now in, and, if it please God, have the same approbation of my employers, who are high in the governor’s favour, I shall have the unspeakable joy of seeing you all again. The thought of such a blessing makes my hand tremble, and the tears run down my cheeks so fast, I cannot see the end of my pen. Governor King is a very good man; he is very merciful to those who deserve it, even to those who are, as I am, transported for life. There are many who have been granted their free pardon with power to settle in the colony. Some who have distinguished themselves by exemplary conduct, and have rendered public service to the settlement, not only receive their free pardon, but are permitted to return, if they wish it, to their native land. The anticipation of such an event would prompt me to any service.“The young man who brings this letter to England was transported for life. He was in the governor’s service, and discovered a robbery of the governmentstores, for which he has received a full and free pardon. He lived one year at John Palmer’s, Esq., where I have been living; his name is William Underwood. He was very much approved while in my master’s service, and was taken thence into the governor’s establishment. He is a good young man, and was betrayed into a crime by a butler, who employed him to rob his master, in London. He promises to convey this letter to England, and to post it for you, so that I do hope this will certainly come to hand.“I have left Mrs. Palmer’s service for a time, at her own particular request, and am now living as housekeeper to a young friend of hers, who married her niece. He is a free settler. His wife was a very sickly lady, and had, since she resided in this spot, fallen into a rapid decline; indeed she was in a poor state of health during her sea-voyage. She was a good and amiable lady, and her loss is a great misfortune to the young man, and much sorrow to my dear Mrs. Palmer.“The free settlers are the great farmers of this country; they have one hundred acres of land as a grant, with power to purchase as many more as they can; they have to clear away the woods, and burn up the stumps, before they can grow corn, though the swine thrive well in the thick bush. We begin to set wheat in March or April, and the harvest comes on in November; and as soon as that is cleared off, they set fire to the stubble, and burn it on the land, and then put in fresh corn directly. They do not plough it, but dibble the corn in without cleaning it, as the burning straw destroys the roots of all the weeds.“In clearing new land, it is broken up by men with very large hoes, and it is the hardest work that is done in the country. A great price is paid for this labour, and men work too hard at it. They frequently destroy their health and their lives, by their over-exertion to get rich enough to buy farms for themselves. This has been done by some robust men, but others fall a prey to the toil.“This is a very dangerous country at present to settle in. The natives, who are almost black, wear no covering, but go, most of them, in a state of nudity. They paint their bodies with a light-coloured ochre, marking out the ribs and bones so strongly, that at a little distance in the shade they look like so many moving skeletons. They are a most miserable, half-starved race of men, but very active, very treacherous, and very bold. They seem to have no shame. They used to bear a deadly hatred to the white people; and if all I hear be true of some of the dealings of our colonists with these poor wretches, I am not surprised at it.“They are much more reconciled to us than they were, and actually send some of their young children to be instructed in our schools. I do not think, however, that the race will ever amalgamate with our own, it appears such an inferior and unsettled one. As we advance our settlers towards the Blue Mountains, these people will recede from us, and being divided into many tribes hostile to each other, will never be able to unite their forces against us.“This country is full of curious animals. I have already collected some skins for my dear mistress at the Cliff. I never get a fresh one without blessing her name, and hoping that, poor as I am, I may yet give her some little pleasure.“Among the snakes, few are venomous. I have seen but one, which I am told is a very dangerous foe. Him I had a personal conflict with, and thank God I came off victorious. I was walking with two young children of my master’s, not very far from the newly-enclosed lands. The children were a few yards in advance of me, gathering flowers for me, when a large black snake flew at me from the foot of a tree, just as if it had been a dog. I had nothing in my hand but a thin stick which I had broken off one of the fresh shoots of a stump of a tree, which had been cut down the last winter; but I was afterwards told that it was the very best weapon of defence that I could have.He rose upon his tail, and darted at my face, as if he aimed at my eyes; but just as he came within reach, I gave him a cut over a white line at the back of his neck, which attracted my attention; he made a beautiful curve, like the bending of a fountain, when it has reached its height, and then fell in a straight stiff line, licking the dust.“It was providential that I hit him where I did, for my master told me it was the only place that I could have killed him on so suddenly. He told me that he was the most venomous snake in the country, and that, had I not broken his neck as I did, either the children or myself would have been killed. His bite is attended with swelling and blackness of the body, and when the sun goes down death ensues. How merciful that the dear children had passed by him without provoking an attack! The whole of that night I did nothing but lie and think of this event, and thank God for my deliverance.“Some of the snakes which I have seen are full twelve feet long, and thicker than a stout man’s arm. These are not venomous, but they would soon strangle a child. Some of our workmen have had severe encounters with them.“I have collected a good many curiosities of this country, and have skinned the birds and smaller animals myself, and preserved their skins, as dear Doctor Stebbing directed me; and if I can once get a letter from England to assure me that I live in the memory of my friends, I will soon pack them off to my good and learned mistress. People laugh at me sometimes for giving the value of a quarter of an acre of land for the skin of a dead animal; but they know not the pleasure I derive from the joy of pleasing those I love.“Give my love to my aunt and the dear children, and for their sakes, as well as my own, let them see this long letter. It may teach them to be very thankful to God; then they will bless poor Margaret, their foster-mother, and feel glad that they are sobeloved by one so far away from them.“This is a very hot country. In the summer, the ground actually scorches the feet whilst we walk upon it, and creates great blisters, especially where shoe-leather, which is very scarce and dear, does not protect the feet. In winter it is very cold. Not that there is any quantity of snow, but there are very white frosts, which penetrate to the inmost recesses of our chambers. It is much colder and hotter than it used to be, since the country is cleared of its shady woods, and is so much more open. It will be a very populous and improving country. Even within a year or two, the people seem to be more moral and domesticated than they were; but it is a terrible place for drunkards.“We want British clergymen; good men of real steady principles, such as you have in England. The governor orders the Bible to be read at stated times to the different gangs of convicts; but then it is a convict who can read better than the rest, and they make a joke of him! Oh! what a sin it is that so little provision should be made for that which would be the surest way to reform the convicts, and to preserve their souls alive! I pray continually for friends to help us.“The trees grow very fast in this country. A few pear-trees and apple-trees are getting up, and the vine flourishes wherever it is planted. The oak grows luxuriantly; peaches and apricots thrive; but gooseberries and currants do not seem to suit the soil. Money is very scarce. Copper coins are almost the value of silver, and gold is a thing that I seldom see. Those who trade with India or China are the only people in the colony who use it. Tea is dearer here than it is in Old England, though we are so much nearer to the countries where it is grown. It is a matter of luxurious indulgence which convicts and servants do not at present enjoy. The native flax of Norfolk Island is the finest which we can obtain. You must not suppose that we are badly off, though some commodities may be very dear; for this country will be, if the world stand, one of therichest on the face of the earth: oh that it may be one of the best! At present it is one of the worst, though improving.“Sarah, or, as she calls herself, Elizabeth Barker, and Elizabeth Killet, are both living. One is doing well; I regret to state the other does badly.“If the young man who brings this should write to you from London, send an answer to him directly. He intends to return and settle here. He is a good young man. Singularly enough, he returns to England to gratify his aged parents with a sight of himself, and intends to try and persuade one of his female cousins to come out with him.“Pray go to my dear Mrs. Cobbold, and tell her I long to hear of her and her family. The same of Dr. Stebbing. Be sure and direct your letters for me at Mrs. Palmer’s Orphan Asylum, Port Jackson, Sydney. Let all your letters be left at Government House. Mrs. Palmer will take care of any letters for me. Pray God bless and keep you all, is the constant prayer of"Your affectionate niece,"Margaret Catchpole."ToMr. William Leader"Brandiston, near Woodbridge, Suffolk,England.”
"Sydney, December 20th, 1804.
“My dear Uncle and Aunt,
"With great pleasure I once more take up my pen to write to you, and all your dear children, as well as all inquiring friends, hoping that they may all be in as good health as I am at the time this letter leaves this country. I bless God, dear uncle, for his past and present mercies towards me, which have been and are very great. I am as young as I ever was; indeed I may say that I am in spirit, if not in body, younger, freer, and happier, than I ever was at any former period of my life. I should be almost ready to jump over St. John’s Church, which is the first church built in this country, if I could only hear from you, or some of my dear friends in England. You may well suppose how overjoyed I should be to snatch up any tidings of any of you.
“I cannot think why I have not heard from some of you. England is, I know, in a very disturbed state and engaged in a maritime war. This is the fourth time I have written. I sent a letter by Captain Sumpter, on the return of the vessel I came by; my next I sent by theGlutton, and my next by theCalcutta. I did hope that I should have received a letter before this time. My anxieties have been so great as almost to make me go out of my mind; for I see so many letters arriving from London, but none for poor me. I should be unhappy indeed if I thought that no friends in England cared for me.
“I am so grieved and disappointed that my dearly loved mistress has not written to me once since we parted! I cannot bring myself to believe that if she is alive, and is able, she has not already done so. I fear that some accident has occurred to the ship by which she has written to me, and that she is waiting for some reply. Do not neglect me this time, dear uncle, for it makes me very unhappy to think that I cannot hear from you, or any of my friends in England.
“I am in great hopes that, if I continue in the same state that I am now in, and, if it please God, have the same approbation of my employers, who are high in the governor’s favour, I shall have the unspeakable joy of seeing you all again. The thought of such a blessing makes my hand tremble, and the tears run down my cheeks so fast, I cannot see the end of my pen. Governor King is a very good man; he is very merciful to those who deserve it, even to those who are, as I am, transported for life. There are many who have been granted their free pardon with power to settle in the colony. Some who have distinguished themselves by exemplary conduct, and have rendered public service to the settlement, not only receive their free pardon, but are permitted to return, if they wish it, to their native land. The anticipation of such an event would prompt me to any service.
“The young man who brings this letter to England was transported for life. He was in the governor’s service, and discovered a robbery of the governmentstores, for which he has received a full and free pardon. He lived one year at John Palmer’s, Esq., where I have been living; his name is William Underwood. He was very much approved while in my master’s service, and was taken thence into the governor’s establishment. He is a good young man, and was betrayed into a crime by a butler, who employed him to rob his master, in London. He promises to convey this letter to England, and to post it for you, so that I do hope this will certainly come to hand.
“I have left Mrs. Palmer’s service for a time, at her own particular request, and am now living as housekeeper to a young friend of hers, who married her niece. He is a free settler. His wife was a very sickly lady, and had, since she resided in this spot, fallen into a rapid decline; indeed she was in a poor state of health during her sea-voyage. She was a good and amiable lady, and her loss is a great misfortune to the young man, and much sorrow to my dear Mrs. Palmer.
“The free settlers are the great farmers of this country; they have one hundred acres of land as a grant, with power to purchase as many more as they can; they have to clear away the woods, and burn up the stumps, before they can grow corn, though the swine thrive well in the thick bush. We begin to set wheat in March or April, and the harvest comes on in November; and as soon as that is cleared off, they set fire to the stubble, and burn it on the land, and then put in fresh corn directly. They do not plough it, but dibble the corn in without cleaning it, as the burning straw destroys the roots of all the weeds.
“In clearing new land, it is broken up by men with very large hoes, and it is the hardest work that is done in the country. A great price is paid for this labour, and men work too hard at it. They frequently destroy their health and their lives, by their over-exertion to get rich enough to buy farms for themselves. This has been done by some robust men, but others fall a prey to the toil.
“This is a very dangerous country at present to settle in. The natives, who are almost black, wear no covering, but go, most of them, in a state of nudity. They paint their bodies with a light-coloured ochre, marking out the ribs and bones so strongly, that at a little distance in the shade they look like so many moving skeletons. They are a most miserable, half-starved race of men, but very active, very treacherous, and very bold. They seem to have no shame. They used to bear a deadly hatred to the white people; and if all I hear be true of some of the dealings of our colonists with these poor wretches, I am not surprised at it.
“They are much more reconciled to us than they were, and actually send some of their young children to be instructed in our schools. I do not think, however, that the race will ever amalgamate with our own, it appears such an inferior and unsettled one. As we advance our settlers towards the Blue Mountains, these people will recede from us, and being divided into many tribes hostile to each other, will never be able to unite their forces against us.
“This country is full of curious animals. I have already collected some skins for my dear mistress at the Cliff. I never get a fresh one without blessing her name, and hoping that, poor as I am, I may yet give her some little pleasure.
“Among the snakes, few are venomous. I have seen but one, which I am told is a very dangerous foe. Him I had a personal conflict with, and thank God I came off victorious. I was walking with two young children of my master’s, not very far from the newly-enclosed lands. The children were a few yards in advance of me, gathering flowers for me, when a large black snake flew at me from the foot of a tree, just as if it had been a dog. I had nothing in my hand but a thin stick which I had broken off one of the fresh shoots of a stump of a tree, which had been cut down the last winter; but I was afterwards told that it was the very best weapon of defence that I could have.He rose upon his tail, and darted at my face, as if he aimed at my eyes; but just as he came within reach, I gave him a cut over a white line at the back of his neck, which attracted my attention; he made a beautiful curve, like the bending of a fountain, when it has reached its height, and then fell in a straight stiff line, licking the dust.
“It was providential that I hit him where I did, for my master told me it was the only place that I could have killed him on so suddenly. He told me that he was the most venomous snake in the country, and that, had I not broken his neck as I did, either the children or myself would have been killed. His bite is attended with swelling and blackness of the body, and when the sun goes down death ensues. How merciful that the dear children had passed by him without provoking an attack! The whole of that night I did nothing but lie and think of this event, and thank God for my deliverance.
“Some of the snakes which I have seen are full twelve feet long, and thicker than a stout man’s arm. These are not venomous, but they would soon strangle a child. Some of our workmen have had severe encounters with them.
“I have collected a good many curiosities of this country, and have skinned the birds and smaller animals myself, and preserved their skins, as dear Doctor Stebbing directed me; and if I can once get a letter from England to assure me that I live in the memory of my friends, I will soon pack them off to my good and learned mistress. People laugh at me sometimes for giving the value of a quarter of an acre of land for the skin of a dead animal; but they know not the pleasure I derive from the joy of pleasing those I love.
“Give my love to my aunt and the dear children, and for their sakes, as well as my own, let them see this long letter. It may teach them to be very thankful to God; then they will bless poor Margaret, their foster-mother, and feel glad that they are sobeloved by one so far away from them.
“This is a very hot country. In the summer, the ground actually scorches the feet whilst we walk upon it, and creates great blisters, especially where shoe-leather, which is very scarce and dear, does not protect the feet. In winter it is very cold. Not that there is any quantity of snow, but there are very white frosts, which penetrate to the inmost recesses of our chambers. It is much colder and hotter than it used to be, since the country is cleared of its shady woods, and is so much more open. It will be a very populous and improving country. Even within a year or two, the people seem to be more moral and domesticated than they were; but it is a terrible place for drunkards.
“We want British clergymen; good men of real steady principles, such as you have in England. The governor orders the Bible to be read at stated times to the different gangs of convicts; but then it is a convict who can read better than the rest, and they make a joke of him! Oh! what a sin it is that so little provision should be made for that which would be the surest way to reform the convicts, and to preserve their souls alive! I pray continually for friends to help us.
“The trees grow very fast in this country. A few pear-trees and apple-trees are getting up, and the vine flourishes wherever it is planted. The oak grows luxuriantly; peaches and apricots thrive; but gooseberries and currants do not seem to suit the soil. Money is very scarce. Copper coins are almost the value of silver, and gold is a thing that I seldom see. Those who trade with India or China are the only people in the colony who use it. Tea is dearer here than it is in Old England, though we are so much nearer to the countries where it is grown. It is a matter of luxurious indulgence which convicts and servants do not at present enjoy. The native flax of Norfolk Island is the finest which we can obtain. You must not suppose that we are badly off, though some commodities may be very dear; for this country will be, if the world stand, one of therichest on the face of the earth: oh that it may be one of the best! At present it is one of the worst, though improving.
“Sarah, or, as she calls herself, Elizabeth Barker, and Elizabeth Killet, are both living. One is doing well; I regret to state the other does badly.
“If the young man who brings this should write to you from London, send an answer to him directly. He intends to return and settle here. He is a good young man. Singularly enough, he returns to England to gratify his aged parents with a sight of himself, and intends to try and persuade one of his female cousins to come out with him.
“Pray go to my dear Mrs. Cobbold, and tell her I long to hear of her and her family. The same of Dr. Stebbing. Be sure and direct your letters for me at Mrs. Palmer’s Orphan Asylum, Port Jackson, Sydney. Let all your letters be left at Government House. Mrs. Palmer will take care of any letters for me. Pray God bless and keep you all, is the constant prayer of
By her next letter it appears that Margaret was housekeeper to a young widower. After living there about one year, her principles were put to a trial, under which any less firm and stable than hers would have succumbed. The young widower, finding what a valuable person Margaret was, resolved to marry her. He did not think it at all necessary to pay court to one who he thought would feel herself honoured by the proposal; and as he fully intended to make her the mistress of his establishment, he at once said to her—
“Young woman, I am resolved to marry you, andmake you mistress of my house at Richmond Hill. You need not trouble yourself to make any preparations. I will see the Rev. Mr. Johnson, the chaplain, and to-morrow you shall be mistress of my establishment.”
Startled as Margaret was by this wholly unexpected offer, and by the terms in which it was couched, she hesitated not a moment in her reply.
“I have no intention, sir, whatever,” said she, “to marry any one, but most certainly should not think of marrying you. I was sent here by your relative, Mrs. Palmer, in the capacity of your servant, and I am willing to fulfil the duties of that situation; but I should act with great duplicity towards my mistress, if, without either yourself or me holding any conversation with her upon the subject, I were to marry you. But, to be candid with you at once, sir, I tell you I have no intention to marry, and I will not comply with your demands in this respect.”
As may be supposed, the young man was not a little astonished; but all he said was—
“Then, if you do not, you may go back to Mrs. Palmer, and say I sent you.”
This was quite enough for Margaret, who immediately packed up her few treasures, and started off for Sydney; and her kind friend, Mrs. Palmer, who was equally astonished and pleased at her conduct, received her again in a more confidential capacity.
One thing poor Margaret had deeply to regret about this time, and it occasioned her many tears of unaffected sorrow. She had, with persevering care, and at serious cost, collected a great many curiosities, seeds of plants, shells, fossils, minerals, skins of birds and lesser animals, all which she had treasured up with the most lively hope that they would one day reach her dear mistress in England. She packed them in a strong box, and paid a man to carry them for her to Mrs. Palmer’s, at Sydney; but they never arrived. The man to whom they had been entrusted broke open the box, sold the contents to a settler,and invented a plausible tale of his being robbed by some bushmen.
The name of the gentleman who made Margaret the offer of marriage, above referred to, was Mr. John Poinder. He died about two years afterwards, but left his aunt, Mrs. Palmer, sole executrix of his property, and commended his children to her care. Margaret then returned to Richmond Hill, to superintend the affairs of the house and the management of the children, until they should be sent to school.
It may be here mentioned as one of those singular coincidences to which Margaret Catchpole’s life had been subjected, that not only on this occasion of her absence from the Asylum, but on the only other occasion that she had ever been absent from it, Mr. John Barry visited the institution, stayed there some time, and left it, without receiving the smallest intimation that it was, or had been, the residence of the woman on whom his affections had been fixed from the first moment he beheld her, and had never swerved up to the period of which we write; and the subsequent events which we have to record render this coincidence still more remarkable.
Before Margaret left Sydney the second time for Richmond Hill, she had the inexpressible delight of receiving a ship-chest from England, containing letters and presents from her beloved mistress and friends. The good Mrs. Palmer was requested to be present at the opening of the chest; and never, never did the eager school-boy unpack his parcel from home with more intense delight than this poor young woman did the box from England.
But her first interest was directed towards thepacket of letters which the box contained; and, until she had devoured the contents ofthem, all else was a matter of comparative indifference to her. There were letters from her uncle and aunt Leader, from Dr. Stebbing, from several of her fellow-servants at the Cliff; but above all, in Margaret’s estimation, there were letters from her dear mistress—the excellent lady of the Cliff—to whose kindness she owed and felt such lasting gratitude.
The reader need not be troubled with a description of the numerous articles of wearing apparel which the box contained; nor is it needful to do more than mention that, besides the larger objects, there was an inner case, containing combs, thimbles, needles, netting needles and pins, knitting needles, pins, threads, papers of Dutch tape, of Indian cotton, of coarse threads, pincushions, scissors, knives, and all sorts of those stores which are so precious to a housewife, when at a distance from the ordinary sources where they are to be procured.
Poor Margaret could neither eat nor drink till she had devoured the contents of her letters. She wept so much during their perusal, that she was forced to ask Mrs. Palmer to read them to her. This she did with most sincere pleasure, for they afforded her own good heart instruction as well as gratification. The letters written to Margaret were such as would have gratified any intellectual and benevolent mind. They were much admired by all who read them, but by none more than by the faithful creature to whom they were directed.
The following letter was addressed by Margaret Catchpole to Mrs. Cobbold, shortly after the receipt of the box of treasures just alluded to:—
"October 18th, 1807.“Honoured Madam,“With the purest pleasure I again seize an opportunity to write to you. I feel it my duty to do so, as you are my dearest friend upon earth. Sincerelydo I thank God for your health and happiness, and for that of all your good family. I hope and trust in God that I shall soon hear from you again, for it is my greatest comfort in this distant land. Oh, my dear lady, how grieved I am to tell you that there are so many depraved creatures in this country! I have been robbed of all my collection of curiosities, which I had been saving up, according to your wishes, and which I intended to have sent you by the next ship. I am sure you would have thought them valuable, as they were all so perfect, and the birds in such good order, skinned, and dried, and perfumed. I will endeavour to collect them again; but I am so sorry, when I had collected so many, and had such great pleasure in them, that I should lose them all through the artful conduct of wicked men!“But I will soon be at work again for you. I have no greater joy than to be waiting upon you; and everything I get, which I think will be valuable to you, gives me increased satisfaction. You can scarcely believe what happiness I experience in devoting any portion of my time to your service. You are never out of my thoughts, and always in my prayers. My ideas turn toward you from every place, and in almost everything I see. When I think of the troubles and trials you must have, with eighteen children around you, I wonder you can at all think of me. But, dear lady, I do feel such an interest about you and your family, that I am thankful whenever you name any of them; and I was so delighted with your description of them all! Always tell me about them. I sincerely desire to know how Miss Anne is, and Miss Harriet, and Miss Sophia.“Have you any knowledge, my dear lady, of Governor Bligh? Alas! I have lost a good friend in Governor King. I do think that if a petition were presented to him in my behalf, so well known as I am to the late governor, something might be done for me. Every one tells me that he says my conduct has been so uniformly consistentand good that I deserve a reward. But it requires friends near the fountain of mercy to make its stream flow towards such as I. I should be almost ready to die with joy if a pardon were to come to me, with permission to return to England. I would then gladly come, and live and die in your service.“Since I last wrote to you, I have been living again with Mrs. Palmer. I sent you, by the shipBuffalo, a small case, containing the skins of the rarest birds found in this country, together with an opossum, of a dark colour, and very fierce; also a species of rat, which very much resembles a diminutive hyena. You will find two large, magnificent birds, called here the mountain pheasant; they are only like our English bird in size. The plume of feathers in the tail of the cock bird would form the most graceful ornament for a queen’s head-dress. Two noble feathers, somewhat like a peacock’s, only more brilliant and various in their colours, surrounded by the most glittering silver lines of curving feathers, fine as the prairie grass, and sparkling like the waves of the ocean, ornament the tail of the male bird, whilst the female is only remarkable for the elegance of her shape, and not for the beauty of her plumage.“In my opinion, this bird is the peafowl of this country, and not a pheasant. Early in the morning, I have seen him spring from the thickest brushwood, and wing his arrow-like flight to the tallest tree, and there he appears to mimic the notes of the various songsters around him. But the most beautiful attitude that I once saw him in beats everything I ever beheld of what men term politeness. I have heard and have read of delicate attentions paid to our sex by men of noble and generous dispositions; but I scarcely ever heard of such devoted attention as I one day witnessed in this noble bird towards his mate. I saw her sitting in the heat of the meridian sun upon her nest, and the cock bird seated near her, with his tail expanded, like a bower overshadowing her; and, as the sun moved, so did he turn his elegant parasol to guardher from his rays. Now and then he turned his bright eye to see if she was comfortable, and she answered his inquiry with a gentle note and rustle of her feathers.“Was not this a sight calculated to teach us all gentleness? Dear lady, as I looked upon it, the tears came warmly down my cheeks, as I thought of your good husband and yourself; and I dreamed of your writing a poem upon this subject, and reading it to the young ladies in the school-room. I had often wondered what use the tail of this bird could be to him. If this be one of its general uses, surely it is truly ornamental and useful. I hope these birds will come safe to hand. Captain Brooks of theBuffalo, promised me faithfully that he would himself forward them into Suffolk. The thought that they may reach you and give you pleasure will make me happy for many a long day. Owing to the late floods, every thing is become very dear: pork, 2s.; beef and mutton, 2s.3d.; soft sugar, 6s.and 8s.; tea, £1 10s.per pound; a bushel of wheat, £1 5s.; printed cotton, 10s.to 12s.per yard; shoes, for females, 13s.per pair. Scarcely any linen cloth to be had. Newspapers, of any date, 1s.a-piece.“But your chest, just now arrived, contains so many things of value, that my good Mrs. Palmer has at once proposed that I should at once open a little shop at Richmond Hill. I wrote word, in my uncle’s letter, or in my last to you, about my offer of marriage, but the gentleman is since dead, and has left his property to the management of Mrs. Palmer. She says I shall have a cottage of my own, with land attached to it, and begin business for myself. You know not, dear lady, how valuable all those things are which you have sent to me. But your letters, and those of Mrs. Sleorgin—oh, what a comfort they have been to me!“I had been very ill before their arrival. About eight months ago, I took a long journey, for Mrs. Palmer, to arrange something aboutMr. Poinder’s children. I walked a distance of thirty miles, and over-exerted and heated myself very much, so that my body threw out large blisters, just as if I had been burnt with small coals, and I was so swelled out that I thought I should have lost my life. I was under the care of a Mr. Mason, a very clever surgeon; and Mrs. Palmer was very kind and attentive to me. Blessing be to God! I recovered; but I am still very subject to cold and inflammation. I am not permitted to go near the fire.“I am to go to Richmond Hill as soon as I can, which will be very soon. I will write to you again when I am settled there. Only let me thank you, as I ought, for your great goodness to one so unworthy of it. If I should prosper, so as to get enough to keep myself from starving in my old days, how shall I bless God for raising me up such a friend as you have been to me!“Mrs. Palmer says she is very sorry to part with me, but she wishes to serve me. She is so good to me! She was so pleased to find I was so respected by such friends as the ladies who wrote to me. She said she never read such beautiful letters as yours and good Mrs. Sleorgin’s, and asked me to let her take a copy of them. She had a great desire to publish them in the Sydney paper, as she thought they would do so much good to others as well as to myself. She blessed your spirit, and desired me to say, that she considered me worthy of all the favour which your generous hand had bestowed upon me. This was her saying; but it is not my opinion, though I may say I wish I was worthy. She desired me to say, that if you should see Sir William Blizzard, a physician in London, he would tell you all about her. She has promised to do all she can to obtain my restoration to society. If I could once return to my own native land, what a happy woman I should be! You add much to my comfort here; for whenever I have a few moments’ spare time, I am sure to be seeking for seeds, shells, insects, or curiosities of any kind;and the thought of whom I am serving makes me feel very happy. Thank God! I keep myself free from all men. I have formed no acquaintance with any man; and I may sincerely confess to you, my dear lady, that my early attachment and deep-felt disappointment have deadened the feelings of my heart to any further matrimonial speculations. I do not think that any man in the colony could persuade me to marry. My dear Mrs. Palmer has often spoken to me on the subject, and I have never concealed the fact, that to my first attachment I owe my present abode in this colony as a convict. I am wise enough now to see my own follies, and I pray to God for His forgiveness. In this colony there are few that remain single from choice, old or young. Girls of fifteen years become mothers before they are able to take care of themselves; and I may state it as a curious fact, that very many whom you would suppose too old to be mothers, have young families increasing around them.“Vegetation in this clime is very abundant; but there are some fearful drawbacks to our reaping its fruits. We may have a good crop of grain on the ground to-day, and to-morrow it may be all cut down by a hail-storm, or destroyed by a blight, or swept away by a flood. On Monday last, the 16th of this month, a hail-storm passed over this place, and cut down the wheat just as it was in full blossom. The stones which fell from the clouds were as big as pigeons’ eggs, and you may imagine the mischief which ensued. Great numbers of fowls and small cattle were killed. The harvest will be about six weeks hence, and will be a lamentably deficient crop. Now begins our hot season. We dread the attacks of ophthalmia, as the surgeons call it; we call it commonly the blight in our eyes. We can find no remedy for it but patience. In one day our eyelids are so swelled that we cannot see. With some it lasts a week, with others a month, according to the state of the constitution of the sufferer. It is a very irritating and painful disease, and none aresuch dreadful sufferers as those who most deserve it, the habitual drunkards, of which class I regret to state there are too many in this country.“The natives are much more tractable than they used to be, and not so savage and uncivilized. They will work but little; I can get from them, however, the most rare skins of wild animals, such as the settlers have not patience to pursue. They boast that the white man is made for drudgery, and the black for liberty. He can roam through his native woods and subsist without labour, whilst he supposes that we enjoy no freedom. They have not left off their barbarous habit of fighting and killing each other for a public exhibition. I remember that you used to make the young ladies read of the tournaments in the reign of Elizabeth, and how the knights sometimes killed each other in this way. Surely those ancestors of the English had some such spirit as these free blacks of Australia in this day. These people form a stately circle, and contend most skilfully and magnanimously, by fixed and settled rules of combat; and I assure you, dear lady, that their deportment, at such times, would be no discredit to the most gallant knights of Europe. Gallantry towards their females, however, is at a very low ebb; yet, for the honour of the sex, they take no delight in these pageants of blood and murder. In this respect, degraded as they are in other things, they are not so bad as some were in the ages of chivalry.“It will not much interest you to know of our farming here, but some of your friends may like to hear a word about it, though from such an ignorant being as myself. The price of farming stock is very high: a sow sells for £10; a ewe for £7; a milch-goat, £3 10s.; a cow from £60 to £70; a good horse from £100 to £150. But things will not continue in this state many years, for this is a most prolific land. You will be more glad to hear of our great variety of botanical plants. My good lady, Mrs. Palmer, has promised that her friend, Mr. Mason, who is a good botanist, shallaffix the proper names to each of the specimens which I send.“Honoured madam, give my duty to Mrs. Sleorgin, and say how happy I am to hear from her, and am glad that she approves of my conduct and pursuits. I love her good advice, and endeavour to keep it. I am so sorry that I was robbed of all my first treasures for you. My tears, however, would not bring them back again. I will try again. Give my duty to dear Doctor Stebbing. Oh that I could see him with his dog and gun, upon some of our plains, or beating in the bush of this country! I would get him to kill me many a beautiful bird to enrich your collection. Give my duty to his daughter. Is poor old Robinson Crusoe alive? and is Jack Whatcheer? Alas! their memory brings back painful recollections. So, my dear lady, hoping to hear from you again, accept the love and duty of your humble and constant servant,"Margaret Catchpole.“ToJ. Cobbold, Esq., Cliff, Ipswich."
"October 18th, 1807.
“Honoured Madam,
“With the purest pleasure I again seize an opportunity to write to you. I feel it my duty to do so, as you are my dearest friend upon earth. Sincerelydo I thank God for your health and happiness, and for that of all your good family. I hope and trust in God that I shall soon hear from you again, for it is my greatest comfort in this distant land. Oh, my dear lady, how grieved I am to tell you that there are so many depraved creatures in this country! I have been robbed of all my collection of curiosities, which I had been saving up, according to your wishes, and which I intended to have sent you by the next ship. I am sure you would have thought them valuable, as they were all so perfect, and the birds in such good order, skinned, and dried, and perfumed. I will endeavour to collect them again; but I am so sorry, when I had collected so many, and had such great pleasure in them, that I should lose them all through the artful conduct of wicked men!
“But I will soon be at work again for you. I have no greater joy than to be waiting upon you; and everything I get, which I think will be valuable to you, gives me increased satisfaction. You can scarcely believe what happiness I experience in devoting any portion of my time to your service. You are never out of my thoughts, and always in my prayers. My ideas turn toward you from every place, and in almost everything I see. When I think of the troubles and trials you must have, with eighteen children around you, I wonder you can at all think of me. But, dear lady, I do feel such an interest about you and your family, that I am thankful whenever you name any of them; and I was so delighted with your description of them all! Always tell me about them. I sincerely desire to know how Miss Anne is, and Miss Harriet, and Miss Sophia.
“Have you any knowledge, my dear lady, of Governor Bligh? Alas! I have lost a good friend in Governor King. I do think that if a petition were presented to him in my behalf, so well known as I am to the late governor, something might be done for me. Every one tells me that he says my conduct has been so uniformly consistentand good that I deserve a reward. But it requires friends near the fountain of mercy to make its stream flow towards such as I. I should be almost ready to die with joy if a pardon were to come to me, with permission to return to England. I would then gladly come, and live and die in your service.
“Since I last wrote to you, I have been living again with Mrs. Palmer. I sent you, by the shipBuffalo, a small case, containing the skins of the rarest birds found in this country, together with an opossum, of a dark colour, and very fierce; also a species of rat, which very much resembles a diminutive hyena. You will find two large, magnificent birds, called here the mountain pheasant; they are only like our English bird in size. The plume of feathers in the tail of the cock bird would form the most graceful ornament for a queen’s head-dress. Two noble feathers, somewhat like a peacock’s, only more brilliant and various in their colours, surrounded by the most glittering silver lines of curving feathers, fine as the prairie grass, and sparkling like the waves of the ocean, ornament the tail of the male bird, whilst the female is only remarkable for the elegance of her shape, and not for the beauty of her plumage.
“In my opinion, this bird is the peafowl of this country, and not a pheasant. Early in the morning, I have seen him spring from the thickest brushwood, and wing his arrow-like flight to the tallest tree, and there he appears to mimic the notes of the various songsters around him. But the most beautiful attitude that I once saw him in beats everything I ever beheld of what men term politeness. I have heard and have read of delicate attentions paid to our sex by men of noble and generous dispositions; but I scarcely ever heard of such devoted attention as I one day witnessed in this noble bird towards his mate. I saw her sitting in the heat of the meridian sun upon her nest, and the cock bird seated near her, with his tail expanded, like a bower overshadowing her; and, as the sun moved, so did he turn his elegant parasol to guardher from his rays. Now and then he turned his bright eye to see if she was comfortable, and she answered his inquiry with a gentle note and rustle of her feathers.
“Was not this a sight calculated to teach us all gentleness? Dear lady, as I looked upon it, the tears came warmly down my cheeks, as I thought of your good husband and yourself; and I dreamed of your writing a poem upon this subject, and reading it to the young ladies in the school-room. I had often wondered what use the tail of this bird could be to him. If this be one of its general uses, surely it is truly ornamental and useful. I hope these birds will come safe to hand. Captain Brooks of theBuffalo, promised me faithfully that he would himself forward them into Suffolk. The thought that they may reach you and give you pleasure will make me happy for many a long day. Owing to the late floods, every thing is become very dear: pork, 2s.; beef and mutton, 2s.3d.; soft sugar, 6s.and 8s.; tea, £1 10s.per pound; a bushel of wheat, £1 5s.; printed cotton, 10s.to 12s.per yard; shoes, for females, 13s.per pair. Scarcely any linen cloth to be had. Newspapers, of any date, 1s.a-piece.
“But your chest, just now arrived, contains so many things of value, that my good Mrs. Palmer has at once proposed that I should at once open a little shop at Richmond Hill. I wrote word, in my uncle’s letter, or in my last to you, about my offer of marriage, but the gentleman is since dead, and has left his property to the management of Mrs. Palmer. She says I shall have a cottage of my own, with land attached to it, and begin business for myself. You know not, dear lady, how valuable all those things are which you have sent to me. But your letters, and those of Mrs. Sleorgin—oh, what a comfort they have been to me!
“I had been very ill before their arrival. About eight months ago, I took a long journey, for Mrs. Palmer, to arrange something aboutMr. Poinder’s children. I walked a distance of thirty miles, and over-exerted and heated myself very much, so that my body threw out large blisters, just as if I had been burnt with small coals, and I was so swelled out that I thought I should have lost my life. I was under the care of a Mr. Mason, a very clever surgeon; and Mrs. Palmer was very kind and attentive to me. Blessing be to God! I recovered; but I am still very subject to cold and inflammation. I am not permitted to go near the fire.
“I am to go to Richmond Hill as soon as I can, which will be very soon. I will write to you again when I am settled there. Only let me thank you, as I ought, for your great goodness to one so unworthy of it. If I should prosper, so as to get enough to keep myself from starving in my old days, how shall I bless God for raising me up such a friend as you have been to me!
“Mrs. Palmer says she is very sorry to part with me, but she wishes to serve me. She is so good to me! She was so pleased to find I was so respected by such friends as the ladies who wrote to me. She said she never read such beautiful letters as yours and good Mrs. Sleorgin’s, and asked me to let her take a copy of them. She had a great desire to publish them in the Sydney paper, as she thought they would do so much good to others as well as to myself. She blessed your spirit, and desired me to say, that she considered me worthy of all the favour which your generous hand had bestowed upon me. This was her saying; but it is not my opinion, though I may say I wish I was worthy. She desired me to say, that if you should see Sir William Blizzard, a physician in London, he would tell you all about her. She has promised to do all she can to obtain my restoration to society. If I could once return to my own native land, what a happy woman I should be! You add much to my comfort here; for whenever I have a few moments’ spare time, I am sure to be seeking for seeds, shells, insects, or curiosities of any kind;and the thought of whom I am serving makes me feel very happy. Thank God! I keep myself free from all men. I have formed no acquaintance with any man; and I may sincerely confess to you, my dear lady, that my early attachment and deep-felt disappointment have deadened the feelings of my heart to any further matrimonial speculations. I do not think that any man in the colony could persuade me to marry. My dear Mrs. Palmer has often spoken to me on the subject, and I have never concealed the fact, that to my first attachment I owe my present abode in this colony as a convict. I am wise enough now to see my own follies, and I pray to God for His forgiveness. In this colony there are few that remain single from choice, old or young. Girls of fifteen years become mothers before they are able to take care of themselves; and I may state it as a curious fact, that very many whom you would suppose too old to be mothers, have young families increasing around them.
“Vegetation in this clime is very abundant; but there are some fearful drawbacks to our reaping its fruits. We may have a good crop of grain on the ground to-day, and to-morrow it may be all cut down by a hail-storm, or destroyed by a blight, or swept away by a flood. On Monday last, the 16th of this month, a hail-storm passed over this place, and cut down the wheat just as it was in full blossom. The stones which fell from the clouds were as big as pigeons’ eggs, and you may imagine the mischief which ensued. Great numbers of fowls and small cattle were killed. The harvest will be about six weeks hence, and will be a lamentably deficient crop. Now begins our hot season. We dread the attacks of ophthalmia, as the surgeons call it; we call it commonly the blight in our eyes. We can find no remedy for it but patience. In one day our eyelids are so swelled that we cannot see. With some it lasts a week, with others a month, according to the state of the constitution of the sufferer. It is a very irritating and painful disease, and none aresuch dreadful sufferers as those who most deserve it, the habitual drunkards, of which class I regret to state there are too many in this country.
“The natives are much more tractable than they used to be, and not so savage and uncivilized. They will work but little; I can get from them, however, the most rare skins of wild animals, such as the settlers have not patience to pursue. They boast that the white man is made for drudgery, and the black for liberty. He can roam through his native woods and subsist without labour, whilst he supposes that we enjoy no freedom. They have not left off their barbarous habit of fighting and killing each other for a public exhibition. I remember that you used to make the young ladies read of the tournaments in the reign of Elizabeth, and how the knights sometimes killed each other in this way. Surely those ancestors of the English had some such spirit as these free blacks of Australia in this day. These people form a stately circle, and contend most skilfully and magnanimously, by fixed and settled rules of combat; and I assure you, dear lady, that their deportment, at such times, would be no discredit to the most gallant knights of Europe. Gallantry towards their females, however, is at a very low ebb; yet, for the honour of the sex, they take no delight in these pageants of blood and murder. In this respect, degraded as they are in other things, they are not so bad as some were in the ages of chivalry.
“It will not much interest you to know of our farming here, but some of your friends may like to hear a word about it, though from such an ignorant being as myself. The price of farming stock is very high: a sow sells for £10; a ewe for £7; a milch-goat, £3 10s.; a cow from £60 to £70; a good horse from £100 to £150. But things will not continue in this state many years, for this is a most prolific land. You will be more glad to hear of our great variety of botanical plants. My good lady, Mrs. Palmer, has promised that her friend, Mr. Mason, who is a good botanist, shallaffix the proper names to each of the specimens which I send.
“Honoured madam, give my duty to Mrs. Sleorgin, and say how happy I am to hear from her, and am glad that she approves of my conduct and pursuits. I love her good advice, and endeavour to keep it. I am so sorry that I was robbed of all my first treasures for you. My tears, however, would not bring them back again. I will try again. Give my duty to dear Doctor Stebbing. Oh that I could see him with his dog and gun, upon some of our plains, or beating in the bush of this country! I would get him to kill me many a beautiful bird to enrich your collection. Give my duty to his daughter. Is poor old Robinson Crusoe alive? and is Jack Whatcheer? Alas! their memory brings back painful recollections. So, my dear lady, hoping to hear from you again, accept the love and duty of your humble and constant servant,
"Margaret Catchpole.
“ToJ. Cobbold, Esq., Cliff, Ipswich."
From this letter it appears that Margaret was then upon the eve of leaving Sydney for her cottage at Richmond Hill, some forty or fifty miles up the country. There were a small village and store-rooms on the banks of the river, and Margaret rented a small house and about twenty acres of land of her friend Mrs. Palmer, at a very moderate price. Part of her house was formed into a shop, in which all her little stock in trade was placed and her little capital invested. The goods which were sent her from England formed a valuable assortment; and she began by offering for sale small portions of her general stock, so that her customers might have the same articles upon another application. Her house was situated in a very beautiful spot, commanding an extensive view over a well-watered plain, with the ever-blue mountains in the distance.
Margaret remained at Richmond Hill, as her own independent mistress, for five years. About two years after her residence at this place she wrote againto her mistress, and sent a small drawing of her cottage, which was taken by one of Mrs. Palmer’s friends for this very purpose.
The mountain pheasants, which she speaks of in the following letter, duly arrived by theBuffalo. They were splendid specimens, and were in a very perfect state. They were preserved in the author’s family for many years, and may now be seen at the public museum at Ipswich, in company with many thousands of valuable specimens. The bird itself is now become very scarce. A live specimen has never been brought to England.[11]