A Colonial Excursion

This past Wednesday, I accompanied Claire and the rest of the third graders from her school on an excursion (otherwise known to Americans as a “field trip”) to supplement their classroom study of early Australian history. I was pleased to be able to go along, not only because I value being engaged with my children’s school, but because they were going to places in Sydney that I have wanted to visit to learn more about Australia’s colonial history: Elizabeth Farm and Old Government House.

To immerse themselves in the experience, each child was encouraged to dress up as an assigned historical character. To study early American history as a schoolchild in the United States, you might dress as a brave Revolutionary War soldier, or a hard-working pioneer woman. Perhaps a religiously-inspired pilgrim or a storied Native American chief. Maybe a revered founding father or a courageous explorer.

In Australia, you dress as a convicted criminal.

I do not recall knowing, until I actually traveled here, that Australia was originally established as a British penal colony. In the late 1700s and into the 1800s, Britain unloaded its overflowing goals (jails) via sentences of “transportation” for both petty and major crimes. The “First Fleet” of convicts arrived in the area now known as Sydney in 1788 after a torturous sea journey full of death, disease and deplorable conditions. The convicts, the marines and the marine’s families faced tremendous difficulties similar to those faced by the first colonizers in America (starvation, disease, and understandable resistance from the local indigenous population, to name a few). Over time, a successful penal colony was established with a system of convict labour in which convicts provided labour according to their skills, regardless of their crime.

The kids really enjoyed getting into their characters. My little convict was a 20 year old “fancy trimmer” and sometimes maid named Eliza Brown who had stolen linen as her crime. Much to my delight, we had a dress that my mother had made for me in 1976 for the bicentennial celebrations in the US. We supplemented with white linens for an apron and head covering. Many of the girls managed to find little pudding caps, and long skirts and aprons were plentiful. A lot of the boys wore vests and hats, with black arrows painted on their clothes. The arrows perplexed me until another parent explained that the arrows were used to mark a convict’s clothes.

The kids truly had a wonderful day immersed in colonial culture. At Elizabeth Farm, the cook and butler took the convict labour through their paces while explaining the lives of convicts in colonial Australia. They prepared the house and food for the governor’s visit in 3 days time: churning butter, sifting flour, grinding spices, examining the garden, setting the table, doing the laundry and working around the house. Upon completion of their tasks, they earned themselves a “ticket of leave”, which granted them certain freedoms, as they had shown with good behaviour that they could be trusted with increased freedom. At Old Government House, along with a tour of the home of former colonial governors, the children and their chaperones were subjected to classroom instruction under the austere tutelage of Mrs. Johnson, a schoolteacher from 1815. She even had the adults quaking in their boots with her intimidating presence and her stern questioning about pounds, pennies and farthings and the tens times tables. I honestly feared that if she called on me, I wouldn’t know how to respond. I was impressed with how well the kids did under her dramatic pressure.

Up until the 1960s or so, Australians were uncomfortable with their convict past and super-sensitive about their inauspicious beginnings. However, in recent times there has been a turnabout in this mindset, so much so that it has become a matter of Aussie pride if you can trace your family history to a convict ancestor.

Engaging children in Australia’s convict beginnings allows them to take ownership of a unique and distinctive heritage. Good on ya Australia!

Eliza Brown, criminal

The butler and cook survey the sorry lot of labour.

Learning about the jobs in the kitchen.

Sifting the flour to remove the bits of leaves, sticks and (ewww!) weevils.

Setting the table for the grand dinner.

Scrubbing the laundry.

Mrs. Johnson's classroom.

Check out those attentive faces!

Cheers, Anne