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THE G O L D E N S O U T H
THE G O L D E N S O U T H
MEMORIES OF AUSTRALIAN HOME LIFE FROM 1843 TO 1888 BY ‘LYTH’ LONDON WARD AND DOWNEY 1890 Introduction , Chapter I , II , III , IV , V , VI , VII , VIII , IX , X , XI , XII , XIII , XIV , XV , XVI , XVII , XVIII , XIX , XX , XXI , XXII , XXIII , XXIV ....
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
As I stood on the deck of one of the largest of the Peninsular and Oriental Company’s steamers, that now almost annihilate distance between England and her colonial possessions, taking a last look at the land where I had left youth, womanhood, kindred, friends, and the dust of parents, I thought, “Is there anything I can do in return for all God has done for me here—anything to prove my gratitude to the many true friends I am leaving: the Australians, young and old, who have thronged around us t
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CHAPTER I
CHAPTER I
On a cold dull March morning we left our home in London for the Waterloo Station, to go by the London and South-Western line to Southampton, from thence to Portsmouth to join our ship. After dining at the Ship Hotel, we went on board the vessel which was to be our abode for four months and a fortnight. Now, though nearly fifty years have passed, I see the place and recall the strangeness of it all. The ship was an old East Indiaman with only four large cabins opening into the saloon or “cuddy,”
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CHAPTER II
CHAPTER II
George , Pitt, King, and Hunter Streets were those alone worthy of the name, and they were disfigured by irregular buildings, very small and mean-looking shops and private houses, and by broken patches of vacant land. The footpaths were miserably bad and the roads ill kept. There were no omnibuses or cabs, only old private carriages for hire from the livery stables. This to a woman like my mother, who had never walked two miles consecutively, was indeed misery; however, when we found a house of
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CHAPTER III
CHAPTER III
My eldest brother, visiting Sydney from the station, thought we had better go to school for a year. Fortunately one was found where there were only eight boarders. The lady principal was the daughter of an English clergyman, and her brother, also a clergyman, had charge of the parish in which she resided, about forty miles from Sydney. She was a highly educated woman and a true Christian. We were treated as her own daughters, guarded from everything that could possibly sully the pages of our daw
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CHAPTER IV
CHAPTER IV
We had some congenial visitors at this time in two officers and the artist belonging to H.M.S. Fly and Bramble , which were visiting Sydney occasionally, being on an exploring and surveying cruise among the islands in the Pacific. The explorer Leichhardt also spent some evenings at our house, my father taking so great an interest in the same pursuits. It was very pleasant listening to their conversation on such subjects. We also had men in the colony then worth listening to. Responsible governme
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CHAPTER V
CHAPTER V
Circumstances at this period made me decide upon leaving home. I went to Newtown and spent nearly three happy years with a family there. My pupils were a boy and girl, the elder son riding to his school at Wooloomooloo every day. I was treated more as a daughter than governess. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson were English gentlefolks, and Mr. Johnson was one of the leading solicitors in Sydney. I had access to an excellent library, and also mixed in the best society as well as with the best musical talent
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CHAPTER VI
CHAPTER VI
It would be a difficult task to picture the excitement at the time of the gold discovery. Most people seemed to have gone mad with the gold fever. My brother (who was living in Bathurst at the time), in the midst of it all, was one of the first to go to Ophir or Sofala, I forget which. The first discovery was made by a man who had been in California, and on seeing the geological formation of the Bathurst district, he at once set to work to seek the precious metal. I have heard my brother say, “T
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CHAPTER VII
CHAPTER VII
My stay in Sydney was to end for a time, as my brother had gone to Wellington, a small township in the western district, and wished us to join him. My sisters and I left on a fine February morning in the mail coach for Bathurst; this coach, not unlike a large baker’s cart, holding eight inside and two on the box seat. The joltings and creakings must have been most trying to the elderly passengers. We were young, and merely felt the heat, which was compensated for by the novelty and the idea of s
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CHAPTER VIII
CHAPTER VIII
Living in this Bush township afforded me an excellent opportunity of seeing the manner of life led by the people in the far-away districts. The houses were nearly all built of weatherboard or slabs, roofs of thatch or shingle, our own house and the two inns alone being built of brick. They were whitewashed outside and inside, and generally consisted of two front rooms and two skillion rooms at the back; halls were unknown, except in brick houses. The Crown commissioner’s cottage, with the doctor
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CHAPTER IX
CHAPTER IX
I had been a long time at Montefiores before I succeeded in establishing a Sunday School, but being without any service there for over two months, determined on another effort. At this time a newly appointed Crown commissioner and his wife came to reside here; the lady was a very delightful person, who had travelled a great deal in India and elsewhere. It struck me that it would be a great advantage to the cause to gain her influence. I mentioned the subject to her, when she very kindly undertoo
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CHAPTER X
CHAPTER X
Though only away from Sydney three years, on my journey down I saw many improvements, and in Sydney felt, like “Rip Van Winkle,” surely I had been at least twenty years asleep. Such numbers of new buildings, streets formed, the shores of the harbour cultivated, new wharves, and numerous houses and stores in course of construction; the harbour alive with steamers, and ships coming and going. Numbers of shops in the main streets, where formerly there were only a few. Surrey Hills, where I first st
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CHAPTER XI
CHAPTER XI
My next home was a perfect one in all respects, a comfortable new house at Double Bay, the grounds extending to the beach, and the windows of the principal rooms looking towards the harbour. Again my “lines were cast in pleasant places.” Mr. and Mrs. Frederick had not been long from home; the children were much younger than my former pupils, but, dear little things, the youngest so very quick and affectionate. There were very few houses near us, and we could, and did, wander about the rocks, and
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CHAPTER XII
CHAPTER XII
In December 185- we left Sydney to spend four months in Tasmania. I had not been outside Sydney Heads since our arrival in 184-, and being a good sailor enjoyed the short voyage. At this time Tasmania was the principal health resort for the Australian colonies. Our New South Wales railway was only completed as far as Penrith, so Mount Victoria, Blackheath, and Katoomba on the western line; Bowral, Moss Vale, and Sutton Forest on the southern line, were not thought of for that purpose. Hobart Tow
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CHAPTER XIII
CHAPTER XIII
Sydney had now the University, with Dr. Woolley, a scholar of reputation, at its head. There were also many private schools for young men destined for the Church, with men like Mr. Baly, an Oxford man, and Dr. Forrest of the King School, Parramatta, and Moore College at Liverpool, to prepare them for it. Ladies’ schools were numerous; the Misses Moore, Flower, Thompson and Cooksey were doing good work, preparing young Australian women for their duties. The national school system for the masses h
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CHAPTER XIV
CHAPTER XIV
Another warning from the doctor determined me in leaving Sydney for a visit to my brother. Tired of waiting for an escort, I started without; James taking me to Parramatta by train, where I found the coaches now much improved. A friend had promised to send a telegram to some friends of my brother’s to meet me at Green Swamps, and take me to their homestead at Macquarie Plains, where Mr. Henry, being in the neighbourhood, would be my escort to Wellington. I was very glad of this opportunity of re
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CHAPTER XV
CHAPTER XV
I had to leave by the steamer from the A. S. N. Company’s wharf at night, and so missed seeing anything of the route until we arrived at Newcastle, when I went on deck, anxious to get a view of the Hunter River. As I expected, the scenery was totally different in character from that of the Western district,—flat, but very pretty with very luxuriant vegetation; many farms with fine pasture lands and orchards. The vineyards too were a new feature to me. We stopped at several places to land passeng
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CHAPTER XVI
CHAPTER XVI
After twelve months’ residence in Morpeth I left for another visit to Penrith, by this time a much busier place, as the then railway terminus for the Western district. The bridge over the Nepean River was finished, so we could cross without that extremely disagreeable ferry. We spent a few weeks in the mountains, visiting Govett’s Leap, the waterfalls, and other well-known spots, while others we explored on our own account. How lovely it all was! What complete solitude in the gullies and mountai
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CHAPTER XVII
CHAPTER XVII
Once more I was meditating another flight into the country. My friend had recovered, and was able to resume the care of her house and family. Sydney never agreed with me, and I so much preferred a country life. Fortunately hearing of an engagement in a family where I knew I should be happy, I bade my friends farewell, and thought, “The world is all before me where to choose; my peace of rest with Providence my guide.” This journey of two hundred miles was begun under better auspices, travelling
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CHAPTER XVIII
CHAPTER XVIII
When Christmas drew nigh, my brother drove over from Wellington to take me back with him for my holidays. We had a very pleasant journey back through Gulgong, passing on our way Messrs. Rouse’s properties, Guntawang, Biragambil, and Beaudesert; all fine estates of these early settlers in the district. Gulgong is now a thriving “golden township,” with church, public school, and its own newspaper, and now, no doubt, a very different hotel from the one we stayed at on this occasion. It was during a
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CHAPTER XIX
CHAPTER XIX
The second summer I spent at Broom was hotter than usual, owing to extensive bush fires. The mountains in front of the house were a magnificent sight. At night sometimes we would see the “fire king” clearing all before him stealthily, leaving paths of flame as he went, then surrounding a mighty tree, creeping from stem to branch, until amidst a shower of sparks it fell into its “gold and scarlet grave,”—these, with masses of undergrowth like beacon fires, making any pyrotechnic display look poor
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CHAPTER XX
CHAPTER XX
From Lapstone Hill I again saw the valley of the Grose, with the Nepean River like a silver thread winding between banks and meadows fair. Emu plains, with its many farms, nestling amidst the luxuriant autumn foliage, formed a peaceful panorama. Mr. James kindly rested the horses, allowing us to feast our eyes until the approach of a train reminded him of progression, as he immediately remembered that we had some miles to travel ere we reached Glenmore. However, the distance appeared less to me,
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CHAPTER XXI
CHAPTER XXI
I left by steamer for Newcastle to meet the train by which I was to travel as far as Singleton, where a carriage was to meet me. The country we travelled through struck me as being flat and uninteresting compared with the scenery of the mountains so well known to me. Singleton was a well-laid-out town, already possessing several good buildings, a church, large store, and public school. My destination—a large cattle farm some miles out—was very unlike anything I had hitherto lived at, low and fla
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CHAPTER XXII
CHAPTER XXII
Our first home, being on the North Shore, gave me an opportunity of seeing that hitherto to me unknown suburb which from its position made it difficult to visit. After trying Milsom’s Point and Lavender Bay, we decided on travelling via Blue’s Point, as being equally near my husband’s office and the dear old house in Cumberland Street, where I was looked for every week at least, and often on Sunday. Our home was a very nice cottage near “Berry’s Bay,” and from the grounds at the back a beautiful
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CHAPTER XXIII
CHAPTER XXIII
We lived for a time on the heights of Marrickville, our ground opening on to bush, or what in England would be termed wood or forest-land, leading to Cooks River, where there were vistas through which we could see houses “bosomed high in tufted trees;” cleared land, and luxurious foliage of pittosporum, lily-pilly, and other native trees: ferns too were very plentiful. We were near old friends, and became intimate with a family residing near us,—an Englishman, his wife, and five daughters; the p
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CHAPTER XXIV
CHAPTER XXIV
Our next excitement was the arrival of H.M.S. Bacchante with the young princes; but this I was too ill to join in. After this, our contingent left for the Soudan, a matter already sufficiently described. I had paid several visits to my dearest young friend at Darling Point, where the child I loved so well was now a wife and mother, and the mistress of a large household, fulfilling her life’s duties kindly and well. Two visits with her and her generous husband to their country house in the Southe
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