The Tailor and the Shipwright

by Robert Westphal

  ‘Your daughter!’ said Barney in surprise. ‘And Tommy where is her mother?’

  ‘Her mother, Anne, passed away almost a year ago. It was all very sad,’ replied Tommy. ‘We can talk about that later. Let me take your swags and we will make our way up to the house. Your oarsman can stay the night if he would like to.’

  The oarsman gratefully accepted Tommy’s offer. It was a long way back.

  Tommy regarded the addition of Margaret Robinson to the clan as wonderful for Anastasia and himself, for the company and as a motherly figure for Anastasia. As well, the extra set of hands around to take care of Anastasia would be very welcome.

  Tommy wondered what had become of Barney’s first wife, to whom he was still married, and his six children. Were they still living in Mullingar? Was Barney’s wife still alive? Had she remarried? The children would have all grown up by now. None had shown up in the colony. But it was pointless asking Barney; he did not talk about his Irish family. Barney had come to the conclusion years ago that he would never be able to reunite with them and it was better to put the past in the past and focus on tomorrow. No good worrying about things over which he had no control.

  It was hard for Tommy to understand Barney’s stance, because Tommy had kept in regular touch with his sister and daughters in Dublin. He had long given up dreaming of ever returning to Dublin, but he had not stopped hoping to reunite with his daughters. In recent years, he had hoped they would join his new family at Middle Harbour.

  Their correspondence told him that life in Dublin had not improved, and Tommy believed they would be better off starting a new life in New South Wales.

  That first night while they were sitting around a warming fire, Barney entertained them all with an endless repertoire of jokes and tall stories.

  ‘Tommy, how much land do you have here?’ Barney asked.

  ‘That is a good question. Since the Governor granted me the land I have been trying to get it surveyed and boundaries fixed.’

  ‘That shouldn’t be too hard?’

  ‘True. The Governor gave Mr Meehan the task but he has yet to survey my acreage. Too busy exploring, I bet.’ Tommy paused to put another log on the fire. ‘In any event Margaret and you should have your own place. A good spot would be about a hundred yards further up the beach so you can take advantage of the stream that flows into the harbour. The location, if you like it, will enable you to develop an orchard.’

  ‘Grand idea, Tommy. The distance will provide a wee bit of separation but not so far that we cannot work together.’

  ‘In the meantime you and Margaret can bunk in here. There is only Hannah and me here now. We will need to head into town. Get some materials.’

  ‘Another grand idea,’ replied Margaret.

  Barney and Margaret, while in town, gathered the materials to construct their house as well as plantings for the orchard. On exiting the government store Barney saw a notice for another general muster. This time on Wednesday 9 November 1814. Attendance was compulsory for all who lived in the colony.

  Tommy and Barney built the Kearns home using the same methods Tommy had used to build the O’Neil home. There was no need to invent anything new as the O’Neil house had survived the storms of the previous three years.

  In due course Barney and Margaret were ensconced in their new place. Barney had plans to have his own cattle grazing out the back of his new home. First he needed to erect a fence.

  It was over breakfast at the end of January 1815 that Tommy told Barney and Margaret, ‘I need to go into town. I have decided to sell my shop. It doesn’t bring in much rent. I only kept it as a bolt hole in case Middle Harbour didn’t work out.’

  ‘Makes good sense,’ replied Barney.

  On arrival at the quay, Tommy visited the printers of the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. Following discussion they agreed on an advertisement to be placed in the Saturday 4 February 1815 edition of the paper, which read as follows:

  To be Sold, at the lower End of Pitt street, a House contiguous to Mr Richard Robinson’s, the Property of Thomas O’Neil, occupying a fine and valuable position for Trade or Residence. Terms will be moderate. Apply to the Proprietor, on the Premises.

  Having dealt with this, Tommy visited the mail house to check if there were any letters for him. He was very surprised to see that there was a letter from his niece, Catherine O’Neil, the daughter of his older brother. He took it to the little square across the road, sat on a public bench and opened it.

  Catherine revealed in the letter that she had been sentenced for seven years’ transportation for stealing some potatoes and was currently awaiting transportation from Cork. Her intention in stealing the potatoes, she wrote, was to get caught so she could join her uncle in Sydney and hopefully find a better life there. She ended by writing that her cousins (Tommy’s daughters) were well and she, Catherine, was looking forward to seeing their father again. Well, Tommy thought, another O’Neil transported to New South Wales. He looked forward to her arrival.

  Tommy decided to return to Middle Harbour while waiting for the advertisement for his shop to appear the following Saturday. It was just as well he did because on Tuesday 31 January 1815 the Middle Harbour residents were in for a surprise.

  Governor Macquarie and his wife, Elizabeth, along with a number of Sydney’s most prominent men and women, came to pay them a visit. Macquarie’s party’s primary objective was to visit Middle Head to formally award Bungaree the title of ‘Chief of the Broken Bay tribe’ and present him with fifteen acres of land. It was part of Governor Macquarie’s plan to repopulate the bush.

  Apart from the Governor and his wife, the other members of the party were: Vice Regal Secretary John Campbell; Naval Officer John Piper; Principal Surgeon D’Arcy Wentworth; Assistant Surgeon William Redfern and his wife and Surveyor Meehan. A drummer accompanied the party and the sound of the drumbeats echoing through the bush alerted Tommy, Barney and Margaret to the presence of important visitors.

  Three of the party had a history of being on the wrong side of the law. Wentworth, though not convicted, had three times been charged with highway robbery. Redfern had been sentenced to death for taking part in a naval mutiny. And Meehan was transported as a United Irishman but pardoned at a similar time. It was Macquarie’s view that once a convict had completed their sentence they should be given a clean slate.

  Tommy and Barney looked up from their efforts to repair a chair as the party walked across the cleared farm towards them. The men in the governor’s party were formally dressed in high-collared red and blue uniforms, frock coats and beaver hats, the women in long dresses and carrying parasols.

  ‘Look Daddy! It’s the Guvnor,’ piped up Anastasia.

  ‘Thank you, Hannah. Now I want you to be on your best behaviour while they’re with us. Just be quiet,’ replied Tommy. ‘You best go and get Aunty Margaret.’

  Tommy and Barney were not dressed for the occasion but that did not seem to concern Macquarie, who leaned down to shake both their hands.

  ‘Tommy O’Neil, I have come to see the improvements you have made to your farm.’

  ‘Your Excellency, Barney Kearns and I have made many improvements. We have built two houses and have eight acres under corn and wheat. We are self-sufficient and sell our excess in the market.’

  ‘When I said you should go and choose a farm I did expect you would have chosen better land,’ said Macquarie. ‘By the sea your soil is very sandy and not especially arable. It will be hard to continue to grow a good crop here.’

  ‘Your Excellency, my farm is near Sydney. I do tailoring work. From time to time I work for some of the gentlemen who accompany you today. That gets me a pound or two which helps me on.’

  ‘I promised Mr Thrupp the ground on the other side of yours but there is not enough ground for him so you will have more of that far corner yonder. But in any event, Mr Meehan, let Tommy O’Neil’s ground go to them large trees in yon hollow.’

  D’Arcy Wentworth join
ed the conversation. ‘Tommy, you ought to be well pleased the Governor gives you a long front by the seaside.’

  Tommy was pleased he had access to the seaside; however, he was trying to work out which land he had just lost and which he had gained. He was certainly in no position to argue. In any regard he still had plenty of land and as the Governor had now seen his farm, he felt more secure in his ownership.

  Just as the conversation ended Margaret Robinson and Anastasia appeared but the party by then were moving off.

  After Macquarie’s party had moved beyond earshot, the residents engaged in conversation.

  ‘Well, that was very interesting,’ said Tommy. ‘I am glad he has seen our land. Maybe now Mr Meehan will visit us and conduct his survey so that any ownership issues are put to bed.’

  ‘I would not count on that,’ replied Barney, ‘he has been too interested in other adventures such as the exploration of the interior of the continent to bother with us.’

  The following week Tommy returned to town and stayed in his house at lower Pitt Street. Places in that location were in demand and he promptly sold it.

  A few months later, contrary to Barney’s expectations, Mr Meehan attended Middle Harbour and surveyed O’Neil’s land. While there Surveyor Meehan drew O’Neil aside and put a proposal to him.

  ‘Mr O’Neil, as you are aware Mr Thrupp has expressed interest in acquiring your land here which I have called Hunters Meadows. I would like you to consider exchanging your land for an acreage of better quality land.’

  Tommy was aware Mr Thrupp was Captain Piper’s son-in-law and assistant to him in his post as Naval Officer. Thrupp was responsible for the collection of customs duty. A very important person. He would need to handle this proposal with tact before coming to a decision. He felt very uncomfortable with the proposal. The outcome would affect them all.

  ‘Mr Meehan your proposal is very interesting. It’s a big decision for us all here at Hunters Meadows. I need to carefully weigh the matter and consider it from all points of view. And, of course, I must talk it over with Mr and Mrs Kearns. I will get back to you when we have come to a decision in a week or two. Thank you for your proposal, sir.’

  Meehan departed.

  That night Tommy, Barney and Margaret sat around the fire having their evening meal. Tommy outlined Meehan’s proposal. ‘So what do you each think?’

  Margaret kicked it off. ‘Tommy, I am a latecomer here. It’s hardly my decision. I will leave it up to you. But let me say, you have put in a tremendous amount of work over the past four years to get the farm to where it is today. Even if Meehan gave you better land it would probably take the same amount of time to make it good for crops.’

  ‘You are right,’ said Tommy. ‘We have a level piece of land with running water. We have eight acres under crops and could expand the farmed area and the vegetable garden.’

  ‘We have fresh fish we can catch off the beach and oysters from the rocks on the foreshore,’ said Barney.

  ‘I think we agree our land might not be the best farmland. However, it grows enough for all of us. If we had better land we would be just trading more of our surplus crop at the market and we could lose most of our pleasant life.’

  ‘Daddy can we go down to the beach and build a sandcastle,’ piped up Anastasia.

  ‘No, Hannah, it’s too late. Tomorrow we’ll build a castle. You can have a swim as well,’ replied Tommy.

  From time to time over the next few days they continued discussing Meehan’s proposition without coming to any resolution. There was no urgency on their behalf to resolve the matter.

  At last Tommy said one evening as they gathered on the beach, ‘Why would we agree to swap our land? It doesn’t make any sense.’

  ‘Barney and you are not getting younger. It would be madness,’ contributed Margaret.

  ‘You are so right! At the age of sixty-two I could not do it again. We should continue to live here. Do either of you greatly disagree?’

  Barney and Margaret said they did not.

  ‘So we are staying put,’ said O’Neil. ‘We will go and see Surveyor Meehan when next in Town.’

  With a decision made they felt at peace and could relax. They all now knew their future was going to be at Hunters Meadows and they felt good about it.

  On their next visit to Sydney Town, Tommy went to meet with Surveyor Meehan and informed him of their decision. Meehan was not fussed.

  ‘Mr O’Neil, Captain Piper has changed his mind. He has decided on seven hundred acres for his son-in-law, Lieutenant Alfred Thrupp, at Neutral Bay. He now has no need of your farm at Hunters Meadows.’ He wished Tommy a good day.

  Although Surveyor Meehan had completed his survey of O’Neil’s land, he wanted to leave the option open for Captain Piper to once again change his mind. The result was that unbeknown to Tommy the title to the land was not registered in his name.

  Seven months later on 8 August 1815, Tommy and Anastasia were at the quay to greet Catherine, Tommy’s niece. She had arrived on a ship by the name of Francis and Eliza. From the roll call they identified her.

  Amid hugs and kisses, Tommy said, ‘I cannot tell you how good it is to have you here. We are looking forward to all the news from Dublin. But first tell us about your journey.’

  ‘Well,’ she started, ‘you would not believe what happened! We boarded the Francis and Eliza in Cork, sailed to Madeira where we were captured by a privateer shortly thereafter.’

  ‘That sounds exciting,’ exclaimed Anastasia. ‘What’s a privateer?’

  ‘Hannah, just like a pirate,’ replied Catherine putting her hand over one eye. ‘We were only captured for a day. The pirates came aboard and took all the guns, ammunition and cargo from the ship. They left us convicts alone, thank goodness. But some of the crew went with them.’

  ‘What about the food?’ asked Tommy.

  ‘They did not want that. But neither did we! After twenty-four hours they released the ship and on we sailed. The remaining crew were a bit out of control and started drinking. Fortunately the male prisoners behaved themselves and we got safely through.’

  ‘But, Catherine, did you have any difficulties?’

  ‘No, we women were left alone. We had a lot more freedom on board. The master gave us convicts the run of the ship.’

  ‘And was it a long trip? When did you leave Cork?’ asked Margaret.

  ‘The fifth of December last year.’

  ‘So till eighth of August,’ Tommy paused while he calculated the duration. ‘That makes two hundred and sixteen days. That’s about sixty days more than most ships. What else were you doing? Did you have a holiday at St Helena?’ Tommy’s fond memories of that island were reignited.

  ‘No, well, we had a very different route than what we expected. We also stopped in Tenerife, Senegal, Sierra Leone and the Cape.’

  Tommy was keen to gather all Catherine’s impressions from the trip, but first he needed to secure her as an indentured servant.

  At the government office, the Convict Receiving Officer looked down at the convict manifest and then raised his head to look at O’Neil.

  ‘Sorry, sir, that is not possible. When convict Catherine O’Neil boarded the ship, she indicated she had no relatives in the colony and as a consequence she has already been allotted to a Mrs Julia Dundas of Liverpool, Sydney. Sir, it cannot be undone.’

  Tommy returned to Catherine, telling her, ‘The authorities have refused my request. They have already put in place an indenture. There is nothing I can do about it. I am very sorry.’

  ‘Oh, my lord, that is so disappointing! Frustrating! I know you have tried. I will serve my time, and if it’s all right I will come and visit you at Hunters Meadows when I am freed.’

  At this point in the conversation, Catherine was taken for delivery to Julia Dundas.

  O’Neil was sorely disappointed. He had believed Catherine could join them on the farm but this was not to be. It would have to wait for another day.

  21.
r />   Separation

  SYDNEY TOWN, 1814

  The granting of William Foster’s conditional pardon in 1812 had freed him from any responsibility with respect to the government shipyard. He was now free to contract full time to third parties.

  However, William’s largest client, Campbell & Co, was in financial difficulties and owed William monies for past services. Robert Campbell, the proprietor, had sailed with his family to England in May 1810 to appear as a witness for Governor Bligh at Lieutenant-Colonel George Johnston’s court martial. Johnston had been arrested for removing the Governor from command in 1808.

  Meanwhile Robert Campbell’s London agent had defaulted on a £30,000 debt owing to him. The consequence was that Campbell & Co became insolvent in Sydney and by the time Campbell returned to Sydney in March 1815 he found his house, goods and lands mortgaged and his business in liquidation.

  William knew Campbell was a fine man and he believed Campbell would make good on his debt when he had overcome his financial difficulties. William advised Campbell he would bide his time and Campbell should pay him when he was able.

  There was plenty of other work and William applied himself to identifying more customers and opportunities. He had continued to build on his good reputation over the years with the shipping industry. He was pleased now that shipmasters often sought him out.

  Macquarie’s initiative in 1813 and 1814 to increase the amount of coinage in circulation was working by 1815 and profoundly benefiting men like Foster. Macquarie had arranged for the British Government to send £10,000 in Spanish dollars to the colony, an amount equivalent to 40,000 Spanish dollars. In order to ensure this coinage stayed in the colony, the centre of each coin was punched out and both pieces over punched. The access to this coinage removed the need for excessive bartering.

  William was an able businessman. His income exceeded his expenditure. Most of his income was in foreign coinage received from overseas vessels. The foreign coinage could be exchanged, at a premium, into the local adulterated Spanish dollars that had no value outside the colony. William made a tidy profit from these foreign exchange transactions.