Convict Queen

by Marina Oliver

  'Look, what are they doing? Are those men dead, that they're just tossing into the sea?'

  Joshua looked and nodded.

  'Hundreds of the poor wretches must have died on this voyage.'

  'They could at least give them a Christian burial now we're here. I'd like to kill Traill and the rest of the devils!'

  'No doubt he'll be reported. Some of the Corps have been muttering that they'll make complaints about the conditions. They say Governor Phillip might be able to do something about Traill.'

  'Then I hope he'll suffer like we all have.'

  Officials from the colony were coming on board the ship. Molly watched as they pressed handkerchiefs to their mouths. The stench, which she had been forced to endure, was clearly too much for these men.

  They were beginning to transfer the convicts to the shore. Molly winced, watching as the men, who had been shackled for most of their time on board, and were now scarcely able to move, were brought on deck. A few who could walk were helping others, but they looked just as emaciated and ill. They were all covered in old scars, sores that had received no attention and would not heal, open cuts and weeping ulcers, much of this plain evidence of beatings they had endured, as well as fleas, lice and their own filth, for they had been unable to carry out the most basic hygiene tasks on themselves. Many were so feverish they were not aware of what was happening. Others were unable even to crawl, and few could manage to stand upright. Joshua, who was helping to carry them, told Molly some had died when they were brought into the fresh air, or as they were being taken to shore in the boats. Some were unable to speak. They were tossed like inanimate bundles into the boats that were to carry them ashore. Some collapsed and died on the wharf as they landed. Molly heard a man in another boat, who was dressed in the robes of a clergyman, declaring the stench and filth on the Neptune were too much, but he would endeavour to visit the other two ships.

  The women were then herded into boats and taken ashore. There they found the building called the hospital was overwhelmed by the many sick and dying convicts. A couple of dozen or more makeshift tents had been erected to house the wretches who were still alive, and the women, having suffered less than the men, were soon doing what they could to care for the sick and the many who were dying. There were no mattresses, but after some time dried grass was brought to protect them from the damp ground, and some were fortunate to have a blanket between four of them. She heard an officer directing some of the men, she assumed they were convicts from the first fleet since they were badly dressed, to go into the woods and collect the acid berries.

  'They'll help the poor devils with scurvy.'

  At least someone had ordered soft bread to be baked. Many of the men had lost all their teeth, and had been unable, on board, to eat the hard tack that was all they had been given.

  Molly longed to rid herself of her own verminous clothes, but there was no time, and she had little leisure either for looking at what would be her new home. She had an impression of rough mud huts with some kind of thatch, people who were often no better dressed than she and her fellow convicts, and at the edges of the crowd black men wearing little more than loin cloths.

  Joshua had vanished, and she suspected she would see no more of him. She did not care. She was well aware that she had been a mere convenience to him during the voyage, saving him the trouble of finding a new woman each night, competing with the other men. Now he had other concerns, as he had confided in her his desire to acquire land. She did not belong to those plans. He had been kind, and the extra food he had given her had kept her from succumbing to illness, even kept her alive, but there was no more than gratitude. She would not pine for him. Now they would go their separate ways.

  Meanwhile she heard, to her disgust, that Traill and Ellington, along with some others, had set up shop on shore and were busy selling the spare stores they had kept from the convicts, and the possessions they had stolen. Later she discovered that almost a third of the convicts had died on the journey, most of them on the Neptune, and more were dying around her. She wanted to weep, but there was no time. Instead she channelled her anger into furious activity helping where she could, until exhaustion forced her to rest.

  *

  Gradually some kind of order was imposed. A brick storehouse was built, for there were so many shortages anything left unguarded would soon be stolen. Joshua had gone with the rest of the Corps to a place further up the river called Rose Hill. Molly wondered whether it was as pretty as its name. She had some leisure to look at the strange birds, colourful chattering parakeets which she recognised from pictures she'd seen in books, and a very noisy bird called a kookaburra which made a noise like a harsh laugh. There were strange flowers, and odd-looking animals, she was told, but these latter she did not see.

  More people died, and others became sick. The intense heat did not help. Now, on the orders of Governor Phillip, the dead were buried on the north shore. Molly was kept busy caring for the sick.

  'We needed the stores these ships were supposed to bring,' one of the marines guarding the women complained. 'It was a poor harvest, we can't feed all these extra mouths.'

  'Then perhaps it's as well so many have died!' Molly said, and glared at him.

  He turned to look at her, and she quailed inwardly. Would she be flogged for being cheeky? Instead he smiled, a slow grin, and gestured to her to come towards him.

  'Can you cook and launder?'

  'Why?'

  'I need a woman to care for me and the babe. Me wife died a month ago, birthing him. You'll do. I'll have you assigned to me as my servant. I'll show you where when my spell of duty's over.'

  Was she to be given no choice? He'd no doubt expect her to warm his bed too. She'd seen no more of Joshua and one man was as good as another. At least his protection might give her better food, and looking after him and a child would be better than caring for the sick and living with lots of other women in the crowded huts which was all they had.

  She knew it would not be a proper house. There were almost no brick buildings apart from Government House, but the mud huts were adequate, and better than the barrack-like building where the women were accommodated.

  His name was Ted O'Shea, she learned. Though his parents were Irish he had been born in London, and had never seen Ireland, he told her as he took her to his hut.

  'Where's the baby?'

  'Me mate's wife looks after him.'

  'What's his name?'

  'Frank, after me father.'

  'Has he been baptised?' Molly was thinking of her own children, and feeling more homesick than she had been for months, recalling the Diddlebury church and the school next to it, where she had been happy.

  'No, we're Catholic, but they dain't let a priest come, and it wouldn't be right to get that Johnson feller to do it. I've 'eard him, when 'e's been preaching outside, telling us all, marines as well as convicts, how wicked we all are.'

  She nodded. She had heard him too, ranting about the theft of a few coppers which you'd have thought was the end of the world.

  'I didn't hear him condemning Traill and the others who stole our things to sell, or killed men by starvation or flogging.'

  'Never mind that, you're safe now so long as yer looks after me.'

  'And the baby, little Frank.'

  'I'll fetch him later. Now get your clothes off.'

  Molly shrugged and complied. It was part of the bargain. Ted was already tearing off his own clothes and he took her roughly, spilling his seed almost at once. He'd clearly been deprived of female company for some time. But one man was better than several, and Molly was well aware that unless she found one protector she might become general property, for she was young and healthy, and though she had lost weight, as had everyone else on the Neptune, she was less scrawny than most of the women, thanks to Joshua.

  *

  It was a few days later when Ted came into the hut, grinning. He could barely speak for laughing, and Molly's puzzled face caused him to laugh
even more.

  'Yer should 'ave seen it,' he said.

  'Seen what?'

  She was sitting on the ground spooning milk into little Frank's eager mouth. They had no seats apart from one rickety stool Ted had knocked together from a few odd pieces left over from some building. There were no women available who could wet nurse him, but the child was thriving, and seemed to welcome the milk Molly had begged from the soldiers guarding the few cattle. Ted suspected she'd exchanged a few kisses to seal the bargain, but what did that matter. He wanted his son to survive, and Molly seemed to know what she was doing.

  He watched her concentrating. She was a pretty wench with her curly hair, hanging down over her breasts, and he felt a stirring of desire. But it would be hours before she finished. She dripped the milk from a spoon, and Frank always seemed ravenous, so it took Molly most of the day to feed him. Fortunately, apart from cooking and washing their clothes, there was little other work for her to do, so she could spend all the time she needed to feed the baby. The hut was small, about three yards square, and he had few possessions, so cleaning and tidying took little time.

  'It were a whale, great big monster,' he told her when his laughter was finished. 'It jumped up at a boat some of the lads were bringin' from South Head, and though they beat it off for a while in the end they were upset.'

  'Were they drowned?' She seemed more concerned than he'd have expected, worried about men she did not know.

  He sobered. 'Aye, three of 'em, I think, but one lad managed ter get ashore. I dain't see what 'appened ter rest. Anyway, Molly, I've asked fer some land up at Rose Hill. You was brought up in country, on farm, yer said, so you can grow things on it. Fresh vegetables 'ud be good fer little 'un,' he added. He must have seen her frown at the thought of such extra work.

  'When would I have time?' she asked. 'Looking after Frank here takes up half the day.'

  'Then there's the other 'alf, an' I'd 'elp, when I could. Besides, 'e'll soon be able ter take pap.'

  Molly shrugged. 'I have wondered about Rose Hill. It's further up the river, I'm told.'

  'Aye, a dozen or so miles further up the Parramatta river. They've built Government 'Ouse, an' moved the Governor's farm there, they say it's better soil than in Sydney Cove, but I'm town bred, I wouldn't know.'

  'Would we have a house?'

  'Aye, they've built some, two rooms, they 'ave, with a fireplace and a brick chimney, but they'm fer the convicts. There's some smaller 'uts fer families. I'll get one o' them, an' we can move soon, afore the end of July. Ain't spring the time fer sowin' seeds?'

  Molly blinked, then nodded. 'I'd forgotten it was July, and winter here in New South Wales. It would be good to have fresh vegetables. I might even have a couple of hens.'

  *

  It took Ted some time to arrange. Conditions in the colony were bad, they were still half-starved, waiting for more supplies to be fetched, and there were tales of many who had tried to escape. Some went inland, thinking to hide in the bush, or walk to China, which they had heard was to the north, but many came back after struggling to survive. Others were never again heard of. The more adventurous tried to leave by boat, but security was tight and stealing a boat was almost impossible.

  They eventually reached Rose Hill, travelling by boat, late in August. They had few possessions apart from a couple of iron cooking pots, two plates and spoons, and two knives. Ted had spare clothes apart from his uniform, and he had bought Molly a dress from the goods Donald Traill had been selling when the Neptune landed. Molly knew it had belonged to one of the women who had died on board, so didn't feel bad about accepting it. It was far better than the rags she owned, or the dress the convict women were supposed to wear. Baby Frank had some clothes that had belonged to one of the babies that had died along with its mother, and her husband, another soldier, had explained he wanted no reminders of what had been his hopes for a new and better life.

  From the wharf Molly saw a long, wide street, wider than any she had seen, even in London, running into the sunset behind the house she was told was the Governor's, set on a hill. There were cattle, she heard, and hoped she could get good clean milk for little Frank. At intervals were huts where ten men slept, and more were being built. It looked more organised, neater than the chaotic sprawl of Sydney.

  'They 'ave a woman to each hut, to clean,' Ted said, and Molly shivered.

  What else would they be expected to do? At least she had only one man to care for, only one man to share her bed. Ted was kind in some ways, and not too demanding.

  As they trudged along to the small hut Ted had managed to obtain, he pointed out larger huts in a side street where the women slept.

  'Those not cleaning are set to sewing clothes. Some material came out wi' your ships.'

  Molly wondered if that might be a better fate, but on the whole preferred to be with Ted and the baby, of whom she was growing fond. It was not the same as having her own child, but reminded her of the times Mary and James had been small and totally dependent on her. And if they could start a garden, she would be out in the fresh air. After the dreadful conditions on the Neptune she relished every breath she took of clean air, often perfumed by the trees and flowers that in places grew in abundance.

  *

  Molly soon made friends with Clara, a soldier's wife. What little laundry she had must be done at one of the water holes. There she heard all the gossip.

  'We were some of the first,' her new friend told her. 'It's 'ard to think we've been here almost three years. It's growing fast, all these new huts. And more convicts coming every day, not all of 'em content to serve their time.'

  Molly soon saw how the convicts were kept in order. If they offended they could be flogged, even hanged, but most had accepted their new lives and made little trouble. They had to work hard, but were given time to cultivate their own gardens.

  She soon started one on the land granted to Ted. There were no ploughs, but the soil was better than at Sydney Cove. Breaking the soil for their vegetable garden was hard work, but Molly persevered and managed to sow a few of the seeds Ted had acquired from Sydney Cove, and some which she suspected had been harvested at night from the Government farm.

  News came regularly from Sydney Cove, with the soldiers or new convicts transferred to the settlement, and the women relished everything, any gossip that alleviated the boredom of their days. In September they heard about five men who had taken a punt from Rose Hill, then stolen a larger boat from the harbour.

  'They'll never be heard from again, unless they're wrecked near by,' Clara said. 'I don't know as 'ow I'd dare set out in a small boat. It were bad enough on a big un.'

  They also heard that the whale which had earlier upset a boat had been found on one of the beaches, and the natives were feasting on it. Molly supposed that if she were starving she might force herself to eat it, but the natives apparently considered it a delicacy.

  Molly saw little of the natives. Some were friendly, but not all. In December the Governor's game keeper was killed, and though the murderers, suspected to be natives, were sought, they had vanished.

  More supplies had arrived, so the threat of starvation receded for a while. They were able to celebrate Christmas with an extra ration of rice and some fish Ted had caught. It seemed odd to be celebrating Christmas on a boiling hot day, but better than the previous year when they had been confined to the Neptune in the freezing winter in England.

  *

  On the 26th January several of Ted's friends in the marines gathered, with the women they lived with, for an impromptu party.

  'Why?' Molly asked when Ted told her to prepare extra food. 'We've little enough for ourselves.'

  'What we can spare, then. The others will bring some.'

  'You mean we're celebrating something?'

  'Yes. But I suppose you don't know. It's the day the First Fleet landed in Sydney,' Ted said. 'Governor Phillip and some of the officers decided Botany Bay wasn't suitable, so they went on to Port Jackson, to hav
e a look, and a few days later the ships sailed there.'

  'Remember that storm?' Charlie, a fellow marine asked, and shuddered.

  Ted laughed. 'We couldn't get out of Botany Bay and those two French ships couldn't get in. We got out next day, at least the Supply did. I was on it, thinking I'd never reach land again.'

  'But you did land,' Molly said.

  'We had to wait in Sydney Cove overnight, then Phillip and some others rowed ashore. I was one of 'em, there when Phillip raised the flag. The rest of the ships came in later that day, though they'd had trouble.'

  'I was on the Friendship, and we collided with the Charlotte, but we all made it in the end, despite lost sails and booms.'

  At that moment more of Ted's friends arrived, bringing what food they could spare, and a great deal of rum. Despite the heat Ted lit a fire in his garden, and they sat round it singing songs, eating what they had, and afterwards, when all the food had gone, drinking the rum. It was well after midnight when the other marines staggered home, several of the women having to be carried.

  Molly managed to reach her bed and threw herself down on it with a sigh of relief.

  'I've never felt so bad!' she moaned, and tried to push him away as Ted collapsed beside her. 'Not tonight, Ted! All I want is to sleep.'

  'Don't fret,' Ted mumbled. 'I'm not capable.'

  Within seconds he was snoring, but Molly lay for some time trying not to move. Her head ached abominably. She was used to rum, but not in such quantities. She hoped there would not be many such celebrations. Those on New Year's Day had been mild. Before next year, was her last thought before she fell asleep, she would have to become more used to rum.

  *

  The harvest had been poor, and this led to more thieving. It was because of thefts that the Superintendent, Mr Dodd, died that January. He had been popular, even with most of the convicts, for he kept order without being cruel. One night, though he had been ill in bed, he chased some thieves wearing only a shirt.

  'He was after 'em for hours,' Clara said. 'Now 'e's ill again.'