by Maggie Joel
In one of his first acts as Premier, Mr Lyne had discontinued the Office of Public Monies. It duplicated much of the work of the Colonial Treasurer and the Secretary for Public Works, after all. The Secretary for Public Monies now found himself without office, position or staff, but as he had expectations of being appointed Minister for Federation the loss was, it was hoped, only short term. Mr George Drummond-Smith had also lost his position with the formation of the new government, but as he now, unaccountably, sported a black eye and a dislocated jaw—the origins of which were the source of much speculation but little in the way of hard fact—his temporary withdrawal from public life was prudent. One of Mr Lyne’s former ministers sported a badly bruised hand but as no one, not even this gentleman’s wife, put these two incidents together, it was not remarked upon.
At the house in Elizabeth Bay the frangipani had burst into life, sprouting a host of new buds, and the view down to the bay was gone now until April.
Eleanor Dunlevy stood at the window with the baby in her arms. He was awake, his eyes focusing on her face, or appearing to. Really, it was hard to know but she fancied he knew her face, now. And she pointed out to him the things she saw from the window—the new buds on the branches of the frangipani, the carriage that came down the hill and went on to the water’s edge, the currawongs in the branches of the old fig tree and the cockatoos circling overhead. All of it was new for spring, all of it was new for the baby.
Alasdair came in dressed in his best suit and smartest tie and a new pair of gloves, for there was to be a reception that afternoon at the governor’s house.
‘Are you ready? Come, let me take him,’ and he took the infant from his wife so that she could prepare herself. He took the baby upstairs and returned it to its nursery, laying it down in its cradle and tucking the blanket around it, and as the nurse was out of the room for the moment, it did not matter that there was a tear in his eye as he did so.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Whilst the pivotal characters in this novel are entirely fictional, a number of the lesser characters are real, as any student of Australian history will know. The Premier of New South Wales, the colourful and larger-than-life George Reid, and his opposite number, Edmund Barton—who did indeed go on to be Australia’s first prime minister—are two obvious examples. Others are: Mrs Reid and Mrs Barton (their wives); Miss Hickman and Miss Scott of the Women’s Suffrage League; William Lyne, the premier who succeeded George Reid; William Wentworth, the explorer and statesman; and John Blaxland, the landowner and merchant. Most—though not all—of what these people say in the novel is taken from speeches and addresses they gave at the time and were reported in the press of the day. Many—though again not all—of the Federation meetings and events and speeches in the novel are taken from real events of the day and were reported in the newspapers though, for plot purposes, I have taken occasional liberties with the dates and ordering of some events. There was no Secretary of Public Monies with offices in Richmond Terrace in Reid’s administration; it is an entirely fictitious ministry.
Frog Hollow, as many Sydneysiders know, is a real place and has featured in several histories of the area, though nowadays the Hollow is a pleasant little park more likely to be frequented by office workers (myself included) eating their lunch than it is by razor gangs and grog-soaked prostitutes, though a small sign at the top of the escarpment discreetly reminds visitors of the park’s colourful and not-so-distant past. The Benevolent Asylum at the corner of Pitt and Devonshire streets provided essential indoor and outdoor relief for Sydney’s poor for almost a century until it was demolished in 1901 to make way for Central Railway Station, but extensive records still exist both of the asylum’s day-to-day workings and of the many thousands of unfortunates who used its services over the years. No anarchists were operating in Sydney at the time that this novel is set (though the burning of the effigy of the Premier at Darlington was an actual event), however a (somewhat amateurish) gang of anarchists called the Broad Arrow Gang were active in Melbourne during this period and have, in part, inspired incidents in this novel. Baby farming was, sadly, common enough in both Sydney and Melbourne in the early part of the 1890s, less so in the later years of that decade when new protective laws came in, and was well documented in the accounts of the day and in a number of books written since that time. And, finally, the ‘great man’ alluded to in chapter 32 was, of course, Sir Henry Parkes, Premier of New South Wales for much of the 1870s and 1880s, and often referred to as the Father of Federation for his early championing of that cause.
Maggie Joel
Sydney, 2019
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I have been blessed in the writing of this book by the help of Wendy Holz, a dear friend of many years’ standing and also—by happy coincidence—a librarian at the State Library of New South Wales who assisted me in negotiating that library’s archives and online systems and left no stone unturned in her pursuit of sources, suggestions and references. Also, my grateful thanks to Caroline Wilkson, historian at the Sydney Hospital, and Rosemary Sempell, parliamentary archivist at New South Wales Parliament House, both of whom so generously shared with me their time, knowledge, resources and enthusiasm. Thanks are due also to the staff of the Mitchell Library and at the Benevolent Society, Sydney; to my publisher, Annette Barlow, and my agent, Clare Forster, for their continuing support, guidance and belief in me; to my editor extraordinaire, Ali Lavau, who always cuts so incisively right to the heart of the matter in ways that challenge me to be a better writer; to my dearest friend and supporter, Tricia Dearborn; and to all the wonderful people at Allen & Unwin and Curtis Brown for their assistance, support, expertise and encouragement during the editing and publication of this book. And, lastly, to that fine institution, the Australia Council for the Arts and its people who continue to provide me with encouragement and inspiration and who—when we are not too busy—allow me the space to write, in particular Carolyn Watts and Michelle Brown.
The following publications, histories, memoirs and online resources proved invaluable in the writing of this book:
Australia’s First Hospital: The First 100 Years by Caroline Wilkinson (Friends of Sydney Hospital, 2005).
Australia in the Victorian Age: Life in the Cities by Michael Cannon (Thomas Nelson, 1975).
Darlinghurst Courthouse and Residence, NSW Government, Office of Environment and Heritage website: http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au
Fractured Families: Life on the Margins in Colonial New South Wales by Tanya Evans (UNSW Press, 2015).
Guide to the Records of the Benevolent Society of New South Wales, 1813–1995 by Paul Scifleet (Benevolent Society of New South Wales, 1996).
Hansard: Eighteenth Parliament, Second Session, 21 February to 30 March 1899.
Hansard: Eighteenth Parliament, Third Session, 11 to 21 April 1899.
Map of Sydney and Suburbs Showing Tramway Lines and Stopping Places 1894, National Library of Australia website: http://nla.gov.au/
The History of Parliament House, Sydney by J.R. Stevenson (Royal Australian Historical Society Journal, volume 42, 1957).
‘Parliament House, Sydney’, an address delivered by W.K. Charlton, Clerk of the Parliament, July 1944. Parliamentary Archives reference 97 472.
Parliament of NSW website: https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au
Shady Acres: Politicians, Developers and Sydney’s Public Transport Scandals 1872–1895 by Lesley Muir (Halstead Press, 2007).
Station Names: Date of Opening, Closing and/or Change of Name, Meaning or Origin of Name by J.H. Forsyth (Sydney State Rail Authority, Archives Section, 1993).
Sydney Benevolent Asylum website: http://www.sydneybenevolentasylum.com/
‘The Colony’s First Parliament House’ by Donald Ellsmore, in Australia’s First Parliament (Parliament of NSW, second edition, 1995).
The Icons of Australia’s First Hospital: A Tour of Sydney Hospital by Caroline Wilkinson (Friends of Sydney Hospital, 2008).
Trove: the Nati
onal Library of Australia’s online archive: https://trove.nla.gov.au/
I have quoted directly from the following speeches and editorials:
‘Federation from a Woman’s Point of View’, Sydney Morning Herald, 6 June 1899, p. 10.
‘Premier’s Southern Tour’, Sydney Morning Herald, 14 June 1899, p. 7.
‘Proceedings in the Legislative Council’, Sydney Morning Herald, 22 February 1899, p. 7.
‘Women’s Anti-Bill Demonstration at Darlington’, Sydney Morning Herald, 9 June 1899, p. 8.
‘Women’s Federal League Formed—Activity of Federalist Speakers’, Sydney Morning Herald, 9 June 1899, p. 8.
‘Women’s Federal Meetings: Speeches by Mr Bruce Smith and Mr Barton’, Sydney Morning Herald, 20 June 1899, p. 3.
