George Street in 1842, painted by Henry Curzon Allport. As it is today, George Street in the 1830s was Sydney’s main thoroughfare. Along with its smart shops, post office and well-to-do private residences, though, the street, still mostly covered in dirt, was home to pubs, a gaol and markets. It was, in other words, a microcosm of the colony. (State Library of New South Wales, ML 1111)
The first Government House in Sydney, on the corner of Bridge and Phillip streets, painted by G.E. Peacock, 1845. When Archibald returned to Sydney in 1845, he would have seen the camels here. At the cost of £225, Governor Gipps had purchased three as an experiment; later they were put on display in the Domain. (State Library of New South Wales, ML 658)
A portrait of Roger Therry by Richard Read, 1834. Therry (1800–74) was an Irish barrister, judge, politician and writer. Along with his wife, Ann, he was one of Caroline’s earliest friends and supporters in Sydney. He led the prosecution of the Myall Creek Massacre and Carthaginian cases. (State Library of New South Wales, ML 180)
John Dunmore Lang, in a sketch by Charles Rodius, 1850. A Scottish Presbyterian clergyman, politician and immigration activist, Lang (1799–1878) had a love/hate relationship with Caroline. Virulently anti-Catholic, he lambasted her for being a tool of Rome whilst also praising her “truly benevolent work”. (State Library of New South Wales, P2/10)
Angela Burdett-Coutts (1814–1906), later 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts, was one of the wealthiest women in England, having inherited her father and grandfather’s banking empires. An acquaintance of Caroline’s, she was also a considerable philanthropist, joining Charles Dickens in founding a home for “fallen women” called Urania Cottage, in Shepherds Bush, London. (Alamy)
Although this portrait of Caroline is unsigned and undated, it’s believed it was painted in London in 1852, by Angelo Collen Hayter, and exhibited at the Royal Academy in London that year. Caroline would have been forty-four years old at the time. (State Library of New South Wales, DG 459)
Mount Alexander Gold Diggings, 1852, by R.S. Anderson. The 1850s saw the start of the gold rush in Victoria, and by the spring of 1854 Caroline’s entire family was in Melbourne. Caroline visited the diggings within a few weeks of the Eureka Stockade rebellion. (State Library of Victoria)
Caroline’s third son, Henry John Chisholm, had a successful career in the New South Wales Justice Department and rose to the rank of colonel in the Duke of Edinburgh Highlanders. (Courtesy of Don Chisholm and the Australian Catholic University)
Caroline gave this prayer book (above left) to her son Sydney in 1871 and included an affectionate dedication (above right). (Courtesy of Don Chisholm and the Australian Catholic University)
This alabaster bust of Caroline was presented to her by Pope Pius IX, in Rome in 1853. It is now owned by Caroline’s great-great-grandson Don Chisholm. (Courtesy of Don Chisholm and the Australian Catholic University)
A portrait of Caroline appeared on this five cents stamp issued by the Post Office in 1968. (Caroline Chisholm, Famous Australians stamp series, 1968; designer: Alfred Cook, engraver: Lyell Dolan; © Australian Postal Corporation)
Caroline became the first woman, apart from the Queen, to grace Australian paper currency. Her image appeared on the back of the five-dollar note, which was in circulation from 1967 to 1994.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
SARAH GOLDMAN has spent most of her life as a journalist. Initially working for newspapers in Sydney and London, she later transferred to television with the BBC. Back in Australia, Sarah continued as a producer for both commercial and ABC television news in Sydney and Melbourne. Much of Sarah’s journalistic work has involved international news. Caroline Chisholm: An Irresistible Force is Sarah’s first book. She and her partner, Steven, have two sons and a dog. They live in Sydney.
COPYRIGHT
HarperCollinsPublishers
First published in Australia in 2017
by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
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Copyright © Sarah Goldman 2017
The right of Sarah Goldman to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her under the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
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ISBN: 978 1 4607 0800 2 (ebook)
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:
Goldman, Sarah, author.
Caroline Chisholm : an irresistible force / Sarah Goldman.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Subjects: Chisholm, Caroline, 1808-1877.
Women pioneers – Australia – Biography.
Social reformers – Australia – Biography.
Australia – Social conditions – History.
Cover design by Darren Holt, HarperCollins Design Studio
Cover image: Caroline Chisholm, Famous Australians stamp series, 1968; designer: Alfred Cook, engraver: Lyell Dolan; © Australian Postal Corporation
Caroline Chisholm Page 33