Washerwoman's Dream

by Hilarie Lindsay

  Jack’s grand-daughter, Irene Steger, said:

  Jack never forgave his mother for leaving home. He had a ghastly childhood. His father drank and was a difficult man to live with. As children they had very little fun. They were expected to work hard and had no pleasures … He never spoke of his childhood except twice just before he died … He was unusual, like his mother. He was well-read and gifted — self-educated …

  Winifred was reconciled with her daughter, Winifred, and they met three times. When Fred, her eldest son, died on 7 October 1977, Winifred wrote her daughter a plaintive letter:

  Oh, my girl, what can I say to comfort you. Words are such empty things. Fred has left us and gone to his rest, God be with him. His life was hard since he was born, well soon we shall join him and you my dear one will be at rest from your pains and I too will have found peace at last. So dear, I have not had a happy life at any time. I have done my best to keep our names clean and that’s why I have never changed names … The Steger family put some curse on us but we did nothing but be English. Were we not God’s children too?

  I look back and see the hatred in the old folks’ eyes. Especially the day, or rather the three days, in which Fred awaited birth. Oh, Winnie, they watched [me], in agony, and she cursed me lying there and prayed aloud that we would both die.

  All their thoughts on their enemies, the English. The sisters too were bad. Fred showed me the dents on his scalp where Kate’s dog chain had bit into him. You will never know the suffering and how they messed up all our lives. Well we must forget and I pray we forgive.

  Won’t your poor legs ever feel better? Yes, these last ten days have been cruel to us. I heard it through Pansy you received a letter from someone up there that Fred was gone. And I thought owing to your long silence that you too were gone. Then a woman who was my friend dropped dead and a letter came to say that Pansy’s youngest brother was very ill in Queensland. Everything at once. I still don’t know about the last. I myself am now very weak and not allowed outside the door because am all but blind and hope to pass any night now and finish the long saga of Life. But was glad to know that you at least are still with us.

  Fred, Peter, John and the rest are no one knows where. Never was a family so split up. But my dear you have one glorious comfort. Your husband is still alive beside you. I live here quite alone and have too much time to think as I sit and brood and hope for something better in the next life. These things I have spoken of, forget them. I suppose the Great One planned all. Goodbye, darling, we shall meet later in a better world

  Your tired and lonely old Mother

  Of the four children it was Winifred who suffered the most from her mother’s defection. She was seven when her grandmother, Barbara Steger, died on 1 August 1913. She was very close to her grandmother; all the children were. She was kind to them and gave them what she could. After that, the boys cleared out one by one until the girl and her father were on their own. When she was twelve, neighbours decided it wasn’t proper for her to be living alone with her father and took the case to court. Her father cried when she was taken away. ‘I loved him and he loved me. He was kind to me.’

  She was made a ward of the court and taken to live in the home of a policeman and his wife. Of this time, she said:

  I had six years of hell. Mr P… belted me black and blue with a riding whip because I forgot to shut the back gate. I was in bed. It was 9 pm.

  The man did some awful things. I won’t tell you what the worst ones were. It was too horrible. I told his wife but she didn’t believe me. When I was eighteen I left.

  Interview with author, January 1996

  In 1969 Winifred Steger was living at Watervale in the Clare Valley, South Australia, when Always Bells: Life with Ali was published by Angus & Robertson, as an autobiography, under the name of Winifred Stegar. In the book she claimed to have gone to Mecca with a husband called Ali Mahomed Stegar. Henceforth she spelt her surname two ways. When people asked which was correct she would reply, ‘It doesn’t matter.’

  While at Watervale Winifred wrote fourteen novels, bombarding Angus & Robertson with a new manuscript every few months, until the readers begged the editor, Beatrice Davis, to ‘tell this woman to stop writing novels.’ The novels were described as ‘unpublishable’, though the Clare Northern Argus had serialised three over a period of four years without payment, telling Winifred that they had trebled the circulation. When Winifred told Beatrice Davis of her years as a regular writer for the Adelaide papers, she was not believed. The comment was that they ‘could find no evidence of this.’ Their opinion was that she could not write. Beatrice Davis had no idea that Always Bells had first appeared as a newspaper serial in 1927 because Winifred had written in the foreword to the book:

  I would not tell of it before because one was alive who would not have liked it. Now I can do as I please, yet the years have dimmed my recollections. Yet I have written it to the best of my remembrance. If it should seem at all disjointed, just sigh and say, ‘Oh, but she was eighty-seven when she wrote it.’

  The publicity surrounding the release of Always Bells brought Winifred back into the limelight. Her identity as Winifred the Washerwoman was made public and she was asked to contribute to the Senior Citizens’ News (South Australia), retelling old stories and writing new ones.

  But life was catching up with her. She suffered the fate of many of those who live to a ripe old age. After a fall she was confined to a nursing home. Here she was no longer able to write because they took away her typewriter. It was like cutting off her hands.

  Winifred still had one trump card left. Someone spread the word that she was about to turn one hundred. She celebrated her hundredth birthday with much fanfare, including a message from Queen Elizabeth, three years in advance. Perhaps it was just as well because she died on 16 March 1981, nine months short of her centenary.

  She lies in the rose garden in Enfield cemetery, South Australia. On her tombstone are the words: In loving memory [of] Winifred Jane Stegar, authoress and loved mother of Pam, Ray and Deen, passed away on 16th March 1981, aged 101 years. ‘A legend in her time.’

  Tombstones can be unreliable witnesses. There is so much left unsaid. There is no mention of her beloved Ali, whom she still spoke of with tears in her eyes long after his body had turned to dust. And there was no mention of India, the country that haunted her dreams and remained in her heart until the day she died.

  I liked going to India. I suppose I’ve been over there in my heart every day. I suppose because I lived it. You don’t get a thing like that inside of you and throw it away. You nurse it like a jewel. I saw India in all her beautifulness. I saw her in her loveliest. I saw mothers with their children. I can’t describe it. It’s beyond me … beyond me. Now let me go …

  AFTERWORD

  THERE WERE OTHER PLAYERS IN this Saga.

  One is the unfortunate Louisa Dennis, who left her child motherless, as Winifred was to leave the children of her first marriage. It is likely that Louisa and Wilfred were never married, which would have made it easier for her to leave and would also account for the fact that I could find no record of the marriage when I did a search at St Catherine’s House, London. I did, however, find the marriage of Ivanhoe William Oaten to Lydia.

  Then there is Winifred’s father, Wilfred Isaac Oaten. His is a sad story. He never prospered. Perhaps he was not the stuff of pioneers, or perhaps he loved Louisa Dennis too much to live without her. Winifred did not know what happened to him, except that he began to drink. Perhaps it was this that caused the accident in which he was thrown from his sulky, and subsequently died in Toowoomba Hospital from ‘exposure to prickly pear’ on 20 November 1917.

  Wilfred died intestate. His personal effects consisted of four blankets and an alarm clock. He had no money on him at the time of the accident. And there was no money included in his estate. He had clear title to two blocks of land, one of which was in the county of Aubigny, near Peranga, on the Cooyar line. It was described by the
valuer as ‘being of practically no value, the majority being hard sandy soil and heavily infested with pear’. The other block was in the parish of Jondaryan, about three miles from Bowenville. It was described as ‘a V-shaped piece of land and not in a marketable position. Value 3 pounds — small hut built of scraps of old iron. Value 2 pounds. Fencing of plain wire fence in bad order. Value 1 pound 10 shillings.’

  Wilfred’s brother, William, claimed the estate as the only surviving relative in a document written in his own handwriting. He testified that Louisa Dennis, Wilfred’s sisters and their children in England, and his daughter, Winifred, were all dead. No mention is made of her four children whom William must have known were still living in the district.

  Wilfred Isaac Oaten lies buried at Drayton Cemetery, Toowoomba, in an unmarked grave.

  It is time now for these characters to leave the stage. Heroes or villains, it is not for us to judge. Some are still alive. May they prosper. Others, like Wilfred Oaten and his daughter Winifred, sleep in the Land of Dreams. May they rest in peace.

  GLOSSARY

  Allahu akbar la ilaha illa Allah, Mahommed Rasul Allah: There is no God but Allah and Mahommed is His Prophet.

  Baba: (Indian) father.

  Begum: (Indian) princess, or Moslem lady of high rank.

  Bey: formerly the governor of a Turkish province, a title of respect or rank.

  Bismallah: In the name of Allah.

  Burqa: outer garment to cover body, with ventilation holes for eyes and mouth.

  Chador: voluminous mantle worn as an outer garment.

  Charpoy: an Indian bed

  Chawl: Bombay (now Mumbai) multistorey tenement.

  Das brot: (German) the bread.

  Die kind: (German) the child, die kinder children.

  Dhobiwalla: (Indian) washerman.

  Fruhstuck: (German) breakfast.

  Gott im Himmel: (German) expletive. God in Heaven.

  Guten morgen: (German) Good morning.

  Hadjana: title given to a female who has made the pilgrimage.

  Hadj: pilgrimage to Mecca.

  Hadji: title given to a male who has made the pilgrimage.

  Harijans: (Indian) Children of God. An expression used by Ghandhi to replace the term untouchables.

  Hati: type of Indian bread.

  Hausfrau: (German) housewife.

  Istophan: Chinese convict vessel which had sunk and been refloated to serve the lucrative pilgrim trade.

  Juma: Moslem holy day of rest.

  Khansama: (Indian) person associated with food preparation and presentation.

  Knockenbrot: type of German bread.

  Kolis: original inhabitants of Bombay who made their living from fishing.

  La Ilaha illa Allah Mahommed Rasul Allah: There is no god but Allah and Mahommed is His Prophet.

  Labbayyak: Here I am in Thy presence.

  Masala: (Indian) a beverage made from milk and spices.

  Mein Gott: (German) expletive. My God.

  Messafa khana: (Indian) government rest house.

  Mon cheri: (French) term of endearment, my beloved. Mon cher, my dear.

  Moulvi: guide who instructs pilgrims on religious rites and behaviour.

  Mullah: a title of respect for one who is learned in, teaches or expounds the Moslem religious law.

  Mutawwif: agent assigned to each pilgrim or group, and responsible for accommodation and travel arrangements in the Holy Land.

  Mutter: (German) mother.

  Nacht: (German) night.

  Nimbu pani:(Indian) refreshing drink made from fresh limes.

  Pallus: end of sari which can be draped over head or shoulders.

  Purdah: screen hiding women from the sight of men or strangers, or the system of such seclusion.

  Salaam alaikum: Peace be with you.

  Shalwars: baggy trousers drawn into a band at the ankle.

  Shalwar kameez: outfit for women with narrow trousers and a long overshirt.

  Shiete: (German) insulting epithet intended to degrade.

  Tosher: a rat catcher (slang).

  Vater: (German) father.

  Yashmak: double veil worn by Moslem women in public.

  As a general rule foreign words have been italicised in the text if they do not appear in The Macquarie Dictionary.

  WORKS BY WINIFRED STEGER

  Copies of all manuscripts are held in the Winifred Steger Papers in the Mortlock Library, South Australia, with the exception of ‘Just Fish and Chips’ and ‘The Wilful Wanton’. These manuscripts appear to be missing, though there is a possibility that they may be under a different title. Copies of the three serials published by the Northern Argus (Clare) are in that newspaper’s archives.

  The dating of the manuscripts has been arrived at after reading the correspondence between Winifred Steger and Beatrice Davis, in the Angus & Robertson collection in the Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales.

  SERIALISED NOVELS

  ‘Jack’s Jane: The Story of a Farmer’s Wife Who Goes on Strike’

  ‘Four Rings on Her Fingers’

  ‘The Door that Loved’

  These were published in the Northern Argus (Clare), South Australia, from 1963–1967.

  AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL TRILOGY

  Always Bells: Life with Ali. Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1969; (reprinted in paperback as Life with Ali, Adelaide: Rigby, 1973) It was first serialised in the Register (South Australia) from 27 November 1928 to 22 January 1929 under the title of ‘Arabian Days: the Wanderings of Winifred the Washerwoman’. After publication in 1969 it was serialised in the Australian Women’s Weekly in two parts (24 September 1969 and 1 October 1969) under the title of ‘Always Bells’.

  ‘A King There Was’, 1974, unpublished.

  ‘Wandering Winnie’, or ‘After the Bells’, 1970, unpublished.

  UNPUBLISHED NOVELS

  ‘Lady Nama of the Wongas’, 1966 (first novel submitted to Angus & Robertson)

  ‘Just Fish and Chips’, 1968

  ‘The Wilful Wanton’, 1968

  ‘Grace Vance, Convict’, 1968

  ‘The Devil’s Pearl’, 1968

  ‘The Shah Valley’, 1969

  ‘The Sleepy Mountain’, a novel for children, 1969

  ‘The Golden Chariot: A Novel of a Miner’s Daughter’, or ‘Sally from Randy Creek’, n.d.

  ‘Mrs Biddy Malone’, or ‘Jumbo Valley’, 1972, rewritten as ‘The Irish Washerwoman’, n.d.

  ‘The Irish Dreamer’, 1974

  ‘The Magnolia Queen’, 1974, small section published under the title ‘Different Gods’, Ink No. 2, Hilarie Lindsay, ed. (Sydney, Society of Women Writers, 1977) p. 161–156

  UNPUBLISHED HALF-HOUR TV PLAYS

  ‘The Trial Marriage’

  ‘Remorse Too Late’

  ‘The Expectant Father’

  ‘House for Sale’

  ‘Ten Little Bottles’

  SHORT STORIES

  ‘Twice a Hundred Camels Had I’,

  ‘Sweet Wee Jimmy Jamesy’, published in two episodes, Senior Citizens’ News (South Australia), October 1972, December 1973

  ‘Ere’s One you Nebbe ‘Ad’, Senior Citizens’ News (South Australia), April 1974

  ‘The Panther’

  ‘Those Green Girls’

  ‘The Cleansing Fires’

  ‘Quiet Afternoon for His Reverence’

  ‘The Smell is not of Cinnamon’, or ‘Chad’s Arm’)

  ‘A Little Child Shall Lead Them’

  ‘Only One Egg’

  ‘Little Old Church’

  ‘Flowers that Bloom by Darwin Waters’, or ‘Two Bunches, Please’

  ‘Hold your Man’

  A CONVERSATION WITH HILARIE LINDSAY

  Q: Why did you choose Winifred Steger as the subject of your book?

  A: Because she was an outstanding woman. When I first heard her interviewed on television I was very impressed. I wanted to know more about her. The more I found out, the more I came to admire
her. And yet she had been forgotten. I wanted to restore her to her rightful place as a remarkable Australian woman pioneer.

  Q: What was so special about her?

  A: Her life was filled with adversity, yet she managed to rise above it. Winifred grew up in an era when women had few expectations outside marriage and children. Those who did not marry were referred to as ‘old maids’, often spending their life working in a lowly job in a factory or office, where they received less pay than their male counterparts. When they retired they had no financial security. If they wanted to borrow money to buy a house they had to be guaranteed by a male.

  Q: But Winifred was married. Surely that made a difference?

  A: Once a woman married, she became subservient to her husband. Despite her other qualifications, she was referred to in legal documents as ‘married woman’, and her occupation on the electoral roll as ‘domestic duties’. Other women were legally either widows or spinsters.

  Q: Was Winifred’s conversion to Islam a lifelong one?

  A: One of the most extraordinary aspects of Winifred Steger’s life was her conversion to Islam; however, with the end of her Moslem marriages she drifted away. But she was still proud of the title hadjana. It set her apart as a woman who had made the pilgrimage to Mecca: an unforgettable experience which added so much colour to her life and helped launch her literary career.

  The camel men have faded into history, but it was they who made it possible for the spread of the cattle and sheep industry into remote areas of Australia. Because they were different they were shunned by the predominately European settlers in Australia at the time. Many had wives and children in their own countries, who they continued to support. Others married women on the fringes of society, like Winifred. The men were kind husbands, but also kept their wives confined. They were not allowed to leave home unattended. They were expected to uphold the family honour. Most of the wives spent months alone in Ghan towns, while their husbands travelled with their camels.

  Although she had adopted the Moslem faith Winifred refused to be confined to the camel camp like the other wives, many of whom were Aboriginal. Years later she said that she had made a mistake ‘marrying out of my caste’.