To provide some explanation as to what might have happened I have drawn upon Irish courtship practices in the first half of the nineteenth century and imagined the sort of conversation that might have taken place between Martin Gill and Kinchela. My research of contemporary Irish abduction cases also encouraged me to assume that, like many other Irish fathers of this period, Martin Gill may have sought to match his daughter with a wealthy businessman as a solution to familial and financial shame. While Alexander Moore and Lewis Samuel both feature extensively in the deposition records associated with Martin Gill’s insolvency, and Samuel does occasionally demonstrate personality traits similar to those I have attributed to him, there is nothing to suggest that either man was engaged in any sort of marital machinations with Mary Ann. That is pure imagination on my behalf, but not, I think, entirely implausible. For readers who would like to learn more about how I used primary and secondary sources I have included both Notes and a Bibliography.
Rather than confess all my inventions and speculations, perhaps it is best to finish by saying something about why I wrote this book. I certainly loved Mary Ann’s defiant streak and her determination to pursue her romantic ambitions, come what may. I also admired her resilience and her capacity for reinvention. The ancestral connection provided a strong hook, although, I firmly believe that the differences between historical subjects and ourselves are as important as any elements we might have in common. It seems careless to project our sensibilities upon people whose actual peccadillos and particularities often prove more interesting than what we might like to assume about them.
Much as the personality of Mary Ann fascinated me it was the story that drew me on and in this I am reminded of the great power of narrative not only to heal and reveal but also subtly convey argument. If there is an argument to this book, it is that women were a vibrant part of the colonial world and that they often exercised astonishing influence as well as character and courage. The healing power of narrative relates to the act of retrieving Mary Ann from anonymity. Her story is one that reveals the complexities and contradictions of her age, and in so doing will, I hope, add depth and dimension not only to her world, but also to our own.
Glossary
barque: A sailing vessel with three or more masts.
Black Maria: An enclosed prison vehicle. During this period, it comprised a carriage and pair.
bone turner: A person who carves bone and ivory, typically into household items or toys. Most often a poor man’s trade.
bosky: A Regency term for being drunk.
bounty migrant: A free British immigrant whose passage was paid by the colonial government under the ‘bounty scheme’.
brig: A sailing vessel with two square-rigged masts.
Bright’s disease: A nineteenth-century term for kidney disease.
brown beaver: A brown felt top hat, made from beaver fur, worn by many British immigrants.
bully meat: Salt-cured canned or corned beef.
Cabbager: A nickname for a member of the lower orders, as they often wore a broad-brimmed, cheap hat made from cabbage-tree leaf that was considered better suited to the colonial climate than the brown beaver hats commonly worn in England. Also cabbage-tree hatter.
carpetbag: A travelling bag made of carpet, commonly oriental rug.
Chartism: A nineteenth-century working-class movement for political reform in Britain.
clipper: A fast sailing ship with three masts and a square rig.
cornstalk: Early nineteenth-century term originating in New South Wales for the native-born, due to the manner in which those born in Australia to free or convict stock grew rapidly, like cornstalks. Also currency lad or lass.
Cortess and Pisarro: Two Spanish explorers of the new world, more commonly known as Cortés and Pizarro.
currency lad or lass: The first Australian-born generation of Europeans; the term derives from the local currency issued by Governor Macquarie in Sydney in 1812. As the local pound depreciated against the sterling, the word ‘currency’ implied the inferiority of locally born Europeans. Also cornstalk.
cutter: A small, single-masted boat.
darg: The distinctive mark each convict etched into every stone brick they made to keep a tally of their work.
Drapers’ Purse: A horse-racing event funded by local drapers.
dusky warrior: A colonial term for an Aboriginal Australian.
Elysium: An ancient Greek notion of the afterlife repopularised in the nineteenth century.
emancipist: A convict who had served out their sentence or received a conditional or absolute pardon.
flashman: A colonial criminal or rogue (often an ex-convict).
greengage: A common green plum used in cooking and confectionery.
Gretna Green: A village in southern Scotland that became famous for runaway weddings in the late eighteenth century.
gunyio: An Aboriginal shelter made from bark and leaves, probably a derivative of gunyah. Also known as a humpy.
half-mount: An eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Irish term for Irish gentlemen who had lost their fortunes or position and were forced to borrow horses from wealthier associates.
Hibernian: Of Irish descent. From Hibernia, the Classical Latin name for Ireland.
honey-fall: A Regency term for good fortune.
horse bazaar: An auction house and stable specifically for horses.
Jenny Lind: A nineteenth-century drink named after a famous Swedish opera singer.
Jimmy Grant: Colonial nickname for an immigrant.
johnnycake: Cornmeal flatbread; also johnny bread or journey cake.
kanaka: Derogatory nineteenth-century term for a Pacific Islander, typically (but not exclusively) one employed in the colonies.
keeping a close hand: A card-game term that implies secrecy.
kerseymere: A fine-twilled woollen cloth popular for waistcoats in the Regency era.
Klaberjass: A German card game invented in the 1820s.
lackland: To be landless, typically referring to younger sons without an inheritance.
lag: A convict or ex-convict.
leatherjacket: A type of fish.
licensed victualler: A person who is licensed to sell alcohol and other provisions.
lighterman: A worker who operates a lighter, a type of flat-bottomed barge used to transfer goods from a large vessel to shore; also lighters.
loose tin: Slang for money, particularly loose coins.
lower orders: A nineteenth-century term for the poorest social groups in society.
madeira: Portuguese fortified white wine popular in the nineteenth century.
mechanic: A nineteenth-century term for a manual labourer.
middling sort: Middle classes, generally lower rather than upper; also middling set.
mutton-chop whiskers: Sideburns that are narrow near the ear and broad and rounded near the chin. Popular in the nineteenth century.
muzzle-loader: A gun that is loaded through its muzzle.
nabob: An Anglo-Indian term for a conspicuously wealthy man who made his fortune in ‘the Orient’ or ‘the Sub-Continent’. In the colonial context it referred to a similar class of men who made their fortune through corrupt practices and at the expense of others.
native-born: Another term for currency lads or lasses.
new chum: A colonial nickname for a newly arrived immigrant.
old gull: A dupe, fool or simpleton.
old hand: A term for an emancipist convict.
omnibus: An enclosed, horse-drawn, passenger-carrying vehicle.
phaeton: A sporty open carriage popular in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
play with a straight bat: A cricketing term that refers to a batsman playing with a vertical bat and means ‘honest or honourable behaviour’.
porter: A well-hopped beer that is brown in colour.
public assembly: Regency-period activity in a large room where middle to upper-classes socialised as part of match-maki
ng preparations.
Regency era: A period in the United Kingdom from 1811 to 1820 when King George III was unfit to rule so his son the Prince of Wales ruled by proxy as the Prince Regent.
Rockite: A follower of the Irish rebel Captain Rock.
rout: A crowded party, akin to a modern cocktail party.
salt junk: Salted beef or pork.
schooner: A sailing vessel with fore and aft sails on two or more masts.
scurvygrass: A perennial herb popular in Georgian gardens.
shandygaff: A beer mixed with a non-alcoholic beverage such as ginger beer.
snuff: A fine-ground tobacco commonly inhaled or sniffed into the nose; very popular with the upper classes in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Spanish dollar: The first distinct currency in Australia; made from a Spanish coin with the middle punched out and stamped with a sunburst. Also called a Holey dollar.
squireen: Like a half-mount, the squireen was an Irish country gentleman. He was often a young landowner, hence a squireen and not a squire.
sterling: Term for a free settler in New South Wales. Whereas currency alluded to the Australian-born and the children of convicts and emancipists, sterling became a synonym for the free, generally wealthier British immigrant, as it referred to the more valuable British money.
Swan Drop: A type of ammunition that differed from bullets and powder.
swizzler: A sort of colonial rum punch.
Sydney Duck: A derogatory term used in America to describe an Australian who went to California during the gold rush. It is likely this referred to the hard-wearing ‘duck frocks and trowsers’ worn by many colonial working-class immigrants.
tallow: A rendered form of beef and mutton fat used to make candles, soap, dip and grease.
ticket-of-leave: A document of parole issued to convicts, which allowed restricted freedoms. Emancipists were also known as ticket-of-leavers.
tilbury: A light, open, two-wheeled, horse-drawn carriage with or without a top.
tochmarca: An ancient form of Irish story concerned with illegal, illicit and unorthodox love.
tuppenny: Another name for twopence or tuppence.
turnkey: A prison guard or gaoler.
Twelfth Night cake: A Twelfth Night cake was made with dried fruits and spices. According to the author of Jane Austen’s Christmas, ‘these represented the exotic spices of the East and the gifts of the Wise men’. It was typically a large cake that was used for a number of festival games.
waddy: An Aboriginal hunting stick or war club. Also nulla nulla.
whaleboat: A long rowing boat with a prow at both ends, used for whaling.
Young Ireland movement: An Irish political and social movement that promoted independent Irish nationalism and led to the 1848 rebellion. Members were called Young Irelanders.
Acknowledgements
This book began as a PhD in 2007 and has benefitted from many crucial conversations as well as numerous acts of generosity. I must start by acknowledging the Writers Centre at the University of Melbourne. They had the good sense to pair me with a mentor, and I found in Jennifer Kloester a rare and wonderful spirit who genuinely champions others. Jen’s honesty and sheer life force have been crucial throughout the process of writing this book. In 2015 I was awarded a Hawke Fellowship from the Hawke Research Institute (HRI) at the University of South Australia. I truly appreciate the support of Anthony Elliott, Denise Meredyth and my colleagues at HRI. Those employed within archival institutions deserve due acknowledgement for all they do to preserve the sources with which we tell our stories. I am indebted to the NSW State Records, the Mitchell Library, the National Archives in Ireland and the British Library. A special thanks to Angus Trumble from the National Portrait Gallery for his prompt and personal assistance.
I am grateful to David Goodman and Joy Damousi, who supervised my PhD and taught me much about rigorous research. My fascination with colonial history began during my Masters and I thank my supervisors, Kate Darian-Smith and Michael Cathcart, for their past encouragement and ongoing friendship. I was extremely fortunate to have Alan Mayne as my Head of School when I was first employed at the University of South Australia. I treasure the friendship I share with him and his wonderful wife, Jude King. I have also had the good fortune to be mentored by Jo Cys and to enjoy the hearty collegiality of both Rosie Roberts and Stephen Atkinson.
In 2012 I had a conversation with Penny Russell that proved crucial to the way I conceived this book. Penny’s scholarship and exquisite prose is matched only by her professional generosity. Many other academics were also generous with their ideas and research. Peter Cochrane’s impressive 2006 Colonial Ambition has been close at hand for much of the last ten years. Jonathan Richards and I share a fascination for New Caledonia and his genial generosity was greatly appreciated. Likewise Cameron White shared his excellent unpublished article about the Sydney Ducks in San Francisco and in so doing demonstrated a degree of trust that deserves acknowledgement. The architectural historian Miles Lewis provided me with insights about Georgian architecture in Sydney while Babette Smith shared her experience with me at a crucial crossroad.
Family stories often only survive thanks to those who keep them alive. These are the people who hunt down records, restore old photographs and maintain contact with distant relatives. Annette Miller plays a crucial role in preserving the history of the Kinchela family and I am indebted to her for the time and resources she shared with me, including the portrait of John Kinchela, which has never been published before. Victor Miller was the first to track me down and he has maintained affable and informative contact with me throughout. He also introduced me to Alicen Miller who gave permission to publish the portrait of Anne Bourne. In my own family, Pat Cameron did some extensive early digging which got me off to a healthy start with the Gills.
For a book to be published you need a pitch and a publisher. Jen Kloester, Sybil Nolan and Emma Balazs offered considered feedback on my early pitches. Throughout the writing process I have enjoyed long skype conversations with Emma which have been vital to sustaining my spirit. My publisher at Allen & Unwin, Elizabeth Weiss, combines consummate professionalism with common sense. I appreciate her initial faith in me and the way she allowed the project to evolve. Angela Handley has been responsible for guiding the book to publication and has done so with good grace and creative flair. There have been a number of friends who have read drafts and offered advice. Emily Harms, also known as Gwennie, has a superb eye for detail and her comments ignited many creative sparks. Alecia Simmonds shared her sharp intellect and greatly appreciated enthusiasm just when it was most needed.
I underwent a period of profound personal change during the decade that I worked on this book. I was able to rise, phoenix-like from the ashes, because of the love and support I received. I would like to thank Bob Slater for the first glimmer of hope. Aviva Kipen and Philip Kreveld for a safe place to land, Karen Soo, Jane Freemantle, Jenny Holmes, Hartley Mitchell and Naomi Lawrence for their wisdom and insight. It was, however, Katrina Carling and her family, who endowed me with a new sense of possibility. I am particularly indebted to Katrina for her character and courage and, of course, that fantastic laugh.
My brother Tim has been a true travelling companion, offering practical support, as well as lots of laughs along the way. As I wrestled with questions of grammar and sought urgent answers to obscure questions my father was also a constant and loving presence. Then there is my darling Brye, from whom I have learnt so much about unconditional love. Thank you for our deep happiness. And finally, there is my mother, to whom this book is dedicated. My dear friend, you have been there from the beginning, always believing, always curious, always learning. Mary Ann’s story has given us both a world of conversations and a lifetime of memories and this book is, therefore, as much yours as it is mine.
Notes
These notes are included for readers who seek information about which parts of The Convict’s Daughter are factua
l and which are imagined.
Chapter One: High-Growing Fruit
The convict records for Martin Gill and the McCormick’s convict records provide this chapter with much of its detail. They are supplemented by shipping records, government and medical reports, and birth, baptism, marriage and death certificates. Colonial archives and newspapers detail the rise of the Gills. The Pitt Street hotel appears in newspapers, Sydney directories, maps and Joseph Fowles’ Sydney in 1848. Gill had a booth at the Royal Victoria theatre where The Currency Lass was performed. I quoted verbatim from this play but Mary Ann’s presence there is imagined, as is the vista from her bedroom window. All references to food come from newspaper advertisements and secondary sources.
Chapter Two: Decline and Fall
There are extensive primary sources for the Kinchelas. For Ireland, I referred to mayoral papers, land grants and local newspapers, while the West Indies is based on government documents supplemented by secondary sources. The Historical Records of Australia (HRA) and colonial newspapers contain much about Kinchela’s professional activities and debts. Mudie v Kinchela (1840) details can be gleaned from newspapers and legal documents. Family letters describe the various overland expeditions taken by the Kinchela brothers between 1838 and 1840, including the last expedition, which James led with cousin William Thornton. These letters hint at tensions with Thornton and a later obituary suggests that the party had ‘several smart brushes with the blacks’. The letters refer to James Butler’s liver damage and John Kinchela borrowing £4000 from his brother-in-law, Thomas Gore. I imagined Mary Ann’s first encounter with Kinchela, but he was staying at the Pitt Street hotel at the times indicated and the pair orchestrated regular ‘chance’ meetings.
Chapter Three: The All-Seductive James
The account of early Moreton Bay and Dundali come from newspapers and secondary sources. The Kinchela brothers purchased Hawkwood in 1845; it was in what is now the Upper Burnett Region and a place named Hawkwood still exists there. My research into Irish countrymen of Kinchela’s class led me to suggest that he was more comfortable with horses than women. In the Regina v Kinchela (1848) deposition Margaret insists she asked Kinchela to leave. The same deposition mentions that Martin Gill threatened his daughter with pistols and also threw furniture at her when she visited her grandparents’ farm.
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