Nuggets

By DAVID PHILLIPS

Be a part of the Gold Rushes to California and Australia in the 1850's. Join convicts as they are transported from England to a hostile, distant land. Tramp across outback Australia with a swag on your shoulder. Share a drink with a great and famous colonial author and poet or an overnight camp with a notorious murderer. Go to war against the Boer in South Africa. Fight horrendous bush fires and sail the oceans in search of the lustrous pearl.

Share some of the history in a series of stories where fiction is woven into the reality of a fledgling nation, Australia.

Every life has a value.

• Language: English
• Publisher: DavidRPhillips
• Release date: Dec 25, 2015
• ISBN: 9781524239503

DAVID PHILLIPS

David Phillips, FCPA (ret.) is in his mid-seventies and lives just out of Melbourne, Australia. He began writing in his early seventies and found an enjoyment in putting ideas together with research to come up with stories, often linked to historical events of interest. He finds writing a labour of love and spends time at the keyboard every day.

Book preview

SQUATTER

One

1789:

TOM

The streets were quiet in the south of London. As the rain was blown in drifts by a fitful wind, a young man was to be seen running on the sidewalk, a large bundle tucked under his right arm. He was pursued by two men, one old and losing ground, the other young and gaining. The bundle was slowing him but he clung to it as he tried to run faster. He knew that he was going to be caught by one of the chasers.

The bundle was two blankets he had taken from Marchant's Haberdashery. He had never stolen before but the sound of his kid sister's chattering teeth and cries of deep distress each night had driven him to take action to solve her misery. Little Meg was freezing with the cold and it tore at him and he could no longer stand to hear her crying in her pain. And now it appeared that he had failed as the footsteps behind him drew near.

Suddenly, he stopped, turned and confronted his pursuer.

My little sister is freezing to death.

The youth also stopped, hesitated. He also had a young sister.

Well, run then.

Thomas Benton looked at the youth, in a moment of despair.

Thanks.

He ran off into the night.

The older man called out.

Catch him, you little prick.

Can't. Got the stitch.

Bullshit. You're letting him go.

No. I'm not.

What?

I know him. I know where he lives.

***

The police came for him the next morning. They repossessed one blanket, all that Thomas claimed he'd taken. The other was well hidden. Thomas knew that he was in big trouble but at least his kid sister would be warmer on those freezing nights.

The police were sympathetic but they took him away and he would be charged with theft.

***

NETTY

Annette Lawrence spent her days huddled over a sewing machine in a squalid work room deep in the bowels of a decaying building in the back streets of London. She was one of fifty women employed by the despicable Arthur Wills, who found ways each day to cheat his workers out of some small amount of their piece work pay. Her life was a misery.

Wills prowled the floor of his dingy work room and the girls were in no position to avoid his groping hands, his sickly, rotten-toothed, lascivious grins at the pleasure he extracted from his random disgusting attacks.

Netty dreamed of escaping this life and of making pinafores and petticoats in her tiny family home and selling them from a little stall on the street-side. She had been saving materials from the waste bin and smuggling them home in her under-garments for some time and hand sewing them to make patch worked pieces of useable material. It was a way to try to keep her dream alive.

Wills was becoming more aggressive in his unwanted attentions and she knew that she must get out of his factory and away from him. She needed some lengths of material and better equipment before she could make her move and begin to work in her parent's house, itself a dingy and depressing place.

One day an opportunity presented. Mr Wills was out of the factory and the very items she would need were out at work stations. Terrified, she took up thread, material, scissors and a few other items and hid them in her under-garments. She headed home a nervous wreck, casting glances behind, certain of discovery. On reaching her home she immediately hid all the items from her mother and sister, both of whom would ask questions.

She ate with the family with a sense of relief. She was now almost ready to quit her service at Wills' work room and start sewing at home. Nevertheless, she was nervous when she attended the following day. She was called at once to the office of Arthur Wills.

I watched you steal goods from me last evening.

I didn't steal anything.

Netty's worst fears were now upon her.

I tricked you. I've seem you taking offcuts from the waste bin and I knew it was only a matter of time before you wanted more. I left those things out then made a show of leaving. But I stayed and I saw you take the material and scissors and so on.

Oh no! Oh, please!

Now, now. Don't start crying. You know what you've done and so do I. But we might be able to work something out to save you from going to jail. If you are really nice to me I won't tell the police what you did.

What do you mean, be really nice?

Well, you would come to me after the rest of the girls have gone home. You would take all your clothes off slowly putting on a sexy show for me of course. And then you would do whatever I wanted you to do. But at least you wouldn't be in jail, would you?

No. I couldn't. It wouldn't be.....

Wouldn't be what?

Proper. It wouldn't be proper.

Proper! You, a rotten little thief, telling me what's proper. You'll do what I damn well say or you'll go to jail. I'll give you proper! You stay back tonight then come in here and strip for me and damn well do a good job of it or else! Now go to your machine and sew!

Netty could not believe what she had done. She dreaded what would happen after work and cursed herself for having the idea that she could escape this man. Why? Why did I take those few things? What am I going to do? I can't do what he says, I won't. I can't go to anyone for help. I will have to plead with him to let me off and I'll bring the things back.

As her fellow workers began to leave she was in a terrible state. I could just go but then he'll call in the police. Why was I so stupid?

And just then Wills shuffled past her work station and reminded her that he would call in the police if she failed to come to his office before she left the premises.

Netty delayed as long as she could but eventually her fear of the police overrode her distaste of the man and she tentatively knocked on his office door.

Please do come in, my dear.

Come here and stand in front of me. That's right. Now, take off your jersey. Lovely. Now your blouse and your shift. Good. Now let me see those beautiful breasts of yours, and your bare legs and your.... Come on, now! Do as I say or I'll come and strip you myself and then you'll know what a man is, by god!

No! I cannot. I will not. It's disgusting. You are disgusting.

Come here now!

No!

Well, the police will be at your door tonight.

I'd rather the police than a disgusting old man like you!

She grabbed up the clothes she had shed and ran from the room covering herself as she ran to the door and out of the building.

Netty did not get one wink of sleep that night. She waited for the knock on the door by the police but they did not come. She dressed, her head aching, her mind slowly processing, bewildered. Perhaps Wills had changed his mind. Perhaps she still had a job. She decided to go to work and behave as she normally would.

The day went as usual until late in the day. Wills walked past her work station and hissed: You have one more chance. Tonight, after work!

She did not attend his office.

The police came during the evening. They took her to their station and found some of the stolen items hidden in her parents' house. She would be charged with theft and would remain on remand.

***

WILL

William Whitecross sat in his father's study, waiting. He had been commanded to appear but the pater was not yet in attendance to deal with whatever matter was to be dealt with. He was anxious because there were several situations that had not turned out too well for William lately, any of which might result in his father being extremely agitated.

Was he about to receive a lecture, an instruction or a request for an explanation? Whatever the resolution to that question, William was sure that the outcome was not going to be pleasant. He was unaware of which of his latest deeds had come to the ears of the father who took no interest in the son except when discipline was likely to be required.

Eventually his father appeared, dropped heavily in to the large chair behind the huge mahogany desk and beckoned William to be seated opposite.

You've really done it this time William, and now I really must do something about you and your inability to conform to the behaviour expected of members of our family. We have our standards to uphold and you are becoming a disgrace to us. We just can't have people talking about us behind our backs and sniggering and looking down their priggish noses at us. No. We won't have it!

Father, of what am I accused?

Surely, you must be well aware of the latest disgrace. You were discovered with Lizzie Tomkins, both bare-assed naked, as you deflowered the sweet young thing. Now I know that a young man wants to rut like a wild boar but, God Almighty son, did you have to do it with one of the Tomkins lasses and, further, get caught in the act. This is just too much for your mother and I'll have to deal with it.

I'll do anything to make amends, father.

No! No more chances, this is the end of it.

There was a long silence.

Australia!

It burst from the senior Whitecross as an exclamation, an inspiration.

What, father?

Australia. You are to be sent to Australia where I am sure you'll fit in well with the riff-raff we are sending there, and there you will have to make your life and make your mark.

But...

No buts. Australia! That's the ticket. You will be funded enough to arrive there with prospects but there will be no further financial assistance. Start making plans to leave at the earliest fleet sailings.

***

COURT

The settlers in Australia wanted more workers, and convicts at little or no cost suited them just fine. The hulks in England were full and rotten. The courts were transporting wrongdoers as the easiest way to deal with them, the line of least resistance. Past good behaviour counted for nothing.

The coincidences began on a cold morning in a south of London court house when, unknown each to the other, Annette Lawrence and Thomas Benton were both sentenced to serve seven year sentences in the penal colony of Sydney, Australia. They would leave in one month aboard the Scarborough, a ship of the Second Fleet.

***

WILL

William Whitecross had no option but to accept the decision of his father and, on undertaking a little research, had embraced the prospect. A hint of the wild frontier, a chance to make it on his own and finance from the pater were enough to fire up the lad. He arranged purchase of a ram and a dozen sheep, a breeding pair of pigs, a young bull and a cow along with other sundry items a man might need to set up a farm in a savage and undeveloped land. He made his arrangements and his passage with assistance from an agricultural group venturing to Australia on the Scarborough.

William believed that, by being one of the early arrivals in the colony, there would be a great opportunity for someone with energy and ambition.

***

When the Second Fleet set sail for Australia on that fateful morning, heading for a small and distant world in a very large country, there could be no foretelling the way the lives of some of those on board would be inter-twined.

***

Two

ELIZABETH

Elizabeth had married John Macarthur in 1788 and they had a son. Her husband was a strong-willed and difficult man to others but they were in love and she would go whither his life would take her. She was intelligent, educated and extremely competent. He had joined the New South Wales Corps in 1789 and they boarded the Neptune bound for Australia as part of the Second Fleet.

Her husband found difficulties with all aspects of the Neptune including the captain and officers of the ship and, following a stormy relationship, the couple and their son were transferred to the Scarborough at sea.

When Macarthur became ill, Elizabeth found herself nursing a sick child and an ailing husband. She asked the captain of the ship if she might have a little help and he, after consultation with his officers, assigned Netty Lawrence as her maid.

Elizabeth was well pleased with the lass and was most upset when she eventually heard Netty's story as to how she was on this ship as a transported convict.

***

TOM

He had been walking the deck in the convict section of the ship when he came upon the lass leaning on a rail and sobbing.

Hello there, miss. Anything I can do to help

No. It's just me. I can't face myself, being transported while that filthy ex-boss of mine gets away with groping every girl in his dirty little factory. I'm just as sad as I could be.

Well, look, we're all in the same boat, pardon the pun. We just have to hope for the best when we get to Australia. It might not be as bad as we think it will be.

I suppose you're right, but it's so terrible.

I'm Tom Benton. I got nicked for stealing a blanket so my kid sister wouldn't freeze at night.

I got caught taking some material and a few other things. I wanted to start sewing for myself, not that man Wills.

Well, we're both down as thieves and I suppose people will watch us when we get there. I want to get a job and earn a new reputation. I might stay in Australia, even see if I can bring my sister out eventually.

Really? You've thought that far ahead?

I think we all have to. England is a very hard place now and not likely to get any better in a hurry.

Interesting thought, Tom.

I'm glad we met. By the way, what's your name?

Oh. Sorry. I'm Netty Lawrence. Netty's short for Annette.

Nice to meet you, Netty.

And to meet you, Tom.

***

NETTY

She could see that Tom went out of his way to meet up with her each day following the first meeting and that he was a bit keen on her. This helped her feel quite a bit better about the enforced trip. At least she knew someone who was nice and who liked her and this did help her to feel a degree of hope such as Tom had expressed to her.

Then she was approached to assist Mrs Macarthur who turned out to be a very refined, educated and pleasant woman. Not so her husband. As she assisted Mrs Macarthur in looking after the child, the cabin and the husband it seemed that he never stopped complaining about one thing or another, but never about his wife or anything that she did.

She had found that he had been transferred with his family from the Neptune over continual arguments with the captain and his officers. Mrs Macarthur was very capable and Netty was there to help her when things got hectic. She was able to busy herself when not needed by sewing clothes for the child and mending any items that required attention. She looked after the boy child, took him for walks around the deck and they became quite attached.

Tom missed her, at first thinking that she was avoiding him, until she sent word that she had been sent up to general passage to assist a lady who had  a sick husband, a child who was not strong and who, further, was pregnant with another child due to be born at sea.

A bond began to strengthen between Netty and the boy's mother. Elizabeth was aghast at the flimsy reasons that led to the girl's transportation and had already taken steps to secure her employ on reaching Sydney. Netty was invaluable to her. Despite her lack of education, she was proficient and intelligent and Elizabeth was determined to have her as her maid on their arrival.

The baby was born. It was not a strong child. Despite extreme care and attention, the Macarthurs were to lose their first girl child before landing at Sydney cove. They were heartbroken at the loss and so was Netty, who shed tears for days afterward.

***

ELIZABETH

John Macarthur had quickly recovered and his strength of character returned. Together with that strength and the social acceptability of his wife the couple had ensured that Netty left the ship with them and was established at their temporary residence while Macarthur took up his position and made more permanent arrangements.

While Macarthur had busied himself within the New South Wales Corps, earning early riches through control of the rum trade within the Corps and making himself known as a bombast and a bully, his wife had become accepted at the highest levels of a fledgling society through her obvious breeding, intellect and charm.

John Macarthur had been granted one hundred acres of land in the Parramatta region to the west of the major population area. He set his convict staff to work to clear the land. Many with such grants did nothing to improve that which had been given and the acting Governor Grose granted him a further one hundred acres when he had shown that one half of his original acres had been cleared and was in cultivation. These occurrences were the forbear to an outstanding career as a man of the land and a leader in the pastoral industry of Australia.

His efforts had required the extensive use of convict labour and Netty had been able to mention Tom to her mistress. Elizabeth listened to her version of Tom's circumstances and, with a quiet word to her husband, ensured that Thomas Benton was placed at the farm as it was established. Tom was grateful to Netty as other jobs in the struggling colony were far from desirable and, whilst he was required to work hard, the general conditions were far better than he had been expecting.

This gave the two young convicts passing opportunities to get to know each other better and Elizabeth, who missed very little, was able to smile with contentment that they had the chance of some sort of a life, perhaps together one day, in a difficult yet promising land.

Elizabeth did not share the prevailing sentiments of her social group that this was just a passing inconvenience and the sooner back to England the better. She saw the opportunities her husband was addressing and was positive that a good life could be had in the colony. She intended to stay.

***

WILL

With letters of reference from his father and a number of influential friends of the family, William had received a grant of two hundred acres of land at Parramatta and not far from the place where Elizabeth Farm would become established a few years later. He had been obliged to prepare and cultivate a portion of the land agriculturally as the early administration of the colony concentrated on subsistence farming. He had some assistance in the form of convict labour but was not privy to the advantages of being a member of the Corps or a favourite of the Governor and his lackeys.

Will worked very hard to clear a section of the land and plant crops but his success was limited by his lack of knowledge of farming, the quality of the land itself, the poor standard of labour obtained and the poor quality of much of the seed available.

On the other hand, his stock management turned out to be a success and the natural increase in his animals, combined with a number of shrewd purchases he had been able to make following discussions with some of the immigrants who knew a bit about sheep and pig breeding, had benefited his operation nicely.

He had purchased a variety of animals in small quantities, some from a shipment from the Cape of Good Hope arranged by future Governor King, some from farmers in the colony, some from the ships that brought produce from India and China as part of the British trading agreements. He had built a herd of three rams and over one hundred sheep, a bull and five cows, a dozen pigs and had acquired three horses to enable monitoring of the property and the convict shepherds he had placed on outlying land as yet unoccupied by others.

The authorities forbade such illegal usage of land but were unable to monitor the outlying areas. Will had his shepherds move regularly in order to make discovery less likely and explanations more complex in the event of detection.

The grass on the land he had been granted was already inadequate to feed his small but growing flock and he dreamed of larger acreages to cope with the numbers he hoped to be able to maintain in the future. He kept the pigs and milking cows on his home paddock and purchased additional feed when necessary.

He had obtained some books on animal husbandry before undertaking the voyage and was experimenting with cross-breeding within the breeds at his disposal with some success. He had a slice of luck when some of the sheep acquired from the Cape turned out to be merinos, bred in Spain. This would be important when he began to understand the importance of wool to the colony and would figure prominently in his breeding programmes of the future.

When John Macarthur moved on to his land Will became aware that the ex-Corps member was well advanced in the husbandry of farm animals. He eventually succeeded in obtaining an audience (he would hardly have called it a meeting) with the man. Once Macarthur could see Will as a serious sheep man, he was prepared to talk and they exchanged ideas and agreed to meet occasionally to discuss trends in breeding.

Macarthur was also cross-breeding different strains of sheep and was interested in the results of the crosses that Will had achieved. The discussion encouraged Will to continue with his programs and to document all of his outcomes in detail.

He also continued to move his stock into areas outside the authorised county areas, moving from place to place so that his shepherds and stock would not be seen in one place for any length of time should they be discovered. He had to arm his shepherds with rifles to scare off any natives who might try to steal sheep and they were warned only to shoot in the air and not to kill.

Will had been fortunate to have taken on a convict labourer who had some knowledge of horticulture. Following discussions, he had placed orders for a variety of fruit trees from China and England and, over the years, would receive new stock for his growing orchard. He found that by collecting horse, cattle and sheep dung he was able to improve the productivity of the smaller sections of his property set aside for agriculture.

His ongoing income came from sales of milk, mutton, pork, potatoes, root vegetables and fruit. His real wealth came from the natural increase in the herds that were out of sight and tended by the convict shepherds who worked well for him because he treated them as well as he could and better than they expected.

***

NETTY

She loved being part of the style of life at Elizabeth Farm. Her mistress had such a wonderful nature and was always organised and always patient with her staff and her husband, a man who had no patience and was unrestrained in his efforts to improve the farm and in expecting everyone else to bow to his will.

She felt the hurt of the torrid times brought on by the husband in disputes with all and sundry in the colony. She also felt gratified in the way that her mistress was able to ride through these times and remain accepted by all of society in the colony and by all who knew her at all.

Whether sewing or setting table or bathing young children her life was a joy and she was so thankful that she had been chosen to help out during the difficulties at sea. Mrs Macarthur valued her and that was a blessing.

She was able to see Tom quite often and he was a good friend, perhaps more than just a friend. They were soulmates who had shared experience of the worst kind and, now, a sense of recovery. They were close because of this.

She had not experienced any ambition beyond that which she had at the present. She had no needs, no wants and no dissatisfactions. Netty was happy just as she was.

***

Three

1794:

Will was in Parramatta loading supplies into his wagon, having delivered a shipment of sheep and lambs to the government slaughter yard, when another wagon pulled in alongside. When he turned toward it he received several sharp surprises. Holding the reins was Mrs Macarthur, whom he had met just the once at Elizabeth Farm. Will did not know if she would remember him.

She smiled at him.

He doffed his hat.

Good day, Mrs Macarthur. I'm William Whitecross.

Hello William. Yes, you have had a few chats with my husband on his favourite subject, the sheep industry.

Yes, I have. He has been most helpful.

I believe it has been mutual, William, he thinks you have good ideas.

William coloured slightly at the compliment.

William, I'd like you to meet two people who are part of the life at our farm. This is Netty Lawrence.... Netty... meet William Whitecross.

Will did a double take. How pretty she was, how splendid.

I am very pleased to meet you Miss Lawrence.

And to meet you, Mr Whitecross.

She blushed. It was the first time her mistress had introduced her to anyone in the colony outside of the farm.

And William Whitecross, please say hello to Thomas Benton.

The men shook hands and murmured their hellos but there was feeling. Tom did not like Will's obvious pleasure at meeting Netty and Will immediately summed up Tom as the main competition should he wish to court Netty.

There were no daggers drawn but each knew to be aware of the other. Netty did not see any of this but Elizabeth saw it all so clearly. Now, see what you've done, you've seen to it that Netty has two admirers. Where will this lead in the months to come?

It came as no surprise that Will Whitecross became a regular visitor to Elizabeth Farm, sometimes with a gift of butter or cream, sometimes with a bag of fruit or vegetables, always calling on Mrs Macarthur but always hoping for a brief word or smile from Netty Lawrence.

Will was not without basic awareness and he had quickly deduced that the two young people he had met had to be convicts transported to the new colony and attached to Elizabeth Farm through, no doubt, the influence of the Macarthurs. He also had assessed that they were decent types who had been victims of the situation in England. He did not assess them as below him in any way and guessed them to be of a similar age to him.

He considered Netty an appropriate lass for him to court and Thomas a worthy opponent should they, as seemed likely, be rivals for her affection.

He did see Netty from time to time and she was pleasant to him and he did see Thomas and became quite impressed with him. Tom was involved with John Macarthur's breeding programmes and showed innate ability in the husbandry of the animals and of the flourishing orchard at the estate. Tom was not so impressed that Will was making it a habit to call every other week but they were on speaking terms and there was a degree of understanding between the two.

***

ELIZABETH

Whilst she was socially at home with the most accepted in society, including the snobbish frumps who were adopting station far exceeding their real value, Elizabeth was equally at home in and around the farm. She took the time to be aware of most of the operations by observing, by doing and by talking with the farm workers. Tom found her friendly and smart and enjoyed the fact that she would take the time to talk with him about his work on the farm.

She wrote to her family and friends in England with considerable enthusiasm about the farm, the colony, her friends and the people who worked for her and her husband.

Her family was growing as sons and daughters arrived regularly, keeping her and Netty busy. She was to lose another son but there were to be three more sons and three daughters as the years passed.

She knew that Netty and Thomas would become free once the term of their sentence was fulfilled and she wished that they would have the opportunity to prosper rather than just stay as servants either with her or someone else.

Tom would be set up as a pastoralist if that were to be his wish. She convinced her husband that they would be able to let him have a small amount of stock and assist him to purchase additional animals. They would lease him a small part of their land or arrange with another farmer not fully using his land for a term to enable him to get started.

Remarkably, Macarthur