10:00pm
My Dear Susannah;
Good God all mighty! Sam Smart has been shot in the head!
I have ordered out the Marines to try and capture the culprits.
Am going out to direct the operation. Will return later!
John
Sunday, 8 July 2018
Sunday, 18th March, 1838
I met today with John Oakden, who recently returned from an expedition to the River Murray, He travelled North to the Para River, then east through the valley called by Light "Lyndoch" and then on to the river.
Here he did excellent work, meeting with a group of natives, befriending them and exchanging gifts of food and spending time with a party of more than fifty of them. It is of interest to speculate whether these natives are of the same tribe as our local aboriginal population. Oakden suggests not, as they seemed to speak a different language and were expert in the use of river canoes, something we have not seen so much amongst the Adelaide tribe.
And speaking of the Natives, those brave hearts who were all for rounding up a gang of vigilantes and heading down to the Native camp to deal out some firm justice after the killing of Enoch Pegler the other week found themselves having to eat humble pie and like the taste this week.
Joe Lee, the wheelwright and an Africaine man went out with friends and the lot of them bent their elbows with a few jars right royally. "A few jars" did I say? Man alive! They got themselves completely Osmond Gillesed!
Staggering home they came to the challenge of the wooden bridge across the Torrens. The bridge is barely stable at the best of times, and the men were hardly stable at all. And of course they decided to do a few stunts, walking on the railings and such like. One thing led to another, skylarking led to rough and tumble and before long Joe Lee had fallen into the Torrens. In his inebriate state he soon disappeared below the water. Truth to tell, he was unlucky, as he had fallen in to one of the few ponds along the river deep enough for a man to drown in.
It took some time for the rest of his drunken friends to realise that something was wrong, but once the knowledge penetrated their skulls into their sozzled brains they sprang into action and promptly fell over again. One of them, either by inattention or design, ended up diving (or perhaps falling) into the pond as well. And while he might have intended to rescue Lee, the upshot was that he too was soon in need of rescue from a watery grave.
At this point a group of Aboriginal men appeared on the scene, took one look at the drunken incompetence of the white men and dived into the water, retrieving both the drunken rescuer and the lifeless body of Lee. Lee had only been, perhaps, ten minutes in the water, but it was long enough to end his life and no effort to revive him was successful.
Meanwhile, the natives went and got help and took the drunken men back to their camp where they sat them by the fire and got them warm.
So, last week the Natives were "vicious" and had "no respect for human life" and "were waiting for the chance to slit all our throats". This week they are out rescuing and nursing drunken ne'er-do-wells unable to walk themselves home safely. And will they get credit for it? Or will they still be spoken of as "murderous savages"? Sadly, I believe I may know the answer.
I had high hopes of the Injunction against Fisher and his land committee, hoping to see the half man half rabbit fall flat on his face. But the man who brought the action against him has gone soft and is offering conciliatory words and an olive branch to boot. And the name of this olive branch bearing soft hearted man? None other than my prospective son-in-law, Thomas Bewes Stangways.
For it was, indeed, he who brought the original action against Fisher before the courts. And now he seems set on saying "If Mr Fisher promises to do the right thing..." and "for the good of the Colony I have no doubt that he will see reason,,," and so on and so forth.
And of course Fisher has put on a look as pure as driven snow and said "Why of course I have nothing but the colonist's interests at heart" and "Of course I will do the right thing..." and so Strangways has taken him at his word and dropped the legal action.
Of course, Bewes Strangways is a dove amongst serpents and the biggest, nastiest snake of them all is that creeping. crawling thing, Mr. Fisher. He has put the innocent Strangways in a trance with his glittering, mesmeric eye and has convinced Strangways to eat of the forbidden fruit. He has promised Strangways not to be a naughty boy in the future and to do the right thing always. Of course, Strangways has believed him!
I predict that with days we will hear of some new disgrace performed by the Serpent Fisher.
Samuel Smart has been to see me. He discovered a message wrapped around a rock. It appears that someone was intending to throw it through his window. But on discovering that Smart's slab hut has no windows they waited until he came outside and then threw it at his hat. Since he was wearing his hat at the time is it just as well that they missed, but for all that, Sam Smart has the message.
It reads:
I assume from the poor grammer and spelling that we are dealing with an ignorant, uneducated labourer, probably Irish, given the lamentable handwriting. So either an ignorant, uneducated Irishman or possibly a capable, intelligent person who has been to an English school.
I asked Smart what he planned to do. He chuckled. "I do not know what I shall do.I do not yet know what I shall tell them. It will prove to be pretty close to the truth. What ever I do, when it's done I want people to say: "You cleaned this town up. You made it fit for women and children to live in." "
I reminded him that no-one actually seemed to be in danger and really all the thieves had done was steal a few trinkets.
He shook his head slowly. "First a few trinkets," he intoned, "then a few lives. These things have a way of getting bigger."
I gave him a troubled look. "Don't try to be a hero!" I said. "You don't have to be a hero, not for me!"
A brief smile passed across his lips.
"Sometimes, Governor, one can do good by being the right person in the wrong place."
And with that he turned and left.
Here he did excellent work, meeting with a group of natives, befriending them and exchanging gifts of food and spending time with a party of more than fifty of them. It is of interest to speculate whether these natives are of the same tribe as our local aboriginal population. Oakden suggests not, as they seemed to speak a different language and were expert in the use of river canoes, something we have not seen so much amongst the Adelaide tribe.
And speaking of the Natives, those brave hearts who were all for rounding up a gang of vigilantes and heading down to the Native camp to deal out some firm justice after the killing of Enoch Pegler the other week found themselves having to eat humble pie and like the taste this week.
Joe Lee, the wheelwright and an Africaine man went out with friends and the lot of them bent their elbows with a few jars right royally. "A few jars" did I say? Man alive! They got themselves completely Osmond Gillesed!
Staggering home they came to the challenge of the wooden bridge across the Torrens. The bridge is barely stable at the best of times, and the men were hardly stable at all. And of course they decided to do a few stunts, walking on the railings and such like. One thing led to another, skylarking led to rough and tumble and before long Joe Lee had fallen into the Torrens. In his inebriate state he soon disappeared below the water. Truth to tell, he was unlucky, as he had fallen in to one of the few ponds along the river deep enough for a man to drown in.
It took some time for the rest of his drunken friends to realise that something was wrong, but once the knowledge penetrated their skulls into their sozzled brains they sprang into action and promptly fell over again. One of them, either by inattention or design, ended up diving (or perhaps falling) into the pond as well. And while he might have intended to rescue Lee, the upshot was that he too was soon in need of rescue from a watery grave.
At this point a group of Aboriginal men appeared on the scene, took one look at the drunken incompetence of the white men and dived into the water, retrieving both the drunken rescuer and the lifeless body of Lee. Lee had only been, perhaps, ten minutes in the water, but it was long enough to end his life and no effort to revive him was successful.
Meanwhile, the natives went and got help and took the drunken men back to their camp where they sat them by the fire and got them warm.
So, last week the Natives were "vicious" and had "no respect for human life" and "were waiting for the chance to slit all our throats". This week they are out rescuing and nursing drunken ne'er-do-wells unable to walk themselves home safely. And will they get credit for it? Or will they still be spoken of as "murderous savages"? Sadly, I believe I may know the answer.
I had high hopes of the Injunction against Fisher and his land committee, hoping to see the half man half rabbit fall flat on his face. But the man who brought the action against him has gone soft and is offering conciliatory words and an olive branch to boot. And the name of this olive branch bearing soft hearted man? None other than my prospective son-in-law, Thomas Bewes Stangways.
For it was, indeed, he who brought the original action against Fisher before the courts. And now he seems set on saying "If Mr Fisher promises to do the right thing..." and "for the good of the Colony I have no doubt that he will see reason,,," and so on and so forth.
And of course Fisher has put on a look as pure as driven snow and said "Why of course I have nothing but the colonist's interests at heart" and "Of course I will do the right thing..." and so Strangways has taken him at his word and dropped the legal action.
Of course, Bewes Strangways is a dove amongst serpents and the biggest, nastiest snake of them all is that creeping. crawling thing, Mr. Fisher. He has put the innocent Strangways in a trance with his glittering, mesmeric eye and has convinced Strangways to eat of the forbidden fruit. He has promised Strangways not to be a naughty boy in the future and to do the right thing always. Of course, Strangways has believed him!
I predict that with days we will hear of some new disgrace performed by the Serpent Fisher.
Samuel Smart has been to see me. He discovered a message wrapped around a rock. It appears that someone was intending to throw it through his window. But on discovering that Smart's slab hut has no windows they waited until he came outside and then threw it at his hat. Since he was wearing his hat at the time is it just as well that they missed, but for all that, Sam Smart has the message.
It reads:
Stay away Smart. You is getting too cloze
I assume from the poor grammer and spelling that we are dealing with an ignorant, uneducated labourer, probably Irish, given the lamentable handwriting. So either an ignorant, uneducated Irishman or possibly a capable, intelligent person who has been to an English school.
I asked Smart what he planned to do. He chuckled. "I do not know what I shall do.I do not yet know what I shall tell them. It will prove to be pretty close to the truth. What ever I do, when it's done I want people to say: "You cleaned this town up. You made it fit for women and children to live in." "
I reminded him that no-one actually seemed to be in danger and really all the thieves had done was steal a few trinkets.
He shook his head slowly. "First a few trinkets," he intoned, "then a few lives. These things have a way of getting bigger."
I gave him a troubled look. "Don't try to be a hero!" I said. "You don't have to be a hero, not for me!"
A brief smile passed across his lips.
"Sometimes, Governor, one can do good by being the right person in the wrong place."
And with that he turned and left.
Ah, gives a person a good feeling knowing he's out there doing his job. While he's out there, he's not in here with me.
Friday, 6 July 2018
Sunday, 11th March, 1838
Well, Mr. Fisher has received a fair belting this last week. A blow like a boot to the dangly bits.
He appeared in the Supreme Court in order to persuade the Judge Trickling Jicking to sanction a departure from the instructions of the Commissioners by means of the sharp dealing that Milner Stephen has already granted an injunction against.
He stood in court and waffled on with all the same legal precision and expertise that left him a laughing stock in Sammy Stephens's attempted murder trial.
He carried on huffing and puffing and moved for the "immediate dissolution of the injunction" in the apparent belief that using long and impressive words was nine tenths of the law. All the old chestnuts were wheeled out including, I am told, Portia on "The Quality of Mercy" and Iago's "Who steals my purse steals trash". The only way it could have been more ludicrous is if when Fisher intoned "The quality of mercy is not strained" the court called back "Oh yes it is!" so that Fisher could reply like Mr Punch "Oh no it isn't!" "Oh yes it is!"
But perhaps he reached his apotheosis when he declared, in ringing tones, that "Public lands have been surveyed to an extent of above 100,000 acres." Members of the surveying party were in the gallery and I am told that the look on their faces when they heard how much land Fisher was sure they had surveyed was a picture!
It is in the nature of the job of surveying that the surveyor has a pretty clear idea of how much land he has surveyed. That's rather the point of the exercise. And to see them in court open mouthed in wonder or sniggering gives a pretty good idea of exactly what Mr. Fisher's declaration is worth.
Perhaps Finniss stood on the summit of Mt Lofty and looked across the plains and said "That must be damned near 100,000 acres", but that's about as much surveying as I'm prepared to accept.
And when Fisher, of all people, gravely intoned "persons making a statement to the courts should be very careful that they are only stating the truth." it wasn't just the survey party who were open mouthed. Even Fisher's own supporters found it difficult to suppress their gasps of wonder and amazement that their leader, who couldn't lie straight in bed, should make such a statement and expect it to be given credence coming from his lips.
You do have to admire Fisher for the extent of the bare faced effrontery he brings to the courts. This a world beating level of impudence. Single handedly Fisher has thrust the Colony into the forefront of liars everywhere.
Fortunately even so fluff brained a Judge as Henry Jickling seems to have, for a wonder, sided with common sense and confirmed the injunction and denied Fisher his desired sanction.
Fisher has, of course, been muttering about "dark forces arrayed against him",but so far as I can see the only thing against him is himself.
Terrible news this week as it became known that one of the Colonists has been speared and killed by an Aboriginal native.
Last Friday William Williams was down at the Company Store when he was told that a man had been found dead on the other side of the river. Williams, who still fancies himself as a Policeman, despite an experience on the beat where a whistle was forcibly shoved where the sun doesn't shine, started asking all and sundry and was told that the man had indeed been murdered - speared by two natives called William and George. Of course no-one knew who William and George were, or even if they really existed, but what we did know was that Enoch Pegler lay dead with two spear wounds in his chest.
I did not know Pegler as he arrived in the Colony as a labourer only last December and here were are in March and he is dead!
At the Inquest on Friday and Yesterday it became clear that Pegler went down to the Aboriginal Campsite on Thursday Night to watch their singing and dancing. his has become something of a regular pastime amongst the settlers and the Natives have welcomed them with open arms, on the understanding that the Settlers are the guests of the natives and expected to behave as such.
Pegler, it seems, did not behave as such. He generally made a nuisance of himself, got himself drunk, tried to make free with the Native women and, when the Natives made it clear that he was no longer welcome, refused to leave and tried, once more, to sit amongst the womenfolk. When the dancing was over, the Natives once more invited him to leave and he staggered off a short distance before lying down on the ground and going to sleep.
At some time during the night he was speared through the heart and killed.I have heard talk that he was killed in retaliation for the killing of native dogs. (and did I not say that there would be trouble because of that practice?) It may be that Pegler was involved in the killing of dogs or no, but he has certainly paid the price for it. And his outrageous and drunken actions towards the women of the camp cannot have endeared himself to the Native men.
The result was that by the morning Pegler was dead, speared twice through the heart. And a group of natives, it is said the same William and George, whoever they might be, hurled a spear or two at Cpt Burns of the Giraffe as he travelled up from the Port. Whoever our spear throwers may be (and several of the natives who speak some English have been quick to suggest that they were men of the Tribe that live at the Head of the Gulph) they have disappeared and tomorrow I expect the Coroner to bring in a verdict of "murder by persons unknown".
Of course there has been talk around the town that us colonists should be heading down to the native camp and taking our revenge, that we should "teach them a lesson" to make sure this doesn't happen again. Well, this just will not do.
Before we left London a couple of years ago there was a dinner held in my honour and plenty of speeches were made about the hopes for the new colony. The speeches were written up and published and I dug out my copy. Because one speech sticks in my mind. A man named Higgins, the Secretary of "The Society for the Protection and Benefit of the Aborigines of the British Colonies" said this:
Well, not if I have any say in the matter. And, as it happens, since I am the Queen's Representative I do have a say in the matter. So Yesterday I had a Proclamation circulated about the town. It reads:
PROCLAMATION
Not surprisingly this has not gone over well. Not because I am stopping the bully boys forming a gang and going out to extract rough justice, by rather because I refer to "certain colonists" and Fisher is convinced I am referring slightingly to him. No doubt he will threaten legal action in due course.
To mollify the crowds I also had the following promulgated.
He appeared in the Supreme Court in order to persuade the Judge Trickling Jicking to sanction a departure from the instructions of the Commissioners by means of the sharp dealing that Milner Stephen has already granted an injunction against.
He stood in court and waffled on with all the same legal precision and expertise that left him a laughing stock in Sammy Stephens's attempted murder trial.
He carried on huffing and puffing and moved for the "immediate dissolution of the injunction" in the apparent belief that using long and impressive words was nine tenths of the law. All the old chestnuts were wheeled out including, I am told, Portia on "The Quality of Mercy" and Iago's "Who steals my purse steals trash". The only way it could have been more ludicrous is if when Fisher intoned "The quality of mercy is not strained" the court called back "Oh yes it is!" so that Fisher could reply like Mr Punch "Oh no it isn't!" "Oh yes it is!"
But perhaps he reached his apotheosis when he declared, in ringing tones, that "Public lands have been surveyed to an extent of above 100,000 acres." Members of the surveying party were in the gallery and I am told that the look on their faces when they heard how much land Fisher was sure they had surveyed was a picture!
It is in the nature of the job of surveying that the surveyor has a pretty clear idea of how much land he has surveyed. That's rather the point of the exercise. And to see them in court open mouthed in wonder or sniggering gives a pretty good idea of exactly what Mr. Fisher's declaration is worth.
Perhaps Finniss stood on the summit of Mt Lofty and looked across the plains and said "That must be damned near 100,000 acres", but that's about as much surveying as I'm prepared to accept.
And when Fisher, of all people, gravely intoned "persons making a statement to the courts should be very careful that they are only stating the truth." it wasn't just the survey party who were open mouthed. Even Fisher's own supporters found it difficult to suppress their gasps of wonder and amazement that their leader, who couldn't lie straight in bed, should make such a statement and expect it to be given credence coming from his lips.
You do have to admire Fisher for the extent of the bare faced effrontery he brings to the courts. This a world beating level of impudence. Single handedly Fisher has thrust the Colony into the forefront of liars everywhere.
Fortunately even so fluff brained a Judge as Henry Jickling seems to have, for a wonder, sided with common sense and confirmed the injunction and denied Fisher his desired sanction.
Fisher has, of course, been muttering about "dark forces arrayed against him",but so far as I can see the only thing against him is himself.
Terrible news this week as it became known that one of the Colonists has been speared and killed by an Aboriginal native.
Last Friday William Williams was down at the Company Store when he was told that a man had been found dead on the other side of the river. Williams, who still fancies himself as a Policeman, despite an experience on the beat where a whistle was forcibly shoved where the sun doesn't shine, started asking all and sundry and was told that the man had indeed been murdered - speared by two natives called William and George. Of course no-one knew who William and George were, or even if they really existed, but what we did know was that Enoch Pegler lay dead with two spear wounds in his chest.
I did not know Pegler as he arrived in the Colony as a labourer only last December and here were are in March and he is dead!
At the Inquest on Friday and Yesterday it became clear that Pegler went down to the Aboriginal Campsite on Thursday Night to watch their singing and dancing. his has become something of a regular pastime amongst the settlers and the Natives have welcomed them with open arms, on the understanding that the Settlers are the guests of the natives and expected to behave as such.
Pegler, it seems, did not behave as such. He generally made a nuisance of himself, got himself drunk, tried to make free with the Native women and, when the Natives made it clear that he was no longer welcome, refused to leave and tried, once more, to sit amongst the womenfolk. When the dancing was over, the Natives once more invited him to leave and he staggered off a short distance before lying down on the ground and going to sleep.
At some time during the night he was speared through the heart and killed.I have heard talk that he was killed in retaliation for the killing of native dogs. (and did I not say that there would be trouble because of that practice?) It may be that Pegler was involved in the killing of dogs or no, but he has certainly paid the price for it. And his outrageous and drunken actions towards the women of the camp cannot have endeared himself to the Native men.
The result was that by the morning Pegler was dead, speared twice through the heart. And a group of natives, it is said the same William and George, whoever they might be, hurled a spear or two at Cpt Burns of the Giraffe as he travelled up from the Port. Whoever our spear throwers may be (and several of the natives who speak some English have been quick to suggest that they were men of the Tribe that live at the Head of the Gulph) they have disappeared and tomorrow I expect the Coroner to bring in a verdict of "murder by persons unknown".
Of course there has been talk around the town that us colonists should be heading down to the native camp and taking our revenge, that we should "teach them a lesson" to make sure this doesn't happen again. Well, this just will not do.
Before we left London a couple of years ago there was a dinner held in my honour and plenty of speeches were made about the hopes for the new colony. The speeches were written up and published and I dug out my copy. Because one speech sticks in my mind. A man named Higgins, the Secretary of "The Society for the Protection and Benefit of the Aborigines of the British Colonies" said this:
The history of colonization is a history of the operations of the worst passions of the human heart: every page is the record of some atrocious crime; oppression and bloodshed have almost universally attended the progress of colonization in ancient and in modern times. ... A spirit of retaliation,on the part of both settlers and aborigines, has thus been excited, so violent, that a deadly feud commonly exists between them, and death is the almost certain fate of a straggler from either party.
Well, not if I have any say in the matter. And, as it happens, since I am the Queen's Representative I do have a say in the matter. So Yesterday I had a Proclamation circulated about the town. It reads:
PROCLAMATION
By His Excellency John Hindmarsh, Knight of the Royal Hanoverian Guelpuie Order, Captain in the Royal Navy, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Her Majesty's Province of South Australia.
WHEREAS I have heard with painful regret that an inquest was held yesterday on the body of a man who it is strongly suspected has been murdered by one of the Aborigines, and likewise that a person was yesterday speared by another of them : And whereas there is reason to believe, after the long and friendly intercourse that has subsisted between the Colonists and the Aborigines, that these outrages have been induced by some previous aggression on the part of certain colonists, at present unknown: Now, therefore, I, the Governor, do strictly command and warn all her Majesty's subjects within this Province to abstain from any hostile measures whatever against the said Aborigines; and especially not to use or threaten to use fire arms; but to remember at all times, that the native population are under equal protection of the laws, and are to be regarded and treated, and are liable to the same punishment in all respects, as her Majesty's other subjects. The advantages which may be derived by treating the Aborigines with kindness, notwithstanding what has recently occurred, must be evident; for, by retaliating injuries with a race of beings who never discriminate when seeking revenge, the unoffending may suffer for the wrong-doer. But I, the Governor, will nevertheless adopt every measure, and afford the Colonists all the protection in my power to preserve their lives and properties : and the Colonists may therefore repose with confidence in the exertions and pro-tection of her Majesty's Government.
Given under my Hand and Seal of the Province aforesaid, at Government House, Adelaide,
this Tenth Day of March, A.D.
One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-eight.
J. HINDMARSH, Governor.
By His Excellency's command,
T. B. STRANGWAYS,
Colonial Secretary pro tem.
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN.
Not surprisingly this has not gone over well. Not because I am stopping the bully boys forming a gang and going out to extract rough justice, by rather because I refer to "certain colonists" and Fisher is convinced I am referring slightingly to him. No doubt he will threaten legal action in due course.
To mollify the crowds I also had the following promulgated.
NOTICE.
IN reference to the Proclamation this day issued by the Governor, I am commanded by his Excellency to request, with a view to prevent unnecessary collision with the Aborigines, that the Colonists will, in every instance of an Aborigine committing a fault or any act of impropriety, report the circumstance to William Wyatt, Esq., the Protector of the Aborigines, or to Mr. James Cronk, the Interpreter; in order that measures may be taken to prevent repetitions of such conduct, by an uniform system of punishment.
And his Excellency hopes that, for the general good, no such conduct will in any case be over, looked; but that, nevertheless, the Colonists will never attempt themselves to punish the offence, even though by the slightest chastisement.
T. B. STRANGWAYS.
Colonial Secretary pro tem.
Colonial Secretary's Office,
Adelaide, March 10, 1838.
Let them stick that in their pipes and smoke it.
Thursday, 17 May 2018
Sunday, 4th March 1838
Last week the Widow Harvey, Poisoner to the Gentry, managed to get her hands on Young Bingham Hutchinson's giant melon.
She assured me that she would make something memorable out of it. Well, she came through in Spades, because the meal she prepared will live long in the annals of culinary infamy.
She grated the thing, mixed it with flour, water and what she decribed as "secret ingredients" and fried the resulting mess as fritters. It was, she told me, "mock fish".
Exactly what terrible offence the innocent piscene denizens of Neptune's deep have given to deserve such cruel mockery I do not know, but it seems both needlessly harsh and undeserved.
Mock fish? We went well beyond the realms of mockery and seemed to reach savage satire. I could only slowly shake my head at the inhumanity of it all.
Then I nearly broke a tooth on something sharp and hard. It appears that Lucrezia the mad poisoner had not bothered to remove the skin from the gourd before cooking it. I questioned her about it and she said that she had done it that way deliberately. "The skin is where the goodness is!" she told me.
Clearly the woman has a different view from most as to what constitutes "goodness".
Dear Lord! We have met the new Advocate-General, Mr George Milner Stephen. In fact we seem to have become infested with the new Advocate-General, who seems to treat Government House as his personal pied a terre. As a result I find him everywhere I look and between him and Widow Harvey's brat of a child I can say that the foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Governor of South Australia hath not where to lay his head.
Other than a talent for drawing and playing the flute and the guitar I see nothing else that might recommend Mr Milner Stephen as a legal talent. He, however, seems to think that he is the finest legal mind since Blackstone himself. Well, I admire his confidence, but remain to be convinced that his high opinion of himself is grounded in some semblance of reality.
I note that he is adept at charming the womenfolk. He has smarmed all over Mrs Hindmarsh, which suggests some strength of character, but also seems to wish to work his charms on my daughters as well. Well, we shall see.
I did feel sorry for the man when he was introduced to the delights of South Australian politicking when Mr Fisher's fiddling blew up in his face.
After the meeting Fisher held without notice a week or so ago, where he attempted to influence the selection of land to his own and his cronies' advantage, a group of colonists went before the courts and had an injunction granted them by Milner Stephen halting Fisher's plans.
Fisher has been getting about the place saying that there was no legal action against him which is a remarkable claim given that there clearly was one. And in fact, Milner Stephen has show remarkable fortitude by replying to Fisher that "There WAS a legal action against you because I granted it!"
There was a degree of Fisherite huffing and puffing when Milner Stephen dropped some very dark hints about Contempt of Court and what might happen to a man bound over to keep the peace who did not keep to the terms of the injunction granted by the Court.
Fisher has since changed his tune to be "There was no Injunction against Mr Fisher. The injunction was granted against the actions of the Land Committe." which is a nice distinction, given that Fisher formed the Committe, chaired the meetings and stacked the membership with people who would vote as he directed.
I swear the man is making it up as he goes along.
I have a reasonable swathe of land and, as a private land owner, wrote to FIsher asking for assurances that the value of my land would not be decreased by his actions. Well, if it gave Mr Fisher a few moments discomfort then it brightened my day.
Instead Fisher is now claiming that I am, as Governor, interfering in the proper workings of the Commissioner's business and that the Crown (meaning me) has no right to expect an answer.
Well, that seems rich! The number of times I issued a Proclamation and had Fisher declare it none of his business and hence not Government business! And now, when I enquire AS A PRIVATE CITIZEN he starts sqealing like a stuck pig about interference.
The man is out of control and I cannot help but feel that one of us will have to go!
She assured me that she would make something memorable out of it. Well, she came through in Spades, because the meal she prepared will live long in the annals of culinary infamy.
She grated the thing, mixed it with flour, water and what she decribed as "secret ingredients" and fried the resulting mess as fritters. It was, she told me, "mock fish".
Exactly what terrible offence the innocent piscene denizens of Neptune's deep have given to deserve such cruel mockery I do not know, but it seems both needlessly harsh and undeserved.
Mock fish? We went well beyond the realms of mockery and seemed to reach savage satire. I could only slowly shake my head at the inhumanity of it all.
Then I nearly broke a tooth on something sharp and hard. It appears that Lucrezia the mad poisoner had not bothered to remove the skin from the gourd before cooking it. I questioned her about it and she said that she had done it that way deliberately. "The skin is where the goodness is!" she told me.
Clearly the woman has a different view from most as to what constitutes "goodness".
Dear Lord! We have met the new Advocate-General, Mr George Milner Stephen. In fact we seem to have become infested with the new Advocate-General, who seems to treat Government House as his personal pied a terre. As a result I find him everywhere I look and between him and Widow Harvey's brat of a child I can say that the foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Governor of South Australia hath not where to lay his head.
Other than a talent for drawing and playing the flute and the guitar I see nothing else that might recommend Mr Milner Stephen as a legal talent. He, however, seems to think that he is the finest legal mind since Blackstone himself. Well, I admire his confidence, but remain to be convinced that his high opinion of himself is grounded in some semblance of reality.
I note that he is adept at charming the womenfolk. He has smarmed all over Mrs Hindmarsh, which suggests some strength of character, but also seems to wish to work his charms on my daughters as well. Well, we shall see.
I did feel sorry for the man when he was introduced to the delights of South Australian politicking when Mr Fisher's fiddling blew up in his face.
After the meeting Fisher held without notice a week or so ago, where he attempted to influence the selection of land to his own and his cronies' advantage, a group of colonists went before the courts and had an injunction granted them by Milner Stephen halting Fisher's plans.
Fisher has been getting about the place saying that there was no legal action against him which is a remarkable claim given that there clearly was one. And in fact, Milner Stephen has show remarkable fortitude by replying to Fisher that "There WAS a legal action against you because I granted it!"
There was a degree of Fisherite huffing and puffing when Milner Stephen dropped some very dark hints about Contempt of Court and what might happen to a man bound over to keep the peace who did not keep to the terms of the injunction granted by the Court.
Fisher has since changed his tune to be "There was no Injunction against Mr Fisher. The injunction was granted against the actions of the Land Committe." which is a nice distinction, given that Fisher formed the Committe, chaired the meetings and stacked the membership with people who would vote as he directed.
I swear the man is making it up as he goes along.
I have a reasonable swathe of land and, as a private land owner, wrote to FIsher asking for assurances that the value of my land would not be decreased by his actions. Well, if it gave Mr Fisher a few moments discomfort then it brightened my day.
Instead Fisher is now claiming that I am, as Governor, interfering in the proper workings of the Commissioner's business and that the Crown (meaning me) has no right to expect an answer.
Well, that seems rich! The number of times I issued a Proclamation and had Fisher declare it none of his business and hence not Government business! And now, when I enquire AS A PRIVATE CITIZEN he starts sqealing like a stuck pig about interference.
The man is out of control and I cannot help but feel that one of us will have to go!
Monday, 14 May 2018
Sunday 25th February,1838
Mountaineer, explorer and the Kiss of Death to Judges, Young Bingham Hutchinson has added yet another string to his bow, namely that of champion melon grower.
It appears that a melon was picked in Hutchison's garden that weighed 18 pound and was 29 and a half inches long and 33 inches in circumference. Hutchinson has, inevitably, been bragging about the town, saying that no man in the colony has grown one has big as his.
It appears that a melon was picked in Hutchison's garden that weighed 18 pound and was 29 and a half inches long and 33 inches in circumference. Hutchinson has, inevitably, been bragging about the town, saying that no man in the colony has grown one has big as his.
My sister Anne seemed quite deflated when she learned he was referring to a melon.
Damn fool woman! "What else did you think it would be?" I asked her, but it appears that she has hold of the wrong end of the stick.
He presented it to the Widow Harvey, who has promised to "prepare something delicate with it", a promise which does not fill me with confidence.
He presented it to the Widow Harvey, who has promised to "prepare something delicate with it", a promise which does not fill me with confidence.
Hutchinson himself has been pointing out to all who will listen, or even give the appearance of being about to do so, that this gargantuan gourd was raised without the application of manure. Personally, I cannot help but feel that the air round Hutchinson's house is so thick with braggadaccio that it does the job of manure of the richest kind.
This dashing individual was brought up before the court earlier this month having challenged Fisher to a duel.
At the beginning of February, in the "Gazette" yet another letter from "A Colonist" was published suggesting that when it came to the Company accounts Fisher was fiddling like Nero over the burning Rome. The last time "A Colonist" published Fisher threatened all and sundry with every form of legal action from slander to breach of promise.
This time "A Colonist" has outdone themselves with a series of questions for Mr Fisher. I attach a cutting from the newspaper below.
So Hutchinson, of whom it may be said that he gives his all to a cause, no matter how stupid it may make him look, took it into his head to resign as Emigration Agent in order to be under no obligation to Fisher and also, as he said, so that he would be able to deal with him man to man and not as Superior to Employee.
That being done he then fired off a letter to Fisher telling him he was no gentleman and not to be trusted and that Hutchinson would be happy to meet with Fisher at a place of his choosing if Fisher wished to have satisfaction for the insult.
Well Hutchinsion might have seen himself as some eighteenth century gay blade, duelling with rapiers at dawn, but Fisher was having none of it. To be honest I see his point. Having chaps wandering the town using other chaps as pin cushions is not what I want for the Colony. I want to see the back of Fisher as much as the next man but I have to draw the line somewhere and having him perforated seems a step too far. Anyway, he leapt in action by forwarding the letter to me and demanding that Hutchinson be dealt with by the law.
Well, Henry Wrigley is the Resident Magistrate and this seemed to be a good chance for him to earn his keep. Accordingly I sent the Marines around to invite Fisher and Hutchinson to appear at Government House at heir earliest convenience. Well, my earliest convenience really, as they were on my doorstep within the hour.
Wrigley heard their stories and promptly called upon the two of them to enter into recognizances of £lOOO each and two sureties in £500 each to keep the peace towards each other and all her Majesty's subjects for twelve months from this date.
"Fat chance" I would suggest. I give it a few weeks before one or the other of them takes some offence and it will, once again, be on for young and old.
And sure enough almost immediately word came to me of yet another of Fisher's cheats.
On Tuesday last Fisher called a meeting of Preliminary Landholders - those entitled to selections of land once the survey is finally completed. Of course he did not bother to advertise such a meeting to the general public - there was no announcement of the thing in the Gazette - and his intention was clear. The meeting was called to decide upon the order of selections. Obviously Fisher and his cronies hoped to force others to make their selections first, since, with the Durvey still not finished only the lands close in to the town would be available to select. Then, once the rich lands along the Murray and the Southern Lakes were surveyed Fisher and friends would be abe to say "Oh, is no-one else left to have this land? Oh well, I suppose I must have it!"
The man has no scruples to speak of. I am tempted to let Hutchinson loose on him after all.
I suggested to Sam Smart that the recent silence from the Van Diemonian Crime Gang might be evidence that the recent crime wave had ended.
"Ah no!" he said. "If they are quiet then they are planning something. And I think we might expect it to be something big!"
I wish I had never thought to employ the man.
At the beginning of February, in the "Gazette" yet another letter from "A Colonist" was published suggesting that when it came to the Company accounts Fisher was fiddling like Nero over the burning Rome. The last time "A Colonist" published Fisher threatened all and sundry with every form of legal action from slander to breach of promise.
This time "A Colonist" has outdone themselves with a series of questions for Mr Fisher. I attach a cutting from the newspaper below.
Is it true that the whole expense of bringing up the emigrants' baggage to Adelaide from Glenelg and the Port has been paid by Mr. Resident Commissioner Fisher on public account?
That no public tender or contract has been made, but that his sons, Messrs, Fisher Brothers, have been employed as the carriers to the total exclusion of the colonists generally?
Is it true that the Colonial Treasurer has refused Mr. Fisher's order to pay Mr. ex-Emigration Agent Brown's salary since the date of his sus-pension?
Is it true that Mr. Fisher refused to pay salaries to certain officers appointed by the Governor in council on the grounds that he had received no official notification of their appointment, or that he had no authority in the Commissioner's instructions to make these or similar payments?
Is it true that he has had no official notification of the appointment by the Governor in council of Mr. Samuel Smart as Sheriff of the province; butthat he has paid him regularly his salary? And is it true that Mr. Smart was the active agent of the newspaper committee, of which Mr. Fisher is theleading member, in getting published in Van Diemen's Land articles abusive of the South Australian Gazette and the Colonial Government of thisprovince?
Is it true that the public has been saddled by Mr Fisher's orders or consent with no less than two additional surgeons, at a salary of £11 a year and rations, under the name of "Medical Officers of the Survey;" and the colony thus has had to pay three medical men, while the fact is, there is not employment in all the public departments combined for one?
Is it true that Mr. Fisher has no authority from the Commissioners to pay Dr. Wright £6 a year and rations; and that Dr. Wright's salary is nevertheless paid out of the public purse? and that in fact Dr. Wright, who was refused the appointment of Colonial Surgeon by the Commissioners is betterpaid by Mr. Fisher, with £20 a year and rations, than the successful candidate for the office of Colonial Surgeon, Mr. Cotter, with £16 a year only?
My stock is not exhausted, but your space and your readers patience may be.So I rest,
You and The Public's Faithful ServantHutchinson decided that he wanted no more to do with such sharp and shady practice but had the difficulty of having recently been recommended by Fisher in a letter to Lord Glenelg in London. Hutchinson vows and declares, hand on heart, that Fisher did this off the top of his head, unsolicited from Hutchinson and, whats more, seems to believe that people are going to think for one minute that this is even likely.
A COLONIST
So Hutchinson, of whom it may be said that he gives his all to a cause, no matter how stupid it may make him look, took it into his head to resign as Emigration Agent in order to be under no obligation to Fisher and also, as he said, so that he would be able to deal with him man to man and not as Superior to Employee.
That being done he then fired off a letter to Fisher telling him he was no gentleman and not to be trusted and that Hutchinson would be happy to meet with Fisher at a place of his choosing if Fisher wished to have satisfaction for the insult.
Well Hutchinsion might have seen himself as some eighteenth century gay blade, duelling with rapiers at dawn, but Fisher was having none of it. To be honest I see his point. Having chaps wandering the town using other chaps as pin cushions is not what I want for the Colony. I want to see the back of Fisher as much as the next man but I have to draw the line somewhere and having him perforated seems a step too far. Anyway, he leapt in action by forwarding the letter to me and demanding that Hutchinson be dealt with by the law.
Well, Henry Wrigley is the Resident Magistrate and this seemed to be a good chance for him to earn his keep. Accordingly I sent the Marines around to invite Fisher and Hutchinson to appear at Government House at heir earliest convenience. Well, my earliest convenience really, as they were on my doorstep within the hour.
Wrigley heard their stories and promptly called upon the two of them to enter into recognizances of £lOOO each and two sureties in £500 each to keep the peace towards each other and all her Majesty's subjects for twelve months from this date.
"Fat chance" I would suggest. I give it a few weeks before one or the other of them takes some offence and it will, once again, be on for young and old.
And sure enough almost immediately word came to me of yet another of Fisher's cheats.
On Tuesday last Fisher called a meeting of Preliminary Landholders - those entitled to selections of land once the survey is finally completed. Of course he did not bother to advertise such a meeting to the general public - there was no announcement of the thing in the Gazette - and his intention was clear. The meeting was called to decide upon the order of selections. Obviously Fisher and his cronies hoped to force others to make their selections first, since, with the Durvey still not finished only the lands close in to the town would be available to select. Then, once the rich lands along the Murray and the Southern Lakes were surveyed Fisher and friends would be abe to say "Oh, is no-one else left to have this land? Oh well, I suppose I must have it!"
The man has no scruples to speak of. I am tempted to let Hutchinson loose on him after all.
I suggested to Sam Smart that the recent silence from the Van Diemonian Crime Gang might be evidence that the recent crime wave had ended.
"Ah no!" he said. "If they are quiet then they are planning something. And I think we might expect it to be something big!"
I wish I had never thought to employ the man.
Sunday, 13 May 2018
Sunday, 18th February, 1838
[Editor's Note - In the original diary two newspaper cuttings had been pinned to the top of the page. They are transcribed below]
" It is an unfortunate appointment I admit," said Mr. ——— "but he has worked for some-thing of the sort for nine years; yet such is the emptiness of the fellow that you will see he wants ballast to keep his office nine months."
This prophecy has been verified almost to the letter. After a few months swagger in office, during which time he contrived to sicken with his insolence almost every person with whom he transacted business, and to disgust those whom he dared not openly insult,
Mr. Gouger committed a most disgraceful and unprovoked assault upon the person of the Colonial Treasurer in the public streets of Adelaide, and was suspended from his office by the Governor in opposition to the opinions of Mr. Fisher, the Resident Commissioner, who desired to "hush the matter up." and who evidently did not think Mr. Gouger's conduct sufficiently disreputable to disqualify him as a brother councillor, and of Mr Mann, the then Advocate General, who was, in fact, particeps criminis —the individual who led Mr. Gouger into the scrape. These gentlemen, however, failed in persuading the Governor that a ruffian-like attack such as the one committed by the Colonial Secretary could be passed over with a reprimand.
His Excellency suspended Mr. Gouger from his office, and was applauded for doing so by every right thinking and unprejudiced man in the colony. The ex-Colonial Secretary departed from the colony with the melancholy consciousness of not having left one real friend behind him, or of having done a solitary act deserving public gratitude. He had exerted himself to bring the Governor's administration into disrepute, and might have been successful had not his designs been suspected and frustrated. From the first he was the tool of the petty clique, whose names we shall presently exhibit, and after his well-deserved suspension he became their pet.
It was impossible to raise the poor fellow from the dirt, so they magnanimously resolved to lie down beside him. The following letters, which we find in the Launceston Advertiser, convey to us and to the public of South Australia the first intelligence of the astounding fact that a sort of certificate of character had been secretly got up to give Mr. Gouger an
Adelaide. August 28,1837.
SIR—
We cannot allow Mr. GOUGER to relinquish his situation of Colonial Secretary of this province without expressing our deep feeling of regret that he should so summarily have been suspended from an office which he has filled with a degree of zeal and ability which few could have surpassed, and without expressing the sincere respect and esteem we feel for his character.
In looking forward to the future we strongly feel that the loss to the public service of one so well qualified to assist in carrying forward the great principles upon which this colony has been formed must greatly retard the rapid progress which it has hitherto made; and further, that the security and confidence we have felt that the best measures would be adopted for the public benefit have been much lessened by the treatment of one who has laboured so much and so unremittingly for the colony.
As landholders and as individuals who have vested their whole interests in South Australia we have felt it our duty to lay before you our sentiments on this important occasion, and trust that the appeal we feel compelled to make to you will not be without its effect.
We have the honor to remain, &c. &c. &c.
John Barton Hack.
John Morphett.
Stephen Hack.
Charles Mann. Advocate General, &c.
Charles Brown Fisher.
James Fisher.
Henry Jickling.
T. Young Cotter. Colonial Surgeon.
Alfred Hardy.
Thomas Gilbert. Colonial Storekeeper.
W. H. Neale
Charles Berkeley.
Edward Wright, M.D., Medical Officer to the Survey Department.
John Brown, Emigration Agent.
William Light, Surveyor General.
J. H. Fisher, Colonial Commissioner.
R. K. Hill.
John White.
Charles Nantes.
Samuel Stephens, Colonial Manager of South Australian Company.
Edward Stephens, J.P.
So this is what Fisher meant by "Mr Mann's Mission" in Tasmania!
It has been brought to my attention by young Johnny, who is still in Hobart Town, that the press in Van Deimens Land has published a copy of a letter sent to Colonel Torrens in London.
The intention, clearly, is to spread rumour and scuttlebutt regarding my Governorship and to gather sympathy for Gouger. And if sympathy for Gouger allows sympathy for Fisher to spread in London then I imagine that Fisher imagines that such will be all the better.
But look at this letter. We have more than two thousands of people here in the Colony as I speak. And all Fisher could manage to gather to sign this silliness was twenty-one names. Twenty-one out of two thousand! The thing is pathetic.
And many of those twenty-one can be held at a discount. Henry Jickling assured me that he signed the letter out of feeling for Gouger, whose life has been very dark this past twelve months, and not out of any agreement with Fisher. He further assured me that several others had signed out of similar feeling.
Of course the Fisherites all signed the letter. Mann, Gilbert, Brown, Hack, Ted Stephens. If you wanted to fit them all in a matchbox you'd fit Fisher inside first and the rest would crawl up his backside.
Dear Lord! they got Sam Stephens to sign! Stephens, who would sign away his life if you gave him a half sovereign! Do they expect people to take this nonsense seriously? Because if they do putting Sam Stephens on show will put a dent in people's belief in them!
And have they no shame? James FIsher! Charles Fisher! The man found two of his own children to sign the paper! And even then he could only persuade two out of the several dozen he could have chosen from.
I remarked to George Stevenson - and I expect he will print it as his own - that It is a singular specimen of Gouger's damned cheek, as well as an outrageous libel upon the great body of colonists to call the rapscallions who figure in these monkey shines "gentlemen of the HIGHEST repute in the colony" and "the VIRTUOUS part of the community". Be buggered!
I'd like to know how these paragons of virtue themselves feel under Mr. Gouger's description of them? Blushing embarrassment I would say, although they might net even recognise themselves. The virtuous part of the community! Hack, Mann and Brown!
Well, at all events I hope the public will not believe Gouger's statement that the these gentlemen monopolise the entire "virtue" of the colony. Gouger's word is not to be depended upon in the slightest. The poor man evidently labours under a disease which incapacitates him for telling the truth on any occasion, or under any circumstances.
MR. GOUGER—EX-COLONIAL SECRETARY.
WHEN Mr. R. GOUGER was appointed Colonial Secretary to the Province of South Australia, a remark was made to one of the present officers of the colony by a gentlemen who knew and appreciated Mr. Gouger thoroughly, which the conduct and fate of the man has impressed strongly upon our memory
" It is an unfortunate appointment I admit," said Mr. ——— "but he has worked for some-thing of the sort for nine years; yet such is the emptiness of the fellow that you will see he wants ballast to keep his office nine months."
This prophecy has been verified almost to the letter. After a few months swagger in office, during which time he contrived to sicken with his insolence almost every person with whom he transacted business, and to disgust those whom he dared not openly insult,
Mr. Gouger committed a most disgraceful and unprovoked assault upon the person of the Colonial Treasurer in the public streets of Adelaide, and was suspended from his office by the Governor in opposition to the opinions of Mr. Fisher, the Resident Commissioner, who desired to "hush the matter up." and who evidently did not think Mr. Gouger's conduct sufficiently disreputable to disqualify him as a brother councillor, and of Mr Mann, the then Advocate General, who was, in fact, particeps criminis —the individual who led Mr. Gouger into the scrape. These gentlemen, however, failed in persuading the Governor that a ruffian-like attack such as the one committed by the Colonial Secretary could be passed over with a reprimand.
His Excellency suspended Mr. Gouger from his office, and was applauded for doing so by every right thinking and unprejudiced man in the colony. The ex-Colonial Secretary departed from the colony with the melancholy consciousness of not having left one real friend behind him, or of having done a solitary act deserving public gratitude. He had exerted himself to bring the Governor's administration into disrepute, and might have been successful had not his designs been suspected and frustrated. From the first he was the tool of the petty clique, whose names we shall presently exhibit, and after his well-deserved suspension he became their pet.
It was impossible to raise the poor fellow from the dirt, so they magnanimously resolved to lie down beside him. The following letters, which we find in the Launceston Advertiser, convey to us and to the public of South Australia the first intelligence of the astounding fact that a sort of certificate of character had been secretly got up to give Mr. Gouger an
apology for venturing to look Lord Glenelg or Colonel Torrens in the face.
To the Editor of the Launceston Advertiser.
Launceston, December 2, 1837.
Sir: l am induced by some passages in a leading article on South Australia which appeared in your journal of the 30th ult. to send you a copy of a protest against my suspension from office by order of his Excellency Governor HINDMARSH, contrary to the advice of the other members of council present, and also of a letter addressed to Colonel Torrens, chairman of the South Australian commission, by gentlemen of the highest repute in the province, a duplicate of which was placed open in my hands on the day prior to my departure for England.
I am exceedingly reluctant thus to obtrude myself upon the notice of the public, and particularly to be led into any justification of my own character. Seeing however that the absence of a free press in South Australia precludes any attempt at vindication there, and feeling that the public position I have occupied has not had the effect of steeling me against the opinion of the virtuous part of the community, I venture to request you to publish the papers which I now enclose.
To the Editor of the Launceston Advertiser.
Launceston, December 2, 1837.
Sir: l am induced by some passages in a leading article on South Australia which appeared in your journal of the 30th ult. to send you a copy of a protest against my suspension from office by order of his Excellency Governor HINDMARSH, contrary to the advice of the other members of council present, and also of a letter addressed to Colonel Torrens, chairman of the South Australian commission, by gentlemen of the highest repute in the province, a duplicate of which was placed open in my hands on the day prior to my departure for England.
I am exceedingly reluctant thus to obtrude myself upon the notice of the public, and particularly to be led into any justification of my own character. Seeing however that the absence of a free press in South Australia precludes any attempt at vindication there, and feeling that the public position I have occupied has not had the effect of steeling me against the opinion of the virtuous part of the community, I venture to request you to publish the papers which I now enclose.
oooooOOOOOooooo
Adelaide. August 28,1837.
SIR—
We cannot allow Mr. GOUGER to relinquish his situation of Colonial Secretary of this province without expressing our deep feeling of regret that he should so summarily have been suspended from an office which he has filled with a degree of zeal and ability which few could have surpassed, and without expressing the sincere respect and esteem we feel for his character.
In looking forward to the future we strongly feel that the loss to the public service of one so well qualified to assist in carrying forward the great principles upon which this colony has been formed must greatly retard the rapid progress which it has hitherto made; and further, that the security and confidence we have felt that the best measures would be adopted for the public benefit have been much lessened by the treatment of one who has laboured so much and so unremittingly for the colony.
As landholders and as individuals who have vested their whole interests in South Australia we have felt it our duty to lay before you our sentiments on this important occasion, and trust that the appeal we feel compelled to make to you will not be without its effect.
We have the honor to remain, &c. &c. &c.
John Barton Hack.
John Morphett.
Stephen Hack.
Charles Mann. Advocate General, &c.
Charles Brown Fisher.
James Fisher.
Henry Jickling.
T. Young Cotter. Colonial Surgeon.
Alfred Hardy.
Thomas Gilbert. Colonial Storekeeper.
W. H. Neale
Charles Berkeley.
Edward Wright, M.D., Medical Officer to the Survey Department.
John Brown, Emigration Agent.
William Light, Surveyor General.
J. H. Fisher, Colonial Commissioner.
R. K. Hill.
John White.
Charles Nantes.
Samuel Stephens, Colonial Manager of South Australian Company.
Edward Stephens, J.P.
oooooOOOOOOooooo
So this is what Fisher meant by "Mr Mann's Mission" in Tasmania!
It has been brought to my attention by young Johnny, who is still in Hobart Town, that the press in Van Deimens Land has published a copy of a letter sent to Colonel Torrens in London.
The intention, clearly, is to spread rumour and scuttlebutt regarding my Governorship and to gather sympathy for Gouger. And if sympathy for Gouger allows sympathy for Fisher to spread in London then I imagine that Fisher imagines that such will be all the better.
But look at this letter. We have more than two thousands of people here in the Colony as I speak. And all Fisher could manage to gather to sign this silliness was twenty-one names. Twenty-one out of two thousand! The thing is pathetic.
And many of those twenty-one can be held at a discount. Henry Jickling assured me that he signed the letter out of feeling for Gouger, whose life has been very dark this past twelve months, and not out of any agreement with Fisher. He further assured me that several others had signed out of similar feeling.
Of course the Fisherites all signed the letter. Mann, Gilbert, Brown, Hack, Ted Stephens. If you wanted to fit them all in a matchbox you'd fit Fisher inside first and the rest would crawl up his backside.
Dear Lord! they got Sam Stephens to sign! Stephens, who would sign away his life if you gave him a half sovereign! Do they expect people to take this nonsense seriously? Because if they do putting Sam Stephens on show will put a dent in people's belief in them!
And have they no shame? James FIsher! Charles Fisher! The man found two of his own children to sign the paper! And even then he could only persuade two out of the several dozen he could have chosen from.
I remarked to George Stevenson - and I expect he will print it as his own - that It is a singular specimen of Gouger's damned cheek, as well as an outrageous libel upon the great body of colonists to call the rapscallions who figure in these monkey shines "gentlemen of the HIGHEST repute in the colony" and "the VIRTUOUS part of the community". Be buggered!
I'd like to know how these paragons of virtue themselves feel under Mr. Gouger's description of them? Blushing embarrassment I would say, although they might net even recognise themselves. The virtuous part of the community! Hack, Mann and Brown!
Well, at all events I hope the public will not believe Gouger's statement that the these gentlemen monopolise the entire "virtue" of the colony. Gouger's word is not to be depended upon in the slightest. The poor man evidently labours under a disease which incapacitates him for telling the truth on any occasion, or under any circumstances.
Tuesday, 13 March 2018
Sunday, 11th February, 1838
After last week's hi-jinks, what with burglaries, harassed Germans and everyone treating everyone else as a suspect in the crime of the century, it was clear that something needed to be done. We can't go on together with suspicious minds.
In Council this week Gilles made the surprisingly sensible suggestion of organising a police troop. Of course the last time we tried something of this sort, about a year ago, it ended badly; seeing themselves as slighted, the Marines turned on the police in fury and beat them to a pulp. [See diary entry for Sunday, 2nd April, 1837 - editor's note]
But since then many, if not most of the Marines have left the Colony and if we can find a dozen or so strong and fit young lads to volunteer they would certainly prove a match for the Marines that remain. More than a match if we can find a dozen who are sober.
I have written to London asking permission to form a Police Force and shall proceed forthwith. Gilbert has produced from his Aladdin's Cave of a store a dozen blue shirts, so we can at least have uniforms. And Robert Cock tells me "he knows a man who knows someone in Sydney" who can procure a selection of sabres at only double the price of what we might pay in London. Still, a sabre would not only afford an air of military authority, but would provide some protection against inebriated Marines.
There was some suggestion of forming a troop of Mounted Police, but with the shortage of horses available in the place this seems to be something for the future. In the meantime I shall prepare (or, which amounts to the same thing, get Strangways to prepare) a flyer, advertising the need for some volunteers.
I heard Fisher mumbling about the need to pay for all this and where was the money coming from? I can see trouble ahead if the foul excrescence sees a chance to twit me over this matter.
In the meantime Sam Smart has received what we believe to be a threat upon his life. I was surprised that he had only received one, given the manner in which he has been carrying on. If he keeps it up he might yet receive one from me. He had been following the trail of the Vandemonian thieves and told me that he believed them to be hiding in a hut down by the river, but "was getting too close".
I asked him why the inhabitants of the area had said nothing.
Smart snorted derisively.
"It is a low neighborhood, full of rumpots, your Excellency," he said. "They are used to curious sights, which they attribute to alcoholic delusions."
I have no truck with drinking to excess and I have made it a rule in life to avoid it. I said as much now: "Drink is certainly a filthy thing, isn't it? I'd rather be dead than unable to trust my own eyes!"
Smart was rather more forgiving, it seemed. "They may be drinkers, your Excellency but they're still human beings."
I reminded him that several firearms had been stolen from the Government Store and that drink and armed thieves were an explosive combination.
Once again he showed his derision. "I trust you do not believe that I shall allow myself to be influenced by the guns these desperadoes may be waving around. I have taken guns from boys before; so we'll have no trouble there."
I wish I shared his confidence.
Charlie Howard is doing the rounds cap in hand. He decided to build his church in stone and not wood but possibly did so before he had sat down with the ledger and worked out how much it would cost. Having finally done so he has sunk into a blind panic, realising with a shock that he needs to raise yet more money so that he can pay for the thing. What with raising money for the building and raising money for the hymn book he might yet be reduced to the status of Mendicant Priest.
Wyatt has also taken it into his head to start building, having decided to build a school for the Native Children. What the Native Children think of this idea is yet to be determined.
Since we seem to have more settler's children than school places, the idea of diverting money to building a school for the Natives will be a hard sell to those colonists who want to get their brats off their hands for a few hours a day.
I made the mistake of suggesting to Wyatt that as well as teaching the native Children about our ways we could also ask them to teach us some of theirs. They are, after all, expert at living in the land we hope to prosper in and it struck me that they might offer us a few pointers on how to succeed.
Wyatt looked at me as though I was a madman and assured me that "the sole purpose of the school would be to teach the Natives about Salvation through Christ Jesus and loyalty to the Queen." I replied that I was unaware that we did gain Salvation through Christ Jesus and loyalty to the Queen and he went away shocked at my irreligious levity.
In Council this week Gilles made the surprisingly sensible suggestion of organising a police troop. Of course the last time we tried something of this sort, about a year ago, it ended badly; seeing themselves as slighted, the Marines turned on the police in fury and beat them to a pulp. [See diary entry for Sunday, 2nd April, 1837 - editor's note]
But since then many, if not most of the Marines have left the Colony and if we can find a dozen or so strong and fit young lads to volunteer they would certainly prove a match for the Marines that remain. More than a match if we can find a dozen who are sober.
I have written to London asking permission to form a Police Force and shall proceed forthwith. Gilbert has produced from his Aladdin's Cave of a store a dozen blue shirts, so we can at least have uniforms. And Robert Cock tells me "he knows a man who knows someone in Sydney" who can procure a selection of sabres at only double the price of what we might pay in London. Still, a sabre would not only afford an air of military authority, but would provide some protection against inebriated Marines.
There was some suggestion of forming a troop of Mounted Police, but with the shortage of horses available in the place this seems to be something for the future. In the meantime I shall prepare (or, which amounts to the same thing, get Strangways to prepare) a flyer, advertising the need for some volunteers.
I heard Fisher mumbling about the need to pay for all this and where was the money coming from? I can see trouble ahead if the foul excrescence sees a chance to twit me over this matter.
In the meantime Sam Smart has received what we believe to be a threat upon his life. I was surprised that he had only received one, given the manner in which he has been carrying on. If he keeps it up he might yet receive one from me. He had been following the trail of the Vandemonian thieves and told me that he believed them to be hiding in a hut down by the river, but "was getting too close".
I asked him why the inhabitants of the area had said nothing.
Smart snorted derisively.
"It is a low neighborhood, full of rumpots, your Excellency," he said. "They are used to curious sights, which they attribute to alcoholic delusions."
I have no truck with drinking to excess and I have made it a rule in life to avoid it. I said as much now: "Drink is certainly a filthy thing, isn't it? I'd rather be dead than unable to trust my own eyes!"
Smart was rather more forgiving, it seemed. "They may be drinkers, your Excellency but they're still human beings."
I reminded him that several firearms had been stolen from the Government Store and that drink and armed thieves were an explosive combination.
Once again he showed his derision. "I trust you do not believe that I shall allow myself to be influenced by the guns these desperadoes may be waving around. I have taken guns from boys before; so we'll have no trouble there."
I wish I shared his confidence.
Charlie Howard is doing the rounds cap in hand. He decided to build his church in stone and not wood but possibly did so before he had sat down with the ledger and worked out how much it would cost. Having finally done so he has sunk into a blind panic, realising with a shock that he needs to raise yet more money so that he can pay for the thing. What with raising money for the building and raising money for the hymn book he might yet be reduced to the status of Mendicant Priest.
Wyatt has also taken it into his head to start building, having decided to build a school for the Native Children. What the Native Children think of this idea is yet to be determined.
Since we seem to have more settler's children than school places, the idea of diverting money to building a school for the Natives will be a hard sell to those colonists who want to get their brats off their hands for a few hours a day.
I made the mistake of suggesting to Wyatt that as well as teaching the native Children about our ways we could also ask them to teach us some of theirs. They are, after all, expert at living in the land we hope to prosper in and it struck me that they might offer us a few pointers on how to succeed.
Wyatt looked at me as though I was a madman and assured me that "the sole purpose of the school would be to teach the Natives about Salvation through Christ Jesus and loyalty to the Queen." I replied that I was unaware that we did gain Salvation through Christ Jesus and loyalty to the Queen and he went away shocked at my irreligious levity.
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