Chapter 10

Life in Australia 1854 - 1863

Mrs Blakie (Nell) now continues:

I understand that they lived in Melbourne for a time after they reached Australia,

and that it was there that our oldest brother, Edward Oke, was born. He died at the

age of 7 weeks. Mother said that if she had known about a baby's bottle, she

could have saved his life. It was at that time when he was she was so ill

herself, that she lost most of the curls that appear in her wedding photo.

Ever after that she only had two curls that we can remember.

Father bought a section in what is now Little Bourke Street or Little Collins Street,

Melbourne. But he had not enough money at the time to get the "Crown Grant"

and as time went on he neglected it. In later years, at the time of the Melbourne boom
and the Exhibition there, father wrote to Thomas Whitlock, uncle to Thomas Whitlock

Kempthorne and asked him to make enquiries, but it was too late.

Has the story ever been told when mother threw a bucket of water over a man who,

one Sunday morning, was wandering around among the tents, drunk?

Father was way over the hill the Methodist chapel, and a man fell across the doorway

of the tent.

Mother told him to get up and go.

"You dry up," was the response repeated many times and reply to other orders

leading up to:

"If you don't get up I will shower you with this bucket of water over you!"

He came again with:

"You dry up!" So over him went the bucket of water which was precious, and a half

sobered man arose shook himself and walked away.

Water was very scarce at that time, a small tub cost five shillings, and even then a

big part of it would run out because of the dryer barrel or tub. When the rare showers

came, every cup, basin or other utensil was put out to catch even a little.

Mrs Barton (Bess) has one or two stories to tell:

Mother told a story of the digging days with, when father came home with a horse

and dray, and running into her, gave her her a banknote to go and get something

from the store while he was fixing up the team and outside. So she went away to

the store and got what she wanted and paid for them and received the change then

hurried home.

When father sat down to his tea, he asked her if she had put the the change from

the 20 pound note safely. She replied that she had only had change for a five

pound note, and went away to her friend Mrs Dickson the storekeeper and told

her her troubles. Mrs Dickson said that she had put the note in the till, and had

not touched her cash since, so if there was a 20 pound note there on top, it would

be hers.

She looked and sure enough there was the 20 pound note and mother got

her rest of her change alright. People can easily make mistakes.

Their tent was pitched besides that of another belonging to a man called Charlie

who had a big dog that he had trained as a watchdog, and was chained in

front of the tent for safety. So when the men were away at work, and any strangers

were about, she would get in behind the big dog and Charlie's doorway and hear

what they had to say. Mother was a very brave woman, and that is all I have to say.

Nell tells the story of mother throwing the water over the man, but she does not say

that next day mother was very eager to tell her story to Mrs Dickson and did so, but she

did not notice a man in the corner with a paper in front of his face reading. Mrs Dickson

told her afterwards that it was the man she had thrown the water over and that he

was very ashamed of himself.

These are all the stories that have survived in the memories of my brothers and

sisters after a lapse of 75 years from the happenings. It is 85 years now, as these

were written 10 years ago. I can only add that I have heard these stories

also, but I was much younger when they were told, perhaps the last time. Some of the

stories relate to episodes that may appear trivial, but they are an aid to identify our parents

with a background of stirring times, the days of the bush ranger and the gold seeker.

It is to be noted that as time went on episodes that occurred in Australia, got spoken

of less and less as current thoughts ousted older memories. So there by the time I was old

enough to take notice and remember, 20 or 30 years had elapsed since the happenings,

and the incidents were getting dull in the memories of the participants themselves.

Gold digging in the Victoria in the early days was entirely alluvial. That is, the gold was

recovered on or near the surface, and no elaborate equipment was required, a tent

and fittings to form living quarters, and pick, shovel, bucket, windlass and wash pan

were all that was necessary.

A "Miners Right" gave a digger the right to work mostly anywhere, and this they did in

couples or parties or alone. The great lack was water in any sufficient quantity, for

the treatment of the pay dirt of economically. The diggers came from all parts of the

world and the search for gold in the decades 1850 to 1870 was very much in the

world's news.

Cornishmen, (men from Cornwall, England) were connected with tin mining for
many decades prior to 1850, and were always in the forefront as seekers after
the precious metal in any part of the world where it was reputed to be found,
and as experts in the methods of recovering it.

The use of the name Cornishmen does not convey anything be very particular to

the people of the present generation, but in the gold gold digging days, they were a

notable part of the population that devoted to that pursuit. They had a peculiar

dialect, only partly understood by the British, and they always spoke among

themselves as being "clannish". So our parents were always among friends who

stuck together and helped one another.

As regards the general character of the country in those parts of Victoria in

which our parents lived while there, it was mostly flat with Gum tree, bush

and scrub. These were the days before railways were built, and coaches

were used as passenger transport, and bullock wagons were used for goods

transport. The heat was most troublesome to those not used to it, and

water was very scarce in those parts about Ballarat and Stawell. This is the

vicinity our parents spent most of their time in Australia, they did not get

as far as the Murray River and they did not see anything of Eastern Victoria.

Mother, especially, seemed to enjoy life, in spite of the hardships, and the

lack of funds. They had only a half sovereign in the cash box when Alf was born.
I suppose that the life free from restraint, and the changing scene in the new
environment was at the bottom of Mother's contentment. This is because all
her life up until the time of her marriage had been spent within the cramped
walls of the conventions of the early Victorian era as they applied particularly
to women.

Father was 10 years older than mother, and can it can be understood that he

worried at not being able to make advancement in the world, so that provision

might be made for a wife and young family. However, in later years he had

many humorous tales to tell of incidents in Australia, which go to prove that

he also enjoyed much of this period of residence in Australia.