Out of the Frying Pan
Voyaging to Queensland in 1863 on Board the 'Fiery Star'
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1321816600005407Keywords:
Image of the pioneer, migration, the Waltons, the Hanlons, Lancashire Cotton Famine of 1861--65Abstract
This article had its genesis in a family photograph of my paternal grandmother's parents, Rowland and Rebecca Walton (see Figure 1). I knew little about them apart from their English origins, but their appearance was intriguing: definitely stalwart pioneers, but what kind ofpioneers? Popular cultural knowledge in Australia provides one central image of the pioneer, summed up concisely by Katharine Susannah Prichard: 'It will be a nation of pioneers, with all the adventurous, toiling strain of the men and women who came over the sea and conquered the wilderness.' Prichard's notion was directly inspired by a painting, The Pioneer (1904) by Frederick McCubbin (1855-1917), described by Tim Bonyhady as 'one ofthe most influential paintings of the emigrant experience in Australia'. Utilising a triptych fonnat, it recounts (in the words of a contemporary reviewer) 'its own legend of the useful toil, the homely joys, and destiny obscure of the pioneer, who does not live, as the rude cross in the third panel indicates, to see the growth or share in the prosperity of the fine city seen in the background of the panel'.
References
A version of this article was presented at 'Oceanic Passages', Centre for Colonialism and its Aftermath conference, University of Tasmania, held in Hobart, 23-25 June 2010.
Katharine Susannah Prichard, The Pioneers, rev. ed. (Adelaide: Rigby, 1963 [1915]), 256; quoted by Tim Bonyhady, 'The Pioneer', in Patricia Tryon Macdonald, Exiles and Emigrants: Epic Journeys to Australia in the Victorian Era (Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria, 2005), 123.
Bonyhady, 'The Pioneer', 120. The painting can be seen online by searching the website of the National Gallery of Victoria, www.ngv.vic.gov.au.
'Exhibition of Australian Art', Argus, 22 April 1904: 7. For further discussion, see Jane Clark and Bridget Whitelaw, Golden Summers: Heidelberg and Beyond, rev. ed. (Sydney: International Cultural Corporation of Australia, 1986), 148-49.
See Kenneth Bendiner, The Art of Ford Madox Brown (University Park, PA: Pennsylvania University Press, 1998), 136. Also see Macdonald, Exiles and Emigrants, 26-27; Tim Barringer, 'The Last of England', in Macdonald, Exiles and Emigrants, 20--25; D.M.R. Bentley, 'The Last of England, The Literature of Emigration, and "The Pathos of the Subject"', Journal of Pre-Raphaelite Studies, 5 (1996): 35-44. Online image at www.preraphaelites.org/the-collection!1891P24/the-Iast-of-england.
See Macdonald, Exiles and Emigrants, 52-53. Search online at www.tate.org.uk/.
Macdonald, 'Introduction', in Macdonald, Exiles and Emigrants, 10, 13; see 10--17.
1.B. Hirst, 'The Pioneer Legend', in John Carroll (ed.), Intruders in the Bush: The Australian Quest for Identity, 2nd ed. (Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1992), 14-37 [first published Historical Studies (October 1978)]. See also Graeme Davison, 'Sydney and the Bush: An Urban Context for the Australian Legend', in Carroll, Intruders in the Bush, 109-30 [first published Historical Studies (October 1978)]; and Frank Bongiorno and David Andrew Roberts (eds), Journal ofAustralian Colonial History, special edition, 'Russel Ward: Reflections of a Legend', 10 (2008): 2.
The Fiery Star Gazette, 28 November 1863, unpaged, http://nla.gov.au/nla.aus-vn658255.
[Mary McConnel], Memories ofDays Long Gone By, 1905 (Brisbane?: Mary McConnel, 1905), 51.
Helen R. Woolcock, Rights of Passage: Emigration to Australia in the Nineteenth Century (London: Tavistock, 1986), xiv; see xiv-xv.
Andrew Hassam, No Privacyfor Writing: Shipboard Diaries 1852-1879 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1995).
John Watts, The Facts ofthe Cotton Famine (London: Simpkin, Marshall, 1866); W.O. Henderson, The Lancashire Cotton Famine, 1861-1865 (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1934); Norman Longmate, The Hungry Mills (London: Temple Smith, 1978).
Genealogical sources used in this article: www.lancashirebmd.org.uk; www.ancestrylibrary.com; Queensland Pioneers' Index.
H.J. Perkin, 'The Development of Modem Glossop', in A.H. Birch, Small-Town Politics: A Study of Political Lift in Glossop (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1959), 18.
See Andrew Hassam, 'Our Floating Home ': Social Space and Group Identity on Board the Emigrant Ship (London: Sir Robert Menzies Centre for Australian Studies, 1992), 17.
Thomas's father's name was William and his mother was Theresa. Annie's maiden name is variously listed as Winterburne or Winterburn and her second name is either Mary or Maria, while her parents were John and Annie Winterburn. Thomas was born in Dublin in 1836 according to W. Frederic Morrison, Aldine History of Queensland, Vol. 2 (Sydney: Aldine Publishing Company, 1888), 'Appendix-Biographical Sketches: Southport, The Pacific Hotel', unpaged. However, this entry is of questionable accuracy if the other information contained there is any indication. In particular, I have been unable to verify the military career in India and the Crimea described by Morrison. Thomas Hanlon's age at death is recorded on his tombstone in Southport General Cemetery as 62 years in January 1896, suggesting a birth year around 1833. He was certainly born in Ireland. Annie Hanlon's age is recorded as 51 on the tombstone, but 55 on her death record.
'Reunion After 68 Years. Fiery Star Passengers', Brisbane Courier, 15 January 1932: 12; also Fiery Star Gazette, 19 September 1863: health officer, J.1. Luce, notes the birth of two 'ocean sons'.
The phrase '63 pioneers' is used by W.E. Hanlon in a letter quoted in a newspaper article: 'Fiery Star Passengers', Brisbane Courier, 5 January 1932: 8.
W.E. Hanlon, in 'The Early Settlement of the Logan and Albert Districts', Historical Society of Queensland Journal 2(5) (1935): 208, describes his father as a cotton worker, although no other corroborating evidence has been found in Census lists, etc.; Eileen B. Johnson, They Came Direct: 'Fiery Star' 1863 (Tinana, Qld: Eileen B. Johnson, 2005), 7 [Walton], 16. Note that the name Hanlon is incorrectly recorded as 'Hanton' and Annie is called Hannah; the recorded age of each (26) is also of questionable accuracy since this does not agree with information from other sources.
'A Manchester Man', 'Our Manufacturing Districts and Operative Classes', Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country 66: 393 (September 1862): 363-82, esp. 366---67.
'The Relief of Distress in Lancashire', The Times, 25 February 1863: 11.
Perkin, 'Development of Modem Glossop', 22-23.
J.H. Bridges, 'The Lancashire Crisis', The Times, 14 March 1863: 14.
'Riots at Staleybridge', The Times, 23 March 1863: 12; also 'Monthly Intelligence', Gentleman's Magazine 214 (April 1863): 498.
See www.theshipslist.com/Forms/EmigFromUKI815_1870.htm.
John Dunmore Lang, Cooksland in North-Eastern Australia; The Future Cotton-Field of Great Britain (London: Longmans, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1847); Henry Jordan, Emigration to the New Colony of Australia: The Future Cotton Field of England (London: G. Street, 1860, 1863); John Dunmore Lang, Queensland, Australia: A Highly Eligible Field for Emigration, and the Future Cotton-Field of Great Britain (London: Edward Stanford, 1861); George Wight, Queensland: The Field for British Labour and Enterprise, and the Source of England's Cotton Supply (London: G. Street, 1861) (further editions 1862, 1863). Also, John Lang, 'Emigration of Lancashire Operatives', The Times, 27 February 1863: 5.
Robert Longhurst, Queensland Cotton: Past and Present (Brisbane: Queensland Cotton Holdings, 1996), esp. 1-14; Patrick Hayes O'Connor, 'Cotton: An Agricultural Staple for Queensland in the 1860s', BA (Hons) thesis, University of Queensland, 1989.
Lang, Queensland, Australia, 278. See also Rod Fisher, Boosting Brisbane: Imprinting the Colonial Capital of Queensland (Brisbane: Boolarong Press, 2009).
Clem Lack, 'Colonial Representation in the Nineteenth Century. Part II: Some Queensland and Other Australian Agents-General', Royal Historical Society of Queensland Journal, 8 (1965-66): 82.
W. Ross Johnston considers Jordan to be 'a skilful propagandist, [who] used the available media to advantage': 'The Selling of Queensland: Henry Jordan and Welsh Emigration', Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland 14(9) (1991): 382.
A.G. Davies, 'Immigration and the Immigrant Ships (Moreton Bay)', Historical Society of Queensland Journal, 2(6) (1935): 312.
Both families received land vouchers, which were issued in Brisbane on 26 November 1863. Information from Queensland State Archives, Microfilm Z2518 (Thomas Hanlon-Certificate No. 4503; Rowland and Rebecca Walton-Certificate No. 4572).
Lack, 'Colonial Representation', 106.
Woolcock, Rights of Passage, 12; see 10-13, 26-27, 36-39, 7(}-72. On the Black Ball line and its exclusive arrangement with the Queensland government after 1863, see also Davies, 'Immigration and the Immigrant Ships', 310-11; Warwick Foote, 'Queensland Immigration and the Black Ball Line', Journal of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland 10(3) (1977-78): 21-49. New regulations were introduced by the Queensland government in 1861 and 1864 to combat charges of a faulty selection procedure and rorting of the system (it could be used as a way of obtaining a cheap passage to one of the more established Australian colonies). Furthermore, trafficking in Land Orders, and a lack of immigrants with capital, led to a reduction in colonial land revenue and detracted from the ability of the government to undertake important
public works.
Davies, 'Immigration and the Immigrant Ships', 320-21.
See Johnson, They Came Direct, 30-31.
Johnson, They Came Direct, 5, 32-33 (final numbers comprised 30 Saloon passengers, 71 Second cabin, 42 Intermediate and 411 in Steerage).
Johnson, They Came Direct, 37-49.
Johnson, They Came Direct, 42--43.
Richard Watt, 'Second Cabin Passage' [Part 6], Sea Breezes 22(128) (1956): 82-92 (quotation p. 89). See also Fisher, Boosting Brisbane, 11-20.
Watt, 'Second Cabin Passage', 89-90; Fisher, Boosting Brisbane, 20-22.
Woolcock, Rights ofPassage, xiv: 'The new colony ... wanted only those who shared colonial expectations, could work hard and reproduce rapidly.'
Rowland Walton purchased 61 acres in the Parish of Tingalpa (Portion 135) on 5 December 1863, paying £1 per acre: Queensland Government, Department of Environment and Resource Management, Folio 195, Vol. 31, DIG No. 7933. Birth details about the Walton children from the Queensland Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages: 1864/B2715 (Rowland Robert Walton), 1866/85956 (Frank Walton). Place of birth is given on their birth certificates.
Regular reports in the Brisbane Courier, 'From Our Own Correspondent' in Tingalpa, detail conditions in the area between 1864 and 1868.
Information from Queensland State Archives, Microfilm Z2518: Record of Second Land Orders, Record No. 4492, issued on 29 November 1865; Microfilm 7069, No. 4492, 'Received at Treasury' on 4 December 1865 from LA Ipswich. See also 'Immigration Regulations', Queensland Government Gazette, 2(3) (12 January 1860): 15-17; 'Immigration Regulations', Supplement to the Queensland Government Gazette, 4(127) (16 November 1863): 989-91.
See Rod Fisher et aI., Brisbane Timeline: Captain Cook to Citycat (Brisbane: Brisbane History Group, 1999).
'Tingalpa', Brisbane Courier, 21 December 1867: 5; also 4 January 1868: 5.
The sale was completed on 27 July 1868: Certificate of Title No. 17837, Vol. 33, Folio 87. Elizabeth Sarah Walton was born 14 June 1868: see Queensland Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, 1868/B8611. The Waltons were staying or living in the Long Pocket area of Indooroopilly since the midwife was the wife of a local dairy farmer.
'A Manchester Man', 'Our Manufacturing Districts and Operative Classes', 377.
The Waltons were part of a small passenger contingent, with one Saloon passenger, four in Second cabin and thirteen in Steerage (plus the new Walton baby): Brisbane Courier, 5 August 1868: 2. Fares were £30 saloon, £27 lOs. second cabin, £18 lOs steerage: Brisbane Courier, 4 July 1868: 1.
Eric Richards, 'Return Migration and Migrant Strategies in Colonial Australia', in David Fitzpatrick (ed.), Home or Away? Immigrants in Colonial Australia. Visible Immigrants: Three (Canberra: Australian National University, 1992), 64.
Hanlon, 'Early Settlement', 208. Hanlon states here that his parents were 'members of the self-styled "Manchester Cotton Company"'. However, his identification of the particular company is probably a mistake, since the Manchester Cotton Company lands were on the Nerang River. Rather, the Hanlons are more likely to have been part of the Lancashire Cooperative estate set up on the Logan River: see Robyn Buchanan, 'The Short Reign of King Cotton', in Logan-Rich in History, Young in Spirit (1999), www.logan.qld.gov.au/lcc/logan/history/publications/richinhistory.htm; Longhurst, Queensland Cotton, 8; Michael Jones, Country of Five Rivers: Albert Shire 1788-1988 (Sydney: Allen & Unwin, 1988), 56-61. See also W.E. Hanlon, 'Reminiscences' [typewritten manuscript], 1940, Fryer Library, University of Queensland.
Hanlon, 'Early Settlement', 208-10.
Information from Queensland Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages: 1866/2938 (Thomas Michael Hanlon); 1867/6538 (Julia Mary Hanlon). Another baby (a daughter) died at birth on 10 April 1871: Queenslander, 22 April 1871: 1.
£24 was granted on 13 December 1865 and redeemed in June the following year: information from Queensland State Archives Microfilm Z2518: No. 4841.
Hanlon, 'Reminiscences', 2.
See Dianne Byrne, A Travelling Photographer in Colonial Queensland: The Work of William Boag (Brisbane: State Library of Queensland, 1994).
On 6 November 1878, William Egan Hanlon advertised his forthcoming application for a publican's licence there: Brisbane Courier, 6 November 1878: 1.
Hanlon, 'Early Settlement', 227.
He was treasurer of the Southern Queensland Turf Club in 1875: 'Beenleigh', Queenslander, 6 November 1875: 6; the Southport Divisional Board noted its debt to Thomas Hanlon after his death: Brisbane Courier, 22 February 1896: 4.
Indeed, both were on stage for a 'Lecture on New Australia', with Thomas Hanlon presiding over the proceedings: Brisbane Courier, 1 November 1894: 6. Plunkett was another Steerage passenger on the Fiery Star. He received a land order after the voyage and went on to become a successful dairy farmer before becoming a politician: Queensland State Archives, Microfilm Z2518 (Certificate No. 4468); S.l Routh, 'Plunkett, Thomas Flood (1877-1957)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol. 16 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 2002), 13-14.
Robert Longhurst, Southport: Images of Yesteryear 1880-1955 (Gold Coast: Gold Coast City Council, 1994), 9-13.
'The Fiery Star', Courier, 23 November 1863: 4 (the judgement is credited to 'a saloon passenger').
As recorded on the tombstone, Annie Hanlon died on 14 May 1891 while Thomas Hanlon died on 10 January 1896.
This occupation is recorded on the English Census records for 1871 and 1881.
James Walton and his family voyaged as assisted immigrants to Sydney on board the Samuel Plimsoll.
'The SS Gulf of Mexico', Sydney Morning Herald, 26 March 1885: 5.
Sydney Morning Herald, 26 August 1927: 9; 27 August 1927: 16.
