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Home , First Fleet, Mary Bryant, William Bryant (convict)

Masarykovauniverzita Filozofickáfakulta Katedraanglistikyaamerikanistiky Bakalářskádiplomovápráce ZuzanaRevi

ľaková2008 2008 ZuzanaReviľaková

MasarykUniversity FacultyofArts DepartmentofEnglish andAmericanStudies EnglishLanguageandLiterature ZuzanaReviľaková TheFirstFleetandtheEscapeofMary Bryant Bachelor ’sDiplomaThesis Supervisor:PhDr.JitkaVlčková,Ph. D. 2008

2 IdeclarethatIhaveworkedonthisthesisindependently, usingonlytheprimaryandsecondarysourceslistedinthebibliography. …………………………………………….. Author’ssignature

3 Table of Contents

Table of contents …………………………………………………………………...... 4

1. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………...... 6

2. The Criminality Issue ……………………………………………………………… 8

3. Decision-making …………………………………………………………………... 11

4. The Voyage ………………………………………………………………………... 14

4.1. The Conditions on the Ships …………………………………………… 16

4.1.1. Space ...... 17

4.1.2. Food ...... 20

4.1.3. Did They Deserve This? ...... 22

5. Landing at ...... 24

5.1. Founding of the Settlement ...... 24

5.1.1. The New Place ...... 26

5.1.2. The Women Arrive ...... 27

5.1.3. New Rules ...... 29

5.1.4. The Relations with the Aboriginals ...... 30

5.1.5. The Attempts to Become Self-Supporting ...... 31

5.1.6. The Relationships Among the People ...... 32

5.2. Desires for Escape ...... 33

5.2.1. The Attempts ...... 33

5.2.2. A Successful Escape ...... 35

6. ’s Escape ...... 37

6.1. The Preparations ...... 37

6.2. Leaving the colony ...... 38

6.3. The Voyage ...... 40

4 6.4. ...... 41

6.5. Britain ...... 44

7. The New Hope ...... 46

8. Conclusion ...... 47

Works Cited and Consulted ...... 50

5 1. Introduction

The aim of this work is to give a brief account of the first convict transport to

Botany Bay in . The work consist of three parts and gives information about the ; their voyage to the colony, the founding of a new settlement and eventually about the great escape of Mary Bryant and her comrades from the place they had thought to be hell with no future. The information needed is gained from several sources, one of them being a film inspired by Mary Bryant’s heroic story.

Firstly, the work describes the situation in the 18 th century Britain. It describes the problems with extremely high rate of criminality and the need to find a solution to the situation. It gives reasons for the need of a new where the country could send its criminals. Then it goes on briefly describing the process of decision- making; the government had to decide where the new penal colony should be found.

They needed to find a place that would be politically advantageous and where the convicts would be able to survive and eventually become a self-supporting colony.

Secondly, there is the voyage to the colony depicted; the conditions, which the convicts were in, the food, the space they had to stay in, the attitude of the crew and the arrival at the colony. Then there is the account of the life in the colony; of its problems as are hunger and illnesses, low harvests, lack of linen and the problems with the Aboriginals, but also some minor successes, for example building the first brick house. Eventually there is the great escape of Mary Bryant and her comrades described.

The story of Mary Bryant is described in every chapter, because she experienced the whole voyage and the life in the colony. Although it is just a piece of fiction based on a true story and not a documentary, parts of the film are used to give a better account of the events. The film compares and contrasts the information in a way no other source

6 used in this work does. It describes the differences between the convicts and the officers and shows what the officers thought about the convicts and how they treated them.

Mary’s escape was one of the first successful escapes. It took place in 1790s.

There were her two children, her husband and seven other people with her. Her story became extremely popular not only because of her bravery, but also because of the luck that these people had. They stole a small boat and sailed all the way from to

Timor, which is about 3,250 miles. And they were lucky enough to survive the voyage.

One could call this a miracle, because it was nearly impossible to survive such a journey: “No one since in the Endeavour, twenty-one years before, had sailed all the way up the eastern coast, through the treacherous Barrier Reef, and lived to tell about it” (Hughes 205). Because of the story being so breathtaking, popular and unbelievable, in 2005 it was made into a film. The film was directed by Peter Andrikidis and it got the title “The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant“. It shows the journey of the

First Fleet, their life in their new settlement and then the escape of Mary, her family and the seven other people.

I chose this topic, because I find it very interesting and because The First Fleet was actually a cornerstone of the colony and thus of the whole nation of as we know it today. Dunn describes these people as the ‘Founders of Australia’: “The first eleven of these ships are today known as the First Fleet and contained the convicts and that are now acknowledged as the Founders of Australia” (Dunn and

McCreadie). Although, by Ward (1992), these people were thieves, murderers and prostitutes and according to the British society of that time these people were garbage, inferior creatures impossible to change that no one wanted to have in Britain and who only were good as a labour force, they helped to create a new nation that today, after more than 200 years later cannot be called a nation of criminals or convicts.

7 2. The Criminality Issue

In 1783, after the loss of the thirteen colonies in America that decided to form a nation – the United States of America, the British government had to find a suitable place for the rising number of prisoners: “The matter was urgent because, as it seemed to contemporaries, crime and criminals had been multiplying at an alarming rate.

Throughout the eighteenth century the “agricultural revolution” transformed the face of the English countryside” (Ward 47). Ward (1992) says that because of this revolution many people lost their jobs and were not able to provide food for themselves and their families. In order to solve their situation, many of them moved from villages to towns where they worked for a little money. He also claims (1992) that many of these people were not able to find any job, but because they wanted to survive they had to find a solution; a way to survive. “Those who could not find work often had to steal or starve”

(Ward 47). As the film shows, they wanted to survive.

By Ward (1992), in the , the rate of criminality in was rising very quickly, due to a great famine that spread among the poorest people. These, in order to survive, were often forced to steal. Although the punishments were quite strict: “Between 1688 […] and 1788 […] the number of capital crimes in the English statute books rose from about fifty to two hundred” (Ward 48), Ward (1992) says that poor people kept stealing, pick pocketing or committing other, mainly minor crimes, in order to provide food for themselves and their families. He also (1992) gives the description of the way the British society decided to solve the problem. The problem should have been solved by making the punishments even more severe; every one who stole something that was worth more than a shilling had to be sentenced to death. But,

Ward (1992) adds, this did not prevent the poorest people from stealing and committing other crimes. Although there were Police forces in Britain, these were inefficient and the

8 amount of people brought into court was low (in comparison to the amount of committed crimes). Because of the severity of punishments, the juries and the magistrates, in the effort to save the offenders, were often lowering the value of stolen goods: “When the penalty for stealing goods of or above the value of a shilling was death, juries often found the value to be less – despite the most cogent evidence to the contrary” (Ward 48). The convicts were saved from certain death; they were sentenced to the punishment of transportation instead:

The British government of the time was particularly harsh with petty thieves; it

carried the death penalty for men, women or children. But it was not generally

carried out for petty thieves, particularly first offenders. Their death sentences

were usually commuted and they were transported overseas to penal settlements

in the colonies” (Skinner, “The Story of Mary Bryant Part I.” 1).

One of these petty criminals was a young girl from named Mary

Braud, later Bryant:

Mary like thousands of others in England at the time moved to the city to look

for a better life. She went to Plymouth the biggest city in Cornwall and base for

the Royal Navy's western fleet. Mary found that life in the city wasn't as easy as

she had imagined. Hundreds from all over Cornwall had gone there like herself

to find work and a better life. Either unable to find or keep a job, she turned to

stealing. For young women in her position there wasn't much choice between

prostitution and stealing and both had many dangers. (Skinner, “The Story of

Mary Bryant Part I.” 1)

Mary was a daughter of a poor fisherman and in her life she had experienced famine and hunger. In the film, Mary explains that she had been hungry during her whole life and that hunger, the aching need, makes people do desperate things. It was hunger that made

9 her steal. It is not clear what Mary stole. The film says it was a bonnet and some food, according to Hughes it was a cloak (Hughes 205) and according to Skinner it was a silk bonnet and some jewellery (Skinner, “The Story of Mary Bryant Part I.” 1). But it was a petty theft and for which thieves were sentenced to death at that time (CF Ward 1992).

According to the film and Hughes (2003) Mary was sentenced to death, but later her punishment was commuted to a seven-year sentence in a penal colony by the merciful

King George. By Ward (1992), there were many of them who were like Mary; people, who had to be transported. But there was a problem.

10 3. Decision-making

As Ward (1992) claims, because of the high rate of criminality and the fact that the prisoners could not be transported to America anymore, British prisons started to become crowded. There was a serious need to find a solution to the situation. “While the

British Government was pondering the problem, convicts sentenced to transportation were housed in hulks, old warships moored in rivers and the ocean. The conditions on most of these were atrocious” (Skinner, “The Story of Mary Bryant Part I.” 1). But this was not the only reason why the government needed to transport the people out of the country; there were many others. Based on the opinion of Lewis (1998), among them was the economic reason. The transportation had its advantages. Besides the fact that people who were sentenced to seven or fourteen-year transportation often did not come back to Britain, it was much cheaper to pay for the transport than to keep them in prison.

Therefore, the British government decided to find a new destination where the convicts would be transported: “The place should be very distant but not a mere desert, for it was essential that a colony there be able to support itself” (Hughes 57). Many places came into the consideration.

Among the places considered more or less seriously were the Canadian maritime

provinces, British Honduras, the island of St Thomas in the Gulf of Guinea, New

Zealand, New Caledonia, , points on the coast of Madagascar (an

island about 700 kilometres up the Gambia river in West Africa), Das Voltas

Bay and several other points on the African coastline, and the islands of Tristan

da Cunha, Diego Garcia and the Andamans. (Ward 49, 50)

The place had to be chosen carefully, and many aspects had to be considered.

Among them the political aspect, because one of the aims besides creating a new colony was to strengthen the position of England on the international scene: “The government

11 saw the new settlement as a ‘strategic outlier’ to imperial interests in Asia as well as a conveniently remote convict depot” (Ward 51). According to Hughes (2003), Botany

Bay was one of the most preferred places. “Britain did not recognise the country as being inhabited as the natives did not cultivate the land, and were, therefore,

"uncivilized"” (Dunn and McCreadie). Joseph Banks, a celebrity of the time, was invited to present his opinion. Because, as a botanist, Banks accompanied Cook on his

1768 expedition to Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia (CF Australian National

Herbarium), he was supposed to know the most of all Englishmen about Australia.

Banks gave his opinion of Botany Bay. Hughes says that according to Banks: “The climate was good, the soil was arable. He described the abundance of fish, pasture, fresh water and wood and set forth the opinion that a colony of felons could support itself within a year” (Hughes 57).

Eventually in 1786, after a period of discussion, the British government took a decision to found the penal colony at Botany Bay and transport the convicts to

Australia:

It was largely unknown territory, though Lieutenant (later Captain) James

Cook had reported favourably on Botany Bay in 1770. It was nine months by

ship from England, and almost nothing of the country had been explored by

Europeans and little was known of the native inhabitants. It was completely

unknown and uncharted territory with no known settlements of any kind, the

nearest European settlements were in the Dutch East Indies (today's Indonesia)

over 5,000 kilometres from Botany Bay to which they were heading on the east

coast of Australia. (Skinner, “The Story of Mary Bryant Part I.” 2)

The colony had to change the convicts: “The proposed colony would serve as 'a remedy for the evils likely to result from the late alarming and numerous increase of felons in

12 this country, and more particularly in the metropolis'” (Hughes 66). On October 12,

1786, was appointed Governor of : “The first governor and commander-in-chief was Arthur Phillip, a sensible and, by contemporary standards, unusually humane naval captain” (Ward 51). On May 13, 1787, the fleet of 11 unsuitable ships sailed for Australia.

13 4. The Voyage

Although the exact numbers of the convicts that were transported by the first fleet vary, the number of convicts transported is approximately 750, as was stated in the governmental plan. Some sources state that:

The Fleet consisted of six convict ships, three store ships, two men-o-war ships

with a total of 756 convicts (564 male, 192 female), 550 officers/marines/ship

crew and their families. The six convict ships were: The , The

Charlotte, The , The , The Prince of Wales and The

Scarborough. Other ships of the Fleet were: H.M.S. Sirius, H.M.S. Supply, The

Fishburn, The Borrowdale and The . (Dunn and McCreadie)

According to Skinner, the numbers were a bit different. She says that:

These ships carried five hundred and sixty-six men convicts and one hundred

and fifty-three women convicts including eleven children. With them were

nineteen officers, twenty-four non-commissioned officers, eight drummers, one

hundred and sixty privates, thirty wives and twelve children. These almost one

thousand people were taking the treacherous voyage into little known seas and

an unknown land. (Skinner, “The Story of Mary Bryant Part II.” 1)

Mary Braud, later Bryant, goes with the First Fleet on : “she was taken from Exeter jail to the hulk Dunkirk off Plymouth, where she remained until transhipped to the transport Charlotte in the First Fleet for Botany Bay” (Currey). On the ship, she meets , a fisherman sentenced to transportation for resisting arrest:

William Bryant, a Cornish fisherman of some 31 years, had been convicted in

March 1784 at the Launceston Assizes for resisting revenue officers. Sentenced

to transportation for seven years to America, his destination was changed and he

14 too passed through Exeter jail and the Dunkirk to the Charlotte, where he was

employed in issuing provisions to his fellow prisoners. (Currey)

The voyage is difficult and long for all the convicts and for Mary, who is with a child. “The conditions on the ships were crowded and unpleasant. The convicts were locked below deck for most of the trip, with stench of unwashed bodies, vomit and bad sanitation. They were particularly unpleasant for the pregnant Mary coping with morning sickness as well as sea-sickness” (Skinner, “The Story of Mary Bryant Part II.”

1).

The film shows that because of the lack of food and fresh water and awful conditions on the ship, Mary is afraid of loosing her baby and therefore she asks one of the officers – Lieutenant Clark to make her his servant. At first, he does not want to; but after Mary comments on other members of the crew having servants, which they chose out of the many women convicts, he agrees. In the film, this scene is crucial and represents a second plot, which affects all the situations that come later. According to the film, having women in their cabins is a privilege only granted to the crew, because the men convicts cannot have women. In his Fatal Shore , Hughes claims that women and men were not transported together; in the Mary Bryant film the men and women are transported on one ship and all of them are on the under deck, but there is a wooden wall with holes between them, so they may talk and see each other, but they cannot really touch.

The voyage started in , England on 13 May 1787 and led to Rio de

Janeiro, Brazil. From Rio it went on to , Africa and from Cape Town to

Botany Bay, where it arrived on 20 January, 1788:

From , the Fleet again crossed the to the Cape of Good

Hope. The Fleet arrived at Table Bay in South Africa on the 13 October 1787.

15 There they took on additional provisions, seeds, plants and domestic animals. At

each of the ports that the Fleet had called at they took on seeds, plants and

animals that they thought would help build up the new settlement and feed the

population. They acquired seeds and plants that they thought would grow in the

new climate as well as seeds and plants and animals that they were used to.

(Skinner, “The Story of Mary Bryant Part II.” 1)

According to Hughes (2003), the convicts’ journey started predominantly in the prison, where they had been waiting for the transportation; in some cases for several years. By the crew, the convicts were thought to be some inferior creatures, human cargo that could not have been changed and had to get out of the way. By Ward (1992),

England did not want this people. During the whole voyage that is shown in the film, the officers refer to the convicts as to “the garbage of the land [England]”; they say that there is no chance to change any of them and that this “human cargo” is only good enough to become the labour force. Only one of the officers, Lieutenant Clark, thinks there is a possibility to change at least some of them. And, according to the film, his effort to save at least one of the poor souls is the only reason why he agreed that Mary was his servant.

4.1. The conditions on the Ships

Although Britain wanted to dispose of the convicts, it did not want to pay much for their transport. Therefore, the conditions on the ships were really awful. As Nicholas

(1998) claims, to keep the expense at minimum, many convicts had to be transported in one ship. The food was just a means to keep the convicts alive during the voyage, so the convicts only got poor food that made them vomit. Nevertheless, because they had no other choice, they had to eat it. David Meredith, one of the authors of Convict Workers:

16 Reinterpreting Australia’s Past, says that although there were many complaints, there was no will to do anything about the conditions, as it would have cost much money. The rations were extremely poor, the convicts only got about two-thirds of the military ration: “There were numerous complaints about the conditions of convicts during the voyage and reluctance to make significant improvements, on the grounds of economy”

(Nicholas 17).

4.1.1. Space

In his Fatal Shore, Hughes disserts on the spatial conditions on the ships.

According to him, the ships, which had to transport the convicts, were not equipped for such a long voyage and such a “cargo”. They were too small for so many passengers.

The ration per one person was just 3 tons of the ship (in comparison, according to

Hughes, the average ration today is 250 tons per passenger). After the supplies were on board, Governor Phillip complained that: “his passengers, convicts and marines alike, after taking off the tonnage for the provision of stores…have not one ton and a half per man” (Hughes 69). The average space for four persons was just about seven feet by six feet and the headroom was not sufficient either: “Even a small woman had to stoop and a full-grown man had to bend double” (Hughes 69).

The film shows this as well, although there are some differences. The under deck is high enough and there is only one where the convicts are kept. However, they have just a little space, so they cannot sit or sleep comfortably. They only sleep on the floor without any blankets or pillows. The cabins for the crew look quite different. There are beds and tables in them they also have nice bedclothes.

Again, Hugh (2003) says that the lack of space was not by far the only thing, which rendered the voyage unbearable. There were no sidelights and no candles were

17 allowed, because of the fear of fire. The lower decks were very dark and there was a serious lack of fresh air, especially when it was raining heavily and the hatches were closed. The convicts were allowed to come on board to take some exercise when the weather was proper. But when the tropical rains came, they could not go on board, because the convicts had no change of dry clothes. The clothes they were wearing were dirty and lacerate. (CF Hughes 2003)

The conditions shown in the film are quite different. The convicts are allowed to go on board quite often and there are some portholes or vents, because there is a lot of water in the under deck when it rains. But because the convicts are only washed once in a long time and they have to stay in the under deck where some people even vomit, the place is extremely dirty and stinky.

During a storm, where there is much water in the under deck, Mary falls down and starts drowning. William shouts for help and Lieutenant Clark comes and saves her.

He takes her to his cabin and looks after her. After she recovers he lets her stay in his cabin, shows her some maps, gives her some silk dresses and tells her about Botany

Bay. The film also shows the difference between the officers’ and convicts’ perception of the transportation. For the convicts, this journey is a punishment and they are not looking forward to the life at Botany Bay. For Clark and the other officers it is an adventure.

The film shows there are differences between the information the convicts have about Botany Bay and the information that the officers have. Mary asks Clark about

Botany Bay. She tells him many convicts think that there are some hairy creatures with big noses there and that the convicts do not know anything else about the place. By contrast, the officers are full of expectations. They imagine the place as a nice piece of land that Cook described in superlatives. Still, some of them point out to the article in

18 the London Times saying that a colony on the Moon would be a better success than the one in New South Wales, because unlike Botany Bay, many people saw the Moon and it is sure that the Moon exists.

The next scenes in the film show that now, when Mary stays in Clark’s cabin as his servant, she is allowed to walk on the deck. The guards protect her, because the other convicts are jealous. Other convict women have no dresses, their dresses turned to rags as they do everything in it; sleep, work and spend the whole days be it sun or rain.

Therefore, the women are nearly naked. The situation has to be solved somehow, because the women are attacked by the men, who now have to be kept separately even when they are allowed to go on deck. Because the linen for the new dress was left in

Portsmouth, Lieutenant Clark decides to use some sacks to dress the women. The women are not happy about that, they do not like their new clothes.

Other sources give different information about the situation. According to

Hughes (2003), in August, after the fleet arrived at Rio Harbour, Phillip bought 100 sacks of tapioca to dress the convicts. Hughes (2003) also says that the conditions on the ships were horrible, the women, although they were not transported for prostitution, were treated as whores. Governor Phillip commented on this:

The situation in which the magistrates sent the women on board the Lady

Penrhyn, stamps them with infamy – tho’ almost naked, and so very filthy, that

nothing but closing them could have prevented them from perishing, and which

could not be done in time to prevent a fever, which is still on board that ship, and

where there are many venereal complaints, that must spread in spite of every

precaution I may take hereafter. (Hughes 71)

Phillip knew he had to solve the situation, because these dress were not only provoking men, but also a serious threat to all the convicts, because of the illnesses these raged

19 clothes could have helped to spread. What he also knew was that in Botany Bay, there would not be a place where he could buy linen or any dresses, so he had to make some supplies on the way there.

4.1.2. Food

The lack of food was a serious problem as well. “The fleet was undervictualled by its crooked contractor, Duncan Campbell. He had shortchanged the convicts wit half a pound of rice instead of a pound of flour – ‘this will be very severely felt’- and supplying only enough bread to give each prisoner the pitiful ration of six ounces (two slices) a day” (Hughes 70). Because the rations of food were too low and there was no flour and no anti-scorbutics either, Governor Phillip was afraid that he might lose many convicts during the long voyage.

The contracts…were made before I ever saw the navy Board on this business….I

have repeatedly pointed out the consequences that must be expected of the men’s

being crowded on board such small ships, and from victualling the marines

according to the contract which allows no flour….this must be fatal to many, and

the more so as no anti-scorbutics are allowed on board. (Hughes 70)

The food that the convicts had to eat was not as far as tasty as the officers’ food.

Because the journey was long and there were too many convicts on the ships and because of the fact that the ships were also carrying the supplies that were to be used in the colony, the food was very poor and there was a lack of it as well. The same was true about water.

One of the most interesting moments in the film is the officers’ dinner. During the whole time the officers refer to the convicts as to “the garbage of the land [England]” and this “garbage” idea is strengthened at the moment when the convicts get the

20 garbage. While the officers eat meat and drink wine, the convicts are standing in the under deck waiting for whatever falls from the officers’ table. The food they get is stinky, disgusting and makes them vomit. Therefore, when one officer pours off his wine because, according to him, it is disgusting, the convicts drink it as a delicacy. This is a point when the actual difference between the convicts and the officers is shown.

Many sources do not give such an insight at the situation, as far as they only describe the conditions of the convicts and do not mention the conditions the officers had to live in.

Governor Phillip was afraid that more than a half of the passengers would die under such conditions. Because the voyage was so long, this was probable. In his letters to England, Phillip wrote: “I am prepared to meet difficulties, and I have only one fear –

I fear, my Lord, that it may be said hereafter that the officer who took charge of the expedition should have known that it was more than probable he lost half the garrison and convicts, crowded and victualled in such a manner for so a long voyage” (Hughes

70). Many convicts fell ill, but the doctor was able to treat them.

All that is shown in the film, as well. But, instead of Governor Phillip,

Lieutenant Clark is the most important person. Mary has her silk dresses, which she gets from Clark and for her the life on the ship is better than her life in Cornwall. She gets fine food and likes the place where she sleeps, notwithstanding it is on the floor. The only negative thing is that everyone thinks she is Clark’s mistress. Clark does not mind these rumours, until Mary tells him she is pregnant. At that moment, he panics and changes from a fine man of good manners to a disappointed man, because he fell in love with Mary and thought that she had changed. No other source used in this work, except the film, mentions any kind of relationship between Mary and Lieutenant Clark. Clark sentences one of the convicts to twenty-five lashes, because she was rude. Because

21 Mary knows the reason why this convict was punished, she leaves her dress in Clark’s cabin and goes back to the other convicts.

The under deck is the place where her daughter is born. The women help with the delivery while the men are turned away so they cannot see it. Mary gives birth to a baby girl whom she names Charlotte, as the ship the child was born on. All the convicts are happy, because this baby is like a sparkle of hope and brightness in these dreary times.

Another flash of joy comes when they see the land. The convicts are not looking forward to the life in the colony, but they are happy, because they think it cannot be worse than this, in their opinion, never-ending voyage. They are allowed to come on deck. In the film, the day is cold, despite it being January, which is a summer month in

Australia. The officers are dressed well, but the convicts only have their raged clothes.

When they arrive at Botany Bay, the convicts have to stay in the under deck; only the officers may come ashore.

4.1.3. Did They Deserve This?

Although it may seem that this is the kind of treatment the convicts deserve,

(these were people who should have been sentenced to death, but were sentenced to be transported instead), it was not true. According to Hughes (2003) and Ward (1992), these people were not dangerous criminals. The crimes “which were transporting them to Australia” were just minor ones. Hughes says, there was not a single person shipped out for murder or rape among this first fleet convicts; and concerning women – there was not a single woman transported for prostitution. The major reasons for their transportations were the crimes against property – thefts and robberies. Moreover, based on the opinion on Hughes (2003), many times these crimes were committed because of a

22 necessity. In his Fatal Shore, Hughes gives examples of several convicts and their crimes. Thomas Hawell, a labourer, was sentenced to seven years’ transportation for stealing two hens to the value of 4 pence. The oldest convict, Dorothy Handland was eighty-two and had drawn seven years for perjury. She was so desperate that she committed a suicide at . The youngest convict was a nine-year-old boy, a chimney sweep, who had stolen some clothes and a pistol. It is apparent that these were not dangerous criminals and the crimes they committed were not of a great danger or harm to society. By Nicholas (1988), these people were not raised to steal; many times, they were just unlucky. They had no jobs, no money and no one to help them. “The convicts transported to Australia were ordinary British and Irish working class men and women. They were not professional and habitual criminals, recruited from a distinct class and trained to crime from the cradle” (Nicholas 7). On the other hand, Ward

(1992) says that although is was not fair, the only way the British society was able to cope with the high rate of criminality, at least up to a certain degree, were harsh punishments even for the minor crimes. These inadequate punishments had to serve as dissuasive examples. However, when the people have no other means to survive, even the harshest punishments do not work.

23 5. Landing at Botany Bay

In January 1788, 11 ships with the first “cargo” of convicts landed at Botany

Bay. After a long time on the sea, there was land again. It was nearly a miracle that the entire fleet arrived at Botany Bay:

It had been one of the greatest sea voyages in English history. Captain Arthur

Phillip, the middle-aged nonentity, had brought them across more than fifteen

thousand miles of ocean without losing a ship. The entire run had taken 252

days. A total of forty-eight people had died – forty convicts, five convict’s

children, one marine’s wife, one marine’s child and a marine. (Hughes 83)

If the conditions, the length and the poor medical care are taken into consideration, it was a great success that so few people had died during the voyage. Now that the voyage had been over, a new life had begun on an unknown land.

5.1. Founding of the Settlement

The first unpleasant finding was that the truth about the landscape was far from

Cook’s testimony. The conditions were completely different to what they had expected.

Instead of the good soil, trees, green grass and a protected anchorage, there:

Was a flat heath of paper bark scrub and gray-green eucalypts, stretching

featurelessly away under the grinding white light of that Australian summer. The

dry buzzing monotony of the landscape did not match Cook’s account. The bay

was open and unprotected, and the Pacific rollers gave it a violent, persistent

swell; the water was shallow, the holding ground poor. (Hughes 84)

As Hughes (2003) points out, Phillip saw that there was no chance to survive and become a self-supporting colony in such terms. There were no meadows where the

24 animals could graze. The soil was not suitable for raising crops, because it was very sandy.

Instead of Cook's lush pastures, well watered and fertile ground, suitable for

growing all types of foods and providing grazing for cattle, they found a hot, dry,

unfertile country unsuitable for the small farming necessary to make the

settlement self-sufficient. Everyone, from the convicts to Captain Phillip, was on

rationed food. (Dunn and McCreadie)

Phillip and several of his men went to find some fresh water. But there was lack of water, too. And since water is the basic need for survival, they needed to find some other place for the settlement. At Botany Bay, they met the Aboriginal residents of the place, who were not very happy to see these “white newcomers”. (CF Hughes 2003)

In the film, meeting the Aboriginal people is the first thing that happens after the officers come ashore. The Aboriginal people have their spears pointed at the officers.

The guards point their muskets at the Aboriginal people and Governor Phillip tries to make some contact, but he does not know their language. Because the Aboriginal people are nearly naked, Phillip makes one of his men go naked, too, so the Aboriginal people can see that these newcomers are men, not women.

Ward (1992) says that the relations between the marines and the Aboriginal people were good and that any violence was prohibited. Hughes (2003) adds that because the Aboriginal people were curious about the white men’s clothes, the

Englishmen gave them some beads and ribbons. Both Ward (1992) and Hughes (2003) agree that Phillip wanted to have good relations with the Aboriginals, because he knew that neither the officers nor the convicts needed any problems with the native inhabitants of the place. The relations between the Aboriginals and the newcomers were, thus, good.

However, according to Hughes (2003), Lieutenant Clark knew that this was not the most

25 important for the survival of the colony to be. He was persuaded that a new place for the colony had to be found: “If we are obliged to settle here, there will not a soul be alive in the course of a year” (Hughes 86).

5.1.1. The New Place

The Governor, too, knew he had to find some other place to start the colony, so he went to the north to . “On the way they came upon what they called "the most beautiful harbour in the world". Sailing into the harbour and exploring the numerous coves, they settled on one with a fine spring of water. This cove they named

Sydney Cove in honour of Lord Sydney who had been instrumental in the whole project” (Skinner, “The Story of Mary Bryant Part III.” 1). So they decided to make the colony there. Port Jackson was completely different from Botany Bay: “Phillip returned with the news that this place was a paradise compared to Botany Bay: a harbour with many branching arms in which ships could find shelter from any wind, with plenty of fresh water and fertile soil” (Hughes 86). Therefore, he decided to move the fleet to Port

Jackson, which he named Sydney Cove after the arrival there. In the film, there is no such problem outlined; the place the fleet arrives to is good, according to Phillip and the officers; they only need to find some fresh water. They start the colony there; they do not seek any other place.

Luckily, Port Jackson was different from Botany Bay. After the arrival there,

Governor Phillip said: “We had the satisfaction of finding the finest harbour in the world in which a thousand sail of the line may ride with the most perfect security. The chosen anchorage had a small stream of fresh water flowing into a sheltered bay, where ships could ride close to the shore in deep water” (Hughes 87). Based on the opinion of

Hughes (2003), Phillip knew that if the colony wanted to become self-sufficient, they

26 had to start raising their own crops. The problem was not many convicts or marines were able to do that. In his Russell Ward’s Concise , Ward says there was just one professional gardener among all the convicts, who was about twenty.

There was no equipment as well, no ploughs and no animals. In a letter to her family, one of the women convicts describes the situation in the settlement as follows: “I take the first opportunity that has been given us to acquaint you of our disconsolate situation in the solitary waste of the creation. The inconveniences since suffered for want of shelter, bedding etc., are not to be imagined by any stranger. The scarcity of salt and sugar makes our meals insipid” (“A First Fleet Letter from Port Jackson”). Hughes

(2003) adds that after a long time at sea, men were lazy and weak and that there was a need to build some shelters for women, which took a fortnight. From the film, it seems that the shelters, or rather tents, were built the same day when the men were allowed to come ashore.

5.1.2. The Women Arrive

After the huts and tents had been built, the women could come ashore. That day, the marines had asked for an extra ration of rum, because they wanted to: “make merry with upon the women quitting the ship” (Hughes 88). Hughes (2003) describes the situation as follows: the men got drunk and went ashore in pursuit of the women and the first “party” in Australia begun. In “Convict Women in Port Jackson” a description of a typical convict woman is given:

The typical convict woman was in her twenties. She was from England or

Ireland and had been convicted of robbery - sentenced for seven years as

punishment for her crime. She was single and could read but not write. Many

convict women were first offenders and given sentences of transportation for

27 crimes that were quite minor, such as pick pocketing, shoplifting or prostitution.

(“Convict Women in Port Jackson”)

In the film, the situation is portrayed as a very cruel one. When the women come ashore, they must be protected; otherwise, the men would rape them. Men are not allowed to enter women’s tents under the threat of a severe punishment. But William does and that is the point when Mary tells him that they should get married, because she wants a husband and a father for her daughter. William agrees and so they get married.

There is a day announced when all the couples may get married. The benefit for the married couple is a right to build a house.

The film shows that the first common evening in the new country turns to a great orgy. Men are wild, they want women, but there are five men per one woman. Men rape women, someone wants to rape Mary, but William saves her. The guards and the officers cannot do anything. They just stand there and watch. And so do the Aboriginal people. These people, who are thought to be inferior to the white civilized newcomers, do not understand what is going on: “Aborigines never could understand people who in cold blood, deliberately inflicted pain on a fellow human being” (Ward 56). In the morning, William and Mary go to see the governor and on their way, they see women crying with their dress torn and knees and elbows bleeding. When they come to

Governor Phillip, William asks for the permission to become a fisherman. He promises to supply the colony with fish. His reward should be twelfth of the fish. After he assures the governor that he does not intend to escape, Phillip agrees and promises to give him a boat.

28 5.1.3. New Rules

According to Hughes (2003), Phillip knew that discipline was necessary, so he made some rules. Getting into women’s tent was punished by death and so was stealing of animals; people who would not work, would not eat. Phillip was persuaded that only severity would help to ensure discipline. Australian Government Culture and Recreation portal says Phillip made a labour system for the convicts:

Governor Philip (1788-1792) founded a system of labour in which people,

whatever their crime, were employed according to their skills - as brick makers,

carpenters, nurses, servants, cattlemen, shepherds and farmers. Educated

convicts were set to the relatively easy work of record-keeping for the convict

administration. Women convicts were assumed to be most useful as wives and

mothers, and marriage effectively freed a woman convict from her servitude.

(“Convicts and the British colonies in Australia”)

The film shows the huge powerlessness of the soldiers and the Governor. When the men attack the women and rape them, the only thing the Governor can do is protect the supplies. He is scared; he knows that if they want to survive, there have to be strict rules and discipline. Therefore, the next day Phillip announces new rules, so the previous night does not repeat again. He talks about severe punishments for all the men who come to women’s tents and starts the “he who does not work does not eat” policy.

Then he tells the convicts to celebrate, because it is the day of King George’s birthday.

After the arrival in the settlement, one of the first tasks was to build houses for the officers, marines and eventually for the convicts. Hughes (2003) says that it turned out that this would be a problem. There were not enough tools and skilled labourers; there was a lack of material as well. It was apparent that they needed bricks. There was one brickmaker among the convicts and after the suitable clay had been found, the

29 convicts started making bricks. Out of these bricks, the Government House was built.

According to Hughes (2003), the convicts did not want to build permanent buildings, because they did not intend to stay in the colony, they wanted to get back to England.

They did not like the place and they did not like the way they were treated either. They were angry that the blacks were treated better than the convicts were.

5.1.4. The Relations with the Aboriginals

The governor instructed everyone to get on well with the blacks; the colony had already had enough problems, they did not need one more problem. Phillip had his instructions: “Phillip’s instructions also enjoined him to open an intercourse with the natives, and to conciliate their affections, enjoying all our subjects to live in amity and kindness with them” (Ward 55).

But it did not take long for the first problems to appear. The blacks speared several men, because the convicts had stolen their tools:

From the very first day of contact, many convicts and marines stole from the

Aborigines their fishing and hunting tackle, their women and sometimes their

lives, just as the British government, in the person of Arthur Phillip, had already

stolen their land. The first-comers fought back as well as they could. In the first

three years up to December 1790, they had killed or wounded seventeen whites.

(Ward 56)

According to Hughes (2003), although the blacks had a full legal status in the eyes of British government, for the convicts the blacks were inferior. Therefore, the men were angry when several convicts decided to beat up the blacks and after the arrival of those who survived these survivors were punished by Phillip. The convicts and marines thought that they were stronger than the blacks were, because they had guns. But Phillip

30 knew that the blacks could spear four people in time it took to reload the gun (CF

Hughes 2003). In his letter to Lord Sydney Phillip wrote: “it was my determination from my first landing that nothing less than the most absolute necessity should ever make me fire upon them” (Ward 55).

5.1.5. The Attempts to Become Self-supporting

By Hughes (2003), although the land in the Sydney Cove looked fertile, it turned out that this was not true. The land was not good for raising crops. The life in the colony was very hard, because as it showed up, convicts were not able to raise enough crops for feeding themselves.

The film gives one more reason for the low harvest. Because of the rations being so small, the convicts are eating the grain they are to be planting. When Mary finds out, she says that in this way the whole colony would die of hunger. Her friend Elizabeth tells her that if the government wanted them to survive, they would have sent some gardeners, not only thieves to the colony.

Because there was not enough food, the marines and the convicts were getting rations and men were hanged for stealing food. Based on the opinion of Hughes (2003), the rations would not have been a problem, had not the rations been equal for the convicts and the marines and also, if only convicts had been hanged for stealing. But the punishment for the mariners was the same; they were hanged.

Hughes (2003) comments on the situation as follows: the food was monotonous and there was not enough of it. There were some supplies left, but not enough, so Phillip decided to cut the rations. He also decided to send some convicts and marines to the

Norfolk Island, where they should have raised some crops for themselves and Sydney

Cove, too. This did not help. In his Fatal Shore, Hughes says the land was not good

31 enough. The island was windy and the salt did not make good to the crops. There were also many animals that were damaging the crops, so people had to find another source of food. And they did. They started killing the Pterodroma melanopus, birds which flocked in great numbers on the island’s highest hill. “The Birds of Providence” as the officers called them, became a popular source of food. But this could not last forever. By 1796, almost all the birds had been killed. So, according to Hughes (2003), this Phillip’s attempt was not successful. People were starving and many of them died because of hunger.

The film depicts this situation when William and Mary walk through the settlement with their children and see how many mothers have to bury their children, because they starved to death. Because of the lack of food, people are weak and fall ill very often. The illnesses spread quickly, because of the hot weather in the colony.

5.1.6. The Relationships Among the People

In addition, the relationships among people started to change. They were not friends anymore; they were like dogs, just caring about food: “There was no question of the convicts’ helping one another; Sydney Cove had only distilled the dog-eat-dog misery of the English slums” (Hughes 102). People were selling their clothes and many women became prostitutes, because they needed food for themselves and their children.

The marines and soldiers were starving as well. Everything seemed difficult for them and they started hallucinating. People tried to steal food, so Phillip decided to make the punishments more severe and give rewards to people who would help catch thieves. The colony was starving. (CF Hughes 2003)

In her letter from Port Jackson, written on November 17, 1788, one of the convicts mentions the problem with the Aboriginal people:

32 Notwithstanding all our presents, the savages still continue to do us all the injury

they can, which makes the soldiers’ duty very hard, and much dissatisfaction

among the officers. I know not how many of our people have been killed. As for

the distress of the women, they are past description, as they are deprived of tea

and other things they were indulged in the voyage by the seamen, and as they are

all totally deprived of clothes, those who have young children are quite

wretched. (“A First Fleet Letter from Port Jackson”)

Hughes (2003) says that the great lack of food and the Aboriginal people were not the only problems. The colony was short of linen as well. They just had some, but that was not enough even for the marines and guard. The men were almost naked, because their clothes turned to rags. The marines were displeased with their position.

They were getting the same amount of food as the convict and being naked - there was nothing that would have shown their status. The film does not show any of the problems with the Aboriginal people or the lack of linen. The soldiers and marines are dressed well; their uniforms are clean and look new. The film only mentions the lack of food and illnesses.

5.2. Desires for Escape

5.2.1. The Attempts

Because of the conditions in the colony, many convicts did not see a better solution to their problems than the escape. They thought the escape to be a better chance to survive than staying in the settlement with no food, illnesses and no hope for a better future: “Many became desperate; the spectre of starvation loomed ever greater, and the convicts especially were moved to escape, a thought that was probably always in the back of their minds anyway” (Harman 1). It was not difficult to escape from the

33 settlement. But it was practically impossible to survive in the Australian bush. The runaways often got lost and were just wandering around until they either died or were captured by the guards. According to Hughes (2003), the first runaways chose to escape to China, because there was a myth, especially among the Irish convicts that one can easily get to China, where the Chinese will welcome them warmly. There were many men of mettle who tried that. But nearly all of them died, or were caught after several days, because they were too weak due to lack of food and water: “Some tried to walk overland, thinking that Australia was joined to Asia, and having no idea of the size of the country. Many died of exposure to thirst and starvation, or were killed by the natives. Those who tried to escape in boats by sea simply disappeared” (Harman 1).

Those who survived were found and returned to the settlement in shocking condition; because of the starvation in the bush, they were half death.

At first form the 1790s to early 1800s, most of the runaways went inland. After a

brief exhilaration they either died or wandered, broken, back to the settlement, so

squalid and lean, David Collins remarked, the very crows would have declined

their carcasses. There were reports that fifty skeletons, picked white by dingoes

and birds, could be seen on a day’s march to Botany Bay. (Hughes 203)

Soon the convicts realized that if there was a way to escape, it was the sea, not the land.

As Harman (2004) points out, for such an escape many things were needed. One needed at least a boat and some food and fresh water, but it could not have been just any boat. It had to be a boat that would not be destroyed by the first storm or the waves; it had to be a boat where one could load all the supplies and finally, it had to be a boat with sails.

But even these – the boat and the supplies – could not guarantee a successful voyage, because Botany Bay was quite a remote place. But still, several people were lucky enough to escape and survive.

34 5.2.2. A Successful Escape

In his Fatal Shore, Hughes writes that one of the first successful escapes took place in 1790s and was lead by Mary Bryant. The film shows Mary’s and William’s life as quite a good one. William is a fisherman and he provides food for the colony. He sells one twelfth of the draught and so they have a little food. Mary looks after her daughter and keeps the house. As a married couple, William and Mary were allowed to build a house and so they did. “Because of his fishing experience, Bryant was put in charge of the harbour fishing fleet, but a year later, he was charged with trafficking to his advantage with the catch, and was given 100 lashes. He kept his job, but was demoted” (Harman 1). Neither the movie nor Skinner mention the 100 lashes: “William

Bryant was a fisherman and showed his skill at this. He was put in charge of the fishing fleet and allowed to keep some of the fish that he caught. He and Mary were given a hut while most others still lived in tents. Mary's little family was in a better position than most because of her husband’s position in the colony” (Skinner, “The Story of Mary

Bryant Part III.” 2).

As the time passes, the draughts are very small, and there is not enough food in the colony. Things are getting worse and there is no hope for better future. The harvest has been miserable for three years and they cannot wait any longer, because they are at a serious risk of death:

The colonies food supply was at a dangerous level and much of the stores were

unfit to eat. The summer harvest had only yielded enough for three weeks. By

January 1790, said one officer, "famine was approaching with gigantic strides and

gloom and dejection over spread every countenance". Starving convicts began to

die, and many were too weak to work. All except young children were strictly

35 rationed, and even at the table of Governor Phillip, all visitors brought their own

bread. (Harman 1)

The film says that the risk of death is the reason why Mary decides to escape from the colony. She is not willing to wait until she and her children starve to death. Although she knows it is not easy to survive after the escape, she is convinced that they can succeed. Her opinion is based on the fact that William is a good sailor – he is thought to have sailed from England to Spain in a little boat. Therefore, Mary thinks they could steal governor’s cutter and succeed. But they need many things to be able to escape.

36 6. Mary Bryant’s Escape

6.1. The Preparations

To be able to survive after the escape, Mary and her comrades know that they will need a boat, supplies and some other equipment. They decide to go to Timor, which is too far away, so they need some maps, compass, binoculars and some other things.

The boat cannot be just any boat. It has to be governor’s cutter, because this boat has sails and oars. The film does not only give us this information, but it also shows the ways in which Mary and the others gather the food and other things that are essential for their journey. They have to get some food from the storehouse, but they must be careful, because the soldiers watch the storehouse day and night, and if Mary or her comrades get caught stealing food, they will be hanged.

Hughes (2003) also agrees that the supplies are watched day and night and so does Ward (1992). Neither of them comments on how Mary and her comrades got the supplies. The film shows they fill some sacks with sand, get to the storehouse and replace some sacks with flour with these sacks full of sand. They do not have they key to the storehouse, but Thomas, one of the people who prepare the escape is Governor’s servant and adjunct and one of his tasks is to count the sacks with flour. Therefore, his task is to get the keys; the others have to lure away the guards. Because Lieutenant

Clark thinks William and Mary want to escape, he takes the key and he is the only one to have the access to the storehouse. In order to get the key from the storehouse, Mary takes her children and goes to Clark. She tells him that she wants to live with him, because with William she and her children suffer from hunger.

Next, they have to get the equipment needed. In the film, it is Thomas who steals it from the Governor’s house. This information seems to be made up, because no other source supports it. According to Hughes:

37 In October 1790 an East Indies trader, the Waaksamheyd, lumbered into Port

Jackson heavily freighted with stores from Djakarta. Her Dutch captain,

Detmer Smith, felt no obligations to the English convict system. He listened to

William Bryant and was persuaded to part with a compass, a quadrant,

muskets, food and even a chart of the waters between Sydney and Timor.

(Hughes 205, 206)

Other source, The Australian Dictionary of Biography, mentions the same as Hughes does. It confirms the scenario about the Dutch ship: “In October there arrived at Port

Jackson, with badly needed provisions, the Dutch snow Waaksamheyd , under Captain

Detmer Smith. From him Bryant obtained a chart, compass, quadrant, two muskets, ammunition and food” (Currey).

And thirdly, John Harman: “Bryant managed to obtain a map of the route to

Timor from a Dutch Captain, also a compass, muskets, ammunition and some food- flour, rice, pork and water. They also had bedding, tents, carpenters tools and fishing gear” (Harman 1). It is therefore clear that the film does not give precise information and it is factual sources which need to be trusted. All, Hughes, Currey and Harman, use further evidence to support their statements. When the Bryant’s and their comrades had everything they needed, they only had to wait for the right moment.

6.2. Leaving the Colony

The film shows that the right moment to accomplish their plan comes one night, when it is extremely dark. Everyone has their part in the plan and they have to succeed.

Otherwise, they will lose their lives. Again, the film and other sources give different information. What Hughes says is that:

38 On the night of March 28, in the dark of the moon, the Bryants, their two

children and seven other convicts scrambled into the governor’s own six-oar

cutter. In nervous silence, holding their breaths every time the oar-blades

kissed the dark water, they rowed out into the harbour, past the little island of

Pinchgut, heading east to the gate of the Pacific. (Hughes 206)

In the film, the escape is much more dramatic; Mary has to run away from

Clark, who finds out and starts following her. William tells one of the comrades to go and get her, but he comes back telling that this was not possible. William does not want to go without Mary, but he decides to go, because he can hear the soldiers coming closer. Then, at the last moment Mary comes, jumps into the water and William saves her and the children. The soldiers are on the shore and start shooting, but they do not kill anyone. Mary and her comrades are lucky enough to escape, but Lieutenant Clark decides to follow them, because he loves Mary and because governor’s cutter is the last ship in the colony.

Neither the Australian Dictionary of Biography gives such account of the escape:

On 28 March six days after the Supply was sent to Norfolk Island, the

Waaksamheyd sailed for England. That night, with no ship at Port Jackson to

overtake them and no moon to betray them to the lookout at South Head, the

Bryants and seven convicts escaped in the governor's cutter with new masts,

sails and oars and a good supply of provisions. (Currey)

And Hughes (2003) adds that although this escape was very dangerous, the real danger was just waiting for them. It was called the high sea.

39 6.3. The Voyage

The film shows that their voyage is difficult. They start arguing, because someone steals a bit of salted meat; sometimes they have to stay on the sea for ten days or more and that is too much. They have not enough water, the cutter is damaged, and the windlessness makes them row a lot. They are tired. They lose one of them, a boy named Sam when Lieutenant Clark finds them and wants to capture them all. All of them are lucky enough to escape, but Sam. They discuss whether they should go back and get him, but they do not, because they are afraid of Clark. Later on, Sam is hanged.

They have other problems as well. They find a place full of coal and there is enough food and water there as well, so some of them want to stay there. But Mary wants to go to Timor and then sail to Britain, so she does not agree. She makes them continue in their voyage. After several days on the sea, they are all thirsty, nearly mad and one of them dies. They think they are going to die, but they are lucky enough to get to Timor.

Besides the problems among the runaways and the lack of food and water, they have no other problems on the sea.

The film describes the voyage as extremely difficult and gives the credit for survival of the crew to Mary, who is the strongest of them and always knows what to do.

According to other sources, their voyage was not so safe. There are readings showing that their voyage was very dangerous and that they nearly died because of the rough sea:

But on leaving it [], they were blown out to sea again, helpless

before a heavy Gale of Wind and Current, expecting every Moment to go to the

Bottom; next morn saw no Land, the sea running Mountains high… thinking

every moment to be the last, the sea Coming in so heavy upon us every now and

40 then that two Hands was obliged to keep Bailing out and it rained very hard all

that night. (Hughes 207)

According to Hughes (2003), the information about the voyage being very dangerous and the crew almost dying seems very probable; especially when the distance and the route are taken into consideration. In the places where Bryant and her comrades sailed, there are many reefs and torrents and a rough sea that could easily damage a small cutter. “There is no accurate record of their voyage along the New South Wales and

Queensland coasts, except for some accounts of hostile natives and almost being swamped by huge seas” (Harman 2). Luckily, Mary, her husband William, their children and the others were lucky enough to arrive at Timor.

6.4. Timor

By Harman (2004), it was on June 5, 1791 when the runaways reached

Koepang, Timor. They were thought to be survivors of a shipwreck and they knew that.

They were taken to the Dutch governor of Timor. They had no identification documents and could not prove their identities: “The Dutch Governor accepted Bryant's story that his boat was a survivor of a shipwreck, and gave the escapees food and clothing. For a couple of months, they rested at Koepang, even drawing the bills for their supplies from the British Treasury” (Harman 2). Because their story was probable, they were let to stay in Koepang until a ship would take them to Britain. As tradesmen, they were given food and clothes, because they said Britain would pay all their debts. According to both,

Harman (2004) and Currey, Bryant and her comrades were revealed and captured and stayed in detention in Koepang until a British ship called Pandora and Captain Edward

Edwards arrived at Koepang. Many scenarios describe the reasons why the secret was disclosed.

41 According to the film, the role of governor’s wife is important. After their arrival, her husband wants to find out more about the survivors, but she will not let him, because of the children, who she thinks must be hungry, thirsty and tired. Mary and the rest of the crew stay in Timor and pretend to be tradesmen. They say that Britain will pay for everything the Dutch governor gives them and so they get fancy dress and food.

Their life is like a dream. None of them has ever lived in such a luxury. However, this happiness does not last forever. The first doubts come, when William gets drunk and tells the governor that they came from Botany Bay. Mary and the others are able to solve the situation, because of the high improbability that several men, a woman and two children could survive such a voyage in a small cutter. Later the ship to Britain arrives and there is Lieutenant Clark on it. He tells the governor the whole truth and the survivors have to be captured. In the film, one man and William are killed on the beach, two other men are captured and Mary with her children escapes, but she is found by

Clark and captured as well. All the prisoners are sent back to Britain.

Hughes describes the cause of the runaways’ secret being disclosed in a different way:

After a couple of months, by Martin’s account, Bryant for some unexpected

reason told the truth to the Dutch governor. Perhaps he got drunk: W m Bryant

had words with his wife, went and informed against himself Wife and children

and all of us, [upon] which we was immediately taken Prisoners and was put into

the Castle we was strictly examined. (Hughes 207)

The Australian Dictionary of Biography does not agree with Hughes’s statement that

Bryant is the one who revealed the truth. It also covers the part when the captives were held prisoners in Batavia:

42 Bryant and his party posed as survivors from a wreck on the Australian coast,

but the truth leaked out and they were detained in the local 'castle'. On 17

September Captain Edward Edwards arrived at Koepang with survivors of his

crew from the wrecked Pandora and of his captured mutineers from the .

He questioned the fugitives who admitted their escape from Botany Bay, but he

did not take them in charge until 5 October when he was ready to sail in the

Rembang . In November and in irons, the convicts reached Batavia where

Emanuel died on 1 December and William Bryant three weeks later. (Currey)

Neither Harman (2004) provides the evidence for the statement that it was Will Bryant who disclosed the secret about the fact that Mary and her comrades were convicts who escaped from Botany Bay. As Currey’s, Harman’s information about William’s and

Emanuel’s deaths do not support the course of events showed in the film:

After some indiscreet squabbles, their secret became known. The Governor

placed them under restraint until the arrival of the British ship 'Pandora', and

Captain Edward Edwards. Edwards soon found out the true story of the escapees,

and added them to his prisoners. After chartering the 'Rembang', he left Timor

for Batavia in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia). The great escape had become a

nightmare for the Port Jackson refugees who had endured so much for freedom.

Once again they were fettered like animals in the hold of a ship. The Bryants and

their fellow prisoners arrived in Batavia on November 7 1791. Batavia was

regarded as the unhealthy port. Emmanuel Bryant and his father were the first to

succumb to the "The pestilence", on the way to Cape town, three more male

members died. (Harman 3)

43 In the film, there are not so many people arrested and transported by Pandora.

William Bryant is shot on the beach in Koepang and his son, Emmanuel, dies in Mary’s arms at the same time as her daughter Charlotte; on the way back to Britain.

6.5. Britain

The film shows that for Mary, the voyage back to Britain is difficult. Although this is what she wanted, it was her dream, she did not want it to have happened like that.

She lost her husband and the movie tells that on her way to Britain she loses both her children, as well, because the conditions on this ship are far worse than the ones on

Charlotte. Therefore, when she gets back to Britain, she is broken and does not care about her future. Two more men survive with her – Thomas and Martin. Because they know about the sensation their story caused among ordinary people and because they know there is a man who could help them, they ask Mary to talk to . She refuses that. After they are found guilty on the trial, she talks to the judge and people in the courtroom. She asks the judge to save Thomas and Martin, because of their brave hearts and she does not care about her own destiny. She feels like she already lost everything, so she is not afraid to lose her life. Eventually Mary, Thomas and Martin are pardoned and the movie ends telling that Martin wants to go back to New South Wales as a free person because of the land, Thomas goes to his sister and Mary goes back to

Cornwall where her journey begun.

Hughes (2003) gives a different account of the voyage back to Britain. Unlike the film, he talks about Mary, her daughter and four more people being transported back to Britain. He says that the only person to have died on the ship was Mary’s daughter

Charlotte and that Mary was afraid of being sent back to Botany Bay. Hughes does not describe Mary in the way the film does; as a strong heroine. He also points out to the

44 fact that it was Boswell who deserved the credit for Mary and the other prisoners being pardoned, not Mary’s speech in the courtroom: “This kind-hearted writer pressed

Dundas, the home secretary, and Evan Nepean, the undersecretary of state, with letters urging clemency and pardon for her. In May 1793, Mary Bryant received an unconditional pardon. In November 1793 her four companions were pardoned, too”

(Hughes 208). The film again, shows only Mary and two more people being pardoned, not four as Hughes (2003) says. According to Hughes (2003), after she was pardoned,

Mary got back to Cornwall and her story faded, but was not forgotten.

As Hughes, Harman (2004) sees Boswells credit too, but he finds the support of the public very important as well. Contrary of the film, Harman, too, says that there were four more people pardoned with Mary.

The story of the escape of William and Mary Bryant had aroused the interest of

many. The press seized on it, and also author and barrister, Charles Boswell.

He invoked the clemency of the Crown at the Home Office for a pardon of

Mary Broad and four other escapees. On May 2 1793 "Mary Bryant, otherwise

Broad" was granted an unconditional pardon and was discharged. Boswell

provided for her return to Cornwall to her family, and continued to send her

money on the condition that "she behaved well". (Harman 3)

Both Hughes (2003) and Harman (2004) agree that Boswell helped Mary and her comrades. They also agree that after the trial, Mary went back to Cornwall to her family and lived her life there.

45 7. The New Hope

By Hughes (2003), in the meantime, the settlement at Botany Bay was struggling hard to survive. Although it was not easy, they managed to stay alive. On June 3, 1790, a ship was glimpsed. Everyone thought that it was the ship with supplies, but it was not.

Hughes (2003) says it was , one of the ships, carrying 222 women and just a little amount of flour. It also brought letters and news from Europe and information about the supplies. The Guardian, the ship: “laden with two years’ worth of food and stores, had struck an iceberg and limped into Cape Town, where she was abandoned” (Hughes 104).

This was followed on 20th June by the "Justinian", which was loaded entirely

with provisions for the colony. Rations were immediately increased and, with the

arrival of further ships carrying convicts, even though they were in very poor

condition, and many died after arrival, the old labour hours were restored. New

buildings were planned and large areas of land near Rose Hill were cleared for

cultivation. (Dunn and McCreadie)

According to Hughes, this was the worst fleet that arrived at Botany Bay, because the other three ships of the fleet were full of ill and weak convicts, invalids that were not able to work. Phillip had to write a letter to England, saying that the colony was not able to support itself and that it had to be supported by England for several more years. Based on Hughes’s Fatal Shore, England did not forget its people. The following fleets were bringing convicts, but also supplies for the colony, so it seemed that the plan of Sydney Cove being a self-sufficient colony could become true in several years.

46 8. Conclusion

The aim of this work was to describe the events that eventually helped to built a new country – Australia. The work talks about the reasons, about the ways and means, but also about some of the people that have merit in Australia becoming the country that it is today. In the work, a film is used as one of the sources. It is a film about Mary

Bryant, which describes her life before she was arrested, the voyage to Botany Bay and the life in the settlement. The main part of the film deals with Mary’s escape from

Botany Bay and the voyage to Timor. The film ends showing Mary’s life after she was arrested in Timor and sent to back Britain. Although this film gives a lot of information, there are scenes in it and situations, which do not correspond to facts. The work points out to these situations and gives factual information that can be compared with the film.

Mary and the people I am talking about in this work are the First Fleet convicts, who had to do the most difficult job - to start a self-providing civilization in the middle of nowhere. Because Britain could not deal with a high rate of criminality, the government decided to found a penal colony, where they could transport the convicts.

Many of the convicts who were to be transported were just petty criminals, who stole because they were hungry.

Because the colonies in America, at that time the United States of America, refused to accept convicts from Britain, The British government had to find a new place where it could send British criminals. After a long decision-making process, Botany Bay was chosen, because it was thought there were good conditions for a settlement there and that there was a chance that the colony could become self-supporting in a few years.

The convicts sent to Botany Bay just had a little help from Britain and they had to struggle hard to survive. According to Ward (1992), Hughes (2003), Harman (2004), they were criminals sentenced to death, whose lives were saved. But the prize they had

47 to pay for being saved was high. They were sent to a voyage that took more than eight months, on several ships where the conditions were awful – they just had a little food, a little water, their raged clothes and a little fresh air – and were brought to a land with no permanent settlement and as some of them thought, a place with no future. But although their lives had been hard there, they came to an unknown country, they were starving and ill, they were brave enough and managed to build a place where the convicts who came after them and their children could live. The convicts had their experience from

Britain, where they were also hungry and had no proper clothes. Still, they managed to survive. And they learned to do the same in the new settlement.

In the colony, this group of criminals had to stop stealing and start raising crops, making bricks and building houses. They could not rely on anyone but themselves.

Because there were many problems with the Aboriginal people and the colony was short of food, linen and other supplies, it was hard to survive. So hard that many, such as

Mary Bryant and her comrades who thought all the effort was useless, decided to escape. And they succeeded. Mary’s escape supports the opinion that the conditions in the settlement were bad. She was willing to take her two children and undergo a voyage that had just a little chance to succeed. Still, she thought the possibility to survive was higher than if they stayed in the colony. She and her husband, her children and her seven comrades who escaped from the colony became heroes, because they were able to survive an extremely dangerous voyage from Botany Bay to Timor. They won the fight with nature, the rough sea did not kill them and some of them even got back to Britain, alive, so they could tell their story. They escaped from Botany Bay in governor’s cutter and sailed to Timor, where they were thought to be survivors from a shipwreck. But they were revealed and after a British ship called Pandora came to Timor. They were taken back to Britain, where they had to be punished. Not all of them were lucky enough

48 and got to Britain. William, Mary’s son and daughter, and three of their comrades died and only Mary and four other convicts managed to survive and get home, to Britain, where they were pardoned.

The First Fleet convicts had to fight the nature as well. They could have tried to escape, but they did not. They stayed and managed to found a place that became the cornerstone of a new country. And based on the opinion of , a popular

Australian writer of non-fiction, which he presented in an interview on September 10,

2002, it is a successful one: “It fascinated me that Australia began as a penal colony and then became an increasingly successful society by the 1960s” (Keneally).

49 Works Cited and Consulted

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51