TOWN OF GAWLER

...to which the prize of twenty guineas was awarded by The Gawler Institute on the occasion of its Second Anniversary, 1859

Gawler Public Library Institute Building, 91 Murray Street Gawler SA 5118 Phone (08) 8522 9213 Fax (08) 8522 9212 Email: [email protected] Website: www.gawler.sa.gov.au 2.

This year, 2009, marks the 150th Anniversary of the writing of The Song of Australia . The inspiration behind the concept of holding a competition to find a ‘national song’ is now lost in the annals of time but the Committee of the Gawler Institute exhibited considerable foresight in considering the production of a patriotic song to encompass the whole of ‘Australia’ when Australia still consisted of six independent colonies.

The Gawler Institute had been founded in October 1857 and it quickly became an important part of the Gawler community. The first anniversary was celebrated with a two-day ‘exhibition of works of art and natural curiosities’. 1. For the second anniversary, the Institute Sign next to Gawler Institute Committee decided to offer prizes of ten guineas building, Murray Street, Gawler, commemorating The (£10 10s which today would be worth approximately Song of Australia. (Town of AU$1560 2. ) for the words and music for a patriotic Gawler, Gawler Heritage song. Collection)

A public notice calling for entries for The Song of Australia competition appeared in The Advertiser on October 1, 1859. The judges were listed as John H Barrow MP, John Brown, John Howard Clark, Hon A Forster MLC, W C Wearing and E J Peake MP. The copyright of the prize-winning words would become the property of the Gawler Institute. The closing date for entries was October 14 and competitors were advised that they could ‘adopt any treatment of subject or rhythmical measure, so as the composition is in accordance with the title and suitable for musical expression’. 3. Competitors were also advised that entries ‘must not bear the name of the author, but a motto’ and that ‘Poem for Prize’ should be written on the envelope addressed to George Isaacs, Gawler. Enclosed in a second envelope should be the competitor’s name and on the outside should be written his motto. The only envelope to be opened would be that bearing the motto of the successful competitor. 4.

Also in The Advertiser on October 1, 1859 was another public notice advising would-be composers that, immediately after the awarding of the prize for the words, entries for original music would be called. The judges for the music were named as G W Chinner, F S Dutton MP, A Ewing DACG and W Holden. 5. Similar notices appeared in The Register on October 3, 1859. 6.

1. E H Coombe, History of Gawler, 1837 to 1908 , Gawler, 1910, p. 73. 2. Measuring Worth website, www.measuringworth.com, accessed May 5, 2009. 3. The Advertiser , October 1, 1859, p. 1. 4. Ibid. 5. Ibid. 6. The Register , October 3, 1859, p. 1. 3.

The winner was announced in The Advertiser on October 20, 1859 under the heading ‘The Gawler Prize Song’. Readers were informed that the judges had the ‘somewhat laborious task of reading 93 poems’ and that ‘it was not an easy task to come to a conclusion’. 7. As soon as the judges had made their decision, it was sent by telegraph to Gawler where it was revealed that the winning poem ‘(No. 80) was the composition of Mrs C J Carleton of West-terrace, ’. 8. The Judges’ Report stated:

South Australian Institute, Oct, 19, 1859. The Judges appointed to select the best poem from the number forwarded by the Gawler Committee, beg to report that they have twice met, and devoted considerable time and attention to the compositions submitted to their judgment [sic]. They have had much difficulty in arriving at a decision as to the song best entitled to the prize, on account of four or five other productions being of nearly equal merit; but after carefully comparing those reserved for final review, have determined to give preference to Song No. 80, and bearing the motto ‘Nil Desperandum’. 9.

The Advertiser of October 21, 1859 carried a public notice which formally announced that the winner for the best words for a patriotic song was Mrs C J Carleton of Adelaide. The Committee stated that it regretted not having the funds to award ‘other prizes to various meritorious productions’ and in an effort to ‘encourage native talent’ the Institute intended ‘publishing a careful selection from amongst them’ provided there were no objections from the competitors concerned. 10.

Following this announcement, in another public notice, the Gawler Institute called for entries ‘for the music to The Song of Australia … published in this day’s paper’. 11. The conditions for entries were ‘that the air be written in the G clef, and in any key the composer may select; but not to range below C or above upper G. The chorus (if any) to be written for three or four voices’. 12. The requirements for sending entries was similar to the entry process for the words, ensuring anonymity until a winner was chosen.

The awarding of the prize to Mrs Carleton stimulated much public comment. An advertisement placed by ‘T.V.’ in The Advertiser on October 24, 1859 was highly critical of the ‘prize song of Australia’, calling the poem ‘a tolerably good nursery rhyme’ that ‘will never become the popular national song - it is not the right

7. The Advertiser , October 20, 1859, p. 2. 8. Ibid. 9. Ibid. 10. The Advertiser , October 21, 1859, p. 1. 11. Ibid. 12. Ibid. 4. thing’. 13. ‘T.V.’ considered the poem to be ‘calm, soft, gentle and feminine’, suitable to be sung by a cluster of juveniles at a tea party’. In ‘T.V.’s’ opinion a national song must be short, bold, masculine and full of fire’, something that a woman was not capable of composing. In any event, ‘T.V.’ believed that any song, no matter how popular, ‘will die on the advent of Australian independence and severance from the parent state’. 14.

‘T’, in a letter to the Editor of The Advertiser of October, 28, 1859, requested that if ‘any more of these precious productions’ were to be published, they should be done so as advertisements because ‘if they are worth anything they are worth paying otherwise let us have no more of them’. 15. ‘ T’ expressed concern that, with the prospects of the colony being ‘already sufficiently gloomy’, ‘with ninety-three poets we are in almost a hopeless condition’. 16. ‘T’ ended by saying that he objected to importing poets, better to import the poetry. That way, time would not be wasted by men and women writing poetry rather than getting on with their work. Nor would the taxpayers money be wasted by the judges who agreed to read ‘the miserable cudgel-brained rhyming submitted to them’. 17.

‘W. Heritage’, also in a letter to the Editor, offered the opinion that the song, although ‘in many respects a beautiful production’, had ‘neither sufficient fire, nor the comprehensive view of the subject which a patriotic song should possess’. He thought that, from 93 songs, ‘it was natural to expect that the fortunate one which the Judges should select as the best would, indeed, be a gem, and worthy of the occasion’. 18.

Also in a letter to the Editor of The Adelaide Observer on October 29, 1859, ‘Cantator’ of Goolwa was reluctant to criticise the winner of the prize poem, ‘particularly when the winner of laurels is a lady’ but that did not prevent him questioning the merits of the poem. 19. ‘Cantator ‘stated that he was against the poem being referred to as a song and that he thought that its ‘metre and peculiar construction’ made it unsuitable for setting to music. 20.

The Adelaide Observer , in an editorial column on October 29, 1859, paid tribute to the Gawler Institute for devising a ‘plan of encouraging the literary tastes of the colony’ and for ‘being the first in the colony to invite public competition in works of

13 . The Advertiser , October 24, 1859, p. 1. 14. Ibid. 15. The Advertiser, October 28, 1859, p. 2. 16. Ibid. 17. Ibid. 18 . Ibid 19 . The Adelaide Observer, October 29, 1859, p. 5. 20. Ibid.

5. literature’. 21. However, despite ‘a very useful precedent’ being set, it was thought that the poets had been given a difficult task in being asked ‘to write a national song for a country which as yet may be said to be without a nationality’. 22. Not surprising then that the competition failed to produce something akin to Rule Britannia or The Star-Spangled Banner . The writer thought that the ‘great future of this southern empire might at all events have been a theme worth attempting’ and which hopefully may have elicited ‘more than the mere prettiness of our natural scenery, with its fruits and flowers, and blue skies’. 23.

Under the heading of ‘The Song of Australia’, The Advertiser on October 29, 1859 published the following:

Epigram by the successful competitor of the Gawler Prize Poem.

A thousand faults the critics find, To shreds and tatters rend it; One only fault she find with thou - ‘Tis that they can not mend it. 24.

The level of criticism rose to such a point that on November 1, 1859, The Advertiser advised that it would not be publishing ‘any more of the Gawler poems’. The reason given for ‘disposing of all the unpublished matter we have yet standing in type’ was a shortage of space because of ‘important matter’ such as ‘heavy reports’ and the ‘immediate prospect of the English mail’. 25.

The November 5, 1859 edition of The Advertiser carried a report ‘From our own Correspondent’ at Gawler which advised that the Gawler Institute Committee had received 23 musical compositions for the Gawler Prize Poem and that those entries had been forwarded to the judges for consideration. The Correspondent stated that he understood that the Committee intended to ‘publish 1,000 copies of the first edition of the Song and Music’. 26.

The winner of the prize for the best musical composition set to the words written by was announced in The Advertiser on November 18, 1859. From the 23 pieces submitted, the prize was awarded to Herr Linger 27. whose

21. The Adelaide Observer, October 29, 1859, p. 6. 22. Ibid. 23 . Ibid. 24. The Advertiser , October 29, 1859, p. 3. 25. The Advertiser , November 1, 1859, p. 2. 26. The Advertiser , November 5, 1859, p. 3. 27. The Advertiser , November 18, 1859, p. 5. 6. motto was ‘One of the Quantity. 28 All five verses of the poem were published. 29. Payment of the prize money was authorised by the Gawler Institute Committee at its meeting on November 25, 1859. 30. However, The Adelaide Observer had already carried this story on November 5 and had included the Judges report:

The Judges appointed to award the prize for the best musical composition set to the words of the prize song, entitled ‘The Song of Australia’, met on Friday, the 4 th November - present, Messrs. Dutton, Ewing, Chinner and Holden. Twenty-three compositions were examined, and the prize was unanimously awarded to the composition bearing the motto ‘One of the Quantity’. Those bearing the motto ‘Long Live our Gracious Queen’, ‘Garibaldi’ and ‘Con Amore’; so nearly equalled the prize composition in merit that the Judges had great Cover of the original sheet music for The difficulty in coming to a decision. 31. Song of Australia published by Penman & Galbraith, Lith. Adelaide, 1859 for the Gawler Institute. (Town of Gawler, Gawler In The Adelaide Observer of November 12, Heritage Collection) 1859, it was revealed that the composition bearing the motto ‘Garibaldi’, was written by Signor Cutolo. The other two compositions which the judges found to be almost as good as the winning entry were, in fact, written by . 32.

At the meeting of the Gawler Institute Committee on November 25, 1859, a concert to celebrate the Second Anniversary of the Institute was agreed upon. Herr Carl Linger was to be invited to conduct the concert and there was a special instruction that he be told not to engage ‘Signor Cutolo’. 33.

Desmond O’Connor describes Cesare Cutolo as a gifted pianist and composer who lived in from November, 1858 to December, 1859. Cutolo taught singing and piano and performed in concerts in Adelaide and South

28. The “Song of Australia” Proclamation as National Song. Speech by Dr H Basedow MP in the House of Assembly, Wednesday, September 4, 1929, p. 1. 29. The Advertiser , November 18, 1859, p. 5. 30. Extracts from the Minutes of the Gawler Institute, 1857-1970, November 25, 1859. 31. Supplement to The Adelaide Observer, November 5, 1859, p. 1. 32. The Adelaide Observer, November 12, 1859, p. 6. 33. Ibid.

7.

Australian country towns such as Reynella and . He submitted a music entry in the Gawler Institute’s Song of Australia competition under the motto ‘Garibaldi’ and was awarded second prize. The judges apparently considered that Cutolo’s piece was almost equal in quality to that of Carl Linger’s. 34. However, the judges report does not state that they had awarded second prize to ‘Garibaldi’, only saying that it ‘nearly equalled the prize composition’. 35.

A public notice in The Advertiser of November 2, 1859, advised of a concert to be held on November 8, 1859, under the patronage of Volunteers and featuring Signor Cutolo who would ‘be assisted by the following Artistes: Mrs Perryman, Miss Rowe, Miss Bryan (her second appearance), Mr Daniel, Mr Christen, and Mr Hermann Oelmann, tenor (his first appearance)’. 36.

The concert was reported to be a great success and ‘enjoyed exceedingly by an audience whose gratification was most unmistakably and frequently manifested’. 37. The Song of Australia although having been advertised, was withdrawn from the program but ‘it was demanded by the audience, and Miss Bryan sang it most sweetly, being rewarded (or punished) with an encore’. The tune was not original but one which was identified by the writer of the report as Shells of the Ocean. 38. The song was probably more correctly known Shells of Ocean , written by J W Lake and J W Cherry and which was described as ‘the most popular song of the day!’ by its publishers, Woolcott and Clarke of Sydney. 39.

Cover of Shells of Ocean, the tune to which the words of The Song of Australia were probably sung, November, 8, 1859. (Source National Library of Australia, nla.gov.au/nla.mus-an7313493

34. Desmond O’Connor, ‘Italians in South Australia: the First Hundred Years’, in D. O’Connor and A. Comin (eds), Proceedings: the First Conference on the Impact of Italians in South Australia, 16-17, July 1993, Adelaide, p. 1 35. Supplement to The Adelaide Observer, November 5, 1859, p. 1. 36. The Advertiser, November 2, 1859, p. 1. 37. The Advertiser , November 9, 1859, p. 2. 38. Ibid. 39. National Library of Australia website, http://nla.gov.au/nla.mus-an11386301, accessed May 12, 2009. 8.

On the evening of Monday, December 12, 1859, the second anniversary of the Gawler Institute was celebrated at the Oddfellows’ Hall, Gawler. Carl Linger had been engaged to conduct a concert at which The Song of Australia was first performed in public. It was reported that between 200 and 300 people attended, some travelling by train from Adelaide for the occasion. The Brunswick Band performed as did a number of singers and instrumentalists. Early in the evening, copies of the words and music had been distributed to the audience and at about mid-way through the program, ‘the Prize Song of Australia’ was introduced. 40. The piece was arranged for the concert as a solo and quartette for four voices. The verses were sung as solos by Miss Rowe, Mrs Perryman, Mr Daniel and Mr Oehlmann each taking a verse alternately with all singing the chorus as a quartette. No mention is made of the type of accompaniment but it is likely that this first performance of The Song of Australia was accompanied by Carl Linger on piano and not by the Brunswick Band. The Song was ‘very favourably received by the audience who broke into loud applause at the end of each verse’. 41. When the song was finished the audience showed great appreciation and ‘loudly called for Herr Linger, who came forward and bowed his acknowledgments’. 42. Later in the concert ‘Miss Rowe performed a fantasia of

The Oddfellows’ Hall (on the left), Murray Street, Gawler, where The Song of Australia was first performed in public on December 12, 1859, date of photograph unknown. (Town of Gawler, Gawler Heritage Collection)

40. The Advertiser , December 14, 1859, p. 3. 41. Ibid. 42. Ibid. 9.

The Song of Australia composed by Herr Linger’ and the concert concluded with a ‘melange’ of national anthems, beginning with that of England and ending with The Song of Australia .43.

The first edition of The Song of Australia was published by Penman & Galbraith. The Institute had decided to have 1000 copies printed, 44. for sale at ‘half a crown’ each. 45. Half a crown was two shillings and sixpence, about $17.00 in today’s money. Some of these first copies were given to those attending the Second Anniversary Concert 46. and some were sold in places like the Congregational Church Bazaar in early 1860. 47. By May, 1860, proceeds from the sale of music was £58 10s. 48. Upon return from a visit to Melbourne in 1863, the President of the Institute reported that The Song of Australia was unknown in that Colony and that 100 copies were to be sent for sale. 49.

In a letter dated November 18, 1874 written to the Secretary of the Gawler Institute, S Marshall of Adelaide enquired whether the Institute would consider selling the copyright of The Song of Australia or, if not, would the Committee arrange for more copies to be printed and supplied for sale through his business. 50. On February 27, 1875, Penman & Galbraith advised that 200 copies of The Song had been printed with 50 copies being sent to Marshall and 150 to the Institute .51.

A subsequent communication dated March 1, 1875 from S Marshall to the Institute Committee requested by return post the price ‘you are going to charge me for The Song of Australia’ .52. The decision was obviously not made hurriedly but by November 1877 there was a decision to sell the copyright. An entry in the Minutes states that Marshall & Son had advised by letter that they were willing to pay £10 for the rights to The Song. The Committee accepted the offer and the copyright was transferred. 53.

43. Ibid. 44. The Advertiser, November 2, 1859, p. 1. 45. Cover of Penman & Galbraith’s edition of The Song of Australia, 1859. 46. The Advertiser, December 14, 1859, p. 3. Cover of the edition of The 47. Extracts from the Minutes of the Gawler Institute, 1857-1970, Song of Aust ralia which was January 3, 1860. published by S Marshall & 48. Ibid., May 8, 1860. Sons, ca. 1877. 49. Ibid., November 2, 1863. (Town of Gawler, Gawler 50. Letter to Gawler Institute Committee from S Marshall, Adelaide, Heritage Collection) November 18, 1874, held in the Gawler Institute Archives. 51. Letter to Gawler Institute from Penman & Galbraith, Adelaide, February 27, 1875, held in the Gawler Institute Archives. 52. Memorandum to Gawler Institute from S Marshall, March 1, 1875, held in the Gawler Institute Archives. 53. Extracts from the Minutes of the Gawler Institute, 1857-1970, November 4, 1877. 10.

After the sale of the copyright, many editions of The Song of Aust ralia were printed by various publishers. In 1877, it was published as a Supplement in Frearson’s Weekly and featured a line drawing of the Gawler Institute on the cover. Other editions have been published in music albums and in song books of national and patriotic songs. 54. The original music was written in the key of B Flat for solo and vocal quartet, and with piano accompaniment. Several arrangements since then have been in either the key of F or G. These keys have proven more suitable for the general singing range. 55.

Cover of the edition of The Song of Aust ralia which was published as a supplement to Frearson’s Weekly , December 21, 1877. (Copy held at State Library of South Australia)

Cover of a special edition of The Song of Australia by Cawthornes Ltd., 1936 (Town of Gawler, Gawler Heritage Collection)

54. Ronald A V Wallace, Our great patriotic song, The ‘Song of Australia’, with information on Caroline J. Carleton (who wrote the words) and Carl August Ferdinand Linger (who composed the music) , Adelaide, 1999, p. 10. 55. Ibid. 11.

Ronald A V Wallace states that there have been various arrangements of The Song for orchestra, band and choir. W B Chinner was one of the first to write a new choral arrangement. It was harmonised and arranged as a part-song. 56. Chinner also wrote a new music score titled Concordia: Fantasia on the “Song of Australia” & “God Save the Queen .57. Professor Joshua Ives produced a choral arrangement as did Dr Harold Davies. 58.

Wallace states that the original manuscript for The Song of Australia was sold in 1904 to Mr G G Shaw, a collector of South Australian historical material. He did not keep it for long before it passed into the hands of Mr A W Piper, who had it bound. 59. The manuscript was eventually deposited with the State Archives during 1939 after being in the safe-keeping of Mr C J Young since 1915. 60. The manuscript is now kept at State Records. 61.

The Song of Australia was thought to be a suitable contender for Australia’s national song. In 1880, The South Australian Education Department ordered that it be sung in all public schools with the raising and saluting of the flag. The Education Department also encouraged the singing of The Song by school children whenever they were involved in an official function. 62.

Gawler Primary School Jubilee. Relatives of Caroline Carleton (daughters Mrs Rhead and Miss Carleton, and several grand-children) and Carl Linger (grand-daughter Miss

Cranz (in centre of photograph), teachers and parents gathered for a Song of Australia demonstration. The Mayor of Gawler, Mr D C Connor, is seen here addressing the gathering; the head teacher, Mr R L Bromley is standing near the Mayor, May 1, 1928. (Town of Gawler, Gawler Heritage Collection)

56. Ibid. 57. Music Australia website, www.musicaustralia.org, accessed May 13, 2009. 58. Wallace, Our great patriotic song, p.10. 59. Ibid., p. 8. 60. Ibid., p. 9. 61. State Records website, www.archives.sa.gov.au, accessed May 8, 2009. 62. Wallace, Our great patriotic song, p. 22. 12.

It was also thought to be an admirable gift and memento of Gawler. Visiting dignitaries were often presented with special bound copies, among them were Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh (1867), Governor of South Australia, Sir Thomas Fowell Burton (1887) and Governor of South Australia, Lord Hallam Tennyson (1900) 63. Wallace states that a copy of The Song of Australia was presented to every Royal visitor to South Australia. 64. He also states that, during the First World War, many thousands of copies were sent by the YMCA to Australian soldiers overseas. In 1918, the Adelaide Branch of the League of Loyal Women sent 15,000 copies of The Song in ‘Christmas Billycans’ to the Western Front. 65. Certificate presented to Prince Albert, The Song of Australia was always popular Duke of Edinburgh upon his visit to Gawler, requesting that he accept the gift in South Australia but it was never well- of the copy of The Song of Australia , known in the other Colonies (and later, November 6, 1867. (Town of Gawler, States) of Australia. Despite this, there were Gawler Heritage Collection) a number of attempts to have it adopted as Australia’s national anthem. During the early 1970s, the Lions Clubs of South Australia led a vigorous campaign to have it acclaimed as the national anthem but figures from a 1974 Australian Bureau of Statistics survey showed that the preference was for . In fact The Song of Australia came in at a very poor last behind Advance Australia Fair , Waltzing Matilda and ‘others’. 66. Results of a national survey which were published in The Advertiser in May, 1977 showed that the preferred national anthem was Advance Australia Fair (43.2%), followed by Waltzing Matilda (28.3%), God Save the Queen (18.7%) and The Song of Australia (9.8%, these votes coming mostly from South Australia). 67. Eventually, in April 1984, Advance Australia Fair was proclaimed as the national anthem for Australia. 68.

63. Extracts from the Minutes of the Gawler Institute, 1857-1970, September 17, 1867; July 14, 1887; 1899. 64. Wallace, Our great patriotic song, p. 11. 65. Ibid., p. 12. and The “Song of Australia” Proclamation as National Song. Speech by Dr H Basedow MP. In the House of Assembly, Wednesday, September 4, 1929, p. 3. 66. Ibid., p. 28. 67. Ibid., p. 65. 68. It’s an Honour website, http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au, accessed May 15, 2009.

13.

Caroline Carleton

Rae Webling, in her publication “ A Song of Australia”: Caroline Carleton 1820 - 1874, describes Caroline Carleton as highly intelligent, well-educated, resourceful and resilient. She spoke English, French and Italian fluently and had a working knowledge of Latin. 69. Caroline was born at Bonner Hall, near London, on July 1, 1820. Webling says that little is known about Caroline’s parents, Mr and Mrs William Baynes, but that her grandparents, the Count and Countess delaMere, were well-known in French Society. They were forced to hurriedly and secretly leave France during the French Revolution.70.

Caroline Carleton, date unknown. (Town of Gawler, Gawler Heritage Collection)

69. Rae Webling, “A Song of Australia”: Caroline Carleton, her poems and biography 1820-1874, Kadina, 1977, p. 3. 70. Ibid., p. 1. 14.

At 16 years of age, Caroline married Charles James Carleton, a young medical student. In 1839 the Carletons, with their two infant children, departed London for South Australia aboard the ship Prince Regent. During the voyage which was made unbearable by high seas and the lack of provisions, both children died and were buried at sea. The ship arrived at Glenelg on September 26, 1839 and the Carletons eventually settled in Gouger Street, Adelaide. 71.

Charles Carleton, after several short-lived ventures, including farming, starch and glue manufacture, smelting operations, chemist and manufacturer of baking powder 72. , became medical dispenser to Dr Nash, the first Colonial Surgeon. Caroline and Charles lived at the Adelaide Hospital, where two of their six children were born. Later, in 1847, the family moved to Kapunda, where Charles worked as an assayer and medical officer. After returning to Adelaide, he opened chemist shops in Rundle and Gouger Streets, and at Hindmarsh. 73.

After the discovery of gold Charles Carleton went to Victoria. It is not clear if he went to try his luck or to work, perhaps as a medical officer, but in any event he did not stay long and on August 4, 1852, he returned to Adelaide on the brig Hero . 74. In an advertisement he placed in The Register on August 7, 1852, he thanked his ‘Forest Creek Friends for their support at the Diggings’ and advised that he had large supplies of ‘Carleton’s Baking Powder, Carleton’s Ferinaceous Food, Carleton’s Dysenteric Pills and Carleton’s Antibilious Pills’. 75. He also advised that he would pay high cash prices for gold.

On November 2, 1855, Charles Carleton was appointed to the position of superintendent of the . At the same time, he was ap- pointed as sexton (later curator) of the Anglican Cemetery. He was employed on a salary of £150 per annum, with a surety of £100 required. This was paid by Dr William Grosse, the colonial surgeon and Mr Faulding, chemist. 76. Robert Nicol states that Charles’ credentials seemed perfect for the task of undertaking much- needed administrative reform in the cemetery as ‘he had previously been selected as a temporary clerk to arrange and docket the documents and catalogue the minute books of the Corporation of Adelaide’. 77.

After an enthusiastic start which saw Charles focus his attention on preparing a map of every grave and every head and foot stone and on ways of improving

71. Ibid. 72. Robert Nicol, At the End of the Road, Adelaide , 1994, p. 46. 73. Webling, “A Song of Australia” , p. 2. 74. The Register , August 6, 1852, p. 2. 75. Ibid. , August 7, 1852, p. 1. 76. Nicol, At the End of the Road , p. 46. 77. Ibid. 15.

West Terrace Cemetery, West Terrace, Adelaide, ca. 1872. (Image courtesy of the State Library of South Australia. SLSA: B9142) drainage in the cemetery, he began to face criticism. In April 1856, concern was expressed that the burial register was being kept in a careless manner and he was besieged by financial difficulties in running the cemetery. In an effort to improve conditions and make the cemetery more attractive, he exceeded his budget by £55 and he was forced to appeal to the governor against that amount being taken from his salary. 78. Consequently, Charles was reluctant to undertake work or employ extra labour in an effort to improve the appearance of the cemetery. Increasingly, he complained to the government that the resources available to him were inadequate to maintain the cemetery. 79.

In January, 1857, Charles applied for leave to stand for the Adelaide City Council but this was refused. The cemetery came under discussion in parliament in 1857 with the result that, rather than encouraging the government to spend more money on the cemetery, it had the opposite effect. After this, both Charles’ enthusiasm for reform and improvement and his health went into decline. On July 22, 1861, Caroline Carleton notified the Chief Secretary that her husband had died and ’asked him to delay appointing a successor until a memorial in her favour could be presented to the governor’. 80.

78. Ibid. , p. 49. 79. I bid ., p. 50. 80. Ibid. , pp. 50-51. 16.

After the death of Charles, it became apparent that, in the previous three years, Caroline Carleton had played a significant role in the management of the cemetery. She appealed to the governor to appoint her as superintendent since she had carried out all the necessary duties during her husband’s illness. The response from the chief secretary, however, rejected her application stating that the position ‘required an oversight and decision, such as no lady of education could be expected to possess’. 81.

Caroline appealed, stating that she had, during the three years of her husband’s illness, been responsible for the day-to-day operation of the cemetery and had written reports ‘upon two difficult cases’. 82. The appeal was rejected and on August 27, 1861, a new superintendent was appointed and instructed to ‘as much as possible consult the feelings and convenience of Mrs Carleton by allowing her ample time for removing her family from the premises and making necessary arrangements for their future accommodation elsewhere’. 83. She remained at the cemetery for a further three weeks before moving into the city. 84.

While in residence at the West Terrace Cemetery, Caroline had established herself as a poet. She responded to the advertisement placed by the Gawler Institute calling for entries in a competition for the lyrics for a patriotic song to be titled The Song of Australia . Legend has it that Caroline wrote the five verses while sitting on a bench in the grounds of the cemetery ‘with her children playing at her feet’. 85. Shortly after winning the competition, Caroline published South Australian Lyrics , a book of poetry which was priced at 1s. 6d. 86. The following comment appeared in The Advertiser on November 18, 1859:

Mrs Carleton has published in a small pamphlet a few poems on various subjects. We, think, however, that she has scarcely done herself justice in this selection. 87.

An entry in the Minutes of the Gawler Institute in June, 1865 records that a letter had been received from Mrs Carleton in which she requested permission to publish The Song of Australia in her second edition of poems. 88.

Following the death of her husband, Caroline was left with five young children

81. Ibid. , p. 52. 82. Ibid. 83. Ibid. 84. Ibid. 85. Webling, “ A Song of Australia” , p. 2. 86. The Advertiser, November 10, 1859, p. 1. 87. The Advertiser, November 18, 1859, p. 2. 88. Extracts from the Minutes of the Gawler Institute, 1857-1970, June 13, 1865. 17.

(one had died as an infant) to support and raise. Having been denied appointment to the position of superintendent at the West Terrace Cemetery, she set about establishing a number of private schools in Adelaide. Later she set up a school at Wallaroo which, when functioning well, she left in the care of her eldest daughter. Caroline made occasional visits to introduce new programs to the school and on one visit she became ill and died shortly after, on 10 July 1874, at the age of 54. 89. She was buried in the Wallaroo Cemetery.

Unveiling the Carleton Memorial, Wallaroo, 1923. (Image courtesy of the State Library of South Australia. SLSA: B35626)

Memorial to Caroline Carleton, Centenary Square, Wallaroo. (Source: www.coppercoast.sa.gov.au)

89. George E Loyau, Notable South Australians; or, Colonists - past and present , Adelaide, 1885, p. 272. 18.

Carl Linger

Carl Ferdinand August Linger was born on March 15, 1810 in the German city of . The son of an engraver, he was encouraged from an early age to study music and his composing career was already established before he left his homeland to travel to South Australia. He had visited music schools in Italy and had won repute for composing two operas (titled The Fight with the Dragon and Alfred the Great 90. ), masses, symphonies, cantatas and other musical works. 91.

The political unrest which swept across Europe in 1848, resulting in revolutions in many countries, created an atmosphere from which many were forced to escape. In Germany, respected, wealthy and well- educated people such as Carl supported the desire Carl Linger, date unknown. for change favouring a unification of the country, a (Town of Gawler, Gawler more democratic government and guarantees for Heritage Collection) human rights. The Berlin Migration Society was formed and with a group of intellectuals, Carl and his wife, Wilhelmine, sailed from Hamburg on the Prinzessin Luise, departing on March 26, 1849. 92.

In a letter dated March 20,1852 written to his mother, Carl describes the trip which was made difficult by cramped space, confusion and ‘unusual’ food. On March 27, at 4pm, in very stormy waters of the North Sea, his wife gave birth to a ‘sound girl’. ‘The little thing was greeted by passengers and crew with three hurrahs, and the ship …showed a great display of bunting’. 93. They reached Rio de Janeiro on ‘Whitsunday eve’ (May 27, 1849) where the passengers left the ship. The Lingers lived for ten days in a rented ‘rustic dwelling’ in the hills overlooking the city and harbour. The remainder of the trip was uneventful and the Prinzessin Luise arrived at Port Adelaide on August 7, 1849. 94. He applied for naturalization on August 30 and it was granted on September 1. 95.

90. Ibid. , p. 193. 91. Australian Dictionary of Biography-online edition , www.adb.online.anu.edu.au, accessed March 17, 2009. 92. Ibid 93. H H Aderholdt, ‘Carl Linger writes to his mother how a migrant fared a century ago’, in Our South Australian Past [articles], Book II, p. 39. 94. Ibid. , p. 40. 95. Australian Dictionary of Biography-online edition . 19.

After arrival, Carl offered music lessons but finding pupils was difficult ‘partly because the country wasn’t yet cultured enough, partly because I hadn’t enough command of the English language’. 96. He received advice that the way to make money was by owning and working the land. He acquired 80 acres of land at Munno Para, ‘at the end of a grove in the plains, an hour and a half from the hills’. 97. A small section of the land was cleared, the soil was excellent but the water in the two wells was ‘most unsuitable’. 98. Carl spent more than £60 constructing a house, he felled trees, dug the soil, ploughed, grew potatoes and improved the land. He had a partner in this venture who apparently was lazy and Carl’s savings were soon spent and he was soon in debt in an effort to survive. He broke with his partner, keeping half the land, the house, the implements and most of the debt. 99.

During January and February, 1850, Carl fenced his 40 acres, felling with an axe his own timber. He bought cows, calves, pigs, fowls and used them to produce butter, cheese and eggs which were sold. Life was difficult and his neighbours, friends of his former partner, were ‘wicked’ and they tried to ‘harm him in every possible way’. After they caused the death of his best cow, he ‘decided to try his luck in the city’. He had worked hard on the land for 18 months and was ‘full of grief and sorrow’ at seeing his wife ‘wilting because she was not used to so hard labour for which she was not physically strong enough’. 100. His child was sick, doctors and medicines hard to get, they had no money, little food and arguments with neighbours who were eventually taken to court and punished. Carl left his wife with her brother, Hermann Komoll, on the land and with two shillings in his pocket, he went to the city. 101.

The Prinzessin Luise

Chris Brice, writing in The Advertiser on December 2, 1989, called the Prinzessin Luise ‘ a ship of destiny’. On the passenger list were names like Linger, Lindrum, Buring, Schomburgk and Muecke - men who had an extraordinary impact on the colony in which they chose to settle. Those who settled at Gawler River quickly became involved in the wider community, establishing new churches, Masonic lodges and newspapers, and joining the local council, agricultural societies and museums. Richard Schomburgk became the second director of the Adelaide Botanic Garden; Carl Muecke’s greatest influence was in the area of education. He was a strong advocate of free, secular and compulsory education; Carl Linger’s greatest claim to fame was his composition of the music for The Song of Australia ; Friedrich Wilhelm von Lindrum became a famous winemaker, billiard table manufacturer and billiard player; Friedrich Adolph Buring, an architect and engineer, created the wrought iron gates to the Adelaide Supreme Court building and the Adelaide Post Office; Marianne Kreusler settled at Buchsfelde and devoted her spare time to studying natural history - her collections were sold to the South Australian Museum; artist Alex Schramm’s works appear in a collection at the Art Gallery of South Australia. Many others contributed to the community as gold and silversmiths, engineers, cabinet makers and musical instrument makers.

96. Aderholdt, ‘Carl Linger writes to his mother, p. 40. 97. Ibid. 98. Ibid. 99. Ibid. 100. Ibid. 101. Ibid. 20.

Three days after leaving Munno Para, he appeared in a public concert in Adelaide. His ‘woodcutter’s hands’ did not allow him to do any more than sing and accompany but he felt that people sensed that he was a real musician compared to former performances by others. He tuned pianos and also earned money copying music and he accepted an invitation to play dance music to an English private party. After three weeks Carl was able to have his wife and child join him and he found he was able to pay off some of his debts. He was recommended as a music teacher to the ‘best English families’. After a short time, he was able to cease the piano-tuning work and playing at dances. He was busy, well-off and earned more money than he ever made in his best times in Germany. He felt he was respected by everybody and ‘held in great esteem by the most noble people’. 102.

After 14 months in the city, Carl was content. He had sold his property at Munno Para, had paid all his debts, bought new furniture, acquired ‘a magnificent instrument’ on which he spent £50, and sent his wife for two months to ‘the sea resort in the Bay’. He lived ‘in a nice dwelling’ on North Terrace ‘near the Governor’s Place’ with the parklands and the River Torrens in front of him, ‘to the right the hills and the sea to the left’. 103. His wife was no longer weak and his daughter, who had been christened Luise Marie Feodore in Adelaide, grew ‘into a strapping pretty girl who eats and drinks all day and plays in the backyard, chattering English as well as German’. 104.

Towards the end of the letter to his mother, Carl stated that he would be unable to return to ‘disturbed Europe’ as he believed that the ‘prospects of advancement’ were no longer there. He invited her to join him, saying that the country was a good one, offering many amenities. He compared the climate to that of central Italy, saying that the heat was not insufferable and that winter consisted of only four or five weeks of rainy weather. 105.

By 1859, when Carl Linger entered the competition for The Song of Australia he was well-known in Adelaide. He was active in most of the musical societies and was for several years leader of the Adelaide Choral Society, often performing at their concerts. His compositions Ninety Third Psalm and Gloria appeared in a printed program of 1855 , and his Concert Overture bears the date 1856. He was the conductor of Adelaide’s first Philharmonic Orchestra and of its first performance of Handel’s Messiah in 1859. 106. He was also one of founders of

102. Ibid., p. 41. 103. Ibid. 104. Ibid. 105. ‘Letter from Carl Linger’ , in The South Australian Genealogist, Vol 12, No. 3, June 1985, pp. 75-77. 106. Australian Dictionary of Biography-online edition 21. the Adelaide Liedertafel 107. and he formed and conducted the Brunswick Brass Band. 108. But despite his success, ‘his extreme modesty led to a tendency in him to depreciate his own attainments’. 109. When asked to publish more of his works, his answer was always ‘Germany has plenty of better music than mine in manuscript’. 110.

Wallace reports that a friendship developed between Carl Linger and August Friedrich Cranz, thought to be a professor of music, and his wife, Christiane Cranz, a soloist with the Adelaide Choral Society. Newspapers reported that Madame Cranz gave her first concert in Adelaide in June 1850, about six months after she had arrived from Germany with her husband and children. During the years that followed Madame Cranz and Carl Linger appeared together in concert on numerous occasions. On August 14, 1855, Carl organised a benefit concert for her and her children. 111. Carl Linger, ca. 1860. (Image courtesy of the State Carl Linger’s wife, Wilhelmine, died on April 7, Library of South Australia. 1860, at the age of 39 years. Carl’s health SLSA: B6746) apparently declined after his wife’s death and before he died on February 16, 1862 at the age of 52, he arranged with Christiane Cranz to take his daughter to his mother in Germany. Wallace states that Carl married Christiane during 1861 but there is no record of this in the South Australian Marriages, Index of Registrations, 1842- 1916 .112. Whether he married her or not, nine months before Carl’s death, a child, Carl Otto August Linger, was born on May 6, 1861 to Carl Linger and Mathilde Christiane Hogrefe. 113.

A ‘very large number’ of people attended Carl Linger’s interment at the West Terrace Cemetery. 114. The funeral procession which departed from his residence

107. Loyau, Notable South Australians , p. 194. 108. Wallace, Our great patriotic song, p. 90. 109. Loyau, Notable South Australians, p.194. 110. Australian Dictionary of Biography-online edition . 111. Wallace, Our great patriotic song, pp. 91-98. 112. Ibid., p. 98. 113. South Australian Births, Index of Registrations, 1842-1906, 2000, p. 1762. 114. The Observer , February 22, 1862, p. 7. 22. in Rundle Street consisted of ‘the Brunswick Brass Band, the Liedertafel, the hearse, and about 30 coaches and other vehicles, in which were seated the friends of the deceased and other gentlemen anxious to pay the last tribute of respect to a man whose talents as a musician and whose worth as a man have never been disputed’. 115.

Carl Linger Memorial at West Terrace Cemetery. (Source: www.tillett.com.au)

Little is known of Christiane and the children after their return to Germany but in 1949, two of Carl Linger’s great grand-daughters came to Adelaide with their mother, Mrs Alice Haenel. 116. Alice, who was born in Adelaide on May 25, 1873, was the daughter of Jochim Matthias Wendt, an eminent silversmith and founder of Wendt’s Jewellers. Jochim Wendt had been a friend of Carl Linger and while on holiday in Germany with his daughters, Alice and Margaret, he located Carl’s daughter, Luise, in Leipzig. She had married Georg Friedrich Haenel, a doctor of ophthalmology and had three sons, Hans, Anton Erich and Gustav. Alice Wendt and Anton Erich Haenel were attracted to each other and eventually married in Adelaide on January 24, 1901. As a wedding gift, the couple was given a leather-bound copy of The Song of Australia .117.

115. The Observer , February 22, 1862, p. 7. 116. Wallace, Our great patriotic song, p. 100. 117. Ibid., pp. 111-112.

23.

The Song of Australia

Words by Caroline Carleton

There is a land where summer skies Are gleaming with a thousand dyes, Blending in witching harmonies; And grassy knoll and forest height Are flushing in the rosy light, And all above is azure bright - Australia!

There is a land where honey flows, Where laughing corn luxuriant grows, Land of the myrtle and the rose; On hill and plain the clust’ring vine Is gushing out with purple wine, And cups are quaff’d to thee and thine - Australia!

There is a land where treasures shine Deep in the dark and unfathomed mine, For worshippers at Mammon’s shrine - Where gold lies hid, and rubies gleam; And fabled wealth no more doth seem The idle fancy of a dream - Australia!

There is a land where homesteads peep From sunny plains and woodland steep, And love and joy bright vigils keep; Where the glad voice of childish glee Is mingling with the melody Of nature’s hidden minstrelsy - Australia!

There is a land where floating free, From mountain-top to girdling sea, A proud flag waves exultingly; And FREEDOM’ sons the banners bear, No shackled slave can breathe the air Fairest of Britain’s daughters fair - Australia!

(Source: The Advertiser, November 18, 1859, p. 5.)

[ A recording of The Song of Australia by Peter Dawson can be heard at www.musicaustralia.org; the musical score can be found at http://nla.gov.au/nla.mus-an5628716] 24.

Bibliography Aderholdt, H H ‘Carl Linger writes to his mother how a migrant fared a century ago’, in Our South Australian Past [articles], Book II, pp. 39-42. Australian Dictionary of Biography-online edition , www.adb.online.anu.edu.au, accessed March 17, 2009. Coombe, E H History of Gawler 1837-1908 , Adelaide, Vardon & Sons, 1908. Extracts from the Minutes of the Gawler Institute, 1857-1970. It’s an Honour website, www.itsanhonour.gov.au, accessed May 15, 2009. Letter to Gawler Institute from Penman & Galbraith, Adelaide, February 27, 1875. Letter to Gawler Institute Committee from S Marshall, Adelaide, November 18, 1874. Loyau, George E Notable South Australians; or, Colonists - past and present , Adelaide, G E Loyau, 1885. Measuring Worth website, www.measuringworth.com, accessed May 5, 2009. Memorandum to Gawler Institute from S Marshall, March 1, 1875. Music Australia website, www.musicaustralia.org, accessed May 13, 2009. National Library of Australia, http://nla.gov.au/nla.mus-an11386301, accessed May 12, 2009. Nicol, Robert At the End of the Road , Adelaide, Allen & Unwin, 1994. O’Connor, Desmond ‘Italians in South Australia: the First Hundred Years’, in D. O’Connor and A. Comin (eds), Proceedings: the First Conference on the Impact of Italians in South Australia, 16-17, July 1993 , Adelaide, The Flinders University of South Australia, Adelaide, 1993, pp.15-32. South Australian Births, Index of Registrations, 1842-1906 , Adelaide, South Australian Genealogy and Heraldry Society Inc., 1997. South Australian Marriages, Index of Registrations, 1842-1916, Adelaide, South Australian Genealogy and Heraldry Society Inc., 2000. The Adelaide Observer The Advertiser

The Register The “Song of Australia” Proclamation as National Song. Speech by Dr H Basedow MP in the House of Assembly, Wednesday, September 4, 1929. State Records website, www.archives.sa.gov.au, accessed May 8, 2009. Supplement to The Adelaide Observer, November 5, 1859. Wallace, Ronald A V Our great patriotic song, The ‘Song of Australia’, with information on Caroline J. Carleton (who wrote the words) and Carl August Ferdinand Linger (who composed the music), Adelaide, Carl Linger Memorial Committee Inc., 1999. Webling, Rae “ A Song of Australia”: Caroline Carleton, her poems and biography 1820-1874 , Kadina, S.A, R. Webling, 1977.

Researched and written by Anne Richards, Librarian, Reference and Research Services Research assistance provided by Karen Carmody, Local History Support Officer

Number 19 in a Series of Historical Pamphlets produced by Gawler Public Library © 2009 Gawler Public Library