PRG 389/9/1 Early Recollections of Caroline Emily Clark C
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__________________________________________________________________________________ PRG 389/9/1 Early recollections of Caroline Emily Clark c. 1828-1905 Transcribed by Barbara Wall, Volunteer at the State Library of South Australia, 2016 There are no restrictions on copying or publication of this item. Caroline Emily Clark (1825-1911), known as Emily Clark, arrived in South Australia from England in June 1850. She became a social reformer, especially known for championing the cause of children in institutions, and for her efforts in the founding of the ‘boarding-out system’ for settling destitute and orphan children with foster families in Adelaide. She worked with fellow Unitarians Annie Montgomerie Martin and Catherine Helen Spence. She was appointed to the State Children’s Council in December 1886. Spence’s book State children in Australia: a history of boarding out and its developments was written about Clark’s work and was published by the State Children’s Council in 1907 in recognition of her service. Members of her family are frequently mentioned. Her father, Francis Clark (1799-1853), and his wife Caroline (1800-1877) emigrated to Australia and arrived on 11 June 1850, with their seven children: Caroline Emily (1825-1911), Algernon Sidney (1826-1908), John Howard (1830-1878),Henry Septimus (1837-1864), Ellen Rosa (1839-1899), Matthew Symonds (1839-1920), and Susan Mary (1846-1932). [The Recollections are in a book bound in brown fabric, with gold lettering on the spine: Recollections of CAROLINE EMILY CLARK. There are 184 pages, more than half handwritten and the rest typed.] [unnumbered page 1] RECOLLECTIONS OF MISS CAROLINE EMILY CLARK COMPLETED BY HER SISTER MRS. JOSEPH CROMPTON. The recollections were written at the dictation of Miss Clark towards the end of her life, when her sight was impaired. [unnumbered page 2] CONTENTS PAGES. 1 to 110. Early recollections. 110a to 115. Miss Clark’s first impressions of S.A. as dictated to her sister Mary, Mrs Joseph Crompton . Miss Clark’s journal in three volumes has replaced Mrs Crompton’s summary pages 1-42 Volume 1 October 21, 1850 to December 17th 1850 pages 1-49 Volume 2 December 24th 1850 to April 27th 1851 pages 1-68 Volume 3 December 18th 1851 to April 18th 1852 128 to 135. Recollections of Mrs. Joseph Crompton, in continuation of the reminiscences of Miss Clark. PRG 389/9/1 Caroline Emily Clark letters transcript Page 1 of 148 __________________________________________________________________________________ 136 to 162. Boarding out system. Care of neglected children. 162 to 168. Continuation of Mrs. Joseph Crompton’s recollections. 169 to 179. Children’s Courts. 180 to 181. Death of Miss Clark. 182 to 184. Boarding out system. [page 1 handwritten until page 110a] Early Recollections by C E Clark I was born in a small house at Islington, in Broad St Birmingham on Sep 6th 1825. Broad St was very different in those days from what it is now. Between our house and the Five Ways turnpike gate there were several gardens let to poor people, and I believe I remember some corn growing on land which is now covered with shops. On the opposite side of the road there were good houses with trees and gardens about them. One of these was Miss Bache’s school, where my Mother was educated. Miss Bache was a clever woman and great aunt of the musician Edward Bache. My Mother was the eldest daughter of Thomas Wright Hill of Hazelwood School, and sister of the five well-known brothers, Matthew, Edwin, Rowland, Arthur, and Frederic Hill. My Mother, Caroline, her sister Sarah, and a very promising brother, named Howard, who died early of consumption, made up the family. My Father was Francis Clark, son [page 2] of Thomas Clark of Ladywood Birmingham. My first distinct remembrance was the birth of my second brother Owen when I was not quite three years old. I recollect being taken into my Mother’s room to see her, and I remember watching the baby’s toilet. Before the birth of my brother Howard, we removed into town to a house in Lionel Street, a dingy dreary street even then, the foot paths paved with cobble stones. It was a good house with a small garden at the back containing a large willow tree, which had a history. My grand- father Clark, when he was measuring the garden before he bought the place, made use of a rough walking stick, which he stuck into the ground to measure from and left it there by PRG 389/9/1 Caroline Emily Clark letters transcript Page 2 of 148 __________________________________________________________________________________ mistake. The next time he went to the place he found the stick had budded and it grew into a large tree. My father was very fond of gardening, he used to grow rhubarb and a few vegetables, and sowed our initials in mustard and cress. We always had plenty of double Daisies London Pride, and Thrift, besides a large [page 3] Honeysuckle, but very few other flowers, the roses sometimes had buds, but they never blossomed, the air was too smoky. There were pleasant walks within a very short distance of our house. One of our favourites was to the Sand Pits, since made into a cemetary. There was a spring of clear water which interested us very much. It used to come bubbling up from under an iron cover in the shape of half a garden roller, placed there I suppose to prevent the spring being choked with rubbish from the road. I think our greatest pleasure was to go to Weaver’s Museum. Weaver was an old man very fond of Natural History, he could stuff birds and mount insects, and having made rather a large collection, he took a room, and charged sixpence and a shilling to those who went to see his treasures. My father paid an annual subscription, and it was a great delight to go to the quiet room with our nursemaid, and walk about at our leisure examining the curiosities. We were always welcomed by the old man and his wife, who [page 4] generally had something new to show us. Once it was a living horned owl, which stood winking & blinking on his perch. Another time it was a chameleon. This creature was green to begin with but gradually changed to a dull brown when the old man put it on his coat sleeve, then to a dingy white when placed upon a sheet of paper. The room was lined with cases containing stuffed birds and animals; there was a beautiful skeleton of a boa constrictor, the tattooed head of a New Zealander, which had been lent to the old man, and there were hundreds and hundreds of butterflies and beetles, mostly English. There was a long table down the room on which stood glasses containing different kinds of caterpillers which were kept until they turned into butterflies. The arrangements were very good, a glass of water enclosed by a wooden lid with a few holes in it, through which springs of the plant necessary for the caterpillar appeared all looking fresh. A tall glass covered these so that we could see the creatures feeding. [page 5] On one occasion we saw some curious black caterpillers on sprigs of nettle, and were fortunate enough to see a beautiful Peacock butterfly on the day it made its appearance out of the chrysalis. Another time there was a Deaths head moth with its wonderfully handsome markings. Then there were flying squirrels, though we were rather disappointed to find they had not real wings. PRG 389/9/1 Caroline Emily Clark letters transcript Page 3 of 148 __________________________________________________________________________________ Perhaps the most exciting visit we ever paid to the Museum was when we discovered our own pet owl among the stuffed birds, it was one we had had a long time and it was quite tame. We had all gone to Hazelwood to stay for a week or two and had taken the owl with us, unfortunately it escaped from its cage and we never saw it alive again. It was presented to the Museum by my grandfather’s next door neighbour who had shot it in his garden. We grieved over the loss very much but we were glad to see it again stuffed as it was. Some time afterwards [page 6] Weavers Museum was sold and became the nucleous of the large Queen’s College Museum but it was never so interesting to us as the old place. My memory goes back a long way, for I recollect the Proclamation of William IV in 1830. It took place in what was called the Bullring, the market-place of Birmingham. I remember the Heralds in their red coats blowing their trumpets before they proclaimed the new king. The event was perhaps fixed in my memory by a little accident which might have been serious. Many people were collected in the house of Mr James Belcher, my father’s cousin, which overlooked the scene. My cousin Emma Clark and I were in a room at the top of the house looking through a small open window, when Mr Belcher’s assistant, thinking to make it more pleasant, tried to open the window a little wider. It stuck fast, and then came down with a run upon our necks causing us a terrible fright. Our shrieks brought everybody up into the room but we were unhurt [page 7] so that they only laughed and the window was carefully fixed before we ventured to put our heads out again. We must have lived in Lionel St for four years, there my brother Howard was born and another boy named Russell who died while still an infant.