Australian History
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Robert Knopwood Tasmanian Convict Ned Kelly Martin Cash Matthew Brady Shearer Gold Prospector Stockman Swagman |
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Abel Tasman is best known for his two voyages of the mid 17th centuries for the Dutch East India Company (the VOC). In 1642, he was to investigate the country then known as New Holland (Australia) which the Dutch had discovered earlier, to see if it was part of the great Terra Australis. He happened to sail off course, missed New Holland altogether, and discovered the island of Tasmania on November 24, which he named Van Diemen's Land after the Governor General of India. Tasman then sailed further east and went on to discover New Zealand, Tonga and New Guinea. The VOC were only interested in possible trade and new shipping routes so they found the voyages disappointing, and it was to be another 100 years before Captain James Cook came to Australia to claim and name it for Britain. In 1856 the name of Van Diemen's Land was changed to Tasmania. |
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Captain James Cook was a navigator and commander of incredible skill, who claimed Australia for Britain. He explored the East Coast of Australia in 1770, naming New South Wales. After an expedition to Antarctica, in 1773 he anchored the ship Resolution in Adventure Bay (Bruny Island, Tasmania) only a few kilometres from where these dolls are turned.
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Captain Matthew Flinders was the first to circumnavigate Tasmania in 1798/99 on the sloop Norfolk. He charted much of the Australian coastline and some of his charts have only recently been superceded. It was he who first suggested the name Australia. Flinder's cat Trim was born on the Reliance in 1799 and accompanied his master around the globe to Australia. |
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Captain Bligh, famous for the mutiny on the Bounty, is depicted here with a breadfruit plant to celebrate his voyage to Tahiti in 1787 to collect this food plant for the British colonies in the East Indies. At that time, he was a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy and it was on this voyage that he visited Bruny Island, off Tasmania, where he planted fruit trees. The mutiny occurred after his next visit to Tasmania in the Bounty in 1789. Bligh was also a noted artist and he produced many drawings of Australian birds and other wildlife.
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Shown with straw hat and a line (rope). A sailor would often paint his straw hat with tar to make it waterproof, and often painted his pigtail as well, to keep it under control.
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Rear Admiral, Sir John Franklin (1786-1847) was Governor of Tasmania from 1836-1843. He was a leader in the establishment of State Primary Education as well as Christ's College in Hobart. He encouraged exploration of the State. Franklin fought at Trafalgar and died leading an expedition in search of the North-West Passage.
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Lady Jane Franklin was a supporter of agriculture in Tasmania, and attempted to rid the State of snakes by offering a bounty for dead ones. She also built a Greco-Roman temple as an Arts Centre in Lenah Valley, establishing a botanical garden around it: Acanthe Gardens, the Valley of Flowers. Lady Franklin established the Hobart Regatta and accompanied her husband on a trip to Tasmania’s rugged West Coast.
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Lt. Col. Lachlan Macquarie of the 73rd Regiment succeeded Capt. William Bligh as governor of NSW. He encouraged a massive expansion of public works and established new towns on the Hawkesbury River to be the food bowl for Sydney. Macquarie encouraged exploration in NSW and travelled to Tasmania on an inspection visit, aboard the Lady Nelson.
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Elizabeth Macquarie was an inveterate traveller and accompanied her husband on all his major travels in Australia. She is remembered in the numerous Elizabeth Streets adorning our capital cities today, as well as a rock overhang above the harbour in the Sydney Domain, known as Mrs Macquarie's Chair.
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The clothes that were issued to the convicts who were transported to Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania) became known as magpie suits, intended to make them obvious in a crowd. Convicts were employed at many tasks: gardening, tree felling, saw milling, boat building, road making and so on. These occupations are shown in the details on the dolls.
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Ned was probably Australia's most famous (or infamous) bushranger. He reversed the biblical prophecy by having ploughshares beaten into armour, and is famous for kitting out himself and his gang with homemade bullet proofing, including the iconic helmets. The final shootout was at the Glenrowen Inn near Melbourne in 1880 where Ned was captured, and he was hanged a few months later. His last words were "Such is life." |
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Martin Cash was sent to NSW for 7 years for attempted murder. He served his sentence and obtained a Ticket of Leave, working as a stockman in the Hunter Valley. He moved to Tasmania, and repeated stealing saw him sent to Port Arthur but 2 years later he managed to escape with Kavanagh & Jones who made up the infamous Cash & Co gang. They rampaged through the bush, robbing rich homesteads. Captured and sentenced to hang in 1843, they were reprieved and sent to Norfolk Island where Cash reformed and married. He returned to Hobart, living at Montrose and working as Head Gardener at Government House until he died in 1877. |
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Matthew Brady was Australia’s first heart-throb character. This rebellious rogue won the admiration of ladies for his chivalry, flashness and bravery, thus endearing himself to many. He had been sentenced to 7 years transportation for stealing a basket of bacon, butter and rice, and arrived in Tasmania in 1820. He endured the usual chain gang and lashing for 4 years on Macquarie Harbour, before escaping in a whaleboat. Arriving at Hobart’s harbour, he began his bushranging career around the Sorell area and there are many tales of his pranks and escapades. Finally captured in 1826, his cell was filled with flowers, fruit, cakes and fan letters. Women wept as they saw their “wild colonial boy” hanged on May 4 1826. |
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Shearers did it the hard way in pioneer times, with hand shears (blades). |
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Our prospectors carry a bag or two of gold nuggets, and the odd wallaby or faithful dog may get into the picture. |
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The stockman herded the cattle across the wide brown land of Australia. He was often a landowner, having been granted a parcel of land or bought it outright as a settler. He is depicted here with his whip tucked in his belt, and a kelpie (Australian cattle dog) at his feet. |
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The swagman carries his few belongings on his back, wrapped in his blanket (a 'swag'). Sometimes he is looking for work on farms and sometimes he is just wandering (or stealing the occasional sheep for his dinner). The swagman is best known for his part in Australia's folklore and in 'Waltzing Matilda' (his swag was called 'Matilda'). |
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See Nativities for Pioneer Nativity set
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