"I promise to know neither country nor creed, but to serve all justly
and impartially."
Caroline Chisholm
Caroline Chisholm is one of those remarkable women that most Australians
admire but are probably secretly pleased is no longer with us.
Why do we admire her? Australia is a practical country. We admire people
who roll up their sleeves and do things. rather than those who make a big
fuss saying "'they ought to do something about it". When
Caroline Chisholm arrived in your office or workplace it wasn't to say
"You must do something about this!", it was to say "I have already
done such and such and if you were to do so and so we could achieve even
more."
Why are we a little relieved that she is no longer around? We realise
that if we came within her sphere we would probably be bullied or charmed or
shamed into doing something for 'the cause'. What excuse could we put up? We
could hardly claim lack of time or resources because in front of us was a
mother of five (later six) children without a lot of money in a rough and
ready colony already doing significant things. Even her husband, who is
buried with her, is probably a little relieved. He was a competent army
officer, and spent much of his life and energy in the services of the
colonies and with Caroline's causes. His name doesn't even appear on their
tombstone, and he probably died of exhaustion just trying to keep up with
her. He is still possibly resting uneasily in case he hears the words
"Archie, what are we going to do about this?"
Caroline Chisholm and
Bank Notes
For many years, Caroline Chisholm's
face was on the $5 note. She has been displaced by Queen
Elizabeth - not through any sinister colonial designs but
because it has been an Australian convention that the monarch's
head should appear on the lowest denomination banknote. Over
time the $1 and $2 notes were removed from circulation so the
mother of six had to make way for the mother of the British
Commonwealth
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Caroline Jones was born in England in 1808 and in 1832 married Captain
Archibald Chisholm of the East India Company converting to Catholicism in
the process. Archibald was soon transferred to Madras and before long he and
Caroline had set up the Female School of Industry for Daughters of European
Soldiers.
When they arrived in Sydney in 1838, Caroline was shocked to find the
situation of immigrant girls. Most had come to Australia seeking a better
life but found themselves with no job, no food, living in shocking
conditions and numbers of them turned to prostitution. She took some of them
into her house and set about establishing the Female Immigrant Home. She was
able to enlist the support from various people and organisations culminating
in Governor Gipps. Caroline set about finding employment for the girls.
Where possible she checked on the working conditions involved and travelled
to country areas of New South Wales to seek out or generate employment.
Within two years she had found employment and accommodation for over a
thousand women and girls.
In 1846 Caroline returned to England and set about becoming a one-woman
'Australia House'. She promoted Australia as an ideal place for hard working
people to start a new life but also made sure that people were well informed
about the conditions they would face. Caroline was a strong advocate of the
civilising effect of a family, and arranged free passage for emigrants'
wives and children. She established the Family Colonisation Loan Society and
worked for improved conditions on board ship. In the end she decided the
best way to ensure this was to charter her own ships and appoint a doctor to
oversee the diet of the passengers. If you embarked on one of Caroline's
ships you could feel confident that she poked her nose in every corner and
cross examined many of the crew as to procedures to be used on the journey.
In five years she managed to send many thousands of well prepared emigrants
to Australia.
The fluctuating
popularity of Caroline Chisholm
She died in 1877 - poor and almost
unknown. Although this was a sad end she would probably be
quietly satisfied. She would not want to have held on to money
that could do good for others, and she had scant regard for the
'conspicuous compassion' of those who did good works just so
that they could be liked or gain recognition as a good person.
After her death her fame gradually
rose and was probably at its height during the 1960s when
Australia was welcoming a new wave of immigrants. From the 1980s
onwards she began to fall out of favour on many fronts. Many
NGOs and agencies did not want to draw attention to Caroline's
ability to achieve large results with little government funding.
Her 'can do' approach did not fit well with the prevailing
victim social philosophies, and her ability to get everyone
pulling in the same direction did not sit well with those
promoting class struggle. 'Look-at-me-activists' preferred to
lionise figures like Vida
Goldstein who were loud, in-your-face but largely
ineffectual. A century after her death Caroline was again
starting to be seen as politically incorrect.
Regardless of how she is currently
viewed by others, Caroline Chisholm was one of the first onto
the White Hat list of
200 Significant
Australians and, dare we say it, well ahead of
Saint Mary
MacKillop.
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By the 1850s, Caroline was sending out so many small families and farmers
that it was starting to worry the squattocracy. The squattocracy and
the establishment contained many Scottish Presbyterians, including the
Governor of New South Wales - Mr John Dunmore Lang. They were concerned at
the prospect of pressure on the squatters' land and increasing numbers of
Irish Catholic immigrants. But in the end Caroline Chisholm prevailed. Even
though she was a Catholic, she obviously displayed a Protestant work ethic
and knew how to wring the maximum good out of a dollar (or sovereign). She
also recognised that proper economic management of the colonies could
produce much more wellbeing than just well-meaning grass roots work. Here
was a woman who could create a business plan and could oversee every step of
its successful implementation. What was a Scotsman to do in the face of such
a formidable woman?
In 1851 Caroline despatched Archie to Australia so they could coordinate
the whole process from despatch to placement in Australia. This vertical
integration of the whole immigration process was a remarkable achievement
and governments were virtually 'shamed' into adopting numbers of the
practices initiated by Caroline and Archie. They could hardly claim that
reforms were too difficult when they observed what could be done by two
individuals with little personal monetary resources.
She became concerned about the effects of gold discovery. She feared that
'money for nothing' would undermine many of the qualities she felt Australia
needed (see her letter
to the newspaper at that time) . (Those observing the effects of the
introduction of widespread legalised gambling in Australia at present share
many of Caroline's concerns.) She continued to achieve improved conditions
for emigrants in areas such as travelling conditions and postal services
In 1854, she was well known in England, and came back to Australia.
However, later, as her health deteriorated she returned to England. She
continued to work despite increasing sickness and poverty. She died in 1877
- poor and almost unknown.
Some of her ideas were of their time and place. For instance, she
believed that Australia was best served by having a large number of small
farmers - an idea that is no longer current. The 'tough love' encountered in
some of the hostels - don't make yourself too comfortable, get looking for a
job - would not sit comfortably today and could be seen as lacking
compassion.
However, many of her initiatives proved particularly prescient. She
founded the Family Colonisation Loan Society to help break the cycle of
dependence and poverty. Were she alive now, she would be pleased (but not
surprised) to see that microbanking loans have quietly become one of the
most effective forms of breaking the poverty and dependence cycles of third
world countries. (She would also be pleased that an
Australian businessman was instrumental
in creating one of the most successful of these - Opportunity
International.)
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