Mrs Chisholm smiled. ‘Come sit with me,’ she said. ‘It’s hours until our ship departs. My legs are tired. Let’s sit on that bench there.’ She patted her belly.
Carly noticed that she’d put on weight.
Dora whispered, ‘She’s pregnant!’
The girls followed Mrs Chisholm to a bench and sat beside her. Her husband and children trailed behind. Now that the excitement had passed, Carly was able to look at her closely. A few years must have passed since they last met; there were some streaks of grey in the reddish-brown hair and new lines on her face. She looked tired.
‘The girls have done well,’ she told them. ‘Hundreds of girls came through my Home. Hundreds of them! Almost all of them found work with good employers. The country scheme was a huge success. We set up employment offices in Parramatta and Liverpool and Campbelltown, and lots of other places even further away. It was such a success that we had no need of the Home in the city any more.’
‘Then why are you leaving?’ Carly asked. ‘Where are you going?’
‘My dear girl.’ Mrs Chisholm took Carly’s hand in her gloved fingers and looked closely into her eyes. ‘My work has only just begun.’
‘What do you mean?’ Carly wanted to know.
‘Our country is struggling with drought and Depression. There are still too many people in the city without jobs. I have helped families to settle in country areas, where the work is needed, but it’s not enough. Britain keeps sending uneducated people with no skills. The system is a mess.’ She shook her head before continuing, ‘What’s worse is that there are many men who were sent here years ago as convicts. They are now free men, but their families are back in England without any support. I have taken statements from hundreds of immigrants and ex-convicts who tell their sad stories. I am taking their statements back to England to show the British Government. I hope to convince the government to send the families of those poor ex-convicts to Australia, free of charge, so that they can be reunited. I also hope to set up a better system of emigration so that people who are poor but hardworking can afford to come here and find jobs straight away.’
‘Gosh,’ said Carly. ‘You’re going to do all of that yourself?’
Mrs Chisholm smiled. ‘I know some powerful people. My friend Mr Dickens will support the plan.’
‘Mr Dickens?’ Dora said. ‘Charles Dickens? The author?’
‘That’s right – the author.’ Mrs Chisholm nodded.
‘Wow,’ said Dora.
Even Carly – who wasn’t a big reader – had heard of Charles Dickens. Her mum was a great fan of the BBC TV adaptations of his books.
‘Caroline,’ Captain Chisholm called out. ‘Time to board the ship.’
Mrs Chisholm nodded and rose to her feet. ‘It’s time to say goodbye,’ she said, grasping one of Carly’s hands and one of Dora’s. ‘Be strong. The world needs good women. Remember: be kind and support each other. It’s a man’s world, but it won’t always be. You girls are the next generation ...’ Carly and Dora glanced at each other with tiny smiles. Not quite the next generation, Carly thought. More like five or six generations away ‘... and with each generation, we women will become stronger. You wait and see! Remember what I say: be strong, be kind, and support each other.’ She kissed them on their cheeks and turned back to her husband.
He gave her his arm with a smile, and Mrs Chisholm took the hand of their youngest child. Then they waved and strolled off to the wharf where their ship waited.
The girls stayed until the Chisholms had disappeared from sight.
Then Carly said, ‘What was it you were going to tell me?’
‘I was waiting to see if we would be friends before I told you. I wanted to see if the news would make you happy before I shared it.’
‘We are friends, aren’t we?’
‘Of course we are!’
‘Well, then? What is it?’
Dora grinned and put an arm around Carly’s shoulder. ‘I’m going to boarding school with you!’
Carly’s mouth fell open. ‘The same school?’
‘Of course, the same school, silly!’
A smile spread across Carly’s face. ‘Well, then, let’s get on with it!’
‘Home?’
‘Home!’
And they each gripped an end of their shawl, counted to three, whipped the shawls from their shoulders, and tumbled back into the present.
If you can find an old five-dollar note, you will see Caroline Chisholm’s picture on it. She is one of Australia’s best-known and most important early social reformers. In a time when women didn’t even have the right to vote, she made a huge difference to thousands of lives.
In the mid-1800s, transportation of convicts to Australia was coming to an end and free settlement was growing. British people were suffering from unemployment, poverty and disease. Looking for a better life in Australia, thousands of them came across the sea on terrible voyages that lasted many months. When they got to Sydney, they found a city that was crowded, poor and dangerous. They struggled to find jobs. They took whatever work they could find, but sometimes their employers took advantage of them – they mistreated them or didn’t pay them properly. The young single women like Sophie were most at risk. Sophie was not a real person, but there were many young women just like her.
Caroline Chisholm saw these problems and wanted to fix them.
She was born in England and came to Australia with her husband and children in 1838. Her husband, Captain Archibald Chisholm, was in the Army and was often overseas during her early years in Australia. When he returned to the family in 1845, he supported his wife in all of her efforts to improve the lives of immigrants. She also had the support of friends like Charles Dickens, just as she did in this book! And like
