Dead horse=tomato sauce or what you Yanks call Ketchup,

The rest of the lingo translation,s spot on by LongJohn! :).

Australia Day, ain't celebrated by all, for those exact reasons contributed by fellow oz drummers. We (aboriginal people, First Nations and indigenous peoples) celebrate for different reasons....our survival and struggles since invasion. Australia didn't become one, until 1st January 1901. That's when all states and territories came under one government. So, technically, 26th jan is New South Wales day. Before may 27th 1967, aboriginal abs Torres Strait islander people, weren't classified as humans. We were apart of the flora and fauna act. My dad and his family, who were born in holland, were citizens of this country before my mums family, who had been here for many a generations. Just a very brief overview and a past that is never taught or spoken about in Australian history.

All very true.. but an awareness is growing in the Oz culture now of the plight of the Aborigine people. I guess we all celebrate for different reasons. For me I am sixth generation Oz born and I celebrate the hardships of my ancestors. Many arrived at a young age with just the shirts on their backs and built lives and family's ..

Australia as we know it now was largely brought about by the US war of independence.. The Brits needed somewhere to dump their convicts, after the US won the war they refused to take any more convicts.. At the time there was a race between the Brits, France and Spain to fly a flag here. The Brits won and set Oz up as a penal colony.

Can't change history, as much as many of us would like to..

Cheers

The British only won by days from memory? The Dutch had already been here on many occasions and didn't stake a claim, there was trading going on up around the tip of Australia with the Indonesian and other Asian nations as well.

I never really thought about the innocent people, that were brought out here for trying to survive. I don't like using that word convict either. A mate of mine, who plays in my band was telling me about his gggg grandfather that was brought out here from Ireland for stealing spuds to feed his family. He was talking about the loss of there language, culture, lands and family history as well. That's something that you don't hear about as well. I love this country, things changed when those cronulla riots happened a few year ago. I think that people changed, society did and division started becoming greater. Media love scaring people, it's one of the reasons I don't buy or read the herald scum here in Victoria. Too much hatred and division. One thing I have seen with the music scene, no cares what color you are, what religion you practice and what country you are from.

Jane was my wife's GGG Grandmother.. She did it tough..

Cheers

JANE JONES STILWELL WEBSTER

1795 -1868

Jane Jones grew up in the Soho district of London, the daughter of William Jones a glassmaker. She was 4’10 ½” tall, of fair complexion with black hair and hazel eyes. On 16th May 1812 aged 17 she and her friend Ann Rogers aged 15, robbed a public house of 4 loaves of bread, 1lb butter, 5 eggs, 1 fowl, a cheese, silver cutlery, plates, basin, tinder box and the entire till holding 140 pennies, 2,124 halfpennies & 463 F A R Things. A Beadle and Constable caught them coming home and they were locked up in the Watchhouse. Two months later in the Old Bailey they were found guilty and sentenced to death, but because of their young age the sentence was commuted to transportation to the colonies for life.

On 12th November 1812 together with 38 other women convicts, some with children, they left England aboard a small ill-fated brig ‘Emu’ bound for Sydney. In the Bay of Biscay they were hijacked by government supported American pirates, who at that time were harassing English shipping. The ‘Emu’s compliment were dumped at Mindelo, Cape Verde Islands many weeks later in January 1813 and the ship taken to New York for sale. A rescue ship was months away. They returned to Portsmouth harbour in October 1813 where the convict women were made stay aboard because their clothes were in such a dilapidated state they were nearly naked.

Another larger ship the ‘Broxbornebury’ with fresh supplies was made ready for their next journey which included another 85 women convicts and 28 free families. This ship sailed on 22nd February 1814 stopping only at La Corunna Island and Funchal, Madeira Islands for supplies before arriving in Port Jackson on 28th July 1814. It had taken twenty months after first embarking on the ‘Emu’ for Jane and her friend Ann to reach the colony.

On board, a relationship had apparently flourished between Jane and John Stilwell, who was steward to Sir John Jamison, also passengers. This liaison kept Jane from being sent to the Female Factory at Parramatta. She was assigned to Sir John Jamison as housekeeper in one of his properties, the Westmoreland Arms, with John Stilwell installed there as Publican and Manager.

Jane and John had 5 children in Sydney; John 1817; Lucy b/d 1818; Thomas 1819; Jane Margaret 1821; and William 1822. They were married at St. Philips Church in 1819 and Jane received an Absolute Pardon from Governor Macquarie in 1820 giving her the opportunity to return to England if she wished. However, it was John Stilwell who left the Colony in 1825 owing money to several people after getting his business into severe financial difficulty; he abandoned Jane and his children.

Now aged 30, Jane became housekeeper to John Nehemiah Webster, an ex-convict who had received his pardon also from Governor Macquarie in 1821. John was a carver and gilder who employed two convict shoemakers in his business in Castlereagh Street. The household was quite large with Jane’s surviving children residing there as well until her eldest son became employed at Kissing Point further up the Parramatta River. In 1829 two other of her children were admitted to the Orphan School for a time as she could not afford to support them as a washerwomen and needleworker. She and John Webster had become partners quite quickly but did not marry for seven years after Mr. Stilwell’s departure, until March 1832 in Scots Church, Sydney. They produced four sons in Sydney – Joseph Nehemiah 1826; John 1828; Leonard 1829; Jeremiah Godfrey 1831; and later two daughters in Goulburn – Sarah 1832; and Rebecca 1834.

With all their children, the family moved to Goulburn in 1832, only 4 years after the town had been dedicated, probably to get out of Sydney town’s squalid conditions. They lived in what is now called North Goulburn where the township was first established with the population at the time being only a few hundred. On the journey Jane must have been heavily pregnant with Sarah. To support them all, John Webster became a butcher and purchased land, part of which is covered by the Sydney road today.

Jane and John never became wealthy, but together they did raise a lot of children – currency lads and lasses, from whom there are many descendants. John died on 28th February 1842 aged 44 years. Jane died of ‘old age’ in her house in Auburn Street, Goulburn on 24th April 1868 aged 74 years. It is believed they are both buried in the Presbyterian section of the original burial ground, Mortis Road Cemetery.

Thanks for sharing that John. It's great hearing of people tracking down there history and not forgetting it. It's apart of you and I know with my Koorie side, we are very fortunate with our family history/stories etc. with my Dutch side, well that's a completely different story. Such a paranoid bunch of folk they are and won't share anything. My dad has passed, he passed on what he could remember, but my uncle and Aunty!.....anyone would think, that I wanted some cash from them. Won't even give me names of family members, still alive in the region where they were from and won't pass on any details about my grandparents siblings, parents names etc. your wife is very lucky to have that info.

Boora, ""Won't even give me names of family members, still alive in the region where they were from and won't pass on any details about my grandparents siblings, parents names etc. your wife is very lucky to have that info.""

I can relate to that.. usually a couple of "skeletons in the closet".. Note.. I spent around 15 years on researching family history including my wife's side.. In fact we found her Adoption Papers the day after her adopting mother passed away.. for her it was a double whammy, at 22years of age and having had no idea that the lady whom we were about to bury was not her real mother..

Cheers