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Lace Trade
Nottingham Review 8 Aug 1835 p3

There is no visible amendment in the trade as yet. Ten and eleven point gauges, 24 holes, Grecian quillings, with a variety of fancy article, are the only goods for which there may be said to be a demand. It is certainly an advantage to the hand machines, that they are enabled to introduce into the trade at this dull time, so great a variety of new and really beautiful fancy patterns, many of which are in a finished state, and the remainder requiring but very little assistance from the lace runners to make them so. This is a branch of the trade, which alone can enable the narrow hand machines to be productive of benefit to the owners; and the more attention and study is given to this department the greater will be the advantage resulting therefrom.

Gooseberries
Nottingham Review 28 Aug 1835

The following list of gooseberries, grown at Calais, by mr Wm Hemslet, was received this week, by Mr Liscumb Hall, of Radford. The plants were sent to Mr Hemsley by his friends in Nottingham; the berries were weighed in the presence of several persons:

2 on a stem.:

State of the Hosiery and Lace Trades
Nottingham Review 25 Mar 1842 p4

There is a slight improvement in the demand for fancy bobbin nets and for some description of warp nets. The Jacquard may be considered as very established in the making of fancy nets, though there is an opinion among the trade, that some of the plans are failures.

We are sorry to state that there is scarcely any improvement in the drawer branch, the hands being to a great extent unemployed, those being so some time since, amounted to about 600. To add to the misfortunes of these workmen, some of the hosiers have adopted the system of drop-offs, that is, not shifting the drops in narrowing, leaving them loose to run down, these articles are even worse than cut ups, - and we hope that the buyers will now be aware of the fraud, and will inspect the insides of the seam; the price deducted from the wages is 2s per dozen for pantaloons, and [1s]6d per dozen for drawers.

The system of paying wages by truck is extending in the cotton hosiery trade; we have heard of convictions taking place at the County Hall, for this offence, the Magistrates having evidently come to the decision to suppress this evil and oppressive practice.

A report has prevailed that there is a very increased demand for silk gloves;- on enquiry, we find that such a desirable event is unfounded. The system of net thumb holes is extending.

The making of Lisle thread gloves, which some time since was nearly wholly confined to Leicester, is increasing in this county. The cut up system is laying the foundation for its ruin - though we believe the journeymen are decidedly averse to this practice. To the honor of the English workmen, they are, in almost every instance, steadfast opposers, as far as their means extend, to every species of fraudulent manufacture.

This report appeared on the same page.

Samuel Farley was convicted in the penalty of £5 and costs, for having paid a workman in his employ his wages in goods, in lieu of money.

Note: The payment of wages by a voucher on the factory shop (sometimes referred to as the truck or tommy system) could be a particularly oppressive practice, with the employees forced to pay inflated prices for inferior or even adulterated goods. See Benjamin Disraeli's novel Sybil Book 3,Chap 3 for a description of a Tommy-shop. DBW.

Rural Police Again
Nottingham Review 27 May 1842 p4

Within the last fortnight, we have had another case of the officiousness of these gentry, in what they call their duty, but which in reality is anything but their duty. Our readers will recollect a few weeks ago that a robbery was committed at Risley in Derbyshire, in the house of an old woman, which we described in our paper. Now, a blue coated serjeant named Casey, stationed at Ruddington, hearing that some men had gone from Stapleford to Calais in France, took them for the thieves, and immediately set off after them, we know not whether by order of his master, the chief constable, or whether of his own accord. His stay in Calais has been prolonged by a refusal to give the men up - and we have not heard the conclusion. But now comes the grand question - Does he know that these men are in any way connected with this robbery further than that in his constabulary wisdom, he suspects them because they left a village a short time after it. Why, we have intelligence from Stapleford that these men were honest and upright - men who would scorn to commit an act of theft, much more in a lone house, on an old woman - men who had the respect and esteem of their neighbours, and whose only misfortune, or rather fault, in the eyes of the police, is that they have been driven from the land of their birth, where they are starving, to seek shelter in a foreign land. One was to be the partner in a concern there, and the whole of them had got employment. May not their officious zeal ruin them all. We have done our duty in stating the details. Let the ratepayers of the county inquire, as befits them, into another point - whether they are to pay police to fly off to another country after felonies and robberies committed in an adjoining county; a pretty pass things are come to, if they are to pay for Derbyshire apprehensions: they had better attend to Leicestershire as well , to make the system complete.

Petition
Nottingham Review 24 Mar 1848 p3

Stapleford.- The following is a copy of the petition from this village on the law of settlement &c:- To the Honorable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parliament assembled.

The petition of the undersigned ratepayers and owners of property in the parish of Stapleford in the county of Nottingham.

Sheweth that the parish of Stapleford contains a population of two thousand persons, who are chiefly employed in the manufacture of lace; for which articles there existed a few years ago, an extraordinary demand, which produced high wages and caused a large influx of population from the surrounding agricultural villages. But in consequence of the unprecedented falling off in such demand, the working classes are placed in a situation of great privation and distress, and the burdens of the ratepayers have been increased to an alarming extent, owing to the unequal operation of the present law of settlement and parochial assessment of poor rates.

Your petitioners desire to call the attention of your honorable House to the fact, that while the parish of Stapleford contains no more than eleven hundred acres of land, there are thirteen other parishes in the same union, comprising an area far exceeding as many thousands of acres, which do not, collectively, contribute so large an amount for the support of the poor as the above-named parish.

Your petitioners learn with regret that similar evils exist in many other parts of this country, and believe there is no remedy short of an entire change in the system of assessing and levying poor-rates, making all descriptions of property liable to be equally assessed for the support of the poor.

Your petitioners therefore pray your honorable house to take such steps for the accomplishment of the above objects as your honorable house shall deem meet; and your petitioners will ever pray, &c.

English Mechanics From France
Nottingham Review 31 Mar 1848 p4

A letter from Calais states , that since the Revolution, the greatest distress has prevailed among the lace-makers in that town and the Basse Ville, all the looms having stopped working. Formerly there were upward of three thousand English lace-makers, principally from Nottingham, constantly in employ and at high wages; but since the French have become acquainted with the method of working the tulle, or bobbin-net, they have established numerous manufactories themselves, which have annually caused a great falling off for the demand of English wove lace, as they are able to sell it at a lower price.

The result has been that a very large portion of the Nottingham weavers, who had established themselves at Calais, have been obliged to return to England or emigrate to America as they could obtain no work; but since the Revolution things have become much worse and those remaining with their families are in a most destitute state. Subscriptions have been got up among the more wealthy of the English for their temporary relief and through the kindness of the British Consul and the directors of the General Steam Navigation Company, who have kindly granted a free passage, several hundreds of them have been enabled to return to their native country.

English mechanics and labourers throughout France are obliged to leave in haste, in consequence of the combination among the French workmen to drive them from not only the railways, but iron foundries and other large establishments, and that in a state of the greatest destitution, as many are unable even to get the money which is due to them, while their tools or instruments are either seized or destroyed. A meeting at which the representatives of 507 English persons, including women and children, were present, was held at Calais a few nights ago; and a petition to the English Government was signed by 170 men, praying to be provided with means of transit to South Australia.

120 have arrived in Nottingham from Calais, as we are given to understand; and they tell pretty tales of French oppression and cruelty. Others from other ports have reached here, and a few have obtained admission to the Nottingham union workhouse.

[For a reply see NR 7 Apr 1848 - titled Letter from Calais]

The March Of Revolution
Nottingham Review 31 Mar 1848 p4

What times are these we live in!- Of what scenes are we the spectators! The great Revolution of the nineteenth century has already thrown that of the eighteenth utterly into the shade. There never was a Revolution till now:- all former displays were revolts not revolutions. Not the people of France only, or of America, are protesting against monarchical and oligarchic tyranny; but democracy throughout nearly all the Continent of Europe is setting its foot upon the necks of nobles and kings. The old French Revolution, which was supposed to have passed off with small result, and left things pretty much as it found them, with a despotising monarch and corrupt government, has now, it appears, conceived; - the barren has at length brought forth young, and the "blatant beast" not only shakes itself and growls in its native country, but its terrible cubs too are overrunning nearly the whole of Europe. The Many against the Few - that old contest - is now new as well as old; and new results as well as old ones, are achieved. This is no petty game, no skirmish, no guerrilla warfare, no indecisive contest; it is the most stupendous event in the history of Europe, and reminds one of nothing so much as that "great battle of Armageddon" long since prophesied of, in which the peoples are to be "gathered together to the battle of the Almighty."

The Absolute Powers fancied, no doubt, that the old system would last for ever. A very tame affair, we dare say, appeared the flaming volcano beneath them; which only required to have its crater bricked over to render a very solid basis for their thrones. We can picture the surprise of their High Mightinesses at discovering that their patent process would not avail. The bricks were excellent, and the cement superior,- and yet, unaccountably, the volcanic element would come through! The attempt to nail down the earthquake seemed feasible enough to them; but the earthquake was not to be fastened down, after all, and the royal erections built thereupon have vanished underground. What a singular circumstance! - How truly surprising!

The people of this country have hitherto been merely spectators of this Revolution; we pray that they may never be called upon to be actors. But there is a growing conviction, that in some way or other, a change must come. Great Britain has not so much to complain of as Austria, or France, or other continental states had; but she too is not as she will have to be. Their trade embarrassed, their employments and means of livelihood lessening every day; their faces not yet recovered from the haggardness of last year's famine, their shoulders blistered and stung by the burden of a national debt already too grievous to be borne,- is this a time, we ask, when the poor people of this country, who already pay out of every pound they spend in food, 6s.8d. towards the war charges, should be called upon to pay out still more to support an increased war establishment;- to nourish into still greater luxuriance a deadly growth of ivy which exhausts the old tree of its life's sap, while pretending to support it? Is this a time when seven millions of property should continue to be devoted to fattening Bishops, and supporting a state-paid, and therefore, state-paralyzed and corrupted Church? Is this a time, when hosts of placemen and pensioners,- aunts and sisters of aristocratic paupers;- or foreign despots, like Ernest of Hanover;- is it now, we ask, when such as these should be revelling in wealth extorted from those perishing for the want of it? Are the wicked, food-destroying, crime-engendering game-laws to last for ever, that squires and gentlemen may have their sport, no matter how many families are forced upon the parish - how many heads of families are driven into jail, or how many hung upon the gibbet? - and is no extension of the suffrage needed, or is it nothing that the direction of the vessel should be almost entirely in the hands of an oligarchy, which manages the helm for its own class-interest, caring comparatively little for the welfare of the crew?

Would it be surprising on the whole, if these abuses, being felt strongly, as they are, be represented strongly, as very possibly they may be? We are convinced her Majesty's Ministers and their friends are not quite aware of their real position. They, too, are inclined to nail down the earthquake.

Trade, Commerce And Money
Nottingham Review 31 Mar 1848 p4

The Nottingham trade continues dull. The turn-out of the cut-up hose hands seems likely to be contined some time longer. In the midst of the agitation of this dispute, another large house has attempted a reduction of the wages of the rib-top hands, who having struck, the master has placed boys in the frames. The journeymen, aware of this, have taken away some essential part of the frames, for which they pay rent, but the hosier has threatened to institute proceedings against them, on the ground that the frames being in the master's shop, they have no right to take any part of them away from the premises.

The drawer, pantaloon, and shirt branch hands have generally got work again, and though the trade is far from being brisk yet it is in a much better condition than it was during the greater part of the year 1847. The silk glove branch, though dull , is in the same improved state when compared with the past year. The cotton glove trade, though rather in a retrograding position, is more improved to what it was last year in this month. The silk hose branches are in a most lamentable state. Letters have been received from the stockingers who embarked with the expedition in Turkey; they complain heavily of the conduct of the agent, who not only neglected to provide them with necessary accommodation, but refused to pay them their wages according to agreement from the time they were hired, but has given them such low wages as to bring upon them the contempt of the Turks and Armenian Greeks, who regard them as dastards and people of no spirit or principle. They have been so pinched as to be compelled to apply to the British Minister at Constantinople for a remedy. It appears that the frames are not at Posa but at a manufacturing village about six miles from the metropolis of the Turkish empire.

The bobbin net trade is in a stagnant condition, but there is a little activity in some of the large factories, which will in all probability increase. The silk lace trade is in a better condition than the cotton and as the traverse method will probably be introduced by the returned English from Calais, this branch will undergo a considerable change as circular bolt machines will be in request in the fancy laces.

The Hands in Calais
Nottingham Review 7 Apr 1848 p4

To the Editor of the Nottingham Review - Calais, April 4th, 1848.
Gentlemen,- Having read in your paper of 31st March an account, stating that the English tell pretty tales of oppression and cruelty towards them, I beg to say they are entirely without foundation,- that is to say, in Calais or the Basseville. There have been a few of the lower order of workmen and boys who have insulted individuals, but nothing of any consequence. I can say with truth, up to the present time, there is not one person of any grade who has been compelled, through any threat or insult, to leave Calais, either from the higher or lower orders, but entirely through the suspension of all establishments in which they were engaged. They join us in different lodges and societies, and have called upon us to offer every protection in their power when required, and wish us not to be alarmed. No doubt from so many arrivals among you there are various reports. We have heard of one saying, when he left Calais there was one large factory on fire. I can assure you it is not true, nor has there been even one pane of glass broken in either French or English house or factory. In some other towns in France I believe they have been brutally treated, according to the English papers. At present every shop and factory is closed; no trade whatever going on, and no money to be had. God knows what will be the result.

A Subscriber, and Resident in Calais.

Letters
Nottingham Review 21 Apr 1848 p7

I. C. Wright, a prominent Nottingham citizen who took a leading part in the committee to raise money for the English workmen in Calais, circulated other citizens to gather material about the extent of poverty in Nottingham at that time. Many of the replies he received were published in the NR. Extracts from some are given below:

From W. Felkin, Lace-manufacturer, Nottingham

...Although they are not in a materially worse condition than at some former periods of public difficulty and distress, taking the mass of unemployed; those of them who have been out of work throughout the whole period of pressure, or for the greater part of it, are in an undoubtedly in a worse case than I ever knew them before.

The suffering condition of this part of our fellow-countrymen is so intense as to give the edge and point to the weapons of discontent.

I do not anticipate that it will be found practicable, nor does it seem to me desirable, to make the attempt to afford relief by any combined or merely charitable effort, beyond the largest possible exercise of private and discriminating benevolence. That, the present crisis unquestionably demands. I look for permanent relief only from employment, and for the means of employment, only from relief to trade; trade at home (our present only safe dependence) can only come from quiet mutual credit and confidence, and monetary and fiscal relief of the pressure on the middle classes.

The parties just above the working people, as clerks, small shopkeepers, overlookers, persons who put out work, and such like, are in reality suffering even more than the unemployed artizans, - they have had a position, which is sensibly and rapidly sliding from under them, in spite of every effort to maintain it. I know that many such are almost broken-hearted.

The past twelve months have produced a very important diminution in the amount of confidence felt by the middle classes towards the Government and the Parliament, - a very alarming one unless promptly and effectually met by sound measures for their satisfaction and relief.

On this class the destiny of the empire now mainly depends. I said in a letter to the Premier (then at the Home Office) in 1833,that the question for the years to come would be what is to be done for the working class, I now assert unhesitatingly this question is enlarged to this unhappy extent, viz, what is to be done with or for the middle class as well as the lowest classes amongst us, who are now suffering as they think grievous, yet they believe remediable wrongs?

From: T.R. Sewell, Lace-manufacturer, Carrington.

...I have had many, very many, opportunities, alas! of witnessing the sufferings of the people during the last few years. I have a positive knowledge of the fact that the condition of the working class is greatly deteriorated, and am acquainted with many distressing cases of industrious laborers, and ingenious persons, who a few years ago were in possession of a little property, (a few hundred pounds), and who, in spite of their utmost efforts to save themselves, have gradually sunk to such a state as to be unable to obtain even sufficient food...

Many persons who possess a little property, and who see no chance of preserving it, are emigrating, lest, as they express it, they should soon be without the means of leaving the country, which they think is fast going to ruin. Numbers of our best workmen are doing the same, having no prospect but to spend their latter days in an Union Workhouse, - their wages having been reduced nearly 50 per cent, during the last twelve years, - although this has been done with the greatest reluctance on the part of their employers, who are greatly inconvenienced and mortified at having fresh hands to teach.

From the Rev R.W. Almond, Rector of St Peter's.(who consulted others)

...All agree with me in the opinion...that the distress which has prevailed recently has been principally felt by the lowest part of the middle, and the upper part of the lowest classes; but the majority of them appear to think that, on the whole, the lowest classes have not, generally speaking, suffered so great privations as in some former periods of commercial stagnation.

With one exception they expressed belief that the badness of trade is ONE of the circumstances favourable to the growth of Chartism, and is increasing the disposition of many in the middle classes to promote the experiment of political change.

From: A. Barnett, Clerk of the Nottingham Union.

.. There is, however, one feature of the present distress in which it is distinguished from previous visitations; namely, the classes just above the poor and middle classes (I know not where the line should be drawn) are suffering to a far greater extent than formerly. Shopkeepers, small tradesmen, and publicans, are already, to a considerable extent, reduced to the verge of annihilation, and more apparently wealthy persons are in great difficulties.

It is a painful fact, that more than 2,500 wayfarers, persons travelling from town to town in search of subsistence, have within the last eight weeks been relieved by the Nottingham Union.

From: The Rev W. Milton, Incumbent of Radford, near Nottingham.

...briefly, however, I would state that the condition of my parish of 5,000 people has been growing more and more deplorable for the last two years, until they seem to be now reduced to the lowest condition of poverty. In many parts one half of the houses are now unoccupied. In the lane which I have to pass through to go into my parish, five out of seven houses on one side are empty, while in the best row of houses in the place, four in succession are without tenants. The poorer sort have been driven from the cottages into the Unions and those in the better condition are unable to pay the very heavy poor rates, amounting as they do now to 12s. 6d. or upwards in the pound.

I have before my mind several cases of decent and industrious men (of about 40 years) who for a long period, some of them upwards of a year, have been supported entirely by the labour of their wives and children. Still, I do not think that the poorest are the most disaffected, although for this cause that the ranks of the disloyal are greatly increased, poverty -or starvation rather, being the reason assigned for the desiring of a change in the Institutions and Government of the country. My own observations, as well as the testimony of the working men themselves lead me to think that a few active mischief are the mainspring of the present excitement. Indeed I believe that the active and violent politicians will almost invariably be found not amongst the poor unemployed operatives, but men in tolerable circumstances, and many of the well off. Still the miserable and destitute are the materials upon which they work: nor do I wonder when I witness the severe and long continued distress which exists, that there should be a disposition to embrace anything which promises improvement; my marvel is that the people generally have not been desperate long ere this...

The Calais Emigrants
Nottingham Review 12 May 1848 p4

The following is an extract from a letter recently received by our local authorities from HM Consul at Calais, relative to English people now or lately resident there:-

"The clothing committee have had to purchase nearly twenty dozen of stockings, ninety pair of shoes; in fact no end of garments, both inner and outer, for the men, women and children; the people themselves, of course, and also many others including some ladies' schools, very kindly assisted in making up numerous things, the materials of which were purchased; by which means much expense was saved, in fact all parties did what they could and contributed what they were able, money, of course was not and is not to be expected, for it is a commodity which can hardly be said to have existence in Calais at the present time.

There were no defaulters amongst the emigrants, of whom I have already sent you the list, and they all (188 in number, the other being already in England) sailed away last night about twelve o'clock in great spirits amid the cheers and accompanied by the good wishes of a great crowd of their countrymen who were collected on the quay. We have now to prepare for another cargo, for whom I have already received a considerable number of clothes from Boulogne and expect a further supply from Dover, for Calais is cleared out. I do hope soon to receive the other list, that I may know what is to be done, whom to relieve and whom to send to England. I am constantly receiving applications from work-people wanting to emigrate. I include a list of a few names, which you can forward to the commissioners with any remarks you think proper; all I want is to know, and as early as possible, whether other parties than those whose names are already down, will be accepted."

Letters from Adelaide
Nottingham Review 27 Jul 1849 p8

Among the passengers on the Harpley were John Freestone (36), Ann (30), William (10), Alfred (8), John (6), Henry (4) and Charles Robert (2). In November and December, 1848 John wrote two letters home which were published in the Nottingham Review on 27 Jul 49 (p8). To judge from the letters John had a better than average gift for clear, informal narrative and one could wish that he had left a diary of the voyage and his early experiences in the Colony. Photocopies of this report and of several others were kindly sent by Mr Barry Holland of Nottingham.

THE LACE-HANDS IN AUSTRALIA

It will be in the recollection of our readers that about the time of the outburst of the French Revolution, when so many Nottingham lace-hands were driven from Calais, a large number of them were provided with the means of transport to Australia. The following letters are from one of the number:-

South Australia, November 1, 1848.

We landed at Port Adelaide on the 2d of September, after a pretty fair voyage of four months. It was late on Saturday night when we got up to the quay-side, so no person went on shore that night. Several went on shore the next morning. I went in the afternoon, and a fine muddy, dirty place it was. It was all hop, jump and pick your road as well as you could, I used to think St. Pierre a very dirty place, but it is a palace to Port Adelaide. It is the muddiest place I had ever seen, and no mistake about it.

Well, after viewing the Port, I began to wonder what sort of a place the Town of Adelaide was; so the next day, Monday, after the commissioner had been and examined every person on board, and given such information as he was asked for, I and B.Holmes started for Adelaide to seek for work; but we found plenty out of work as well as ourselves, and began to think we must have come to the wrong place. However, I went backwards and forwards from the ship to the town of Adelaide (which is six miles) for four or five days, making all the enquiries I could, until all my cash was gone; but having £2 to receive when I had been there eight days, for the office I served on board the ship, I determined not to spend it going to Adelaide, but to march straight into the bush at once, and not turn back until I had got work of some sort or other. I told a man my intentions, and he said he would go with me; so, having got my brass, four of us started together, our first place to try being Gawler Town.

The weather was very fine, and hot to us, so by the time we had walked seven miles we were all thirsty. We stopped at a place called Dry Creek, and lucky it proved, for a person whom we met, going to spend his money at Adelaide, said if a cart came past while we were refreshing ourselves, he would pay for us to ride, "For," said he,"thirty miles is too much for you to walk on a day like this."

We thanked him, telling him we could walk it very well, and, while giving him all the information we could about Old England, up came a cart, which runs every day from Adelaide to Gawler Town. He asked the driver what he would take us for?
"Sixteen shillings," said he.
"But they are fresh comers," said our newly met friend.
"Then I will take them for fourteen," said the driver.

Our friend paid the money, in we jumped, shook hands with him, and parted, perhaps never to meet more; if not I shall always think of him with gratitude and respect for the kind manner in which he assisted four strangers. When we arrived at Gawler Town, we called on Mr Calton, who keeps a large inn, and, I am happy to say, is doing well. He is the brother of Chas.Calton who was apprentice at Mosely's when my brother Charles was. I knew H.Calton directly I saw him, and he knew me through seeing me at Adelaide. He held out his hand, and asked me how I did and so on.

"Well," said I, "Mr Calton, we are seeking work, and I want you to give us a bit of advice."
"Go in there first," said he, pointing to a room where about a dozen men were taking their evening's meal. We went in accordingly, and had an excellent supper. He then came and joined us, and I told him how we were situated, that we wanted work, and work we must have. He said he would try what he could do for us, as he had two sheep-farmers in the house,and, after partaking of a glass of ale with us, he went out to them. In about an hour he returned and said he thought it was all right. We saw the two farmers, and one engaged me and two others as shepherds, the wages being 15s per week, with 20lbs of flour, 20lbs of meat, 2lbs of sugar and 1/2lb of tea. I thought this would keep us from starving.

We stayed at Mr Calton's all night, and, after breakfasting next morning, when we called for the bill there was nothing to pay; indeed, he behaved like a gentleman to us. From what I have heard of him and his brother Charles, I should think there are not two men in all the colony more respected. Well, after engaging we went back to the ship with lighter hearts. All we wanted now was a dray to take us the seventy miles into the bush, which was no easy matter. We, however, found a man with three drays who agreed to take all three families up to the place for £7; so we all started on the 18th of September. The first two nights we all slept on the floor of a house; the third at Mr Calton's, who behaved with his usual kindness, charging us nothing for sleeping; the fourth night we slept in the middle of a wood, with a good blazing fire at our feet, and the sky for our canopy; and just before dark the next night we reached our destination; and right glad were we all to think we were once more likely to be settled in a house of our own, for our's had been a wearisome journey.

Well, here we are, located in a mud hut, with only one room in it, for cooking, sleeping, and everything else, with a hundred crevices, through which come the wind and rain; but I have stopped the greater part of them up. As for chairs and tables, our boxes serve for both. I have heard talk of the mud cabins of Old Ireland, but if they are any worse than the shepherd's huts of South Australia, I feel sorry for them. But if our huts are no better than their's, we are better off than them in the "grubbing" department; we do get plenty of mutton, damper and tea. But Ann makes very little damper, as it is too heavy for the children, so we get some yeast from the gaffers and Ann makes some beautiful light bread; but, what makes it very troublesome, she has to bake it in a small frying pan among the ashes. We shall be better off in a bit for cooking utensils and everything else. I can see very plain it takes a married man twelve months to get thoroughly settled, with things proper for his use. For the first fortnight I was jobbing about the master's house, after that I had a flock of sheep to take care of. The same day William went to take care of some shorn sheep, and has been shepherding ever since, though I do not expect they will be able to find work for him all the year. He has been a very good boy. For the first fortnight that we were shepherding it rained during the days which was enough to daunt a man, much more a boy like him, but he stood it out.

It has been a very rainy season here; the oldest colonist cannot remember such a wet season. To me the weather has appeared like a very fine spring in England. I was saying that our first fortnight was a wet one; I got wet through two or three times a day, but I would sooner be wet through twenty times here than once in England. In my next I will tell you what I think of the place and my prospects. In the meantime accept the love of my wife, my children and myself.

South Australia, December 15, 1848.

Dear father and mother,
I hope you received the newspaper I sent, containing a full account of our arrival, and a list of the names of all the emigrants on board the Harpley. I sent it on purpose to set your minds at rest concerning the safety of my little lot from "the dangers of the deep" and I hope you have also received my letter bearing date November the 1st, wherein I gave you an account of our landing and my seeking for work, and getting a place to go shepherding. In that letter I promised to send you word what I thought of the country, and what were my prospects. In the first place, then, I will tell you, as far as I am able to judge, what I think of the country and climate. The weather, so far, I think beautiful. It has been, to my thinking, just like a very fine spring, though the colonists say it is cold, and that there has been two winters this year, and not one of the oldest among them ever remembers the rainy season to have lasted so long.

Nevertheless, I think it all the better for us who had just landed, as we get used to the extreme heat by degrees; and, if I can judge from the short space of time I have been here, taking my own family for example, I should say it is a very healthy country for Europeans, though I believe my mud cabin is situated in one of the healthiest spots in all South Australia, being in a valley within four or five miles of the top of a range of mountains, and within twenty yard of what is called the River Gilbert. But they call anything a river here. The Gilbert is no bigger than the Tinker's Leen in Nottingham Meadows, and is only a river in the rainy season; in the summer time it is nothing else but a string of water-holes. As for the land it is of a fertile description, but the scarcity of water is a great drawback on cultivation. There is not one stream that deserves the name of river. The Torrens, which runs through Adelaide, is the same as the Gilbert, nothing but holes of water here and there during the summer time.

There is plenty of good corn and good vegetables grown here, and the land is well adapted for the growth of the vine. There are many farmers with small vineyards, and I have no doubt before long it will be a very profitable source of commerce. As for the timber, there is very little good about where I am; but they tell me there is plenty of good timber 20 miles off. The principal trees about here are gum-trees. We have often talked and laughed about Colonel Crockett and "Opossum up a gum-tree", but it is a reality; for there are plenty of them. There are plenty of kangaroos and emus within 15 miles of my hut, and if I had a gun I could have plenty of sport, for quails, wood pigeons, ducks and turkeys are here in abundance, and also crows, magpies, hawks, parrots and all others down to as small as tomtit, and no trouble to get at them, for the birds are all very tame, and will let you come within a few yards of them. But the most plentiful thing here is the ant; there are hundreds of thousands of millions of them, and some very large, plenty an inch long. The grass is alive with ants, grasshoppers, beetles and several other sorts of insects - lizards so large that had I seen them in England I should have thought them young crocodiles. The worst of all is the snake, whose bite is death. There is a fair sprinkling of that venomous reptiles about here. I have killed five; the longest between five and six feet. We have had several natives call at our hut. They all seem very harmless, but Ann cannot bear the sight of them, so she does not care how few of them come.

And now to tell you, if I can, what are our prospects; but I think this will bother me at present, for everything seems dull, gloomy and uncertain - wages are coming down and masters are making the flocks a third larger. It is a rather curious fact, that the French Revolution, which was the principal cause of our coming, should be the ruin of several of the sheep-farmers here, yet it is no less strange than true, for the price of wool has come down very low, fetching but one half the price. Several of the poorest farmers have been sold up stick and stump, very good sheep selling for 3s.6d. each, so that you you will see, instead of my getting out of the reach of revolutionary war and its effects, I have been dropt in where it is felt the worst. You know I have not been the luckiest fellow in the world, and this is only another instance of my close connexion with "Fortune's eldest daughter".

I do not feel satisfied with my prospects here, and therefore intend coming back to Nottingham if I can get a chance, that is, if the lace trade keeps anything like as good as was expected when I was there, and for the following reasons:- First, my wife does not like the place, neither does she like the thought of being here by ourselves. While there was some likelihood of some of you coming to us, she was contented, but when we found how things were going, we of course made up our minds that under no consideration would we send for any of you, nor, indeed, would I persuade any other person to come unless he could land with £120 in his pocket. In the second place, wages will be very low, so low that a man, after living very frugally, having nothing but damper, mutton, tea and his "bacca" for a year, will be able to save next to nothing. Indeed, at the time I am writing this, there are no less than nine hundred men and women walking Adelaide streets in search of employment, some begging for work at any price. I really do not know what is to become of all the emigrants who are coming here, unless Government starts some public work such as cutting a canal, or making a railroad, or something of that sort.

There used to be always a demand for shepherds but there are too many now. The masters used to think 900 or 1000 a sufficient quantity for one flock, but now they have made three flocks into two, thus throwing every third shepherd out of employ, besides hut-keepers; so you will see they do not want any new hands for shepherding for some time to come. The third reason is, I should not like to stop here to do no better than at home, and at present I do not see any chance of doing so well, much more better, - that is, always supposing trade to be as good as when I left. I expected to find good land cheap, so that a poor man would have a chance of buying some; but I find on the contrary, land is very dear near to the large towns. There is certainly plenty of land to be bought for £1 per acre, but it would not be of any use to a man like me, for the produce of such land would cost more in carriage to the market than it would be worth when it got there, all kinds of cartage being extremely dear, which is principally owing to the very bad roads.

As I have now given you my reasons for thinking of returning to Old England, you must not think that they are any worse than I have stated, I have neither made them better nor worse, but just what I really think they are. Neither must you think that we are miserable, or short of "grub", we have plenty of victuals, and generally a good plum pudding on a Sunday. You know I have not been here long, and therefore may be writing under false impressions, but I have stated what I think is true.

I remain your affectionate son,
John Freestone.

The Anglo-French Emigrants
The Nottingham Review 16 August 1850, page 4 column 1

One of the Calais lace-makers, a native of this town, who emigrated to new South Wales in the Agincourt in June, 1848 has sent us a letter, from which we extract the following:-

"We arrived in Sydney harbour on the 6th of October, 1848, just four months from the time we sailed from Blackwall. We had a beautiful passage, and I was not in the least sea-sick.

Soon after casting anchor, commissioners came on board, and gave us the names of three places, from which we had to make a choice of one for our settlement. No other person being allowed to come on board, we were unable to make any enquiries as to which place offered the most advantages, and we therefore made choice of Goulburn, a town distant from Sydney about 150 miles.

Our party, consisting of 53 men, their wives, and children, were occupied eight days in travelling to the adopted locality, sleeping out at night. On this journey, for twenty-four hours we were exposed to a pitiless storm of rain. Having reached Goulburn, we were ushered into the emigration barracks, where there was not a bedstead to be seen, and we made our beds on the floor, one beside the other.

The following day our dormitory was visited by parties desirous of engaging servants, for, with the exception of shoemakers, joiners, tailors, and blacksmiths, there is no trade in the place. I engaged as gardener, and my wife as cook, for £18 per year each, including board and lodging. We had again to travel 140 miles further into the interior to our situations. We soon discovered that, despite our engagement, we must succumb to the dictates of our employers. For my £18 per year, I had to milk two cows, fetch wood and water, and shepherd. If any sheep were lost, I had to pay for them.

My labour began at sunrise and terminated at 'sun-down'. I lived in the bush, where a stranger is not seen for months, and probably eight miles from the nearest hut; my provisions consisted of salt beef, tea, potatoes, greens, onions, and 'damper' (flour mixed with water, and thrown on to wood ashes to bake). Apples are grown only for the rich.

The country is very fine and healthful. In summer we have no rain for four or five months, and were it not for the shade of the trees, there would not be a blade of grass to be seen. During the summer you are obliged to wear crape over your eyes, to preserve you from the flies and the 'blight' (disease which affects the eyes, causing blindness for two or three weeks, and frequently permanently injuring the sight). In the winter it rains for weeks together.

Snakes are numerous, and their bite is deadly. Ants, one or two inches in length, are a great nuisance, for you suffer four or five days after being bitten by them. Other insects are annoying, for the swelling arising from their bites incapacitates the limb from ordinary exertion.

I have not enjoyed the pleasure of sitting in a chair for a long time, a block or stool being generally used instead. The price of a small glass of ale was ninepence; rum, 12s half-a-pint; gin 14s half-a-pint; tobacco, 7s per pound; a pair of fustian trousers, such as you might buy in Nottingham for 5s. I paid 12s. for; for shirts, shoes, &c. an exorbitant price is charged. What we have endured, were we to attempt to tell you, would put your faith to the test, and our powers of description to their utmost limit."