I never meant for life to turn out like it did. Life was good in Bruton, hard but good. I had Elizabeth and the girls and we got
along. Then work got harder to find as
the competition increased, not just building but any work at all. It seemed machines were taking over and men
weren’t needed like they used to be.
Farm labourers were heading to the bigger cities looking for work that
just didn’t exist.
When I saw the advertisement looking for carpenters in
Van Diemen’s Land it seemed like a chance for a fresh start for us. We had another baby just born and the three
older girls, so it was decided for me to go out and make a start then Elizabeth
and the girls would follow. I had every
intention of honouring this agreement. I
just didn’t think it would be wise to take a young family on such a long trip
with no guarantees that life would be better.
Figure 1:
Charles Ellen, Arrivals Record, Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office, Hobart,
CB7/9/1/1,p.11.
So with the ticket that would change my life and the
lives of others, I left the Bristol docks aboard the Arabian on the 5th
May 1841. I have to say, I knew the trip
out to Van Diemen’s Land would be rough but I didn’t expect it to be as bad as
it was. The food was unacceptable, to
the point that the surgeon superintendant condemned it! We were all going to jump ship at the Cape
of Good Hope until the Captain bought on more supplies but even then they only
lasted three weeks and after that we had to eat rotting food again while the
Captain, Gardener ate the very best. We
certainly didn’t receive the supplies we had been promised on departure in
Bristol.
When we finally docked in Launceston on 24 August 1841
we were all worse in heath than when we boarded. So much so that I and some others wrote an
open letter of complaint to the paper.
We said that we thought it unacceptable and that an inquiry should be
held. Nothing really came of it of
course but we did get our point across.
Figure 2:
‘Launceston’, Launceston Advertiser,
2 December 1841, p.3.
Later in November I was approached by the Committee
for Immigration, they wanted to know what I thought of their bounty
scheme. Well, I let them know what I
thought and told them that I found it very disappointing, wages were low and
cost of living too high. I told them
it was highly unlikely I would send for my family when I would have been better
off staying in England. A sad state of
affairs this was and I was angry and feeling very hard done by at the time.
Things seem to go from bad to worse. In October I was
sent by Mr Ritchie to do some work for Mr Heaney in the Perth town ship. Billy Gould and Will Hill were there too and
we got to drinking. I didn’t know where
the grog had come from but it turns out the boys had ‘borrowed’ it from the inn
at the front of the house. Mr Heaney’s
daughter, Charlotte called the constable in and reported the theft. I was in no state to argue as I had
endeavoured to forget my sorrows that night and barely remembered my name let
alone the events of the evening.
Why am I such a strong advocate of the Temperance
movement, well I have to say that no good comes of the drink and if you drink
to forget as I did then it will see you on the wrong path. As a consequence I ended up at New Town Bay
for two years hard labour. And hard it
was, I have the scars on my ankles to prove it and my back has never been the
same. Building roads is hard enough but being
part of a chain gang triples the punishment.
I don’t like to dwell on those two years, but I accept that I did wrong
and I wore the sentence.
I hadn’t heard anything from Elizabeth and had pretty
much accepted that she had moved on and made a new life for herself and the
girls. I daren’t think the worse and
could only hope she had found herself a new man to care for them. The lack of response to letters I sent seemed
to indicate that I would not see her or the girls again. It was time for me to
forge a new life.
At the end of my sentence my first thought was to find
work. I took board in Hobart thinking to
set myself up there but after asking about, several people suggested heading
back north to Oatlands. This was a
farming and timber community with a fast growing township and I heard, plenty
of work for a builder like myself.
Having very little money I set off on foot to Oatlands and a new start.
I worked hard, there was plenty of work to be had and
I became good friends with George Aitchison who saw me right for work. He was a stone mason so we worked well
together, me with wood and him with brick.
The house I now live in on the High Street was built by us and it was a
proud moment when I was able to buy it off George for Betsy and our family.
Figure 4:
Kelli Schultz, Sketch of Charles Ellen’s
High Street Cottage, 2018, digital image.
Who is Betsy I hear you ask. Well, like I said a new start I was to have
and I met Betsy and married her in 1848.
We have been together more than forty years and had eight children, six
who are still with us. I have been truly
blessed in my new life, I do think back to England and mourn the loss but my
life has been good. Who would have thought that just one ticket could be such a
life changer.
Charles Ellen
