The Autobiography of "Cockney Tom" potx

"Well, then, to beginwith, you can take my measure for a pair of shoes, and come to my house in Grosvenor Place, and I will leaveseveral pair for you to repair, and if you want any money

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-Title: The Autobiography of "Cockney Tom" Author: Thomas Bastard

The Autobiography of "Cockney Tom," Showing his Struggles through Life, and proving this Truth of the OldSaying "that Honesty is the best Policy"

Published under the Patronage of His Excellency Sir W F D Jerbois G.C.M.G

Adelaide: McClory and Masterman, Printers, Grenfell Street.

THIS WORK IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED T0 MR MATTHEW BURNETT, THE GREAT

TEMPERANCE ADVOCATE, AS A SLIGHT TOKEN OF ESTEEM BY HIS ADMIRING FRIEND, THEAUTHOR

CONTENTS

[Note: Page numbers are shown in the paper book, however there is no other indication as to the actual placewhere the description of each event begins In this ebook, which does not include the original page numbers,the list below merely provides the sequence of events described in the book.]

My Grandfather, and what he was Introducing My Father and Uncle Phillip My Mother, Foster Mother, andNurses A Rich Aunt and an Old Gun Nearly Burnt to Death Old Gun Takes me Home What he did with methere I am Apprenticed My Master, and What He Was Like I get into Prison, and make many acquaintances IGet Out Again, and Return to My Master I Run Away, and Travel to Gain Knowledge I Commence Singingfor a Living, and Return to London My Courtship, Marriage, and many Hardships A Change in My Life muchfor the better Join the Choristers at St Barnabas, Pimlico Become a Tradesman, and have many Good

Customers I Catch the Gold Fever, and make up my mind to go to Australia My Visit to the Rev W E.Bennett His Parish Clerk I Embark at Southampton My Voyage My Arrival at Adelaide What I Did, and How

I Got My Living I Leave Adelaide for Victoria and the Goldfields My Arrival in Melbourne, and What IThought of It On the Tramp to the Diggings Events on the Road I Arrive at Forest Creek, and Make

Acquaintances Depart From Forrest Creek, and Goes to Tarangower The Ball at Castlemaine, and What TookPlace There Life in the Diggings at Tarangower My Tramp Back to Melbourne My Return to Adelaide MyMilitary Career as a Sergeant in the Army My Discharge I Become a Bank Messenger, Public Singer, Agent,

&c Tired of the Bank, I Turn My Attention to Swimming I Become Acquainted with the Man who Robbedthe Duke of Edinburgh Tries Boating on the River Torrens The Dam Bursts Up, And I lose My Boats I

Establish Turkish Baths the Good They Have Done to the City My Wife Dies, and I take to Drink I meetwith the Rev Matthew Barnett The Good Results of His Doctrines I Attend His Lecture on "Yankee Bill" IBecome a Sober Man, and Write this Autobiography Dates and Particulars

* * * * *

LIST OF SUBSCRIBERS

[These are shown at the end of the ebook]

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THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF "COCKNEY TOM"

PART I

I, Cockney Tom, am the son of a gun, who was so called because his father was a general in the Navy Nowthis requires a little explanation My grandfather, you must know, was master-at-arms on board the RoyalStandard, 74 guns It was his duty as a: warrant-officer to officiate when a man was to be flogged for gettingdrunk, or any other crime They were tied up to a grating and punished with the cat in those days Thankgoodness it is not so now in the British Navy It was the duty of the armorer to attend the surgeon of the ship

in full uniform, with drawn sword, to see that the prisoner received his allowance The armorer was to countthe lashes, and the doctor's duty was to tell the boatswain to cast the man off when he saw he could bear nomore So this is how the aforesaid son of a gun's grandfather was nicknamed the flogmaster-general Gun wasarmorer's mate, fought in three engagements, and got his discharge without pension His brother was not sofortunate He rose by merit to be a second lieutenant, and one day was ordered to man the boat and go onshore at Portsmouth with orders for the ship When he reached the stairs the men begged so hard to be allowed

to go on shore for a short time to purchase some necessaries, that Gun's brother gave them leave, on theirengaging, on honor, to return soon Imagine his feelings when he returned to find that all his men had

deserted In this dilemma Gun's brother did not know what to do; to go on board he was ashamed, and

therefore he made up his mind to follow the example of the men and bolt He did so, was caught, and was sent

to Portsmouth gaol to be identified by his brother officers They came the next morning and took him onboard, and placed him in irons A court-martial was called; he was reduced from lieutenant to common

seaman, and then they sentenced him to two dozen lashes, which he received on his birthday as a very

unwelcome present Gun obtained his discharge, went to London, and got married, by which transaction heincreased and multiplied the earth to the extent of ten children, I being the wind-up of the lot, which consisted

of nine boys and one girl

Now began some of the stirring and painful events of my wonderful life My mother died when I was onlyfive months old, and my sister became my only nurse She used to carry me round the parish to mothers whohad babies, and beg a drop of milk from one and another, so that I had many foster-mothers Now, it sohappened that I had a rich aunt, and she made an offer to Old Gun that if he would give me up entirely to hercare, she would settle her property on me, as she had no children of her own, which offer Old Gun readilyaccepted The will was made and duly registered, and I was taken from Old Gun and placed under the care of

a good nurse Old Gun took to chink, and when drunk visited my nurse, and listened to her complaints against

my aunt He called and had words with her, which so disgusted the old lady that she sent for a lawyer andaltered her will, without leaving me a single penny (So much for drink.) I remained with this nurse about fiveyears About this time I was nearly burned to death, my nurse having left me to mind the house I got playingwith the fire until my pinafore caught alight, when I ran out into the street all in a blaze Two working men,who happened to be passing, seized me and threw me into a ditch close by After that they took me to adoctor, and I was laid up in bed for twelve months When Old Gun heard of it, he took me away from mynurse, and when he got me home he made use of me to fetch his gin, while he was on the drink I rememberfetching Gun as many as nineteen half quarterns of gin before dinner, and sometimes he would be on thefuddle for a fortnight Gun having got into debt with a publican, to the extent of two pounds, he summonedhim for the amount As Gun refused to pay, the publican caused him to be sent to gaol for six weeks I used tovisit father Gun in prison, and take him coffee and sugar Now, while Gun was in trouble I was also doomed

to suffer Gun's landlady refused to give me a night's lodging I lived on the few coppers earned by runningabout the city and holding gentlemen's horses At last, to get rid of me the landlady took me to the workhouse,and left me there till Gun came out of prison When Gun did come out, it was only to have a change from gaol

to workhouse At last the end came, and Gun died a penitent sinner

The parish apprenticed me to a shoe-maker, a man that wanted the premium much more than he wanted theboy My master treated me more like a dog than a human being I was fed badly, and clothed worse; wasallowed one suit of the commonest corderoy that could be got per year In fact I wore one pair of trousers until

they became kneebreeches One pair of common boots a year, and a good sound thrashing twice a week Notonly were my hours of labor from five o'clock in the morning until ten at night, but my fare was far worse.Now it so happened at this period of my life that I took a fancy to swimming, and in order to gain a

knowledge of this art I used to get up very early every morning and bathe in a canal which was not far off.This pastime nearly cost me my life No less than three times I was brought out of the water nearly dead; but Iwas determined not to be beaten, and after taking lessons of a professor I became a very fair swimmer I soonfound that my master was a bad man, the woman that lived with him had left her husband (a respectablefarmer in Yorkshire), and both these worthies took to heavy drinking At this time I was between 15 and 16years of age My master kept a fine house, but like many other worthies, he forgot to pay his rent, and was soclever that he got into debt with everyoue At last, being greatly troubled in his mind, he determined to shoot,not himself, but the moon, as it was called in London, which being interpreted means that he ran away fromhis house in the night time, not forgetting to take his goods with him; but in his hurry and excitement left anold bedstead in the house I was ordered to go early the next morning and get this bedstead out by the backdoor, my master being there to help me carry it home To accomplish this task I had to, get through the cellarwindow I succeeded in taking down the bedstead, put the screws in my pocket, and got it outside, when, alas,

I beheld that kindest of friends, the policeman, who most affectionately put his hand upon my arm and

marched me off to the lockup on a charge of house-breaking I was taken before the magistrate and the

landlady appeared against me I was committed for trial on the charge, and was most graciously conveyed inHis Majestys King William the IV's carriage to Horsemonger Lane Gaol I was kept in prison eleven daysbefore my trial, and no one was allowed to see me but my fellow prisoners, and when at last I was tried, Ipleaded my own case, and succeeded in justifying my conduct by explaining that I was only an apprentice,and therefore bound to obey my master's orders, and keep his secrets, according to the wording of my

indentures, and so I was honourably acquitted While I was in gaol I had to attend chapel Now any moral orreligious benefit I might have received from such attendance was utterly neutralized by bad management ofour prisons, in compelling comparatively innocent persons to mix with the greatest blackguards and thieves inLondon As a matter of fact there was some prisoners there at the same time that I was obliged to associatewith who were guilty of every crime you can mention, including murder Amongst them, however, was a Rev

Dr Taylor, who was imprisoned for speaking against the bible and the government He used to lecture at therotunda in the Blackfriar's Road He made my acquaintance, and taught me many good things, and although aprisoner, he was not by any means a bad man, for he had the fear of God in his heart He persuaded me toattend Sunday-school and church when I got out Altogether this Rev gentleman's influence upon me was for

my good, and far more likely to effect my reformation than any punishment in gaol, especially when

injudiciously administered I did not forget his good counsel, for when I got back to my master I begged to beallowed to go to a Sunday-school, and also to church This request was granted, and many a time I wentwithout my Sunday's dinner rather than be late at school The Parish clerk found out that I had a voice, so hesent for me and gave me lessons in hymn and psalm singing, and chanting the service I felt very proud of this,and although I occasionally received a good thrashing from my master for the most trifling mistakes in mywork, I bore up well till I was nearly seventeen years of age By this time, however, my master's treatmentgrew rather worse than better, so I determined to nun away and try the country, for a change of air I had amarried brother living at Hastings, in Sussex, and to go there I began to save up for the journey out of mypocket money, which was only threepence per week, out of which I saved two-thirds

At length, with my savings, which amounted to tenpence, a two pound loaf, and no butter, I rose at threeo'clock on a beautiful summer's morning and crept down stairs very softly, opened the door and got outsidewithout being heard by any of the inmates After walking about five miles without resting, I began to sing averse from an old man-a-war song, as follows:

"I wish I was at Hastings With my true love along with me, Everything that's fitting, To serve His RoyalMajesty Where liquor there is plenty, Flowing bowls on every side, Hard fortune ne'er shall daunt me, ForI'm young and the world is wide."

After walking eight miles, I bad a rest, and refreshed the inner man with bread and water While resting, a fish

van happened to pass on its way to Hastings, the very place I was bound for I made a dart and got up behind.When the driver stopped to change horses, I asked him if he would allow me to ride behind, for which

privilege I offered to skid the wheel, which means, in railway language, put on the brake When the driverlearnt that my brother lived at Hastings he took an interest in me, and was very kind for the rest of the journey

I arrived safe and sound the same night, and found out my brother's residence, but, unfortunately, my brotherwas ten miles from home, working at a gentleman's seat, and did not return for a week after my arrival Mysister-in-law was very good to me at first, but soon began to speak in terms that convinced me that she was nofriend of mine She used to drink gin on the sly, and get drunk, and deceive her husband by making himbelieve that she was ill Fearing that I would let my brother into the secret, she became my bitter enemy I sawthrough it, and when I had managed to get work, I left my brother's house and took lodgings amongst a tribe

of gipsies who lived in the neighbourhood My new master was a regular "out and outer" a splendid workman,well educated, a good reciter, but too fond of company and drink, which kept him poor, and made his wifemiserable She was very good to me, and gave me many a meal when my master was on the spree

I left the Gipsies, and found cheap lodgings by the sad sea waves, in the fishing boats I used to rise early andassist the fishermen to wash and pack their fish for market, for which service I used to get a fish for breakfast

It was at Hastings that I improved in the art of swimming; I might have been seen in the sea, three times a day;and so the time rolled on I improved in my trade, but, unfortunately, at the end of the season I had no work to

do I then took it into my head that I would return to London, and find out my sister The next question washow to get there without money to start with? The thought struck me that I could sing my way back I startedaccordingly early one morning and walked eight miles to a place called Battle, the spot where the great battle

of Hastings took place When I arrived, I found there was a fox hunt on, and that after the hunt there was to be

a dinner for the sportsmen, so I made up my mind to stay and offer my services as a singer, and trust to theirgenerosity as to what they would give me I did so, and so pleased the company that they gave me a gooddinner and four and ninepence to boot, and the landlord gave me a night's lodging I started next morning forTunbridge, in Kent; next I went to Maidstone, where I met with a harpist with whom I joined company, I tosing, and harpy to play, and go share in the profits We waited on the mayor of the town, and got his

permission to play and sing in the streets We did well, lived like fighting cocks, and saved money FromMaidstone we travelled to Sittingbourne, where we were engaged to play and sing in the Assembly Rooms,and there made a great hit in my song, "Funking the Cobbler," sung in caricature I now began to fancymyself From there I found my way to Chatham, wher? I was engaged in a low concert room, frequented bysoldiers, sailors, and bad women I learnt no good there, but a great deal that was bad I did not stop long therebut went on to Rochester, got work at my trade, and for a time gave up singing

From Rochester I went to Gravesend, where I worked at my trade, singing now and then professionally.Thence I travelled to London and found out my sister, who received me with sisterly love I got work andlived very happily with her for a long time It so happened that my sister had an acquaintance who used to calland see her occasionally One day this friend brought her eldest, daughter with her I was engaged at my work,singing away as only shoemakers can sing, the following beautiful lines:

"Beware those finikin lasses, And never by beauty be led; For a girl that surpasses all others 'Tis she thatworks hard for her bread."

"Who is that singing?" enquired the young woman "It is my brother Tom," replied my sister "I should like tosee him," she said, "You shall," said my sister, and she brought the young woman into the room where I wasworking I blushed, for I thought, I had never before seen such a good-looking young person We all had tea,and I had the impertinence to ask her to take a walk, and she did not refuse From that time we became lovers,and were four months afterwards married at St John's Church, Waterloo-road, Lambeth After I had broughtthe ring, paid the parson, and given a dinner (which I had also paid for), I took my bride to furnished lodgings

I got up the next morning to work with the large capital of three shillings and sixpence to start a new life I,however, was not going to be discouraged with such a small beginning, and as neither my wife nor I weredeficient in pluck, we both determined to work early and late, and soon got a home of our own-a small one, in

Walworth, where we lived as happily together, as if our house had been a mansion.

But this happy state of things was destined not to last long When the winter came, I was thrown out of work,and my wife was confined of a daughter, and things had now come to such a pass, that I took to singing again

in order to obtain food The result of having to be out late at nights, was that I fell ill, and was laid up with afever The doctor ordered me to St Thomas' Hospital, where I remained for eight weeks, during which timenone of my friends, safe my good wife, came to see me At last I found myself better, and left the Hospital;but only for a short time, for a second attack obliged me to return for some weeks longer, until I had regained

my strength I then made a flesh start, got work at a bespoke shop, and became the don during the two years Iworked as journeyman I then left Lambeth, and obtained work in Chelsea, with better wages; but as food andrent was dear, I was no better off than before I came to the west-end My troubles seemed as if they wouldnever end, for my wife and four children now took the measles, and when my wife got Letter, I was againtaken bad with a cold in my eyes, which nearly blinded me I then became an outpatient at the OpthalmicHospital, Charring Cross; and for many weeks I could work, and had to go to the parish for bread for mychildren After suffering great privation, I at last got better, and again worked at my trade, and in order tomake up for lost time, I again took to singing at night in low concert-rooms, receiving from three to fiveshillings per night, and my beer I followed this up for some time, when a sudden change took place in mylife It happened while I was working one day, and at the same time rehearsing my songs for the night'sentertainment, that I was disturbed by a gentle knock at the door "Come in!" said I, and a lady entered, withthe remark, "I beg your pardon, but was that you singing just now?" "Yes, ma'am," said I; "I have to get myliving partly by singing." "Do you sing at church?" "No, I do not," I replied "Can you sing by music?" "Noma'am." "Would you like to be taught?" "I should like very much, ma'am," said I "Do you go to our church?

we have beautiful singing there, and I am sure you would like it Will you come if I promise to be your friend?

I see you are a shoemaker Would you object to work for yourself instead of a master?" I said that I shouldvery much like to be my own master, and be able to give up the concert-room business "Well, then, to beginwith, you can take my measure for a pair of shoes, and come to my house in Grosvenor Place, and I will leaveseveral pair for you to repair, and if you want any money to buy material with, you can have it." "Thank you,very much," I said; "and I will attend to it." I told my wife when she came home all about it, and she wasdelighted "I have heard of that lady," said she "She is a very good woman, and visits the sick and relieves thepoor, and takes an interest in every thing that is good." I called on the lady, the next day, and was receivedkindly To help me in my business, she introduced me to her servants, who favored me with their orders, andgave as much work, as would take me a week to perform I finished the work and gave general satisfaction Iwas then persuaded to go to church and hear the singing, which was very grand The incumbent was a goodpreacher, and used to attract the nobility from the west-end of London I was sent for by the minister, whoundertook to have me taught music, and for this purpose I was invited to attend practice, in order to meet theorganist and try my voice I did so, and was told it was somewhat a rough one, but that if I gave my mind tostudy, I would, in course of time, make a fair chorister I attended practice twice a week for two years, and atchurch twice on Sundays About this time the Rev W C Bennett conceived the idea of building a poor man'schurch, as his own church being crowded with the rich, the poor were crowded out When he announced hisintention, Earl Brownlow gave the land, and a collection was made, the proceeds of which amounted to thelarge sum of £2,220, in the short space of a quarter of an hour Money came from all parts, and £50,000 wassubscribed in less than three months I was engaged to carry a banner at the laying of the foundation stone;and when the ceremony was over there was a good dinner given to the poor, and I had the honor of singing atthe feast

My business increased so much every week that I soon began to employ workmen, and at one time had fiftyladies of title on my books; also lords, earls, dukes, and duchesses The Countess of Cardigan was one of mybest customers, and the Duchess of Argyle was another My ambition at last got so high that I asked a Lady ofhonour to the Queen to try to get for me Her Majesty's patronage In this I, however, failed, and was told thatthe Queen never changed her trades people I, however, succeeded in getting the work of the Duke of

Wellington's household, the University Club, Army and Navy Club, Civil Service Club, and many others So Icontinued to on prospering till the Poor Man's Church was finished That was a great day, and the church was

opened with much pomp and ceremony on St Barnabas's Day, the 11th of June It was named St Barnabas'sChurch from that circumstance On that day, for the first time in my life, I was arrayed in a surplice, andintroduced to the singers as a member of the choir of St Barnabas, Plimlico; and I now felt not a little proud

of myself Besides the church, they built a parsonage for the clergyman, and a schoolhouse to accommodate1,000 children, with sleeping rooms for twenty singing boys, who were supported out of the foundation fund,and who, besides being educated, were fed and clothed like young gentlemen The whole of the buildings cost

no less than £100,000 when finished I found out that to be a chorister was no easy billet, as I had to attenddaily service at 6 a.m on Holy Days; there were three services a day, with communion and sermons onSundays-early communion at 7 a.m., prayers at 8 a.m for the poor, and breakfast at 9 a.m All the singers(men and boys) sang "Non nobis Domini" both before and after At it again at 11 a.m., litany, anthem, andsermon; after which came post-communion; then home to dinner After which I came back again at 3 p.m tobaptism, followed by afternoon service After tea came evening prayer, at 7 p.m., with anthem and sermon.After these engagements, I and the rest would adjourn to the parsonage with the clergy, and have cake, or tea,

or coffee, and then we would sing the "Benedictus," and, lastly, return home to bed

This is the way I spent seven years of my life, most happy in my mind, and living in the fear of God, andendeavoring to bring up my family in the same happy way But this happiness was doomed to have an

untimely end The newspapers declared war against Mr Bennett, and accused him of preaching the doctrines

of the Church of Rome, asserting that the service was more like an opera than the sacred worship of God TheBishop sent for him, and accused him with unfaithfulness to the Church of England The outside public wereagainst Mr Bennett, and riots frequently took place on Sundays I was sworn in as a special constable toprotect the church property, and I used to go into the choir with a policeman's staff under my surplice

Meetings were called by the parishioners, and votes of censure were passed against the Bishop In this troublethe poor also had their say I was elected chairman of the Poor Man's Committee, with power to raise

subscriptions for Mr Bennett A meeting was called for the rich and poor of the, parish, and I had to make aspeech, in preparation of which I had sat up till two o'clock in the morning When it was my turn to speak,however, I was so flurried that I could not make out my notes; and I resolved on speaking extemporaneously,and had the satisfaction of winning a hearty round of applause My speech was published in the Daily

Chronicle of February 8th, 1857 The unfortunate result of all this dissension was that the Rev, W C Bennetthad to resign his living, and went on the continent for the benefit of his health, which was very much brokendown by mental anxiety His admirers in their sympathy presented him with a purse of £7,000, and I andthousands of others, lost a good friend I left the church, and transferred my singing to Westminster Abbey,and also sang sometimes at St Paul's Cathedral These events made me very unhappy; and, through readingthe newspapers, I became interested about Australia Whilst thinking of emigration I fell ill with fever; butduring my illness told my wife my thoughts on the subject She stoutly refused to join me, and said, "Thomas,you may go; but I shall do nothing of the kind." After considering the advantages my children would have in anew country, I made up my mind to go As a first step, I called on a nobleman whom I worked for, Sir

Frederick Rogers, the Emigration Commissioner, and told him that I would like to go to Australia "Howmany children have you?" asked Sir Frederick "Six, Sir Frederick," I replied "Then you can't go, as you haveone child too many If you only had five I would give you your passage at once." I thanked him, and returnedhome very down hearted and dissappointed When I got home, I told my wife the result, and she was as glad

as, was sorry Not long afterwards the new incumbent called on me, and offered an appointment as verger andchorister at St Barnabas's, with a decent salary and perquisites; and I accepted the offer I forthwith gotmeasured for a black cassock and new surplice, and on the following Sunday I presented quite a grand

appearance But in spite of all this Australia kept running in my mind Now, it happened that one of mychildren was taken ill, and I called in a doctor, who said the boy had water on the brain, and accordinglytreated him for it The child, however, got no better, and I got the services of a physician who said the boy hadbeen wrongly treated, for, instead of water on the brain the boy had disease of the lungs This doctor gave nohopes of his recovery, and the child died shortly afterwards I grieved very much over the loss of my boy; but

I was visited and condoled by many of my Friends The clergy were very kind to me in my trouble, and evenallowed the chorister boys to go a distance of three miles to Brompton Cemetery to attend the funeral It wasvery impressive to see them dressed in their surplices, and hear them sing psalms at the grave, and also a short

anthem at the close of the service All this was very consoling to me, as it showed how much I was respected,and how deeply and truly they all sympathised with me But in spite of all their love I was not happy;

Australia still ran in my head Mr Bennett returned to England improved in health, and was offered a living asvicar of Frome, not far from Bath It was in the gift of the Marchioness of Bath and Wells, and was worth

£700 a-year, which Mr Bennett accepted

Things went on at St Barnabas as before Private confessions to the clergy, baptismal regeneration, penance,fasting, keeping Saint days, and the real Presence in the Sacrament was the style of the teaching which washeld and believed in by the congregation "What has all this to do with Cockney Tom?" some people may ask

At any rate I could descry enough to see that there was more behind the scenes between the Bishop and Mr.Bennett than I had brains to understand I gave notice to leave the church I called on Sir Frederick Rogers andtold him that having lost one of my children I was then within the limit He told me to make ready as soon as Icould, and let him know, and he would get my order made out so as to sail by the next ship I undertook nomore work I sold off my household goods, collected my debts, paid all I owed, and took lodgings in SalisburyCourt, Fleet Street I received orders to be ready to go on board at Southampton on a certain day When mywife saw the order she nearly fainted, and had a sleepless night, but I comforted her all I could, and bought her

a new silk dress I was busy every day preparing for the voyage, and took leave of my brothers and sisterSarah, my original dry nurse Many tears were wont to wet our cheeks as the subject of my departure wasdiscussed I resolved to visit Frome before I left England Accordingly I called on one of the church wardens,

a friend of mine, and told him I would like to see Mr Bennett before I left He said "I will go with you, I want

a trip out of town," so we fixed the time to start, and brought a perfect model of St Barnabas Church, made byone of our members (a very clever architect) We paid him three pounds for it, and it was well worth ten Sooff we started by the morning train for Frome, and arrived at five in the evening The vicar received us withall love and kindness We dined with him and his family, and after dinner the presentation took place He wasdelighted I was given over to the parish clerk to find my lodgings This clerk, who was born and bred inFrome, and had been parish clerk for twenty years, was, as they would say in America, a most "curious cuss."Nothing would suit the clerk, but he must take me to his "pub," where the choristers and himself used tobooze The ale was very good, and in fact the town had quite got its name up for its ale But sad to say theclerk got drunk, and in the exuberance of his feelings would sing, thinking no doubt that he would astonish

me This, however, he failed to do After much persuasion they got me to sing on Sunday at the church I roseearly on Saturday and visited the old church (where good Bishop Kenn was buried), and also the market, andthe river which runs through the town After breakfast and morning prayer at the church I visited the schools,and the hospital for the aged poor In the evening I went up to their service, which was read by my friend, theclerk; then to bed Up early on Sunday morning, a long walk, back to refresh, and get ready for church SangJackson's "Te Deum" and "Jubilate," and was complimented by Mr Bennett and the choir; arranged for thestart back the next morning Breakfasted early, received from Mr B a present of a book to remind me of myvisit to Frome, and lastly received his prayer and benediction I got back safely, and found my wife willing toshare my fate and to emigrate to Australia When every thing was ready I received a letter from the Countess

of Cardigan, full of good wishes for me and my family, and a cheque for £5 which I did not refuse

I and my family started from London to Southampton, where we arrived the same night, and stopped at thedepot Very little sleep After breakfast took a walk over the old town of Southampton-nothing much toastonish a Londoner Went on board to report myself and family to the doctor, and to learn when we were to

be examined On answering to my name on the roll being called, the doctor said humorously, "Are! you theperson whom Sir Frederick Rogers wrote to me about?" I replied that I certainly had the honor of knowing SirFrederick, but I knew nothing about any letter "I will not forget you," said he, very kindly "Tomorrow youwill be examined, and will sail on Sunday morning." Next day I passed the examination, and was sent onboard I and my family got our berths allotted and our luggage stowed away, then the bell rang for the muster,and as the names were called out they had to pass from one side of the ship to the other When my name wascalled out by the doctor, he bid me come forward, and calling the attention of the passengers, said that he hadthe right to appoint all constables, for the proper carrying out of the ship's regulations, and the general goodorder of the passengers, and it was his pleasure to appoint the said Cockney Tom first constable of the vessel

"William Stuart." We were all very jolly on board the ship on Saturday night, some singing, "I'm afloat, I'mafloat," others, "a life on the ocean wave, a home on the rolling deep." I felt rather dull In the performance of

my duty I had to walk the decks till all the single women were locked up for the night, and to protect themagainst all intruders, which I afterwards found to be so difficult a task, as to be almost more than I couldmanage The tug came alongside next morning and took us on our way, not rejoicing, but feeling rather

"dicky" as we got out to sea Sea-sickness is a general complaint, and caused the passengers to turn up theirnoses even at the sight of a roast beef and plum pudding dinner Singular to say, but nevertheless quite true,nobody found fault with the food for the first week, but after that, when the appetite returned, there was agreat deal of grumpling at finding the supplies insufficient to satisfy their ravenous hunger although therewere many on board who had never lived so well in their lives before Some of them got as fat as pigs, othersate very little, on account of being almost always sick I was one of the latter A few days sailing brought theship into the Bay of Biscay It was a grand thing for bilious people, for it was as good as physic to most Atlength we got out of the "troubled waters," and arrived at Maderia, and could see the land and houses lookingvery beautiful The weather was fine, and dancing and concerts of an evening, and fishing in the day time,made all very comfortable Crossed the line; weather very hot Could not sleep below, so laid on deck,

crowded together like sardines in a box After being becalmed nearly a week we got a start with the tradewinds, and bore away down south into the cold regions Now I will tell you something that happened to mywife It was then very stormy weather, and the sea ran mountains high, when she was confined and gave birth

to a son, which they partially named after the ship, Stuart; the name of my brother Philip, being placed first Agreat rejoicing took place on board, and all the sailors got extra grog I was appointed nurse, and had noobjection to the billet at night, except the difficulty of carrying in the dark the necessaries required in suchcases For instance, when the ship was rolling heavily my foot slipped and I fell down and nearly my arm, atwhich mishap the sailors indulged in a hearty laugh One night when I was doing duty as nurse, a knock came

to the hospital door "Who's there," cried Tom "It is Jones, Mr Constable," said the visitor, "there is a smell

of fire in the ship." I was out in a jiffey, and soon discovered that the second mate's cabin was on fire We bustthe door open, and there he was fast asleep, and part of his clothes burning There was a cask of rum in hiscabin and other spirits We roused him out, got help, and soon put the fire out Had the wind blown in theopposite direction the ship would have been burned to the water's edge, and every soul have gone to "DavyJones' locker," How thankful I felt for this delivery of all from the very jaws or death Soon after this I got into

a little trouble I had warned the sailors to keep away from the single women, and threatened to complain tothe doctor The sailors discussed the subject, and one of them was sent to inform me to look out, or I wouldnever reach Adelaide alive, but would be sent to feed the fishes instead, which I did not believe in Thevoyage, however, was nearly at an end, and I kept my eyes open; thought much, but said nothing, At length

we anchored off the Semaphore after a voyage of seventy-eight days, ill nearly all the time Next morning Iwent on shore, having arranged with my wife that I would go up to Adelaide in search of a house and work Inclosing the first part of my narrative, I feel constrained to record my sense of the Providence of God that hadpreserved me amid so many vicissitudes and privations, and although it has been said it is good to bear theyolk in our youth, I cannot help thinking that had my earlier history been spent under the advantages of goodeducation I might have developed a much better character and nobler career The young, especially, shouldlearn to value the privileges and seize the opportunities for good which in these days are so freely offered tothem, but which were very sparingly bestowed in my time I, however, do not repine, but refer the kind reader

to the more hopeful passages, and altogether brighter aspects which marked my later history, and which willappear in the second and third parts of this autobiography

PART II

I was rather surprised to find Adelaide such a miserable looking place; but that was in 1853 It is very

different now I failed at first in getting work, and found that house rent was high and food dear I thought Iwould dine at a pub, for there were no restaurants were one could get a good "feed" for one shilling in thosedays I had to pay 2s 6d for my meal, which rather astonished my weak nerves Almost in despair I took upthe daily paper, and saw the following advertisement, 'Wanted a conductor for the Star Concert Hall.' "I think

I understand that business," said I to myself, so I called to see what it was like The landlord told me I might

come that night, and let him hear what sort of a singer I was I next waited on the Dean, and presented a letter

to him from the Bishop's brother in England to Bishop Short of Adelaide The Dean read the letter and told me

it was simply asking him to find employment for me, and that I might call on him again, as the Bishop hadgone to England, and he would see what could be done for me and my family; but he never asked me to sitdown, or whether I wanted any assistance, although he was told that I had a wife and six children on board theship "William Stuart." I left the Dean with a broken spirit, for I had expected to have been received kindly bythe clergy of the church that I had endeavoured to serve with all sincerity in the old country As night came on

I found my way into a shoemaker's shop, and asking for employment I was told that there was scarcely anywork to be done, as nearly all the men were at the diggings in Victoria, and that Adelaide was like a desertedvillage The shoemaker kindly advanced me five shillings, and told me to repay it when I got work I did so,and afterwards the same man became bankrupt, and was so reduced in circumstances that he had to go to theDestitute Asylum, where he died; but I never forgot the old shoemaker and his five shillings My first songwas sung at the Concert Hall It was a long room, and would hold about 100 people A big chair at the end forthe conductor, who, with piano and violin players, made up the company of artists engaged; amateurs did therest When I entered the room I found it full of smoke, and lots of drink going on; and the landlord was acting

as chairman He possessed a fine baritone voice, and sang several of Russell's songs in good style; and,subsequently, played the flute and comet with good taste, which told me that I had no bad judge to sing to.After a time the chairman rose and said, "Gentlemen, we have here to-night a gentleman from London, whowill oblige us with a little harmony." Cries of "Bravo!" came from all sides of the room I went up to thepiano, and asked the player if he knew such airs; but to which he replied in broken English that he had neverheard them He was a German, and a very bad accompanist; so I sang without music one of my favorite songs,

"Give me a Cot in the Valley I Love," and as I sang I thought of my dear wife on board, and broke down I Satdown and felt thoroughly ashamed of myself I had nothing to drink, and altogether felt quite ill Presently agold digger came in and sat down by my side "What are you drinking?" he asked "I am not drinking at all,"said I "Then I'm going to shout," he replied "Have a glass of hot brandy with me; it will set you all right." Iconsented, and the digger narrated some strange stories about the diggings I was listening at the same time tosome comic songs that seemed to please the company better than the sentimental ones A very good violinistthen showed up, and I called to him to have a chat with me I told him that I was also a professional, andasked him to accompany me in a comic song, "With pleasure," said he "Do you know the first figure in theIrish Quadrilles?" "Yes," said he "Can you play in the key of D?" "Yes," said he "All right." I replied, andbegan to feel quite a new man The brandy began to operate, and when I felt its stimulating effects, I rose to

my feet The chairman called to order, and I said, "Mr Conductor and gentlemen I find that I made a greatmistake in my first effort, and if you will give me another trial I will endeavor to make amends, and will singyou a song of my own composing." "All attention!" said the conductor The fiddler and the pianist played anintroduction, and I commenced to sing, and the company began to laugh Every one was delighted, and I had

to sing it over three times The landlord then sent for me and said "What will you take to drink? Come andtake the chair, and consider yourself engaged You shall stay here to-night, and breakfast with me in themorning, and then we will settle about salary and other matters." I went to bed that night in better Spirits than

I had expected, and the next morning, being Sunday, I prepared for church, to return thanks to my maker for

my safe voyage I had dinner with my new master, and agreed to sing every night, Sundays excepted, for threemonths at one pound ten shillings per week, with board and lodging I signed an agreement to that effect, andwas sorry afterwards that I had done so The next day I went to the Port to see if the ship was in, and wasinformed that she would not be in for some time, on account of low tide I was very much disappointed at this,especially as it cost me twenty shillings to be taken from the shore to the ship and back again, which I couldill afford I returned to town, and wrote a letter to my wife, telling her all the news, and promising to be at thePort when the ship came into harbor After this I took my nightly seat as conductor, and the place was alwayscrowded I now began to feel myself at home again, and I made all sorts of acquaintances, some of whom Idid not care for, I was next offered an engagement at a concert room, at salary of £l per night, which, owing to

my engagement, I was obliged to refuse

I next took a house, not far from the hall, at a rent of 25s per week, so as to have a home to take my wife andchildren to when they got on shore I brought some furniture, a load of wood, and such other things that were

necessary for a commencement new home The days seemed like months to me til the ship was in Port Thenext day I was up early and, being anxious, went down to the Port in first cart, for there were no railways inthose days, nor was it anything unusual for the Port cart to be upset, and for all the passengers to be pitchedout on the road, and in those primitive days colonists thought very little of such adventures, which only served

to produce a little excitement and interest in the otherwise monotonous round of their everyday life Thevessel got into port in the afternoon, and I went on board and bid the captain and doctor good-bye; took mywife, children, and luggage on shore, engaged a drayman, loaded up the dray, placed my wife and children ontop, and started for town, which we reached at dark There was then no gas, only dismal oil lamps, and everything looked wretched at night I took them home, and left my wife crying when I had to go to my

engagement, but promised to be home as soon as possible, and did so Got up the next morning and choppedwood; a job I was not good at, and went to market, and found everything very dear After a time I got a littlework to do mending old boots; a thing I had not done for years My wife did her best to get on; she took afamily's washing, and we used to fetch it four miles and a half, and take it home again when it was done Sotime went on The wife, however, did not like the neighborhood we lived in, so to please her I took a house inNorth Adelaide with a shop front, and worked in the shop as I called it; but had no stock except, my wife andchildren, shoemaker's tools, and some leather I had brought with me It so happened one day while I was atwork that two men passing stopped, and looked in, "How do you do, shopmate?" said one of them, whom wewill call Mr Sweetwilliam; a gentleman from whom, in after days, I received many favors, which I take thisopportunity of acknowledging, and bearing testimony to his kindliness of heart and superiority of intellect.His claim to mental ability, however, does not require any confirmation of mine, as he has, unaided, by hisown talents, worked himself up commercially to one of the leading positions of our city; and, politicly, to thehigh honor of being a Minister of the Crown As a public speaker, few can surpass him, and in kindly

sympathy he has few equals in Adelaide The profits of his great literary success, "lights and Shadows ofLondon Life," have been entirely devoted to charitable purposes, and the widow and orphan have had goodcause to bless this exercise of his mental activity; also his exertions in aid of the Blind, Deaf, and DumbInstitution, at Brighton, and many other charitable institutions, bear better proof than anything I can say to hisbenevolent disposition Last, but not least, the assistance he kindly lent me in establishing the Turkish Baths

in Adelaide-an undoubted blessing to our citizens, as supplying a neccesity and a luxury for their use-which Inow gratefully acknowledge The other was a Mr Johns "How long have you been out?" said Mr Johns

"Nearly two months," said I "How do you like the climate?" said Mr Sweetwilliam "Rather hot, at times,"said I "We have only been out a week," said he, "we live at the corner up the street You come from London,I'll swear." "I came from Bermondsey," said Mr Johns, "call in and see us when you are passing We broughtout a stock of boots and shoes, perhaps we may be able to do some business together," said they I agreed to

do so when passing "Where do you go in the evening?" asked they "I sing at the Star Hall," said I, "I am aprofessional singer, you must know." "We will come and hear you," said they, "we like a good song." "Allright! Good morning!" I called accordingly, and had a look over the stock They advised me to take a shopand put up my name as shoemaker, from London "Can't we do some business together?" said Mr Johns, "I'llgive you credit if you have no money." "I'll think over it," said I They attended the concert and were verymuch pleased at my singing Mr Sweetwilliam sang several very funny comic songs Mr Johns made himselfquite at home, and told me that he would call in next morning I consulted my wife about getting into debt.She wisely suggested to take fifty pounds worth on sale or return, and I did so Mr Johns stipulated that I was

to settle up once a month I selected my stock, made a show of goods, and sold two pairs the first day, and feltthat I had stuck a lode, as the diggers would say All went on smoothly enough for some time I increased mystock till it amounted to two hundred pounds, and kept up my payments too Everybody had confidence in me

My engagement was then up, and the landlord wanted me to renew it, but I said "No, I have been offered apound a night to sing, and it won't pay me to do it for two pounds a week." "I'll give you more," said he, but Ideclined, having something else in my head, and that was to try my luck at gold-digging on the Melbourneside I consulted my wife about it "Go by all means, Thomas," said she, "If you think you will be lucky." Thisbeing settled, before starting I called on my friends, including Mr Sweetwilliam and Mr Johns, who gave meadvice as to what I should do when I got there: which advice turned out to be all bunkum, for they had notbeen there themselves, and, as a matter of course, they knew nothing about it I had two neighbours who hadalso the gold fever They had a little money, and asked me to make one of their party Seeing no objection to

this, I agreed to take them us mates, and accordingly we all got ready, went to the Port, and took our berths onboard the steamboat "Havilah," bound for Melbourne The passage money then for the steerage was sevenpounds each; now you can go for two My eldest son, Jack, and many friends, so-called, that could drinknobblers at my expense, went down to the Port to see us off The captain was a friend of mine, and had beenthe chief mate of the "William Stuart" that brought me out from England, so we wanted for nothing during thetrip round, which was a very pleasant one We arrived safely in Melbourne on a Saturday night at dark Therewas a great rush to the wharf by the sailors, as they wanted to get rid of their cargo, and I nearly lost the best

of my things by a mistake We first went down Collins-street, and saw the City Coffee House, with board andlodgings for travellers We went in and took tea at one shilling and sixpence each, made arrangements tolodge there, put our things away, and then took a stroll about Melbourne and found the buildings, there weresuperior to those in Adelaide Got home early and went to bed, but not to sleep, the mosquitoes were toonumerous, for there could not (as some lodger remarked) have been a single one in the house; they must havebeen all married and with large families Up early next morning and took a walk to the Chinamen's campinggrounds, and tried in vain to converse with them Returned to our cafe, had breakfast, went to church, but didnot think much of the singing there In the afternoon took a long walk, returned, had tea, and then to bedearly, thinking to have a good night's rest, but I suppose we must have been very wicked, as there was no restfor us that night The mosquitoes mustered in full force and laid siege to our faces, so that in the morning wehardly knew each other So much for the City Coffee House Got up and went in search of fresh lodgings, andgot them in Little Bourke-street Found a singing room, and got an engagement to sing two or three songs anight at a salary of two pound a week, from seven till nine o'clock There was dancing afterwards till two andthree o'clock in the morning, but I had nothing to do with that part, of the business I got work as a shopman in

a large boot and shoe warehouse at a salary of four pounds per week, and might have saved money in

Melbourne, but I was determined to go further and try my luck at the diggings I had a letter of introduction to

a very respectable man and his family in Melbourne, from a dear friend of theirs in Adelaide They received

me as if I had been a brother, invited me to supper, and asked me to bring my mates also, as they intended togive a party I accepted the invitation, and made myself up for the occasion, and introduced my friend, Jim theFiddler, as I will call him in the future; he was a good player There was a good supper provided After supper

a little music was proposed, and everybody said, "Hear! hear!" Fiddler Jim played Scotch tunes with

variations, which gave immense pleasure After that nothing would do but that I must sing, with violin

accompaniment, the following song that had gained me much applause in

London: I miss thee, my mother, thine image is still The deepest impressed on my heart; Thy tablet so faithful, London: I indeath must be chilled, 'Ere a line of that vision depart

Thou wert torn from my side when I treasured thee most When my reason could measure thy worth, And Iknow but too well that the idol I lost Could ne'er be replaced upon earth

A Yankee gentleman present began to cry He had left home when a boy, and had not heard from his mothersince I also sang some comic songs, which, by the aid of a little grog, made them all merry My new friendswere very strict Ronan Catholics, and they persuaded me to attend the Cathedral with them to hear the grandmusic and their imposing ceremonies, which at once put me in mind of St Barnabas's They afterwardsintroduced me to their priest, who was greatly affected with my account of St Barnabas's, and remarked that Iwas as good a Catholic as himself After a short time they persuaded me to be conditionally received into theirChurch My kind friends put themselves about to witness the ceremony, and wanted me to stop in Melbourne,and not to go to the diggings at all, and offered to lend me £300 to go into business with, to be paid back byinstalments with small interest This I declined with thanks, and made up my mind to go in search of theprecious metal So I and my mates gave notice to leave to our employers the following week Fiddler Jim was

a painter, and George was a plumber and gas-fitter, and henceforth he will be called "Plumber George."Before starting from Melbourne for Forest Creek diggings, we went into committee to see what money we hadAfter fitting ourselves out as diggers, with blue guernseys, knee-hoots, pistols, tin pannikins, &c., we started

on our journey, walked a few miles out of Melbourne, and got hungry We stopped and took breakfast, payingfor it three shillings each, and believing that a nobbler would not hurt us, we called for three, for which we

paid very reluctantly one shilling each We called a council of ways and means, for it was plain at that rate ofcharges we should not have sufficient money to take us half-way to Forest Creek It was agreed, therefore, toreduce ourselves down to two meals per day, instead of three; two drinks, ditto, instead of three; and push on

as fast as we could We reached Keilor Plains, a wild-looking country; not a tree to be seen, while the sun was

so hot that it burnt the skin off our faces It was getting dark when we arrived at the township of Keilor, whichconsisted in the year 1854, of two stores, butcher's shop, and restaurant, where we put up for the night It wasdreadful what we had to pass through that night, for it rained so hard that it came in and ran down our

mattresses, which were on the ground I got such a cold that I thought I had quite lost my voice My mateswere also very ill We started early for the next town, Gisbourne, at the foot of Mount Macedon, near theentrance to the Black Forest, and arrived there about dinner time very hungry, but afraid to have anything, asour funds were getting very low We sat in committee outside the Forest Inn Fiddler Jim said he wished that

we were back in Adelaide "So do I," said Plumber George "I'll see what the diggings are like first," said I

"How are we to get there?" asked they "Fear not, but trust in Providence," I replied; and just at that themoment a gentleman rode up on horseback I went up to him, and said, "shall I hold your horse, sir?" "Mygood man," he said, "it is the first time that I have been asked such a question since I have been in Victoria."

"The fact is, sir," said I, "my mates and I are rather hard up, and are on our way to the diggings, and have butvery little money." He dismounted, and handed me the reins "I will not be long," said he; and he was notmany minutes settling his business, and then he came to me and slipped five shillings into my hand I thankedthe gentleman, and ran to my mates Fiddler Jim said he would starve before he would do such n thing;Plumber George thought different "Well, we will have a drink out of the five shillings," said I "Most,

willingly," said Fiddler Jim; for he was not too proud for that We entered the inn, and called for beer Thelandlord was playing an accordion "Are you fond of music?" said I "Very much," replied the landlord "Wecan give you a treat in that line if you have a large room," said I, "for one of my mates is a first-class violinistfrom Julien's Band, London, and I, myself, am a London concert-singer, comic and sentimental." "Well," said

he, "It would not pay me to engage you There are so few people living about here." "Well," said I, "If youwill give us our board and lodging for two days we will not charge you anything further." "Have you got anybills printed?" he asked "No," I replied; "but we will write free orders, and take them round to the stores andtents, and when we get the people here, we will make it pay you and ourselves too." "All right," said he; "I'lllight the room by eight o'clock; and now what will you take to drink?" and we tried three nobblers of brandy

"Now boys to work," said I "Get out writing paper and write out one hundred orders to 'Admit bearer Notice

to the inhabitants of Gisbourne! At the Forest Inn a grand concert will take place this evening! Admittancefree Cockney Tom, manager.'" These we distributed ourselves at every tent within two miles round Ourprogramme was a very simple one, and our stage was made of brandy cases, with carpet over them There was

a chair for Jim the Fiddler, and one for me, and Plummer George had to keep order as conductor I

commenced with a sentimental song, which was followed by a violin solo Then came the landlord on theconcertina; after which I sang "Billy Nutts, the Poet," and had to repeat it; then came a selection of Scotchairs, by Fiddler Jim, which was encored; and that ended the first part Refreshments all followed, for thebenefit of the landlord Part the second-comic song, in caricature, by myself, entitled "Timothy Black," provedquite a sensation Sang two more songs, then announced that after an interval of ten minutes the dancingwould commence The company began to get so numerous that we wondered where all the people came from

in that lonely part of the world I spoke to the landlord about passing round the plate He entered into the ideawith pleasure, going round with it himself, and collected over four pounds, and was requested to have theentertainment repeated the next night, which was agreed to; and we went to bed very tired Next day found aspring of beautiful water, had a bathe, and returned to dinner After a rest, we had a look around the place, andsaw in the afternoon what we had never seen before A young man had been to Melbourne and was returning

to the diggings with a bullock-dray loaded with provisions He stopped at the Forest Inn, and you may easilyimagine he was drunk, for he began to boast of the amount of money he was making The landlord told him,

as he had so much money, he had better shout £10 worth of champagne "All right," said he "Where is themoney?" asked the publican "You think I haven't got it," said he "I will show you." And then down went a

£10-note, which the landlord put in his pocket Up came ten bottles of fiz Everybody drank some; the

bullock-driver got beastly drunk, and the landlord took him by the nape of his neck and kicked him into theroad Next morning I fancied I heard him sing the following lines:

"It was the cussed liquor that fired up my soul, And caused me from my duty to depart; So onward now myjourney I'll pursue But, golly! how my head begins to smart! So, 'gee up Strawberry!'"

The second night the room was crowded The same programme was gone through as on the previous

occasion, and nearly everybody got the worse for drink They were very generous, however, and the

subscription amounted to £11, and we all had a good "booze" at the close The following morning, afterbreakfast, we prepared to start for the next township, Kyneton, about 20 miles distant The road lay throughthe Black Forest How it got the name of Black Forest was on account of the many black deeds that had beendone in it Numerous murders were committed, travellers were plundered, and the gold escort stuck up It wastwelve miles through, and had only one inn and a store passing the distance There is another reason why it iscalled Black Forest, viz., that there was a Black Thursday in those days, which is recorded in the "History ofVictoria" as the hottest day ever known there On that day the forest took fire, and burnt for weeks, being onegreat fire furnace for many miles, and when it died out every tree was as black as charcoal From that day tothe present it has been called the Black Forest

We left Gisbonrne, with our treasury much increased, and we felt grateful thereat Walked on about five milesinto the forest, when we saw a house in the distance, which turned out to be a public house; and, as it was veryhot travelling, Fiddler Jim proposed to have a drink "If you like," said Plumber George "I don't care aboutit," said I; "so I'll stay outside and mind the swags." I saw a flower-garden close by the house, and being fond

of flowers, I thought I would have a look at them, and did so; but was surprised to see a black board there, onwhich was written "Here lies the body of William Brown, who was murdered by his mate whilst comingdown from the diggings He afterwards confessed, and was hung in Melbourne in 1842." I wanted a nobblerafter reading that inscription, and had one On calling my mates attention to the board, it made them shudder.Further on we met the gold escort, consisting of about thirty horsemen with drawn swords, carbines, andpistols, coming from the diggings Some were guarding each side of the gold carts, and others acting asscouts, riding through the bush near the road They all wore red jumpers and helmets, The next thing that wenoticed was a poor bullock, knocked on the head, merely because he was worn out We got through the forest

at last, and it seemed a long twelve miles It was then getting late, so we pushed on as well as we could, but

we couldn't walk fast, as our swags were too heavy, and Fiddler Jim began to complain that he could not gomuch further As darkness came on we lost our way, but found it again and arrived in Kyneton about 9 o'clock

at night, completely knocked up

Got up late the next morning, and took a walk through Kyneton, which was the best-looking town we hadseen out of Melbourne There were three good hotels, several stores, drapers, watchmaker, tailors,

shoemakers, and butchers, and bakers Lots of diggers were returning who had made their pile, and othersgoing to try to make theirs; of course we were amongst the latter After sundry refreshments we went intocommittee to consider what was to be done next We all agreed that a day's spell would do us a deal of good,and that we should be all the better prepared for gold-digging afterwards We were then only twelve or

fourteen miles from Forest Creek, and I proposed looking for fresh lodgings, as the house we were staying atwas anything but respectable This was agreed to, and we searched and were successful in finding good beds,food and liquors, and plenty of company "This will do," said I; "we must make some money here." "How?"said fiddler Jim "The same as at the Forest Inn," replied I "At any rate we can but try," said Plumber George;

"I am good to keep the door and repair their beer engine, if through being overworked it should happen to getout of order." "Well, I'll see what's best to be done," said I; "in the meantime you have a rest till I come back."

I went into the kitchen and saw the girls "I beg your pardon," said I to one of them; "but will you inform me

if you have a room large enough for a dance." "Oh! yes; we use the lodge room when we have a ball, and Mrs.Halliday is very fond of a dance; she will be so pleased, so by all means go and see her at once, and let usknow when it is to take place Plenty of people will be glad to come I am sure," said the girl, and so off I went

to see Mrs Halliday "Are you musicians?" asked she "My mate plays and I am a London concert singer, willyou give us an engagement?" said I '''No,'' said she, "I will not do that, but you can have the use of our clubroom for nothing, and you can charge what you like for admission." I told her that at the Forest Inn the

landlord found us in board and lodging "Very well, then," said she, "I will do the same When do you propose

to commence?" "To-night," said I "Then," said she, "I'll tell the ostler to light up the room and get your stageready." I had a nobbler and returned to my mates and found them asleep "Wake up," said I, "there's business

to be done." "What's up?" said Fiddler Jim "Anything fresh?" asked Plumber George "Yes," said I, tellingthem all about my arrangements "What's to be done first?" said I, "we must get a large piece of Cardboardand write on it in large letters, 'A grand ball and concert will take place here to-night Admission 2s.; tocommence at 8 sharp Cockney Torn, Manager.'" The remainder of the day was spent going about informingthe inhabitants what a treat was in store for them You must know that Fiddler Jim and myself had broughtwith us an old dress coat each, and black trousers and white waistcoat, all the worse for wear These, and mycoats and other rags for caricature business, and the fiddle, comprised our professional stock-in-trade Eighto'clock came and the folks began to muster Plumber George was at the door taking the two shillings, which Ithought was little less than a robbery, but I had agreed to do it They commenced the same programme as atthe Forest Inn, and all went off well The interval as before, and drinks all round Everybody was eager for thedance; off they went Mrs Halliday came in; she was a Scotch lassie, and couldn't keep her feet quiet whilethe "Reel of Tullegoram" was being played; she rushed into the room and began to twist and twirl about like

an eel till she nearly fainted They kept it up late, and we promised to repeat the entertainment the next nightwith a slight change in the programme We thanked the company, and retired to our room, counted the cash,and found we had taken eight pounds "It's not bad," said Fiddler Jim "Let's have another nobbler before we

go to bed," said Plumber George "All right," rejoined I The next day we took a long walk; and found goodfarming country around Kyneton Home to dinner, everything going right Rested in the afternoon, and thengot ready for concert and ball No 2 The place was not rushed the second night, but we nevertheless addedfour pounds more to our treasury After a good night's rest we got up and prepared to start, and bid goodbye tothe landlady, the servants, and the town of Kyneton We had about twelve or fourteen miles to walk to thegreat forest diggings that had given me the fever in London We Stopped at Sawpit Gully and had a rest andbeer, six miles more and then we saw what is not easily forgotten We arrived safely at the creek, and wereastonished to see the number of tents, the thousands at work, men, women, girls, and boys of all ages, and thedeep holes nearly frightened me When the diggers saw us they they began to shout, "Joe! Joe!" which wasresponded to all round the diggings It was a saying or cry they had When the police went round to examinetheir licenses, I and my party walked on, taking observations, when all at once some one called out, "Is thatyou, Plumber George?" "Yes," said he, "all that remains of me since I left London." "What do you think of thediggings?" said Mr Postman We had better call him by that name, for after he left the diggings he came back

to Adelaide and got an appointment as mail guard, which he held for twenty years He is alive now and hasretired, or is about to retire from the service an independent man Once he was a poor tailor in London "Howlong have you been here?" said Postman "Just arrived," said we "Have you had any dinner?" "What did yousay?" "Have you had any dinner?" "No," said I, "we have only just arrived "You shall dine with me in mytent, and I'll give you a shakedown to-night," said he "Thanks," said I "My mates," said Postman, "are outprospecting, and I don't, expect them back for a day or two In the meantime I will tell you a thing or twoabout the goldfields Come with me to my butcher's." The butcher's shop was a tent, with two or three sheephanging up, also some sausages "A quarter of mutton," said Postman "All right," said butcher, "we expect tohave half of a bullock next week." "These are some friends of mine from Adelaide; you may safely trust them

if they get hard up," said Postman "They can have what they like on your recommendation." We arrived at histent, and soon made a fire "How are you going to cook?" asked Fiddler Jim "You shall soon see", saidPostman Whereupon he got a tin bucket, washed it out, put water in, slung it over the fire, cut off the leg ofmutton, and in that went, after that flour was made into hard dumplings, potatoes, onions, and oatmeal allwent in the same bucket that was used for getting out the gold dirt from the holes Then Mr Postman

proposed that we should go with him to Johnny Allsort's store and get some beer, while the dinner was

cooking, to which we all agreed Mr Postman gave us a hint that we had better look out for the holes, or wemight find ourselves in a bath As we walked along Mr Postman endeavored to enlighten us by explaining thenames, &c., of the various claims within view Where we then were was called Pennyweight Flat "On ourright is Moonlight Flat; then over there is Long Gully; that hill on the left is called Adelaide Hill; and the next

is Friar's Creek; then further on is Campbell's Creek; and then comes Murder Creek, which takes you on toTarangower." We arrived at Johnny Allsorts, and had two bottles of beer, for which we paid 8s We wereintroduced to Johnny as new arrivals He had made his fortune by selling to new chums such articles as tents,

cradles, buckets, tubs, and frying-pans; in fact he could supply anything except gold dust, which he bought, orexchanged for tea, sugar, or grog We arranged to call next morning and do business with him Got backsafely, and enjoyed our dinner, after which we had a long yarn about digging, followed by a song Someneighbours came in, and Jim turned out his fiddle, and played a bit, after which we had some grog, fired offour pistols, reloaded them, made up the fire, and then turned into our blankets, with our firearms under ourpillows I slept well till daylight, when I got up and made a fire, put on the billy, and had breakfast We thengave Johnny Allsorts another call, all of us going together Mr Postman accompanied us to see that we werenot imposed upon Johnny greeted us with, "How are you this morning? Will you take a nobbler?" "Afterbusiness," said I "Good," said Mr Postman "Now, then," said Allsorts, "what is the first thing?" "A good,warm tent," said Fiddler Tim "I can accommodate you to a T I have one not far off that I bought off threediggers who went to the new rush Come with me and you shall see it, and then judge for yourself." We allwent to look at it, and found it to be a good second-hand tent "It's dirt cheap at £5," said Johnny Allsorts.

"Too much," said Mr Postman, "if it was offered to you to-morrow you would not give any more than £2 forit." "Well, we will not quarrel about a pound," said he "It is yours for four." "All right," said the lot of us Mr.Postman selected what we should want to begin with, such as a cradle, buckets, rope picks, shovels, dishes, acamp-oven, flour, potatoes, onions, matches, &c When the account was made up we had not enough to pay it;

so Johnny said, "Never mind the balance now If you are lucky, come and pay; and, in the meantime, give meyour names for the account, so that if you have to leave I may have a claim on the tent." We consulted

together, and agreed to his terms We then bad nobblers all round, took possession of our goods, and movedinto our new tent We arranged that Plumber George was to be cook for the first week, and the first thing that

he had to do was to chop a tree down, but Fiddler Jim, however, had to help him I went off to the butcher'sshop, and got credit for a quarter of mutton; and when I got back they had lighted a fire, so I fried somemutton, boiled some potatoes, and had dinner; after which we went into committee "What's the first thing to

be done?" asked George "We must take out our license before we begin to dig." said Jim "Ah!" said I; "Iforgot that! We shell have to pay three pound for it." "And I should like to know where the money is to camefrom," said Fiddler Jim "I'll try my friend, Mr Postman," said George He did so, and got it We then took awalk to the Commissioner's tent, and got our licences, after which we had a good look over the township,which was called Castlemaine, and is so called to this day It's original name, however, was Mount Alexander

We returned, and marked out our claim near a spot were we were told lots of gold had been found As itrained heavily, we agreed not to start work until the next day, so we returned to our tent and wrote letters,informing the folks at home of our safe arrival Got to work next day, and took it in turns, one to use the pick,and the other the shovel We got down about four feet the first day, and were very tired, our hands, not beingused to pick and shovel work, were very sore The next day we expected to bottom the hole The diggers told

us that we should strike the pipe-clay at about seven feet The deeper we went the labor of getting the stuff tothe surface was increased, as every bit had to be drawn up in buckets The third day we got to the pipe-clay,under which was found a small deposit of gravel We hauled it up very carefully for fear of losing any, and weput it through the cradle, as we had seen the others do, after which we washed it in a tin dish, and then at thebottom of it we found some very fine specks of gold, about two pennyweights, valued at about seven shillings,and this was the glorious result of three days at the digging's-a splendid sum to divide among three men It isneedless too say that we were disheartened, and Jim the Fiddler was affected almost to tears As it was amoonlight night, I suggested a walk into town, and we went; and it was not altogether unprofitable, for I fell

in with a man of the name of Ashton, whom I had known in Adelaide, where he had been Crown Lands'Ranger His father was proprietor of a large establishment known as "Ashton's Hotel," and he had manyacquaintances, but I only had the pleasure of his son's friendship "Ah! my boy," said he, "how do you get on?Come to try your luck?" "Yes," said Jim, "but it has only been bad luck as yet." "You must not despair." saidAshton "Come and take a nobbler with me." Not one of us refused, we all went to the Albert Hotel, and hadtwo nobblers each The landlord could see that we were new chums, as he had come from London himself, so

he told us, and had made money by digging, and had invested it in the Albert Hotel "What trade are you?" heasked "My mates are both tradesmen-one is a plumber, and the other is a painter," I replied "And what areyou?" said he "Why, I am a professional singer from London." "You'd do well, if you had some music withyou," said he "Why, one of my mates is a first-class fiddler," said I "Humph!" said he; "come clown to-night,and we will see what we can do for you; at any rate, I will give you something to start with." We bade our

friend good-bye, and promised him that if we made a change we would go to his place at Tarangower Wereturned to our tent and had tea Then we took the fiddle and went to our first engagement on Forest Creek,for which we received about seventeen shillings and a bottle of brandy We were to play and sing every nightthere, unless we had other engagements We were next told that we should do much better if we worked in thecreek, as many were doing very well there, so we gave that a trial, and found it much easier, and much moreprofitable than sinking holes We got several nice nuggets of gold there; and what with gold digging, fiddling,and singing, we soon paid Johnny Allsorts and Mr Postman what we owed them; and more than that, for wesoon got our names up as Jim the Fiddler and Tom the Singer; and were engaged to play at a grand cricketingdinner, to celebrate a match between eleven Castlemaine players and eleven from Bendigo There I sang theGold Digger's Song, the chorus of which was as follows:

"Merely ply the pick and spade, And rock the cradle fast; Here we pursue no idle trade, For we may be rich atlast."

which was greatly appreciated much to the satisfaction of myself and Fiddler Jim We stopped there thatnight, but there was no sleep as they all got drunk Champagne was the order, not of the day, but of the night,and a general scrimmage with pillows and bolsters flying about, and such like, was carried on till daylight inthe morning

Things went on with us pretty well for several weeks Our gold-digging averaged about half an ounce per day,which was not so bad had it lasted; but bad weather set in, and a lot of rain falling the creek was flooded, so

we had to work up to our hips in water, and Plumber George was soon taken bad and could not work Whenthe mail came in I and Jim went to the Post Office to see if there were any letters for us After waiting abouttwo hours we got our letters; one for George, one for Jim, one for Mr Postman, and one for me also Wereturned to our tent and then went over to Mr Postman, who read his letters to us, which was to the effect thathis only child was dying, and that if he wanted to see it before it died he must return at once He was not long

in making up his mind "I'm off," said he "to Adelaide to-morrow morning, and leave everything to my mates

to settle I have made a little gold, and if all goes well I'll come back and make some more." When we toldGeorge the Plumber that Mr Postman was off to Adelaide, he said, "I'll be off with him, for I am sick ofgold-digging; this kind of life may suit you who can make money by singing and playing, but it don't suit me

at all, and another thing, I want to get home to my wife, as I am quite sure this life don't agree with me." Wegave him a fair share of what we possessed, and the next morning saw Mr Postman and Plumber George off toAdelaide Of course we gave them several commissions, which they faithfully executed We only remained ashort time on Forest Creek after our mates had gone Truly we lived a fiddling kind of life for the violin andsinging was now our principle support, and strange were the scenes we were obliged to witness One nightafter playing and singing at the Albert Hotel, we were just about to leave when we saw one of the "traps" asthey were called on the diggings, and which means no more nor less than "policeman in plain clothes," I sawthat he had his eyes one some one, so we thought we would watch and see what was up, and we had not long

to wait A poor drunken digger, who had been shouting to everybody, came out of the Albert Hotel, andstrange to say the very man who ought to have taken him in charge for being drunk, and have protected himfrom robbery, knocked him down with his staff, knelt on him, and robbed him of all he possessed, and thenleft him on the ground to die if he liked, and what is worse to relate, it was more than your life was worth toutter a word against this shameful proceeding Such was the state of society in those days on the gold fields.Not far from us there lived two men given out to be diggers We thought that they were, but we soon foundout our mistake They wormed themselves into our company at every opportunity, and were uncommonlycivil I could see that these men were no good, and found out that they got their living by sly-grog selling,cheating at cards, or any other little game As we could not get rid of them, our only course was to leaveForest Creek as quietly as possible We did so, and meeting with some new chums who had come to try theirfortune, we sold them our tent, furniture, and stock-in-trade at a loss; but which was better after all thanselling them to Johnny Allsorts, and off we started next morning for Tarangower, a distance of only fifteenmiles We had to go through Campbell's and Fryar's Creeks, Deadman's Gully, Murder Flat, and at all these

places the gold fever was raging We passed through without much chaff; now and then-there goes FiddlerJim and Singing Tom would be called after us from the creek, but we took no heed and went on our way asfast as we could.

After walking about ten miles we came to a small township called Mucklesford which lay in a beautifulvalley, and reminded me of my song, "Give me a cot in the valley I love," the cottages were all built of wood,with neat little gardens around them, and a creek of beautiful water ran through the township, which containedtwo stores, one public house, and a smith's and shoemaker's shops I had a chat with the disciple of St

Crispian, and found him to be an old hand from the other side We enquired how they got their living, and heinformed us that most of them grew vegetables, and supplied the diggers We asked him to have a drink with

us which he did not refuse; when to our surprise the two men we were in dread of confronted and upbraided

us for not telling them that we were going to Tarangower They knew where the new rush was, and would like

to chum in with us they said We told them that we had a friend there where we intended to stay; but theywould not be put off, and determined to keep us company, to protect us in case of our meeting bushrangers.They asked us many questions such as "You must have made a lot of money at the Creek with your playingand singing." I told them we had made very little in deed, and what we had got we had sent home to our wives

in Adelaide We were very civil to these strangers for it was no use being otherwise, as they were well armedand not particular

After a long walk we arrived at Tarangower at dark, completely knocked up Fiddler Jim said he had neverwalked such a long fifteen miles in his life; it seemed to him more like thirty I soon found out my friendAshton, who was glad to see us We shouted to the men who had kept us company, and bade them good night

"All right," said they, "we will see you in the morning." I told Ashton about these men "Oh! I know them,"said he, "they are the biggest rogues and thieves on the diggings, and one has been tried for murder; keep out

of their company." We thanked Ashton for his advice As he could not furnish us with lodgings, he took us to

a friend who kept a large saloon He undertook to give us a shakedown for three shillings each About thirty of

us slept in one large tent on boards, with just a mattress laid on them, every man finding his own blankets Weslept pretty well, and got up early, took a walk round the township, which was called Maulden, on account of

a man of that name owning a lot of land in that district It had formerly been known as Bryant's Ranges ThisBryant was a sheep farmer, and had made a large fortune when the diggings were first started by supplying thediggers with mutton We had breakfast and called on Ashton, who said, "I am glad you have turned up, as Ihave got you an engagement with my neighbour that keeps the National Hall, he wants some one that is likely

to draw well, so I will go and introduce you to him; he is a black man, but not a bad sort." We found his wordstrue Jim requested me to make the engagements, as I was a better general at that sort of thing than he washimself, so to oblige him I engaged myself and Fiddler Jim to a black man for three months, at a salary ofthree pounds per week each, and what money we could collect, with board and lodging, and with the full right

to dig in the day time The agreement being duly signed and witnessed, we cracked a bottle of wine overit-which, by the way, was not very good Our first night was not such a great success as we had anticipated it

to be We got our bills out; but the people did not show up at first, which was to be accounted for by the factthat a week before we arrived there had been a company of minstrels known as Rainer's New York Niggersplaying there, who had done well, and then gone on to Bendigo We had a miserable attendance to begin with,but as the evening advanced the company increased, and at the end of the first part I made a speech to theeffect that there would be a change of programme every evening, and dancing would commence at nineo'clock and close at eleven; also that there was to be no charge for admission, but that they were to give whatthey liked to the "musicians Now," said I, "take your places for the first dance." "Let's have a Scotch reel,"said one digger "Good," said another; and off they started Presently more company arrived, and in cameAshton and his friends, and they all began to dance Fiddler Jim kept them dose at it Ashton went round withhis hat and collected three pounds the first time; he repeated it again and got nearly as much more At thefinish we all went to Ashton's tent and every one of us got more or less the worse for drink We found outafterwards that Ashton and our master, the black man, were working together in more ways than one

Next day we had a look round the diggings, and it was a grand sight to see so many hills and gullies covered