Feisty Caroline Chisholm

A great female heroine of our early pioneering history is Caroline Chisholm who first arrived in NSW in 1838. She worked to establish better conditions, suitable employment and accommodation for young migrant women. Yet she died with her achievements unacknowledged and in poverty.

Born in Northhamptonshire England in 1808 Caroline went on to marry Captain Archibald Chisholm of the East India Company at the age of 22 and against her will.

In 1832 she moved with her husband to India where he was stationed and established the Female School of Industry for the daughters of European soldiers.

In September 1838 the Chisholm’s moved to Australia settling in Windsor, NSW. 

Most women arriving in Sydney at that time came from the orphanages and workhouses of England and Ireland and were quickly corrupted and degraded during their horrendous journey out to the colony. Once arriving in Australia nobody really cared what happened to these women. Many were forced to huddle in doorways and dark corners or under trees in the park. Pimps and scoundrels took advantage of these poor women making them work long hours in terrible conditions in return for a meal or basic shelter. Many women hung around Sydney for months before getting any work at all and then found that their new employers wanted more than just work from them, they also demanded that they act as their mistresses.

Caroline began her quest to save these young women who were arriving in the colonies alone. She found shelter for them even by lodging them in her own home. She petitioned the Governor of NSW with requests of assistance and money.

It was finally agreed that as long as Caroline did not spend a cent of the Government’s money she was allowed to use a dilapidated storeroom in Bent Street, Sydney (near where the Royal Botanical Gardens are now situated) and she moved into the building November 1841 knowing that if she did not accept this offer she would not get another chance.

 The story goes that after a strong cup of tea she put a candle on the floor of the new premises and heard such a scuffling noise and she thought that dogs had entered the room. Adjusting to the darkness and light from the candle she found herself surrounded by rats. She lit another candle and sat in the middle of her bed until three rats came down from the roof and landed on her shoulder. How terrifying!

She decided that she would not be moved out by these creatures and with steely resolve laid out some bread and water and watched the rats feed while she read until morning light.

The next night she once again waited in the dark for the rats to return and again laid out the bread and water but this time she had laced the bread with arsenic. After a few nights she was relatively rat free and went about creating a space where the poor women could be taken off the streets and provided with shelter while Caroline tried to find them all jobs.

She went on in educating them with the common skills of cooking and cleaning, mathematics and elocution so as to make them suitable for employment as domestic servants in outback farming communities.                                                                                                                                                       Caroline Chisholm even came into our own backyard and founded one of her Female Emigrants' Homes at East Maitland in 1842. (pictured below in the 1960’s)

In 1857 she contracted kidney disease. She had spent the family’s money on her charitable ventures and was almost penniless. She could not even afford medical attention and finally left the country she had grown to love beyond any other for England. By 1871 she was living in a dingy room in Highgate where she stayed for five years slowly deteriorating and died at the age of 67 in 1877. Her husband died a few months later and they are both buried in Billing Road Cemetery, Northamptonshire, England.

The Inscription on her Head Stone reads, "Caroline Chisholm the Emigrant's Friend".
With her determination and courage she provided dignity and hope to the women and families daring to survive in the new colonies. It is known she aided over 11,000 emigrants.

Caroline is a true legend – may her story not be forgotten.

Above is a recent picture of the building once used as her Emigrant's Home in East Maitland (2012)

Information Sources include “Petticoat Pioneers” Denton Prout & Fred Feely

http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/chisholm-caroline-1894