David Murray’s “Words for the Heat of Deeds” – A Story of Newcastle’s Convict Years

Convicts leaving the United Kingdom. An illustration from an unidentified original source held in the Dr John Turner Slide Collection, University of Newcastle (Australia)

Newcastle has a rich literary history, being the site that created the first full length autobiography ever written in Australia, and  the first dictionary ever compiled in Australia.

These were the works of the infamous convict James Hardy Vaux and the 5th of July 2012 celebrated the bicentenary of this important milestone in Australia’s literary history. Thanks to Mark Gwynn who reminded us all that on the 5th July 1812 Vaux’s Dictionary of the Flash Language was presented to the then Commandant of Newcastle Thomas Skottowe. See Mark Gwynn’s article “James Hardy Vaux – Pioneer Australian Lexicographer” here.

Newcastle and the Hunter have formed the backdrop of a number of literary works including Sarah Ricardo Porter’s Alfred Dudley; or the Australian Settlers (London: Harvey and Darton, 1830) and James Tucker’s  The Adventures of Ralph Rashleigh A Penal Exile in Australia, 1825-1844 (circa 1844-45).

Words for the Heat of Deeds is a creative non-fiction writing project by Mr David Murray PhD Candidate in the University of Newcastle’s School of Humanities and Social Science.

It traces the early, convict years of the Newcastle Penal settlement as a series of interconnected story lines. The narrative is a meditation on reclaimed stories, crime, criminality, language, history and class of Australia’s second oldest city.

The following extract is from Book II: ‘Can we give the Universe Meaning’, taken from Words for the Heat of Deeds, a creative non-fiction narrative written as part of a Creative Arts thesis, to be submitted for the Degree of Doctorate of Philosophy.

“Can we give the Universe Meaning” – Extract from David Murry’s Words for the Heat of Deeds (Updated Version)

The extract contains a smattering of slang, which in the completed manuscript has its own glossary, taken primarily from The Routledge Dictionary of Historical Slang and James Hardy Vaux’s Vocabulary of the Flash Language.

An Interesting Relic

Newcastle - An Interesting Relic (From Thursday's Chronicle)

“NEWCASTLE. (From Thursday’s Chronicle)

AN INTERESTING RELIC. – On Friday morning last, as the workmen were employed in pulling down the walls of the Bank of New South Wales, in Watt Street, they found embedded between the plastering and the wall, a kind of small leaden case, containing a piece of white paper, about the size of a half-sheet of post or letter paper, in an excellent state of preservation, and which document, from what has been written upon it, had been evidently deposited there by the man who plastered the building. The writing is very inferior, and the orthography is execrable – the commonest words being mis-spelt. The following is a correct transcription of the paper:

Newcastle, July 10th, 1838. – This is to inform those that find this, that this house was plastered by Thomas Simpson, from Leith in Scotland. This is awful time with battle between the free and convicts. The latter is losing the power; they are going down like chaff before the free men, and it is right they should, for when I came here in 1831 there were little else but convicts. Remember me when this (apparently a Masonic emblem) you see – THOMAS SIMPSON. This property belongs to A.W. Scott, Esq., from Dundee in Scotland. My native town is Arbroath, eighteen miles from Dundee. T.S. – I came here with Rev. Dr Lang, 15th October, 1831, per brig Stirling Castle, with wife and two daughters, at my expense, £75. – THOMAS SIMPSON.

The document is in the possession of the manager of the Bank of New South Wales, Mr. Cotton, who has kindly permitted us to copy it.”

This interesting undated newspaper article was found whilst accessioning the papers of the late Ross Deamer into the University’s archives. It in turn was copied from a file held in the Mitchell Library under the title of ‘J. Dickson Journal and Notes 1838-1877′ (M.L. MSS 1972).

I tried to locate the original Newcastle Chronicle story in Trove, but couldn’t locate it. A copy of this story was relayed in the Queanbeyan Age under their Colonial Extracts as ‘A Curious Discovery’ on Thursday 3rd November 1870. The article is interesting in its alternate text of ‘P.S.’ instead of ‘T.S.’ and ‘£15′ instead of ‘£75′.

Thanks to Jen Willets who located the story in the Maitland Mercury Saturday 22 October 1870 p.3 The original story was therefore possibly published in the Newcastle Chronicle on the previous Thursday 20th October 1870, reporting the discovery made on Friday 14th October 1870.

Thanks to Ann Hardy who has tracked down the original Newcastle Chronicle article published on the 20 October 1870:

It would be interesting to find what became of Thomas Simpson’s leaden case and note. Jen Willets has provided some details relating to the Manager of the Bank of New South Wales in the comments below. From the Sydney Morning Herald Tuesday 16th January 1906:

Mr. Henry Bayes Cotton, who died at his residence, Hunter’s Hill, yesterday, at the age of 86, was one of the oldest colonists of New South Wales. He arrived In Sydney, in 1830, and joined the Bank of New South Wales. He was manager of the bank at Geelong when the Ballarat gold fields were at their zenith, and was afterwards manager of the branch at Newcastle for 25 years, in the latter city Mr. Cotton commanded the respect and esteem of all classes. He took an active part in many public matters, especially in the establishment of the School of Arts in that city, and he lent valuable assistance during many years in making it a successful institution. He was a member of the Church of England, and took a keen Interest in everything connected with its welfare, being an energetic and zealous worker as lay reader and  member of the Synod. Retiring from the service of the bank about 15 years ago, Mr. Cotton took up his residence at Hunter’s Hill. He has left three sons.

Does anyone know what became of Mr Cotton’s personal papers? They may contain Thomas Simpson’s 1838 note.

Gionni Di Gravio

Proposed development on the Convict Lumber Yard

DA 08/1160 SECTION 60 APPLICATION-CONVICT LUMBER YARD STOCKADE SITE, 90-88 SCOTT STREET NEWCASTLE SHR 01537

We would like to express our concern at the proposed development application (DA 08/1160) currently before Newcastle City Council for the Convict Lumber Yard Site.

We recommend that it remain open space and free of development.

The University of Newcastle’s Coal River Working Party (CRWP) was formed in 2003 to provide academic rigour and expertise to research and to promote the Coal River Heritage Precinct (NSW State Heritage Register No1674), which is arguably one of the most important historic sites in Australia.

The CRWP consists of representatives from the academic and general staff, retired academics, and students from the across the University and many organisations and individuals in the wider community.

We have a strong concern for this Region’s heritage and actively work to research, document, investigate and celebrate its history, which is so important to the Australian national identity.

One of our primary objectives from the onset has been to support the creation of a management plan for the Coal River Precinct, and we actively assisted and supported the Coal River Conservation and Cultural Tourism Management Plan prepared by Boyce Pizzey and Associates, which was unanimously adopted by Newcastle City Council in 2008.

The Coal River Heritage Precinct and Convict Lumber Yard is a potential world heritage site, and as a community, we should be strategically working towards having it recognised as such.

With specific regard to the proposed development we are concerned that important archaeological features and relics of the Convict Lumber Yard site will be built over in the ensuing development.

These archaeological features and relics identified in June 2007 in the test excavation by Archaeological & Heritage Management Solutions Pty Ltd (AHMS) are of State significance.

The Coal River Heritage Precinct (of which the Convict Lumber Yard forms part) is on the NSW State Heritage Register and should be protected for future generations. No building should be allowed to overshadow it, or bury it.

The proposed development, and amended plans put forward, does not in any way enhance or protect the heritage values of the site. Rather, they bury our heritage under their development.

In addition, a 500mm buffer zone is completely unacceptable. Our conservator, who has worked as conservator at four world heritage sites, in cooperation with international teams from Germany, France, the United States, and Italy, has said that any construction should be at such a distance as not to disturb the integrity of the archaeological site. The development site is within the Archaeology Zoning Plan area.  The 1989 Conservation Policy strongly argued that the Convict Lumber Yard site should be a prominent feature in the Newcastle landscape, and any new structures and plantings, which might impede the view of the site, were to be avoided. This proposed construction would therefore destroy the authenticity of the historic site, and will in all probability ruin this City’s chances of attaining world heritage status for our iconic site.

Established between 1805-1808, and fully functional by 1820, the Convict Lumber Yard site was identified by distinguished archaeologist Damaris Bairstow in the 1989 Excavation Report prepared for Meredith Walker, the NSW Heritage Council and Newcastle City Council (1989) as “the only known site in Australia to retain evidence of early convictism on a broad scale. Thus it is the only known site to retain evidence of Australia’s colonial foundation”. (p.7)

Overlay of 1830 Convict Lumber Yard site on present day

Overlay of Convict Lumber Yard site on present day landscape in Google Earth from the 1830 Armstrong Plan
held in the Alexander Turnbull Library – National Library of New Zealand)

The Convict Lumber Yard is also arguably the site where Australia’s first autobiography and dictionary was compiled. The convict James Hardy Vaux (1782 – fl.1841) wrote his book containing an account of his life up until the end of his sentence at Newcastle’s penal settlement and vocabulary of the ‘Flash Language’ in Newcastle during the years 1811-1814 under the reign of Commandant Thomas Skottowe. His biographers affirm that his work was the first full-length autobiography ever written in Australia, and his Vocabulary of the Flash Language the first dictionary ever compiled in Australia. In addition the Convict Lumber Yard is also the site where two important colonial treasures, namely the two Chests constructed for Governor Macquarie (and now held in the State Library of NSW in Sydney), were constructed.

So it is not only an important and unique early colonial industrial site, birthplace of colonial industry in the Colony, but also a literary and cultural centre of national importance as well.

This site is therefore a potential world heritage site, and so this proposal to build over the top of it will certainly be viewed as a retrograde act towards our future tourism potential and opportunities and national identity.

Our ultimate goal is to ensure that Newcastle’s historic places achieve world-class distinction and recognition. To do this its history has to be properly researched, documented and safeguarded for future generations so that people can continue to recognise and be inspired by this Region’s significant achievements.

The Convict Lumber Yard is a ‘Nominated Place’ as part of the Coal River (Mulubinba) Cultural Landscape National Nomination and is currently under consideration by the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.

We must ensure that The Convict Lumber Yard heritage site, that has forged the most important developments in this Nation’s history, is properly accorded the respect it deserves.

Burying such achievements is not an option.

The Virtual Convict Lumber Yard circa 1840

[An Interactive Presentation by George Drewery c.1990s] prepared as a 360 Quicktime.
Be sure to view with the Quicktime Viewer for 360 effect and click on convict arrows for 3D views of Convict Lumber Yard. (11 MB Mov File]

James Hardy Vaux – The Flash Language of Coal River

This month on ABC 1233 I will be discussing James Hardy Vaux’s Memoirs and Dictionary of the Flash Language. Both these works were penned in the Coal River (Newcastle) in the period of 1812-1814.

Newcastle’s history continues to amaze, and none more that the story of James Hardy Vaux. This infamous pickpocket has provided Newcastle with a wonderful legacy of being the place at which Australia’s first substantial autobiographical work was written, and the first dictionary of the convict slang (or flash) language was compiled.

Newcastle in 1812

The illustration above is a composite panoramic image from T.R. Browne’s Newcastle, in New South Wales, with a distant view of Point Stephen, 1812 and View of Hunters River, near Newcastle, New South Wales, 1812. Both engravings are held in the Newcastle Region Art Gallery, and were recognised to be a panorama by Russell Rigby (Coal River Working Party’s mining geologist) .

This is what the Coal River looked like in 1812 when James Hardy Vaux compiled his dictionary and later his Memoirs. The words he recorded in his dictionary provide us with the sounds of convict tongue, the language and expressions they used in the excution of their criminal profession. They are the sound of early Newcastle.

Language continues to evolve, and it is the key to all culture. Vaux’s dictionary is very helpful in providing explanations to terms in early historical accounts. For example back in 1801 the convicts asked the then Corporal Wixsted whether he would join them in “jacketing” Dr Mason, who was to be the next commandant of the settlement. In Vaux we learn that ‘jacketing’ is a term:

‘applied to removing a man by underhand and vile means from any birth or situation he enjoys, commonly with a view to supplant him’

It is also synonymous with another term ‘bridging’:

‘to bridge a person, or throw him over the bridge, is, in a general sense, to deceive him by betraying the confidence he has reposed in you, and instead of serving him faithfully, to involve him in ruin or disgrace’

Read the full Memoirs and Dictionary scanned by Google Books here)

For a etext version see Project Gutenberg http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0600111.txt

Gionni Di Gravio
June 2008