| Both sides previous revision Previous revision | |
| employees_stores [2026/01/31 18:38] – [Indigenous workers] judith | employees_stores [2026/02/08 16:39] (current) – judith |
|---|
| Ezra married Mary Ann Langdon in England in 1857 on her 21st birthday. They emigrated to Morton Bay,arriving 16 February 1858. Ezra worked on Maroon when it was owned by James Collins. One of their children, Jain Harvey, was reputedly the first white child born on Maroon. In 1870, Eliza was one of the first selectors of blocks carved from //Maroon// with he, Mary Ann and their children living in a slab hut with an earthen floor. Between 1858-78, they had 11 children, three of whom died in childhood. Mary Ann died on 10 February 1884 from heat exhaustion after she and Ezra had ridden from Maroon to Tamrookum Creek to visit her brother george Langdon and his family who were newly arrived emigrants.(( Information from display at The Rathdowney Visitor Information Centre and Historical Museum, April 2025; Harvey Family re-union. From England to Australia (Booklet) 1984, courtesy Ross Drynan.)) | Ezra married Mary Ann Langdon in England in 1857 on her 21st birthday. They emigrated to Morton Bay,arriving 16 February 1858. Ezra worked on Maroon when it was owned by James Collins. One of their children, Jain Harvey, was reputedly the first white child born on Maroon. In 1870, Eliza was one of the first selectors of blocks carved from //Maroon// with he, Mary Ann and their children living in a slab hut with an earthen floor. Between 1858-78, they had 11 children, three of whom died in childhood. Mary Ann died on 10 February 1884 from heat exhaustion after she and Ezra had ridden from Maroon to Tamrookum Creek to visit her brother george Langdon and his family who were newly arrived emigrants.(( Information from display at The Rathdowney Visitor Information Centre and Historical Museum, April 2025; Harvey Family re-union. From England to Australia (Booklet) 1984, courtesy Ross Drynan.)) |
| ===== Indigenous workers ===== | ===== Indigenous workers ===== |
| {{:ml_undated.jpg?300|}} This photo of a group of Aboriginal men (stockmen?) in the Murray-Prior papers (ML PXB661) has no attached information. It is a reminder of the huge gaps in our knowledge about the past, not the least from the Aboriginal viewpoint. The photo, faded and damaged as it is, gives context to TLM-P's criticism of depictions of 'Australians' and other indigenous groups at the [[wp>The_Crystal_Palace|Crystal Palace]] in England in 1882. He thought they were presented as 'miserable looking specimens' and 'very unlike those [Aboriginal people] I have seen'.((TLM-P, Diary, 29 June 1882, ML.)) \\ | |
| \\ | |
| The ledger books that have survived from TLM-P's various properties indicate that Indigenous workers were not employed on a regular basis but rather paid on an occasional and casual basis, perhaps fitting in with their traditional obligations as much as TLM-P's needs. TLM-P recalled that at Hawkwood, for example,he employed Indigenous people as shepherds including as least one women who he called 'Biddy'(p.45).Typically, Indigenous workers are rarely named (and certainly not given their Indigenous name) and any payments are very low. //Hawkwood//'s ledger simply refers to 'Black Boys'. In //Maroon//'s ledger for 1867-68, for example, an entry under Tom de M. M-P, simply notes that in May 1860 he paid 'Blackboy' 5 shillings.((MLMSS 3117/box 8)) Similarly there is a reference in 1879 of one of the employed stockman paying 'Hughie Black Boy’ 17 shillings.((MLMSS 3117 Box 10, Item 2, pp.6-7)) Note that these payments were made in cash, the only viable option for an irregularly paid Indigenous worker.\\ | The ledger books that have survived from TLM-P's various properties indicate that Indigenous workers were not employed on a regular basis but rather paid on an occasional and casual basis, perhaps fitting in with their traditional obligations as much as TLM-P's needs. TLM-P recalled that at Hawkwood, for example,he employed Indigenous people as shepherds including as least one women who he called 'Biddy'(p.45).Typically, Indigenous workers are rarely named (and certainly not given their Indigenous name) and any payments are very low. //Hawkwood//'s ledger simply refers to 'Black Boys'. In //Maroon//'s ledger for 1867-68, for example, an entry under Tom de M. M-P, simply notes that in May 1860 he paid 'Blackboy' 5 shillings.((MLMSS 3117/box 8)) Similarly there is a reference in 1879 of one of the employed stockman paying 'Hughie Black Boy’ 17 shillings.((MLMSS 3117 Box 10, Item 2, pp.6-7)) Note that these payments were made in cash, the only viable option for an irregularly paid Indigenous worker.\\ |
| | \\ |
| | In his reminiscences to his daughter Rosa, TLM-P described a number of outstanding Indigenous workers, particularly Billy Hay who he employed at Hawkwood. See [[indigenous_australians|Indigenous Australians]] |
| \\ | \\ |
| The same pattern is evident when the ledgers list goods sold. Some examples: a page from 1857 listing basic goods sold at //Hawkwood//'s store (clothing and boots etc) lists individuals then simply what was sold to 'Black Boys'((MLMSS 3117/box7x)). Note that calling Indigenous male employees 'boys' persisted well into the late twentieth century. Note too that this page also includes an entry for goods sold to someone just listed as 'Chinaman'. Another example is from //Melcombe// (later called //Maroon//'s) store: white individuals are named (Timothy Daly, James Hooper, John Nalty, Harry McGarvy) then ‘John Black fellow’.((MLMSS 3117/box 8)) Ethnicity was so important that, like class and gender, it had to be made obvious even in a mundane list of goods sold.\\ | The same pattern is evident when the ledgers list goods sold. Some examples: a page from 1857 listing basic goods sold at //Hawkwood//'s store (clothing and boots etc) lists individuals then simply what was sold to 'Black Boys'((MLMSS 3117/box7x)). Note that calling Indigenous male employees 'boys' persisted well into the late twentieth century. Note too that this page also includes an entry for goods sold to someone just listed as 'Chinaman'. Another example is from //Melcombe// (later called //Maroon//'s) store: white individuals are named (Timothy Daly, James Hooper, John Nalty, Harry McGarvy) then ‘John Black fellow’.((MLMSS 3117/box 8)) Ethnicity was so important that, like class and gender, it had to be made obvious even in a mundane list of goods sold.\\ |