Doryanthes is the Gymea Lily (spec. Doryanthes excelsa)
The Journal of History
and Heritage for
Southern Sydney
Temple at Metapontum
A periodic Southern Sydney Journal
of History and Heritage.
Volume 3 Number 3 August 2010.
ISSN 1835-9817 (Print) ISSN 1835-9825 (Online)
Price $7.00 (Aus)
1
Doryanthes
Exec. Editor: Les Bursill OAM
Doryanthes
.
The Gymea Lily (spec. Doryanthes excelsa) From Greek “dory”: a spear and “anthos”: a flower, referring to the spearlike flowering stems; excelsa: from Latin excelsus: elevated, high, referring to the tall flower spikes. Go to
www.doryanthes.info
Editorial Policy;
Editorial Committee
Chair/Editor/Publisher: Les Bursill, OAM, BA
M.Litt UNE JP.
V/Chair: Garriock Duncan, BA(Hons) DipEd
Syd MA Macq GradDipEdStud NSW MEd
DipLangStud Syd.
Treasurer: Mary Jacobs, BEd Macq DipNat
Nutr AustCollNaturalTherapies.
1. All views expressed are those of the
individual authors.
2. It is the policy of this journal that material
published will meet the requirements of the
Editorial Committee for content and style.
Film Review Editor: Michael Cooke, BEc LaT
GradDipEd BA Melb MB VU.
Book Review Editor and Secretary: Adj. Prof.
Edward Duyker,
OAM, BA(Hons) LaT PhD
Melb FAHA FLS FRHistS JP.
Committee Members:
Sue Duyker, BEc BA(Asian Studies) ANU
BSc(Arch.) B Arch Syd.
Merle Kavanagh, DipFamHistStud
SocAustGenealogists AssDipLocAppHist UNE.
John Low, BA DipEd Syd DipLib CSU AALIA.
Index of Articles
Page
Number
Editorial – Les Bursill
Gleanings – Sue Duyker
Goannas, Whales and
Wallabies – Bruce Howell
Archaeology and a New
Understanding of Greek
“Colonization” - Marika Low.
3
5
7
10
A Commentary on the Life of
Jesus, Part 2; - Garriock
Duncan
15
Watkin Tench Diary – Les
Bursill
23
3. Appeals concerning non-publication will be
considered. However decisions of the
Editorial Committee will be final.
Les Bursill OAM on behalf of the Editorial
Committee
Index of Articles
Page
Number
Exploring the Web – John Low
27
Scattered Seeds – Michael
Cooke
29
Book Reviews
Marc-Joseph Marion Dufresne
33
Australia's Oldest House
35
Lennie's Ride
38
Notice to Contributors
39
The articles published herein10are copyright © and may not be reproduced without
permission of the author.
2
ISSN 1835-9817 (Print) - ISSN 1835-9825 (Online)
The publishers of this Journal known as “Doryanthes” are Leslie Bursill and Mary Jacobs trading as
“Dharawal Publishers Inc. 2009”
The business address of 15
this publication is 10 Porter Road Engadine NSW, 2233.
Les.bursill@gmail.com www.doryanthes.info
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30
The Email Address (until further notice) of this Journal is lesbursill@tpg.com.au
EDITORIAL–Les Bursill OAM
I had thought that I might persuade others to
take up the Editorial role but again I seem to
hold the bag, so to speak. If I am to write the
Editorial then I will write of things both
current and close to my heart. I find that I
have several things in my mind at present
and I will attempt to draw out the elements of
those three things.
What are they? 1. Women in Politics,
2. News media responsibility and
3. Religion.
Each of those three items appear at first
glance to be separate and unconnected yet
each has a very close connection to one
another. I shall deal with them in the order
expressed above and try to demonstrate to
you the connections whilst also writing about
each issue.
Women in Politics We live in marvellous
times, and in saying that am reminded of that
old philosophical rejoinder “may you live in
interesting times” We live at a time when for
the first time in our history three women
govern. Two in the most populous states and
one as the Country’s leader, wow! and
fantastic. Yet a few weeks ago the news
media talked of nothing else but hair styles
and clothing allowances, later of children and
families. I have lived long enough to have
memories of Bob Menzies and Doc Evatt.
Bob was very urbane but with very bushy
eyebrows, Doc Evatt always appeared to me
to be a dishevelled man in a brown suit. I
never heard then, nor have I heard since,
comments about hair styles or clothing
allowances for either. Yet we had to endure
the facile ramblings of news and women’s
magazines reporters (no not journalists) on
this issue.
Can we not move a little way forward and
ask our sisters “where is your voice?” Why
did this low standard of reporting
go
relatively unchallenged. Are women nothing
more than fashion accessories and sexual
objects to be dressed and primped for men’s
pleasure. Or is it that the news media reports
only what it deems suitable for us to digest?
would be unaware that I spent some twenty
years in the newspaper industry. I was
initially a compositor and finally a Manager of
Pre Press Production at the Fairfax offices
(Herald, Financial Review, Sun Herald and
National Times).
During that time I learnt to have great
wariness around reporters as I found many
of them to be unprincipled and scurrilous.
There were some, relatively few, who may
have reached the great heights of being
thought of as Journalists. But this is of
course my opinions with no evidence I can
offer other than 20 years working for John
Fairfax.
However one thing I can say with a degree of
certainty and evidence is that what you see
in the news is often, even regularly, a
distortion of reality and in no way
representative of PUBLIC OPINION. In my
time at Fairfax I soon found that with some
exceptions newspapers and the media
generally distort opinion and sometimes
manufacture opinion.
As an example did you ever wonder who it
was who wrote in or called to demand an
explanation? Yet we regularly see “Public
Demands Explanation” What the media is
really saying is “we – on behalf of our idea of
the public – demand an explanation. I am
sure that Julia Gillard’s hair and dress is one
of those and so to a great extent is the
“refugee crisis”. Enquire yourself, ring or
write to the media and see what answers you
get.
I believe it is well past due that we ask the
news media to “please explain” and to take
responsibility for the fear, hatred and
misinformation they spread on behalf of
YOU. The media regularly destroy lives and
pre judge matters that are to come before the
courts on the basis of “the public’s right to
know. When then are we “the public” going to
demand an explanation from the media,
when are we going to demand accountability
for lives destroyed and perceptions created
that
harm
others.
Where
is
the
“accountability” that the media claims to
demand from it’s victims when it comes to
the media themselves.
Media responsibilities Which brings me to
“News Media” responsibilities. Many readers
3
Religion I experienced a moment of fear and
pride in early July when Julia Gillard said
publically that she had no religious beliefs.
Fear, because of what such a statement may
do to her career knowing how facile and
vindictive the news media can be. Pride
because for the first time in my life, someone
of a similar belief system to mine was to rule
(oh yes).
Over the last 3 years Doryanthes has
published numerous articles on religion,
particularly Christianity and Jesus Christ’s
life. As editor and publisher I have received
many complaints about having religious
articles so frequently featured.
I admit that as an atheist I have a fascination
with all things religious? But why? Well, it is
my belief that all religions give us a glimpse
into our Bronze Age past. By the close
examination of religious texts as our
historical expert Garriock Duncan does with
such panache, I believe we can in large
measure re-construct the mental states of
our ancestors. Their thoughts, logic, laws
and likes or dislikes.
By an examination in detail of Christianity we
glimpse the mind states of Middle Eastern
people, even unto today’s petty squabbles
and terrorist behaviours. By an examination
of Egyptian religions we can press that
4
examination back another two thousand
years (2000 BCE). And through an
examination
of
belief
systems
in
Mesopotamia
and
India
(particularly
Hinduism) we can get back to the end of the
Mesolithic and into the microlithic era of
human development. Greek and Roman
religious beliefs give us an insight to our
moral codes and superstitions of the modern
day.
So bear with me here at Doryanthes and
remember that the Bible truly does offer a
bronze age view of jealousy, retribution,
punishment and trial and acceptance
measured only by hearsay standards.
The Bible is the ultimate demonstration of
why science and religion do not get on, one
demands belief and the other demands
evidence.
In this sense you can see that the news
media has many biblical features and deals
with women much as the Bible does, as the
servants of men.
Les Bursill OAM
August 2010
Georges River Rainforest Walk
Sunday 29 August 2010, 9.30am–1pm
Join Beth Michie for a scenic walk alongside one of the
prettiest reaches of the upper Georges River, where
the bush comes down to a beautiful sandy beach by a
bend of the river. Along the riverside, the rare and
endangered Lomandra fluviatilis thrives. The track then
leads to a seldom-visited rainforest gully where you
may see terrestrial orchids and yet another rare and
endangered species, Hibbertia nitida. During the
evening, and occasionally during the day, you can hear
koalas roaring at one another across the river, while
sugar gliders are not in the least shy.
Gleanings-With Sue Duyker
Friends of the Botanic Gardens $25, others $35,
includes a sausage sizzle lunch after the walk. Book
early
Phone 9231 8182
National Library of Australia Seeking Federal
Election Material
Greening the Existing Building Stock 2010
The National Library is actively seeking donations of
any and all material produced in connection with the
upcoming Federal Election—flyers, how-to-vote cards,
balloons, banners, posters, etc. “We are looking for
material from all electorates, all parties and candidates,
but in this election we are particularly interested in
material from marginal electorates, communities with
concerns about health services, the mining industry
and climate-effected regions as well as the outlying
areas of Queensland, Tasmania, Western Australia,
South Australia and the Northern Territory.”
The wide range of pertinent topics include: renovating
for a different future; City of Melbourne’s 1200
Buildings Program; material recycling; building
transformation; wind energy; non-technical aspects of
energy efficiency in office building; life cycle
perspective of renovations. Numerous case studies
and site visits round off the program.
Send to: Janey Wallace, Ephemera Officer
(Federal Election Campaign Ephemera)
Australian Collection Development
National Library of Australia
Parkes Place
CANBERRA ACT 2600
Shifting Sands—Botany Bay Today
21 August–10 October 2010, Hazelhurst Gallery,
782 Kingsway, Gymea NSW
An exhibition of contemporary responses to Botany
Bay by a selected group of diverse artists.
Free
www.hazelhurst.com.au/ssc/hazel.nsf/HeadingPagesDi
splay/About+UsWhats+On or phone 85365700
At the Drive-In: A Performance by Shopfront
Theatre
27–29 August 2010, 7.30pm Hazelhurst Gardens,
782 Kingsway, Gymea NSW
A multi-media, immersive performance, including
Zombie stories and special effects at night in the
gardens of Hazelhurst. In a world where the dead roam
the streets, a society struggling to understand, Artists
ready to face the truth.
Free
www.hazelhurst.com.au/ssc/hazel.nsf/HeadingPagesDi
splay/About+UsWhats+On or phone 9588 3948
Friday–Saturday, 3–4 September 2010, State
Library of Victoria
http://www.rmit.edu.au/cfd/gbd2010.
www.shortcourses.rmit.edu.au or phone RMIT Short
Courses on 03 9925 8111
Visit Kirribilli House and Admiralty House, Kirribilli
Avenue, Kirribilli
Sunday, 12 September 2010 10am–4pm (gates
close 3pm)
The Australiana Fund is an independent fundraising
organisation established in 1978 to acquire and
preserve a permanent collection of Australian artworks
and objects for the four Official Residences of the
Governor-General and Prime Minister of Australia.
Through their generosity we are permitted access to
these houses to the public once a year to showcase
the collection. Ferry to Kirribilli Wharf or train to Milsons
Point.
Family $35, adults $15, seniors $10, children $5
www.theaustralianafund.org.au
Monster Book Sale
Saturday 18 September–Sunday 19 September
2010, Woodford Academy, Great Western Highway,
Woodford
Book sale in the historic surroundings of the Woodford
Academy.Sausage sizzle and devonshire teas
available. Tours of house: $5
Free
www.nationaltrust.com.au/events/september/default.asp
5
Grenfell Weekend
25–26 September 2010, Grenfell
Visit the State Heritage listed Iandra Homestead
Pastoral Estate plus four private gardens based in the
pretty township of Grenfell which is nestled in
surrounding hills and defined by its crooked Main and
George streets. Grenfell is a quiet rural town with
plenty of historic buildings and a past summed up by
being a former gold-mining town, birthplace of writer
Henry Lawson and with bush ranger Ben Hall
connections. Situated on the western plains near the
Weddin Mountains National Park, surrounded by
canola fields, cattle and sheep farms, Grenfell is 364
km west of Sydney with a population 2,200. Saturday
night dinner will be in the historic Railway Hotel.
$110. Places limited
Phone Sue Jackson on 9798 4407
stepowsk@tpg.com.au
Exhibition: The Dunera Boys: 70 Years On
Until 26 September 2010, National Library of
Australia, Canberra
This exhibition coincides with the 70th anniversary year
of the arrival from Britain of HMT Dunera in September
1940. The ship carried over 2,500 German and
Austrian internees. The so-called 'Dunera Boys', were
escaping the horrors of Nazi Germany but were
interned as 'Enemy Aliens' in camps in rural New South
Wales and Victoria. The internees story is one of
individual survival and of considerable achievement.
Over 800 'Dunera Boys' stayed in Australia after the
6
war, making significant contributions to Australian
society in many different fields. Free
http://www.nla.gov.au/events/showevent.html?q=51965
Vision of Sydney 5: Greening Sydney
Monday 11 October 2010, 6pm–8pm, Museum of
Sydney, corner Phillip and Bridge Streets, Sydney
Lachlan and Elizabeth Macquarie came to Sydney with
a vision that shaped the city. In the final talk for this
series historian Colleen Morris will discuss the
Macquaries’ green legacy with Director of the Botanic
Gardens, Tim Entwhistle.
$25, concession $20
www.tickets.hht.net.au or phone 8239 2211
Charles Nicholson: Man and Museum
Sundays–Fridays until December 2010, Nicholson
Museum, University of Sydney, Camperdown
The Nicholson Museum contains the largest and most
prestigious collection of antiquities in Australia. It is
also the country's oldest university museum, and
features masterpieces of ancient art and objects of
daily life from Egypt, the Middle East, Greece, Rome,
Cyprus and Mesopatamia. This exhibition is about Sir
Charles Nicholson, one of the founders of the
University of Sydney and instigator of the museum.
Free entry
http://www.usyd.edu.au/museums/about/nicholson.shtml
Goannas, Whales and Wallabies
(and much, much more)
(Bruce Howell 2010)
There’s no doubt that the Sutherland Shire
can legitimately claim to be the “Birthplace of
Modern Australia”. Cook’s journal shows that
Botany Bay was the first landfall for the
Endeavour in Australia. He spent eight days
anchored in Botany Bay in April/May of 1770,
and his journal gives a very clear picture of
what he found. It was no coincidence that in
1788 the First Fleet, no less, should return to
the same bay with the intention of
establishing a colony there.
But even a cursory glance of Cook’s account
shows that Botany Bay was already inhabited.
It seems that everywhere he looked, there
were families of people, going about their
daily lives. He saw people collecting oysters
and other shellfish, he saw fires still burning
with “fresh Muscles broiling upon them”, he
describes “Vast heaps of the largest Oyster
Shells (he) ever saw”, and he relates an
account of an old man and a woman, with two
children, waiting at the shoreline while others
fished from their canoes. He found children in
“hutts”, he found fishing lines and hooks, and
he found trees debarked. He described the
men he saw as “about as tall as Europeans,
of a very dark brown Colour, but not black,
nor had they woolly, frizled hair, but black and
lank like ours.” 1
Clearly Cook was a witness to families
already living on the shores of Botany Bay,
240 years ago. The story of what happened
after Cook sailed out of Botany Bay is a
fascinating one, but what is the story of those
people that he left behind?
years, then you might imagine that almost
every square metre has been trodden by
someone at some time in the distant past.
You might imagine that there should to be
vast amounts of evidence of this.
Research carried out by J.V.S.Megaw2
suggests that people had been living in what
we now call Kurnell for 5000 years. To give
this some perspective, the Great Pyramids of
Egypt, probably the most famous icons of
antiquity, were built roughly 4500 years ago.
Furthermore, Megaw’s research suggests that
people inhabited other parts of “the Shire” at
least 20,000 years ago. But if people have
inhabited our region for so many thousands of
A midden in Lilli Pilli Reserve, 50 metres from the end of Lilli Pilli Road.
But where is it?
Now that’s a good question.
The problem is that much of the evidence of
the occupation of our shire by the peoples of
pre-1770 has been either destroyed or
compromised by the urbanisation that has
taken place over the last 110 years. For
example Darook Park, in Cronulla, was once
a big campsite. In the vicinity there were
engravings,
axe-grinding-grooves
and
middens. The remains of what once must
have been huge middens still exist at Darook
Park, but similar middens can be seen around
the whole perimeter of Port Hacking. Middens
are clearly visible in the Lilli Pilli reserve for
example.
There are engravings on the Cronulla and
Burraneer peninsulas, but they are on private
land. There are hand stencils in Bonnet Bay
that can still be seen in their pristine
condition, but only due to a heavy duty
enclosure that protects them from the fate to
which other sites in the Bonnet Bay/Jannali
area have succumbed.
7
Axe grinding grooves, 100 metres off the New Illawarra Road, Lucas
Heights.
Hand stencils in Bonnet Bay, 30 metres from Van Buren Circuit
It would be easy to conclude that accessing
the “prehistory” of our shire is a lost cause,
but fortunately our shire has a second
legitimate claim. It contains the second oldest
“national park” in the world, second only to
the Yellowstone National Park in the USA.
An engraving of a wallaby, 100 metres from Waterfall Station in the RNP.
What we now call “The Royal National Park”
was established in 1879 as a pleasure-ground
for the expanding population of Sydney,
complete with a dance hall, landscaped picnic
areas and ornamental trees, and although the
history of “the Royal” has been mixed, at least
it includes several thousand hectares of
largely untouched land.
So, for example, if you stand on the point at
Lilli Pilli Reserve and face towards South
West Arm, you have the burgeoning suburbs
of the modern Sutherland Shire behind you,
but you have what the Sutherland Shire
looked like before urbanisation, in front of
you.
In effect, the Royal National Park (as well as
Heathcote National Park and other public
reserves) is a living museum of our prehistory.
Here are just a few examples:
The Creation Serpent, 200 metres off the Uloola Track, Royal National Park.
8
A goanna in charcoal and ochre, a kilometre from Heathcote Station.
So, where is the evidence of the people who
lived in our Shire before 1770?
An engraved fish, a few hundred metres from Marley Beach in the RNP.
The answer is … it’s everywhere.
1
All quotations in italics are literal transcriptions from
James Cook's Journal of his first voyage round the
world made in 1768-71.
See J.V.S.Megaw’s pamphlet written for the
Sutherland Council, which outlines an archaeological
investigation in Kurnell and in the Curracurrang area of
the Royal National Park.
2
(All photographs taken by the author)
Bruce Howell is a mathematics teacher at
Port Hacking High School. He has a strong
interest in archaeology, astronomy and
history, and holds a BSc and Dip Ed from
Sydney University.
The “tail fin” on an engraving of a killer whale, 100 metres off the
Maianbar Road, in the Royal National Park.
Over the last 12 months or so, Bruce, with
several other interested natural scientists,
has been visiting Aboriginal sites in the
Sutherland Shire. The group has found
some extraordinary material and with the
use of modern photographic equipment
has brought to light new and powerful
information. Bruce describes his interests
in Aboriginal history and culture as
profoundly important to him.
9
Archaeology and a
New Understanding of
Greek “Colonization”:
First Contact at
Metaponto.
Marika Low
This article is about cultural contacts between
Greeks and the native Italic population in the
region of Metaponto in southern Italy, i.e.
Magna Graecia.1 Metaponto (in Greek,
Metapontion; in Latin, Metapontum) was an
Achaean “colony” at the mouth of the river,
Basento, not far from Tarento (in Greek,
Taras; in Latin, Tarentum). The city became
quite prosperous, controlling an extensive
swathe of territory2.
The city was probably founded in the early
7th century BCE by settlers from Achaea, a
region in the north east of the Peloponnese.
This dating places the foundation of
Metaponto firmly in that period well known to
students of Ancient History, in the language of
the textbook or words to the same effect, as
the “Age of Greek Colonization.”3
However, to study the settlement of Greeks in
southern Italy is to examine varied and
shifting relationships in a foreign landscape.
Archaeological work in the countryside near
Metaponto has contributed greatly to current
understandings of the nature and variety of
Greek-Italic interactions. Unlike many other
sites in the region, Metaponto offers
researchers what has been called a ‘database
1
Because of the number of Greek city states in the region,
the Romans coined this term (Lomas 1996, 912a).
2
Hammond 1959, 118; Jeffrey 1976, 51. “Colony” and its
associated words, in English, are Latin derivatives. In Latin,
the concept has much the same meaning as English. Not so
in Greek. The Greek term is apoikia, i.e. “foreign home”.
Greek “colonies” were fully independent of the founding
state.
3
For example, Hammond 1959, 109; Jeffery 1976, 50.
10
from heaven.’4 For, it is possible to trace the
evolution of the ancient city and its
countryside from its origins. Additionally,
extensive excavations, undertaken in the
cemetery at Pantanello, located 3.5 km from
the city, have documented every tomb and its
contents, thus establishing a firm knowledge
of the level of culture enjoyed by the
inhabitants of the region.
The work at Metaponto is also valuable in that
it warns against efforts to create cultural
differences when assessing the complex
issue of the interaction between the Greeks
and the native Italic population. As Joseph
Coleman Carter stated, the notion of ethnic
identity in the early history of Greek-Italic
contacts would have been a very fluid
concept.5 Although it is realised that the
categories, “Greek” and “Italic”. are not
always pure ones, they will be used for the
purposes of this discussion as they assist in
providing a more general understanding
concerning the question of early Greek
interactions with the Italic people of southern
Italy.
In order to assess the nature of Greek-Italic
interactions in southern Italy and the
important contributions archaeological work in
the countryside of Metaponto, in particular the
cemetery at Pantanello, has to offer to such
discussions, it is necessary first to address
the issue of early Greek colonization. It is now
generally acknowledged that colonization as a
model for studying Greek settlement in the
West during the 8th and 7th centuries BCE is
incongruous.6
However, in response to this, Purcell argues
not for an acceptance or continuation of the
model but rather for the importance of
understanding a tradition which has long
shaped Mediterranean historiography.7 In
early discussions there is recognition that the
Greek outposts were not colonies in the usual
4
Carter 2006, 22.
Carter 2004, 363.
6
Osborne 1998, 267-8; see also Yntema 2000, 5; Purcell
2005, 115; Hall 2006, 114.
7
Purcell 2005, 133-4.
5
understood sense of the term whereby
movements are directed from and sent forth
by a specific city.8 However, it was not until
relatively recent times that the concept of
‘colonization’ itself has been brought into
question.9
The traditional views was that the founding of
a Greek colony was perceived as a single
initial event whereby a new population and
culture were transplanted in a foreign
landscape. This could and did lead to a very
one sided evaluation of the process of
“colonization”, an evaluation, which provided
no place for the native peoples of these
“colonies” This one sidedness is very
apparent from the following evaluation of
Metaponto (from the 1960’s):
Metapontum is about thirty miles
west of Tarentum. It had no harbour
to speak of, but enjoyed good
farmland and lay at the end of a
route west to Posidonia. The
Temple of Hera Lykeios in the town
has been partially excavated and
has yielded votive figurines, which,
perhaps, go back to 700 BC. The
early cemeteries have not been
found. Two miles to the north, a
sanctuary of Hera was built on a low
hill where there had been a native
settlement. The Doric temple built
there about 500 BC measured (at
right) about 16.1 m by 33.5m.
Fifteen of its columns still stand,
known as the “Knight’s Table –
Tavole Paladine.10
However, lately, this view has been reevaluated.11 This has lead more to the
general rejection of what Osborne has
labelled the early ‘big-bang theories,’ which
rely on ancient literary sources, in favour of
viewing Greek settlement as a more gradual,
drawn-out process.12 In fact, it is now
recognised that the arrival of Greeks in
southern Italy does not fit the category of
organised overseas expeditions and thus
should be viewed as a less formal and less
official process involving the unsystematic
movement of numerous peoples.13 In
addition to not meeting the requirements, it is
believed that the use of the colonization
model enforces implicit assumptions of Greek
superiority over Italic groups essentially
inhibiting accurate examinations of GreekItalic relationships.14 Although it is
acknowledged that Italian society would have
undergone some profound changes as a
result of Greek settlement, it is not believed
that these were a direct result of Greek
cultural superiority.15 It is in such a ‘postcolonial’ framework that archaeological
evidence has acquired a greater level of
importance and therefore it is to the
consideration of recent work in the cemetery
at Pantanello of Metaponto that we must turn.
In accordance with the traditional colonization
The Temple of Apollo at Metapontum
model, the settlement of Metaponto has
traditionally been considered to represent one
in which migrant Greeks populated
exclusively. This, however, seems not to have
been the case. Examination of early sixth
12
8
For example, White 1961, 444.
Osborne 1998, 251-2; see also Hall 2006, 114; Burgers
and Crielaard 2007, 78.
10
Boardman 1964, 192.
11
Burgers and Crielaard 2007, 78.
9
Osborne 1998, 364-5; see also Burgers and Crielaard
2007, 78. The fullest literary account of the founding of a
colony is probably that by Thera in Libya (Herodotus, 4.150151, 153-157).
13
Hall 2006, 93, 117.
14
Purcell 2005, 133-4.
15
Whitehouse and Wilkens 1989, 102.
11
century burials in the rural cemetery of
Pantanello seems to suggest that instead, a
mixture of Italians and Greeks inhabited the
Metaponto area or at least chose to bury their
dead in the same grounds. Distinctions are
made here between Greek and non-Greek in
terms of burial rites, in particular how the body
is placed in the ground or coffin during burial.
Burial types at Metapontum
In the context of a colonial Greek cemetery,
the presence of indigenous Italians is usually
inferred from burials in the contracted or
flexed position.16 Although a range of skeletal
positions are represented under this category,
they are generally arranged with the knees
perpendicular to the spinal column and the
right arm characteristically placed across the
torso. In contrast, Greek burials are typically
in the supine form whereby the body is laid in
a straight position with arms and legs parallel
to the spinal chord.
At Pantanello, in association with a number of
supine burials (T 286, T 276, T 277, for
example) presumed to have been the first
Greek settlers in the area, a handful of burials
in the contracted form, including most notably
T 320, T 299, T 56 and T 301, were
discovered.17 In terms of grave goods, both
burial types were consistently modest, the
supine burials each containing a single vessel
while only two of the contracted burials (T 301
and T 56) contained dress pins.18 Although
admittedly the contracted burials are small in
number when compared to the supine burials,
what they do provide is tantalising evidence
for the possibility of a mixed population in
which indigenous Italians, in some respects,
were of equal standing to the early Greeks. In
any case, the radical notion of Greek
superiority over the supposedly passive and
receptive indigenous Italians, which
accompanies the traditional model of
colonization, should be discarded.
While the early burials from the cemetery at
Pantanello strongly suggest that ethnicity was
not employed as an organising principle in the
early mixed colonial society, what developed
was undeniably Greek in nature. Combining
evidence from aerial photography, field
survey and excavation it has become
unmistakably clear that the ancient territory of
Metaponto was organised by a well designed
grid system of division lines, features
considered to be characteristically Greek.19
Archaeological work in the rural cemetery at
Pantanello has enabled a more precise
understanding of the nature and date of these
division lines. It was revealed through
excavations that approximately a third of the
burials bordered a straight road for a distance
of 300m aligned in the same orientation as
17
Carter 1998, 64.
Carter 1998, 66.
19
Burgers 2004, 126; see also Whitehouse and Wilkens
1989, 105; Mertens and Greco 1996, 110..
18
16
Carter 1998, 59.
12
systems discovered by aerial photography.20
The fact that none of the burials was
considered to be earlier than 480 BC and an
Athenian black figure krater found just north
of the division line road was dated to between
530 and 510 BC, allowed archaeologists to
date the grid system with a fair degree of
accuracy to the later sixth century BC.21 It
has been argued that this carving up of the
territory into regular plots suggests strongly
the presence of some kind of central
authority.22 Whether this can be attributed
alone to the control of a Greek tyrant is
debatable.23 However, emerging evidence
suggests that indigenous Italians played a
significant role in the development of the
Metapontine settlement from the very
beginning.
A considerable degree of integration is likely
to have occurred by the late seventh century
or early sixth century BC as a result of the
regular, if not constant, interactions between
Greeks and indigenous Italians in the area.
As has been proposed, it is more than likely
that close social ties developed through
means of trade and exchange, guest
friendships and intermarriages.24 This is
indeed suggested by archaeological evidence
from the cemetery at Pantanello which
demonstrates a strong indigenous Italian
element in the genes of the ancient
Metapontine community.25 Much of this
evidence comes from a study undertaken by
the physical anthropologist Renata
Henneberg and her examination of teeth from
two large Metapontine populations, including
the 320 tombs in the cemetery at Pantanello.
Henneberg’s hypothesis is founded on the
premise that both the size and morphological
characteristics of teeth are determined
primarily by genetics.26 Therefore, if the
20
Carter 2000, 87.
Carter 2000, 87.
22
Yntema 2000, 35.
23
“Tyrant”, in this context, ,is a technical term for an
absolute and ppuli struler. Though autocratic, he (tyrants
were always male) could be quite a beneficent ruler (Murray
1980, 132-152).
24
Yntema 2000, 34-5.
25
Carter 1998, 3.
26
Carter 2006, 82.
21
mixing of Greeks and Italians was taking
place in the ancient settlement then this
biological relationship would be evident in the
teeth of that population.
Henneberg’s study included a consideration
of no less than thirty-seven nonmetric
characteristics of which the Carabelli’s cusp,
also referred to as the ‘Etruscan incisor’,
provides the most useful evidence in terms of
this discussion.27 Henneberg’s results
established that the highest rate of
occurrence of the ‘Etruscan incisor’ among all
populations studied was found in the rural
population represented by the cemetery at
Pantanello.28 This finding seems to indicate a
closer relationship between the rural
populations of Metaponto and indigenous
Italian populations than to the Greeks of the
mainland.29 While only a small sample of
teeth were examined from mainland Greece,
the fact that no examples of the ‘Etruscan
incisor’ were recorded gives weight to these
conclusions.
If these results are accepted, then it suggests
that in circumstances where rapid integration
between different cultural groups is likely to
have occurred, such as that which may have
taken place at Metaponto, attempts to define
a settlement as purely Italian, mixed or purely
Greek are to some extent unhelpful.30
Therefore, in line with post-colonial
understandings of the complexity of GreekItalic interactions, it would seem that the early
coexistence between the Greeks and
indigenous Italian populations at Metaponto
resulted in a settlement neither purely Greek
nor purely Italian. This mixed population
found self-consciousness and identity through
the adoption of Greek customs that clearly
distinguished them from surrounding native
communities. Whether this was in the
structured grid organization of the territory of
Metaponto or in the adoption of Greek-style
burials, it is clear that these interactions led to
a process in which material culture was
27
Carter 2004, 389.
Carter 2004, 389.
29
Carter 2006, 83.
30
Yntema 2000, 32.
28
13
redefined, landscapes rearranged and
identities negotiated.31
The cemetery at Pantanello provides
researchers with important information
stretching from the earliest period of Greek
interactions right up until the deterioration of
the city and countryside of Metaponto around
the third century BCE. It is significant that,
unlike other cemeteries, data from Pantanello
does not have to be considered in isolation
but rather can be interpreted in a broader
context provided by current knowledge
concerning the settlement of Metaponto. By
interpreting such evidence in a ‘post-colonial’
context, a more diverse picture of the nature
of Greek settlement in southern Italy is
achieved, allowing a more accurate
appreciation of the variety of Greek-Italic
interactions. Whereas traditional views relying
on clear distinctions between Greeks and
indigenous Italians may have obscured our
understanding of important processes of
cultural fusion, recent research has
prospered. The final impression remains that
although Metaponto developed a potent
Greek facade, through actions such as the
dividing up of the territory, the population itself
may have been as mixed in genesis as the
early sixth century burial and anthropological
studies seem to suggest.
Reference List
Boardman, J., 1964, The Greeks Overseas,
Harmondsworth, Middlesex (UK).
Burgers, G. J. 2004. “Urbanization in Magna
Grecia: Settlement, Landscape and Social
Dynamics in a Regional Italic Context.” In
Centralization, early urbanization, and
colonization in first millennium B.C. Greece
and Italy. Part 1: Italy, edited by Attema, P. A.
J., 121-36. Leuven; Dudley, MA.
Burgers, G. J. and Crielaard, J. P. 2007. “Greek
Colonists and Indigenous Populations at
L’Amastuola, Southern Italy.” BABesch 82:
77-114.
Carter, J. C. (ed.) 1998. The Chora of Metaponto:
The Necropoleis, Austin.
31
Burgers and Crielaard 2007, 84.
14
Carter, J. C. 2000. “The Chora and the Polis of
Metaponto.” In Die Ägäis und das westliche
Mittelmeer. Beziehungen und
Wechselwirkungen 8. bis 5. Jh. v. Chr., edited
by Krinzinger, F., 81-94. Vienna.
Carter, J. C. 2004. “The Greek Identity at
Metaponto.” In Greek Identity in the Western
Mediterranean. Papers in Honour of Brian
Shefton, edited by Lomas, K., 363-90.
Leiden/Boston.
Carter, J. C. 2006. Discovering the Greek
Countryside at Metaponto, Ann Arbor.
Hall, J. M. 2006. “New Homes Across the Seas.”
In A History of the Archaic Greek World
ca.1200-479 BCE, 93-118. Oxford.
Hammond, N. G. L. 1959, History of Greece to
323 B.C., Oxford.
Jeffrey, L. H. 1976, Archaic Greek States: the
City-States c.700-500 B.C., London.
Lomas, H. K 1996, “Magna Graecia” in The
Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3ed., edited by
Hornblower, S. and Spawforth, A., 912a,
Oxford.
Mertens, D. and Greco, E. 1996. “Urban Planning
in Magna Grecia.” In The Western Greeks,
edited by Pugliese Carratelli, G., 243-62.
Milan.
Murray, O. 1980, Early Greece, Glasgow.
Osborne, R. 1998. “Early Greek Colonization?
The Nature of Greek Settlement in the West.”
In Archaic Greece: New Approaches and
New Evidence, edited by Fisher, N. and van
Wees, H., 251-69. London.
Purcell, N. 2005. “Colonization and Mediterranean
History.” In Ancient colonizations: analogy,
similarity and difference, edited by Hurst, H.
R. and Owen, S., 115-39. London.
Yntema, D. 2000. “Mental landscapes of
colonization: the ancient written sources and
the archaeology of early colonial-Greek
southeastern Italy.” BABesch 75: 1-49.
White, M. E. 1961. “Greek Colonization”. The
Journal of Economic History 21 (4): 443-454.
Whitehouse, R. D. and Wilkens, J. B. 1989.
“Greeks and natives in south-east Italy:
approaches to the archaeological evidence.”
In Centre and Periphery. Comparative
Studies in Archaeology, edited by Champion,
T. C., 102-26. Londo
A Commentary on
the Life of Jesus,
Part 2; Jesus and
his Family
Garriock Duncan
(Matthew, 1.1).34 Watt, however, says no
more about the family of Jesus. Yet, Watt’s
brief and rather bland comment raises issues
central to orthodox Christianity, and they all
involve, in some way, the question of the
status or nature of Mary.35 In fact, there are
four and I list them in the order of discussion:
(i) the Davidic genealogy of Jesus;(ii) the
circumstances of Jesus’ conception (ie the
virgin birth); (iii) the question of the perpetual
virginity of Mary; and (iv) the issue of
whether or not Jesus had siblings.36
And gazing around him at those
seated in the circle he continued,
“These are my mother and my
brothers. Whoever does the will of
God is brother and sister and mother
to me”.
(Mark, 3.34-35).32
Introduction
This is the second instalment of the actual
commentary on the Shire Life of Jesus”.33
Instead of printing the whole passage, I have
merely provided that part on which the
commentary is based, a single sentence.
But what a sentence?
The first verse in the New
Testament (the Gospel of
St
Matthew, 1.1) describes Jesus’
genealogy beginning with Abraham
and tracing down many generations
through King David and King
Solomon to Joseph, husband of
Mary. ..
Thus Watt (2008) ends a sentence on
descent in the House of David, culminating
with Jesus. For, if Jesus were the Messiah,
he had to be of the House of David
32
Unless otherwise indicated by appropriate abbreviations,
e.g. AV, RSV, NEB (The New English Bible, Oxford and
Cambridge UPP, 1970), all biblical references and
quotations will be from The New American Bible, the New
Catholic translation, Thomas Nelson, 1971, hence cited as
NAB. My Greek text is: A Marshall, The Interlinear
Greek-English New Testament, Samuel Bagster & Sons,
1958.
33
For the full passage, see: Duncan, 2010, 5-6.
Christ in the House of his parents
By John Millais 1849
Because of the contentious issues raised in
this article, I feel I should say something of
my own religious journey. My “formal”
religious experience was at a local (very)
evangelical Anglican church. However, in
my early twenties, I was much attracted to
modernist approaches to Christianity: the
demythologising of Rudolf Bultmann; and the
existentialism of John Macquarie. Now, my
interests in the early church are more
historical than religious. 37
Yet, I still have what I would call a fundamentalist approach to both doctrine and
In Jewish thought, the messiah, ie the” Christ”, was
conceived of as a temporal figure rather than a spiritual one
and so needed no special birth (Bryant, 1967, “messiah”,
q.v. (358b; Court, 2008, “messiah”, q.v., 228).
35
On Mary, see: Ashe, 1976; Warner, 1976.
36 The New Testament narrative certainly thinks he did
(Dickson, 2008. 43-44). Popular interest in the family of
Jesus was sparked, in recent times, by media publicity
about the tomb, date of discovery uncertain, at Talpiot, a
Jerusalem suburb (Jacobovici, 2007; Tabor, 2006).
37
I had, in my library in those days a copy of Bultmann,
1956. I have lost a record of what work(s) by Macquarie, I
read. For his writings, see the Clan Macquarrie website
(www.clanmacquarrie.org/Jan2010.htm>. He is the first to
be listed under, “Famous Macquarrie’s”.
34
15
practice, in that both must be solely based on
scriptural evidence, i.e. the doctrine of sola
scriptura.38
I have previously discussed my intention to
write of Jesus in History, and I quoted the
attitude of Dickson (2008, 12). My
discussions on Jesus’ impact , the size of his
group and the date of his birth would not, I
hope, challenge any readers’ faith.
Admittedly, my reconstruction of the central
role of violence in Jesus’ message might
surprise some readers. However, the
discussions, in this article, will, for some
conservative readers, trample on sacred
ground. That Joseph and Mary were
husband and wife in all the usual
understanding of that claim should not, I feel,
of necessity invalidate the truth of Jesus’
message. But, it might for some. So, I must
add another caution. John Selby Spong,
retired Episcopalian bishop, is a prolific writer
on Christianity, and, in a recent book,
attempts to strip away, as he would call
them, the mythological accretions to the story
of Jesus.39 He admits that traditional
Christians will find as he puts it “challenges
to the security of their beliefs” (xiv) but
expects them to read on.40 I do not. So,
such readers are advised to skip this article
and recommence reading with the
publication of the final article, “Jesus
confronts Roman Law”.
Commentary.
(i) the Davidic genealogy of Jesus:
This is an issue of no concern to either Mark
or John since neither provide the genealogy
of Jesus.41 However, both the other two
Gospels provide a full genealogy of Jesus.
Mathew (1.2-16) provides us with forty one
generations of patrilinear descent, ie father to
son, without a break from Abraham till
Joseph. It would have been convenient had
Luke (3.23-38) provided a genealogy
structured the same way as that in Matthew.
Unfortunately, he does not. For, Luke
begins with Joseph and traces his descent all
the way back to Adam and thence to God,
The structure of the genealogy in the
opposite direction to that in Matthew is not
the only discrepancy.42 Indeed, the two
genealogies are irreconcilable.
A commentator might answer that perhaps
Luke has provided the Davidic descent of
Christ – Pantocrator (Mosaic)
Hosios Loukas Monastery, Greece, 11th Century
Mary43. However, 1st century CE Judaism
was unrepentantly patriarchal.44
In both genealogies, I have left out one
generation – the last in Matthew and the first
in Luke. It might be expected that Matthew
42
For the comparison of the two genealogies, see: Borg,
2007, 245-250; Vermes, 2006, 37-40.
43
38
See: McGrath, 2007, 203, 208-211. There is an
objection that may occur to some. There, of course, cannot
be any scriptural support for Easter or any of its rituals.
The festival mentioned in the Gospels is a Jewish one,
Pascha, the Feast of Unleavened Bread, i.e. Passover
(Matthew, 26.2; Luke, 2.4 John, 2.13).
39
Spong, 2007.
40
He has made the same statement previously. See:
Spong, 1992, xv.
41
However, the writer of John does provide the name of
Jesus’ father, Joseph (6.42).
Ashe, 1976, 66.
In the Greek text, the opening word of the Lord’s
Prayer, is “Father” (Matthew, 6.9; Luke, 11.2). In Luke, 24,
the news of Christ’ resurrection, announced by a group of
women (10) is dismissed as mere gossip (11) until the news
is confirmed by men (12). The historian, Josephus, also
provides a significant example of patriarchal bias.
Josephus claims royal descent from a Hasmonean princess
(Life, 1.2). Though he goes to some lengths to provide the
names of his male progenitors, never does he think it
worthwhile to provide the name of the princess (Life, 1.3).
Clearly, she did not count. See, further: Borg, 2007, 85-86.
44
16
(1.16) would read: “Matthan of Jacob, Jacob
of Joseph, Joseph of Jesus”.
However, it does not. The pattern is
changed and in such a way to conceal the
paternity of Joseph. After forty one
generations of patriarchal descent, Jesus is
described not as the son of his (putative)
father, Joseph, but rather as the son of his
mother, Mary. In Luke (3.23-24), the change
is more subtle. No mother is introduced to
break the pattern of paternity, rather only the
phrase, “as people thought” (23), is added to
slight the paternity of Joseph. The intrusion
of Mary (Matthew) or the suggestion that
Joseph is not Jesus’ father (Luke) is odd.45
Jesus as the Messiah, had to be of the
House of David. For, in spite of the
genealogy in Matthew, royal descent was
traced only through the male line.46 Clearly,
the paternity of Joseph has been sidelined
and neither account supplies an alternate
father.47 Instead, a miraculous element has
been introduced into the story of Jesus’ birth.
That element is the concept of virgin birth.
could be married, the day after their twelfth
birthday or once they had begun menstruating, whichever came first. The Hebrew
term for a “virgin” of this category was
almah.49 Hence, it would be possible for
young girls to be married before they had
had a period, perhaps even for virgins to
conceive.50 The term, “virgin”, was also
applied, in inscriptions in the Jewish catacombs, at Rome, to both men and women,
who had had only one sexual partner, even if
married for several years.51 It was also
applied to mature women, who could no
longer conceive, ie post menopausal women.
(ii) the “virgin will conceive” (Matthew.
1.18):
Today, we adopt a rather medical definition.
A “virgin” is a female (age non specific) with
an intact hymen, ie a virgo intacta, who has
never had any sexual experience. Clearly,
normally such a female could not give birth.
However, this narrow definition of virginity
was not the only one to be found in Judaism.
In Judaism of the 1st century CE, a girl could
be deemed a virgin in one of two ways. The
first was the definition supplied above, ie a
virgin was a female with no sexual experience. The Hebrew term was betulah.48 This
virginity ceased with inter-course. According
to the second definition, a girl who had not
yet reached puberty was, also, a virgin. In
this case, virginity ceased with the onset of
menstruation. Girls came of age, i.e. they
Our Lady of Vladimir, Byzantine, 12th Century.
If such a woman had a “change of life” child,
then a virgin had given birth.52
In early Christianity, the doctrine of the virgin
birth does not seem to have much
importance. It is not mentioned in either
Mark or John. Even in Luke, the concept is
more suggested than stated (1.26-35, 2.1-
45
Yet, in Luke (2.48) Mary clearly states that Joseph is the
father of Jesus.
46
This is quite odd. For, if Joseph were not the father of
Jesus, this would nullify Jesus’ Davidic descent (Vermes,
1994, 187-188; Vermes, 2006, 29.
47
See: Vermes 1994, 188-189.
48
Eg. Rebekah (Genesis, 24.16).
49
Vermes, 1994, 191-192; Vermes, 2006, 65, 193-194;.
Vermes, 2006, 79-80.
51
Vermes, 1994, 191.
52
Such was the case of Elizabeth, the mother of John , the
Baptist (Luke, 1.5-7, 18, 23-25). For the latter concept, see:
Vermes, 1994, 193-194; Vermes, 2006, 49-51, 58-59.
50
17
7),53 The doctrine is only fully expounded in
Matthew (1.18-25). However, the earliest
surviving Christian writings are not the
Gospels but the letters of Paul and he does
not seem overly concerned with it.54 For
Paul, is quite convinced of the human nature
of Jesus (Romans, 1.3).55 Indeed, the
earliest reference to Jesus’ birth in the New
Testament is Galatians, 4.4.56 Paul is
discussing the relationship of Christians to
God through Jesus and he provides a bare
comment about Jesus’ birth: he was “born
of a woman”. The expression (genomenon
ek gunaikos) used by Paul implies nothing
other than Jesus was born by the normal
procreative method.57
The writer of Matthew seeks to add authority
to his genealogy by citing biblical prophecy:
“the virgin shall be with child, and give birth
to a son, and they shall call him Emmanuel”
(1.23, citing the prophet, ie Isaiah, 7.14).58
At this point, my choice of Biblical text (NAB)
presents a problem, caused by later doctrinal
developments. For, look up the reference in
the text of Isaiah (NEB) and you find: “a
young woman (almah) is with child, and she
will bear a son, and shall name him
Immanuel”. Yet, for the same text, the NAB
reads: “the virgin shall be with child, and bear
a son, and shall name him Immanuel”. The
NAB translation is misleading, for in a note to
Isaiah, 7.14, the editors of NAB reveal that
the text of Isaiah reads almah, not betulah
(804b). The editors of NAB are taking their
cue from Matthew. However, the writer of
Matthew has in mind a readership that knows
little or no Hebrew and has quoted from the
Greek translation of the Old Testament, the
Septuagint, not the original Hebrew text.
Therein lies the problem. For the editors of
the Septuagint badly mistranslated the text of
Isaiah, 7.14. No doubt influenced by the
religious undercurrents of Ptolemaic Egypt,
some of which reach back to Pharaonic
53
See: Vermes, 2006, 77.
See: Borg, 2007, 26.
55
Spong, 1992, 23-27.
56
See: Barnett, 2005, 57.
57
See: Arndt, 1958, ginomai ek…, 158a, q.v., 1.1, with a
reference to Galatians, 4.4.. See, also, Johnson, 1997, 119.
58
See: Borg, 2007, 42-44.
54
times with its own concept of madonna and
child, they have inserted a concept missing
in the original. For, they have translated the
Hebrew text of Isaiah, 7.14, as if it read
betulah, which it does not, instead of almah,
which it does, and so have used the word,
parthenos, in Matthew, 1.23, which caries the
same range of meanings as “virgin” in
English. The writer of Isaiah had a specific
woman in mind, the wife of King Ahaz, the
mother of King Hezekiah It is most unlikely
that this young woman was a “virgin” since
she was probably already married.59
So, what is the origin of the concept of
virgin birth? It does not derive from Judaism
which had no tradition of the Christian
concept of virgin birth.60 An answer may be
classical paganism with its attendant array of
virgin goddesses.61 Or, it may arise from the
notion of the theios aner (“the godlike man”).
This was a man whose achievements were
so far beyond those of ordinary men that he
became a god (Cicero, de republica,
6.130).62 Often, such men had partly divine
parentage, i.e. the mother had been
impregnated by some act of divine
intervention. I cite two examples, Olympias,
the mother of Alexander, the Great , and
Atia, the mother of Augustus.63 Admittedly,
my first example is the better, since, while
Alexander was Olympias’ first child, Atia had
previously borne a daughter, Octavia. 64
Unfortunately, I have not supplied a solution
for my readers but perhaps have only added
to their confusion. I can only quote Vermes:
”That primitive Christianity turned…to the
totally novel belief in an act of divine
59
Warner, 1976, 19-20) Also, see: Borg, 2007, 202-205;
Harris, 2005, 94-95; Hooke, 1963, 168-172; Levine, 2006,
191-193.
60
Vermes, 1994, 190.
61
Warner, 1976, 47-48.
62
Hercules is a classic example of the theios aner, see:
Cicero, Tusculan Disputations, 1.32. He is, of course, a
mythical character.
63
On Augustus as theios aner, see: Duncan, 2009e, 123124.
64
For Alexander, see the birth narrative in Plutarch, Life of
Alexander, 2-3 (Penguin Classics); for Augustus, see
Suetonius, Life of Augustus, 94.4 (Loeb Classical Library).
Further on this topic, see: Ashe, 1976, 58-60; Borg, 2007,
120-122; Crossan, 2007, 104-106.
18
impregnation, with as its consequence the
birth of a God-man, belongs of course to the
psychology of religion rather than to its
history”.65
Perhaps other translations of the relevant
passage can help interpret the meaning? I
began this section with the AV version;
others, in no particular order:
(iii) Joseph knew her not until she had
brought forth her firstborn son (Matthew,
1.25 AV: I now confront the notion of the
perpetual virginity of Mary, a tenet of Roman
Catholicism66. I have already indicated that
Paul believed Jesus was the result of the
sexual union of Joseph and Mary, though he
does not supply their names (Galatians, 4.4).
Additionally, we can dismiss there being any
significance in the statement in Luke (2.7)
that Jesus was “first born” (prototokos). It is
arguable that this could be a variant of “only
born” (monogenes).67
(i) Joseph) and Mary were soon
married…But they did not sleep
together before (i.e until) her baby
was born. Then Joseph named him
Jesus (Tickle, 2008).70
(ii) (Joseph) took Mary home to be
his wife, but he had no intercourse
with her until her son was born. And
he named the child Jesus (NEB).
(iii) Joseph) took his wife to his
home and did not sleep with her till
she had borne a son, to whom he
gave the name of Jesus (Rieu,
1952, 48).
The debate over whether Mary was ever
virgin or not is easily solved. The solution lies
in the text of Matthew, 1.24-25. My standard
text (NAB) reads:
Joseph…received her into his home
as his wife. He had no relations
with her at any time before she bore a
son, whom he named Jesus.
Absence of sexual activity once a pregnancy
is confirmed is not unknown in 1st century
Judaism.68 In fact, sexual abstinence would
last after the birth until the mother
underwent ritual purification.69 The editors
of NAB provide a note to 1.25 that the writer
is not interested in the time after Jesus’ birth
(1071a). However we are and I interpret the
text in a fundamentally different way to the
editors of NAB. For, I read Mathew, 1.25 as
meaning that while Joseph had no sexual
relations with Mary before Jesus was born,
he certainly had them after Jesus was born.
65
Vermes, 1994, 194. Cf. Hooke, 1963, 172-173.
See; Warner, 1976, 43-45.
67
Jerome thought so. For, although he had written a tract,
The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/) in his Latin translation, the
Vulgate, he uses the exact Latin equivalent, primogenitus.
For the text, see the Perseus Digital Library
(www.perseus.tufts.edu).
68
Vermes, 2003, 119.
69
Warner, 1976, 22.
66
As mentioned, the editors of NAB translate
the passage to refer to the time before Jesus
was born; the others to the time after Jesus
was born. The difference is significant. The
time indicator in the passage is the
conjunction, eos (spelt with an omega).
Consultation with a standard New Testament
Greek dictionary reveals that the basic
sense of eos is “until”, i.e. the action in the
subordinate clause occurs before the action
in the principal clause.71 Hence, the editors
of NAB have the events, i.e “having
relations” and “bearing a son”, in the wrong
order.
Proponents of the perpetual virginity of Mary
often argue that Matthew, 1.25 is a reference
to Joseph and Mary living together, i.e.
Joseph first marries Mary and then they
begin living with each other.72The verb used
in the Greek text is gi(g)noskein. Its basic
meaning is “to know”, or even ”to get to
know” and its usage would seem to support
Tickle uses “before” but the sense of the passage
indicates that she is thinking of the period after Jesus was
born. To make that sense more clear, I have inserted
“until” in the parentheses.
71
Arndt, 1958, q.v., I, 334b-335a.
72
Cf. Ashe, 1976, 81.
70
19
this view.73 However, as all my proffered
translations (except seemingly the AV)
reveal, this is not meaning of the passage.
In this context, i.e. a husband and wife
“knowing” each other, the verb, gi(g)noskein,
can only mean “to have sexual relations”. It
is a common meaning of the verb in both
classical and NT Greek.74 The exact Latin
equivalent, cognoscere (“to know”, “to get to
know”) has the same usage.75
There is an added sting in the Greek.. This
“knowing” was not a single act in the past.
That sense would be conveyed by the aorist
tense in Greek.76 However, the verb is in
the imperfect tense, which, in this context,
can only convey the sense of repetition.77
So, none of the translations cited adequately
convey the true sense of the passage. In
this context, a more accurate translation
would not be “Joseph was not sleeping with
Mary until after Jesus was born” but rather
“Joseph did not begin to sleep with Mary until
after Jesus was born”.78
There is no doubt about the meaning of the
Greek text. The marriage of Joseph and
Mary was a traditional Jewish marriage with
the expectation of having children (Genesis,
1.28).79
73
Arndt, 1958, q.v., 1, 159a.
Arnd, 1958t, ginosko, q.v, 1.5 (161b), citing Matthew,
1.25.
75
Glare, 1982, cognosco, q.v., 5b, 346b. It is alsoan
archaic usage of “know” in English (Fowler, 1964, q.v., 2
9670B).
76
Goodwin, 1894, 1259 (270).
77
Machen, 1923, n.122 (65).. Jerome, in the Vulgate, also
uses the imperfect tense, i.e. cognoscebat. For a discussion
on the problems caused by changing tenses in translation
(in this case einai, “to be”), see: BeDuhn, 2003, 103-112.
78
And the period required for Mary’s ritual purification
after the birth had elapsed (Warner, 1976, 22). Amongst
the Essenes, sexual activity between husband and wife
was prescribed during the whole period of pregnancy
(Vermes, 2003, 119).
79
See: Vermes, 2003, 104-105. The belief in the perpetual
virginity of Mary was established by the 4th century A.D.
See: “Mary: Ever Virgin”,
<www.catholic.com/library/Mary.Ever_Virgin.asp;> ; and
<www.ewtn.com/faith/Tyeachings/Maryc2.htm.>. It was
affirmed as church dogma at the Council of Chalcedon in
451 CE (Warner, 1976, 65-66), See, also: Freeman, 2002,
241-243; Shanks, 2003, 199-210. Hooke has an interesting
explanation. He cites the “conversion” of the Roman
Empire to Christianity, in the 4th century A.D. The church
74
(iv) ” I did not meet any… except James,
the Lord’s brother” (Galatians, 1.19):
That Joseph and Mary had a traditional
Jewish marriage does raise the prospect of
their having additional children. Paul
believed that James was, indeed, the brother
of Jesus. He is even able to add additional
family details – Jesus had several brothers;
some were married and even took their
wives on their missionary work (1
Corinthians, 9.5).
The Jewish world knew that Jesus had at
least one brother – James. For there is
Josephus’ prosaic mention of “James, the
brother of Jesus”. He makes no comment
about the nature of this brotherhood but
adds, to Jesus’ name, the phrase, “the so
called Christ”. Thus, his readers will know
which two brothers, named James and
Jesus, both common Jewish male names, he
means.80 The early Christian world adds
another brother – Jude (Judas). Eusebiu of
Caesarea (fl. 3rd century C.E. preserves an
anecdote by an even earlier, writer,
Hegesippus, a Jewish convert to Christianity
(fl. 2nd century C.E.). The Roman emperor,
Domitian (81-96 C.E.) had, through family
members, some knowledge of the Davidic
claim of Jesus to kingship.81 Naturally,
Domitian saw this as a threat to be stamped
out.. Hence, he sought all descendants of
Jesus. The only two his agents could find
were the grandsons of Judas (Jude, brother
of Jesus), who were brought before him.
However, he found them to be common
labourers and no threat. So, he let them go.82
I have already referred to the note by the
editors of NAB on Matthew, 1.25. It is now
apposite to quote the last part of that note:
suddenly needed a virgin goddess to appeal to the new
converts, mainly half educated or wholly illiterate
barbarians (1963, 172).
80
See: Duncan, 2008, 30.
81
Flavius Clemens was the cousin of Domitian, and
although Domitian had destined Clemens’ sons to succeed
him, Clemens was executed (Suetonius, Domitian, 15.1).
Clemens was charged with atheotes, not atheism but belief
in the wrong religion, i.e. either Judaism or less likely
Christianity (Dio, 67.14.2). Cf. Syme, 1958, 532, n.6.
82
Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History (in Latin, Historia
Ecclesiae),3.12.
20
“Moreover, the New Testament makes no
mention anywhere of children of Joseph and
Mary”.83 Proponents of the perpetual
virginity of Mary will argue that ”brother” and
“sister” do not denote a sibling relationship
but merely are used metaphorically to denote
followers of Jesus. A similar usage can be
found in English. Indeed, the passage which
begins this article would seem to be proof of
this proposition.84
However, the best source to reconstruct the
family of Jesus is the Gospels On a number
of occasions, the family of Jesus is
mentioned. Once, it is the simple mention of
“his family” (Mark, 3.21). Sometimes, it is a
generic statement of “his mother and his
brothers” (Matthew, 12.46; Luke, 8.19). On
two occasions, there is mention of both
parents, with the four brothers named as well
as the mention of “all his sisters” : “Isn’t this
the carpenter’s son? Isn’t Mary known to be
his mother and James, Joseph, Simon and
Judas his brothers? Aren’t his sisters our
neighbours?” (Matthew, 13.55-56).85 The
interpretation of any passage of scripture
must be based on the natural sense of the
passage, i.e. the meaning of the text in its
own context.86 I accept that “brothers” and
“sisters” mentioned in isolation from any
reference to “parents” do not necessarily
denote any sibling relationship. However, at
some point common sense must prevail.
Mention of brothers and sisters together with
mention of, or reference to, one or both of
Jesus’ parents surely denote his siblings.
However, I have slightly mislead readers for I
did not quote the full passage at the
beginning of this article. It is time to do so.
The full passage will put the issue beyond
doubt (Mark, 3.31-35):
Then his mother and his brothers
arrived, and remaining outside sent
83
Note on Matthew, 1.25 (NAB, 1071a).
See, also: Matthew, 12.48-50, surely a doublet of the
passage in Mark, 3.33-35.
85
The other passage is Mark, 6.3. It is indicative of the
gender bias of 1st century A.D, Judaism, that the sisters are
never named. Of the brothers, only two are prominent,
James (Vermes, 2005b, 125-130) and Judas /Jude (ibid.,
176-168).
86
McGrath, 2007, 221.
in a message asking him to come out
to them. A crowd was sitting round
and word was brought to him, “Your
mother and brothers are outside
asking for you”. He relied, “Who is
my mother? Who are my brothers?”
And looking round at those who were
sitting in the circle about him, he
said, “Here are my mother and my
brothers. Whoever does the will of
God is my brother, my sister, my
mother.”87
This passage only makes sense if the
contrast is between Jesus’ family and his
followers. So, as I said, the marriage of
Joseph and Mary was a traditional Jewish
marriage with the expectation of children
(Genesis, 1.28). Jesus was the eldest, the
firstborn (Luke, 2.7), followed by four
brothers, James, Joseph, Simon and Judas
(Jude) and unnamed and uncounted
sisters.88
LIST OF REFERENCES
Arndt, 1958, W F and F W Gingrich, edd., A
Greek English Lexicon of the New
Testament and other Early Christian
Literature, Chicago UP.
Ashe, 1976, G, The Virgin, Paladin Books.
Barnett, 2005, P, The Birth of Christianity,
Eerdmans Publishing.
BeDuhn, 2003, J D, Truth in Translation, America
UP.
Borg, 2007, M & Crossan, J D, The First
Christmas, HarperOne.
Bryant, 1967, T A, The New Compact Bible
Dictionary, Zondervan.
Bultmann, 1956, R, Primitive Christianity in its
Contemporary Setting, New Americaln
Library.
84
87
See the doublet passage, Matthew, 12.46-50.
See: Warner, 1976, 14-24. Ashe (1977, 69-75) solves the
problem of these siblings by arguing that they are the
children of Mary’s brother, Cleophas, ie the cousins of
Jesus. For, Ashe is trying to prove Catholic dogma,
believing “a miracle gives better history than reason” (74).
88
21
Crossan, 2007, J D, God and Empire,
Harper One.
Spong, 1992, J S, Born of a Woman,
Harper San Francisco.
Court, 2007, J M, Dictionary of the Bible,
Penguin.
Dickson, 2008, J, Jesus – a short life, A Lion
Book.
Duncan, 2008, G, “The Quest for the Historical
Jesus, Pt. 1: the Evidence”, Doryanthes,
1(2), November, pp. 24-34.
Spong, 2007, J S, Jesus for the Non Religious,
Harper Collins.
Duncan, 2009e, G, “The Hercules/Cacus
Episode in Aeneid VIII: Monumentum rerum
Augusti”, in B Marshall, ed., Res Romanae,
Macquarie Ancient History Association, 117127.
Tickle, 2008, P The Four Gospels, Tarcher
Cornerstone Editions.
Duncan, 2010, G, “A Commentary on the Life of
Jesus, Part 1; Jesus, the Bandit”,
Doryanthes, 3(2), May, pp. 5-11.
Syme, 1958, R R, Tacitus, vol. 2, OUP.
Tabor, 2006, J, The Jesus Dynasty,
Harper Element.
Vermes, 1994, G, Jesus the Jew, SCM Press.
Vermes, 2003, G, Jesus in his Jewish Context,
SCM Press.
Vermes, 2005b, G, Who’s Who in the Age of
Jesus, Penguin.
Fowler, 1964, H W and F G Fowler, The Concise
Oxford Dictionary of Current English, OUP.
Vermes, 2006, G, The Nativity, Penguin.
Glare1982, P W et all., edd., The Oxford Latin
Dictionary, OUP.
Warner, 1976, M, Alone of all her Sex, Picador
Books.
Goodwin, 1894, W, A Greek Grammar,
MacMillan (UK) and St Martin’s Press (US).
Watt, 2008, B “A (very) brief History of the World,
pt. 1”, Sutherland Shire Historical Society
Bulletin, 11(1), February, 14-25,
Harris, 2005, S, The End of Faith, The Free
Press.
Hooke, 1963, S H, Middle Eastern Mythology,
Penguin.
Jacobovici, 2007, S and C Pellegrini, The Jesus
Family Tomb, HarperElement.
Johnson, 1997, L T, The Real Jesus,
Harper Collins.
Levine, 2006, A_J, The Misunderstood Jew,
HarperOne.
McGrath, 2007, A, Christianity’s Dangerous Idea,
Harper One.
Machen, 1923, A G, New Testament Greek for
Beginners, MacMillan.
Rieu, 1952, E V, The Four Gospels, Penguin
Classics.
St. Joseph – Guido Reni Italian Baroque
Shanks, 2003, H and B Witherington III, The
Brother of Jesus, HarperSanFrancisco.
St. Joseph is the patron saint of carpenters.
22
A Serialisation of the account of Lieutenant
Captain Watkin Tench taken from his
original account.
A Complete Account of
the Settlement
by Watkin Tench
Part 5
CHAPTER VI.
Transactions of the Colony, from the
Beginning of the Year 1790 until the End of
May following.
Our impatience of news from Europe
strongly marked the commencement of the
year. We had now been two years in the
country, and thirty-two months from
England, in which long period no supplies,
except what had been procured at the Cape
of Good Hope by the 'Sirius', had reached
us. From intelligence of our friends and
connections we had been entirely cut off,
no communication whatever having passed
with our native country since the 13th of
May 1787, the day of our departure from
Portsmouth.
Famine besides was
approaching with gigantic strides, and
gloom and dejection overspread every
countenance. Men abandoned themselves
to the most desponding reflections, and
adopted the most extravagant conjectures.
Still we were on the tiptoe of expectation. If
thunder broke at a distance, or a fowlingpiece of louder than ordinary report
resounded in the woods, "a gun from a
ship" was echoed on every side, and
nothing but hurry and agitation prevailed.
For eighteen months after we had landed in
the country, a party of marines used to go
weekly to Botany Bay, to see whether any
vessel, ignorant of our removal to Port
Jackson, might be arrived there. But a
better plan was now devised, on the
suggestion of captain Hunter. A party of
seamen were fixed on a high bluff, called
the South-head, at the entrance of the
harbour, on which a flag was ordered to be
hoisted, whenever a ship might appear,
which should serve as a direction to her,
and as a signal of approach to us. Every
officer stepped forward to volunteer a
service which promised to be so replete
with beneficial consequences. But the zeal
and alacrity of captain Hunter, and our
brethren
of
the
'Sirius',
rendered
superfluous all assistance or co-operation.
Here on the summit of the hill, every
morning from daylight until the sun sunk,
did we sweep the horizon, in hope of seeing
a sail. At every fleeting speck which arose
from the bosom of the sea, the heart
bounded, and the telescope was lifted to
the eye. If a ship appeared here, we knew
she must be bound to us; for on the shores
of this vast ocean (the largest in the world)
we were the only community which
possessed the art of navigation, and
languished for intercourse with civilized
society. To say that we were disappointed
and shocked, would very inadequately
describe our sensations. But the misery
and horror of such a situation cannot be
imparted, even by those who have suffered
under it.
March, 1790. Vigorous measures were
become indispensable.
The governor
therefore, early in February, ordered the
'Sirius' to prepare for a voyage to China;
and a farther retrenchment of our ration, we
23
were given to understand, would take place
on her sailing.
But the 'Sirius' was destined not to reach
China.
Previously to her intended
departure on that voyage, she was ordered,
in concert with the 'Supply', to convey Major
Ross, with a large detachment of marines,
and more than two hundred convicts, to
Norfolk Island, it being hoped that such a
division of our numbers would increase the
means of subsistence, by diversified
exertions. She sailed on the 6th of March.
And on the 27th of the same month, the
following
order
was
issued
from
headquarters.
The expected supply of provisions not
having arrived, makes it necessary to
reduce the present ration. And the
commissary is directed to issue, from the
1st
of
April,
the
under-mentioned
allowance, to every person in the
settlement without distinction. Four pounds
of flour, two pounds and a half of salt pork,
and one pound and a half of rice, per week.
On the 5th of April news was brought, that
the flag on the South-head was hoisted.
Less emotion was created by the news than
might be expected. Every one coldly said to
his neighbour, "the 'Sirius' and 'Supply' are
returned from Norfolk Island." To satisfy
myself that the flag was really flying, I went
to the observatory, and looked for it through
the large astronomical telescope, when I
plainly saw it. But I was immediately
convinced that it was not to announce the
arrival of ships from England; for I could
see nobody near the flagstaff except one
solitary being, who kept strolling around,
unmoved by what he saw. I well knew how
different an effect the sight of strange ships
would produce.
April, 1790.
The governor, however,
determined to go down the harbour, and I
begged permission to accompany him.
Having turned a point about half way down,
we were surprised to see a boat, which was
known to belong to the 'Supply', rowing
towards us. On nearer approach, I saw
captain Ball make an extraordinary motion
with his hand, which too plainly indicated
that something disastrous had happened;
and I could not help turning to the governor,
near whom I sat, and saying, "Sir, prepare
yourself for bad news." A few minutes
changed doubt into certainty; and to our
unspeakable consternation we learned, that
the 'Sirius' had been wrecked on Norfolk
Island, on the 19th of February. Happily,
however, Captain Hunter, and every other
person belonging to her, were saved.
Dismay was painted on every countenance,
when the tidings were proclaimed at
Sydney.
The
most
distracting
apprehensions were entertained All hopes
were now concentred in the little 'Supply'.
At six o'clock in the evening, all the officers
of the garrison, both civil and military, were
summoned to meet the governor in council,
when the nature of our situation was fully
discussed and an account of the provisions
yet remaining in store laid before the
council by the commissary. This account
stated, that on the present ration* the public
stores contained salt meat sufficient to
serve until the 2nd of July, flour until the
20th of August, and rice, or pease in lieu of
it, until the 1st of October.
[*See the ration of the 27th of March, a few
pages back.]
Several regulations for the more effectual
preservation of gardens, and other private
property, were proposed, and adopted and
after some interchange of opinion, the
following ration was decreed to commence
immediately, a vigorous exertion to prolong
existence, or the chance of relief, being all
now left to us.
Two pounds of pork, two pounds and a half
of flour, two pounds of rice, or a quart of
pease, per week, to every grown person,
and to every child of more than eighteen
months old. To every child under eighteen
months old, the same quantity of rice and
flour, and one pound of pork.**
[**When the age of this provision is
recollected, its inadequacy will more
strikingly appear. The pork and rice were
brought with us from England. The pork had
24
been salted between three and four years,
and every grain of rice was a moving body,
from the inhabitants lodged within it. We
soon left off boiling the pork, as it had
become so old and dry, that it shrunk one
half in its dimensions when so dressed.
Our usual method of cooking it was to cut
off the daily morsel, and toast it on a fork
before the fire, catching the drops which fell
on a slice of bread, or in a saucer of rice.
Our flour was the remnant of what was
brought from the Cape, by the 'Sirius', and
was good. Instead of baking it, the soldiers
and convicts used to boil it up with greens.]
The immediate departure of the 'Supply', for
Batavia, was also determined. Nor did our
zeal stop here.
The governor being
resolved to employ all the boats, public and
private, in procuring fish--which was
intended to be served in lieu of salt meat-all the officers, civil and military, including
the clergyman, and the surgeons of the
hospital, made the voluntary offer, in
addition to their other duties, to go
alternately every night in these boats, in
order to see that every exertion was made,
and that all the fish which might be caught
was deposited with the commissary.
The best marksmen of the marines and
convicts were also selected, and put under
the command of a trusty sergeant, with
directions to range the woods in search of
kangaroos, which were ordered, when
brought in, to be delivered to the
commissary.
And as it was judged that the inevitable
fatigues of shooting and fishing could not
be supported on the common ration, a
small additional quantity of flour and pork
was appropriated to the use of the gamekeepers; and each fisherman, who had
been out during the preceding night had, on
his return in the morning, a pound of
uncleaned fish allowed for his breakfast.
On the 17th instant, the 'Supply', captain
Ball, sailed for Batavia. We followed her
with anxious eyes until she was no longer
visible. Truly did we say to her "In te omnis
domus inclinata recumbit."
We were,
however, consoled by reflecting, that every
thing which zeal, fortitude, and seamanship,
could produce, was concentred in her
commander.
Our bosoms consequently became less
perturbed; and all our labour and attention
were turned on one object--the procuring of
food. "Pride, pomp, and circumstance of
glorious war" were no more. The distress of
the lower classes for clothes was almost
equal to their other wants. The stores had
been long exhausted, and winter was at
hand. Nothing more ludicrous can be
conceived than the expedients of
substituting, shifting, and patching, which
ingenuity devised, to eke out wretchedness,
and preserve the remains of decency. The
superior dexterity of the women was
particularly conspicuous. Many a guard
have I seen mount, in which the number of
soldiers without shoes exceeded that which
had yet preserved remnants of leather.
Nor was another part of our domestic
economy less whimsical. If a lucky man,
who had knocked down a dinner with his
gun, or caught a fish by angling from the
rocks, invited a neighbour to dine with him,
the invitation always ran, "bring your own
bread." Even at the governor's table, this
custom was constantly observed. Every
man when he sat down pulled his bread out
of his pocket, and laid it by his plate.
The insufficiency of our ration soon
diminished our execution of labour. Both
soldiers and convicts pleaded such loss of
strength, as to find themselves unable to
perform their accustomed tasks. The hours
of public work were accordingly shortened
or, rather, every man was ordered to do as
much as his strength would permit, and
every other possible indulgence was
granted.
May, 1790. In proportion, however, as
lenity and mitigation were extended to
inability and helplessness, inasmuch was
the most rigorous justice executed on
disturbers of the public tranquillity. Persons
detected in robbing gardens, or pilfering
25
provisions, were never screened because,
as every man could possess, by his utmost
exertions, but a bare sufficiency to preserve
life*, he who deprived his neighbour of that
little, drove him to desperation. No new
laws for the punishment of theft were
enacted; but persons of all descriptions
were publicly warned, that the severest
penalties, which the existing law in its
greatest latitude would authorise, should be
inflicted on offenders.
The following
sentence of a court of justice, of which I
was a member, on a convict detected in a
garden stealing potatoes, will illustrate the
subject. He was ordered to receive three
hundred lashes immediately, to be chained
for six months to two other criminals, who
were thus fettered for former offences, and
to have his allowance of flour stopped for
six months. So that during the operation of
the sentence, two pounds of pork, and two
pounds of rice (or in lieu of the latter, a
quart of pease) per week, constituted his
whole subsistence. Such was the
melancholy length to which we were
compelled to stretch our penal system.
[*Its preservation in some cases was found
impracticable. Three or four instances of
persons who perished from want have been
related to me. One only, however, fell within
my own observation. I was passing the
provision store, when a man, with a wild
haggard countenance, who had just
received his daily pittance to carry home,
came out. His faltering gait, and eager
devouring eye, led me to watch him, and he
had not proceeded ten steps before he fell.
I ordered him to be carried to the hospital,
where, when he arrived, he was found
dead. On opening the body, the cause of
death was pronounced to be inanition.]
Farther to contribute to the detection of
villainy, a proclamation, offering a reward of
sixty pounds of flour, more tempting than
the ore of Peru or Potosi, was promised to
any one who should apprehend, and bring
to justice, a robber of garden ground.
desperate circumstances would allow. We
knew not how to keep him, and yet were
unwilling to part with him.
Had he
penetrated our state, perhaps he might
have given his countrymen such a
description of our diminished numbers, and
diminished strength, as would have
emboldened them to become more
troublesome. Every expedient was used to
keep him in ignorance. His allowance was
regularly received by the governor's
servant, like that of any other person, but
the ration of a week was insufficient to have
kept him for a day. The deficiency was
supplied by fish whenever it could be
procured, and a little Indian corn, which had
been
reserved
was
ground
and
appropriated to his use. In spite of all these
aids, want of food has been known to make
him furious and often melancholy.
There is reason to believe that he had long
meditated his escape, which he effected in
the night of the 3rd instant. About two
o'clock in the morning, he pretended illness,
and awaking the servant who lay in the
room with him, begged to go down stairs.
The other attended him without suspicion of
his design; and Baneelon no sooner found
himself in a backyard, than he nimbly
leaped over a slight paling, and bade us
adieu.
The following public order was issued within
the date of this chapter, and is too pleasing
a proof that universal depravity did not
prevail among the convicts, to be omitted.
The governor, in consequence of the
unremitted good behaviour and meritorious
conduct of John Irving, is pleased to remit
the remainder of the term for which he was
sentenced to transportation.
He is
therefore to be considered as restored to all
those rights and privileges, which had been
suspended in consequence of the sentence
of the law. And as such, he is hereby
appointed to act as an assistant to the
surgeon at Norfolk Island.
Our friend Baneelon, during this season of
scarcity, was as well taken care of as our
26
EXPLORING
THE WEB
John Low
In each instalment of ‘Exploring the Web’ I
will briefly profile web sites I think might be
of interest to readers of ‘Doryanthes’.
While some may already be familiar,
others hopefully will direct you to new
experiences and be useful in the pursuit of
your own interests.
Many readers will probably already be
regular users of the National Library of
Australia’s Trove. Described as a
‘discovery experience’, the site allows
easy access to a rich vein of information
about Australia and its people. It is indeed
a ‘treasure trove’, with books, journals,
magazines, maps, photos, diaries, letters,
newspapers, music and much more
placed at your finger tips. If you have not
explored it yet don’t delay. The site can be
found at: http://trove.nla.gov.au/
You
won’t be disappointed.
Part of the Trove experience is the
National Library of Australia’s data base of
‘Australian
Newspapers (1803-1954)’
which can be accessed directly at
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper
The
contents of historic newspapers are
becoming increasingly available
to
researchers through the internet and it is
worth pointing out that the National Library
of New Zealand has a similar data base of
kiwi newspapers called ‘Papers Past’ at:
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgibin/paperspast
This collection covers the period 18391932 and includes the contents of 58
newspapers from all parts of the country
with more being added all the time.
Access to both data bases is free and
easy and the results of searches can be
printed. If you are a NSW resident and
are signed up as a user of the Library of
NSW (ie. you have a ‘readers’ ticket’) you
can also freely access from home a
multitude
of
19th
century
British
newspapers, including a digital archive of
The Times 1785-1985, using data bases
27
to which the library subscribes. Have a
look at:
http://www2.sl.nsw.gov.au/databases/atho
me.cfm
For those interested in Australian art the
‘Dictionary of Australian Artists Online
(DAAO)’ is fast becoming an essential
reference source. Open access and
scholarly, the DAAO’s editorial board
consists
of
representatives
from
universities and art galleries around
Australia, reflecting its ultimate aim to
encompass the complete landscape and
history of artistic endeavour in Australia.
While it has only begun relatively recently,
you can already search almost 8,000
biographies that include commentary and
contextual information, though not critical
assessment of artists’ work. Colonial and
Indigenous art are well represented. The
DAAO can be found at:
http://www.daao.org.au/intro/background.html
While on the subject of Australian
biography, readers should not forget the
online version of the venerable and highly
respected
‘Australian
Dictionary
of
Biography’ located at:
http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/
Based at the Australian National
University, the online edition contains over
10,000 concise but comprehensive and
scholarly entries on men and women
whose lives and achievements have
contributed to the Australian experience.
New Zealand, too, has an online version
of its ‘Dictionary of New Zealand
Biography’ and though smaller than its
Australian cousin, containing roughly
3,000 entries at the moment, it too is an
easy-to-access and valuable resource. It
can be found at:
http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/default.asp
If you are interested in Australian social
history and folklore I can recommend a
visit
to
‘Simply
Australia’
at:
http://simplyaustralia.net/ However, I must
declare an interest here as the site is
owned and run by my sister-in-law and my
brother and I are involved as both
contributors and
editorial advisors.
Nevertheless, this said, I think you will find
it a well presented web site with
interesting and quality content that reflects
the Australian experience through articles,
photos, poems and songs. Beginning as
an e-magazine in 2001 ‘Simply Australia’
has evolved into a more interactive web
site where readers are encouraged to
listen to audio material, comment on
individual items and contribute their own
thoughts and ideas through the ‘comment’
facility and by submission. Drop by and
have a look.
Finally, an English web site that I think has
relevance for Australians interested in
local and regional studies. It is the web
site
of
‘Common
Ground’,
an
environmental organization the like of
which, to my knowledge, does not exist in
Australia. It can be found at:
http://www.commonground.org.uk/
By linking nature with culture and focusing
on the idea of ‘local distinctiveness’, it
encourages individuals and communities
to develop a deeper connection to the
places in which they live. Though English
in outlook and conception, its general
approach and many of the ideas it
espouses (like the ‘Parish Map’) can be
adapted to other environments and
cultures, including Australia. I am a great
fan of the British approach to local studies
and I find this a very inspiring web site.
Highly recommended!
Until next time, I hope at least some of the
above web sites take you down some new
paths. Comments and suggestions are
always welcome.
John Low (johnlow@iprimus.com.au)
28
Scattered Seeds
by Michael Cooke
Rajasthan is India’s largest state and the
economic hub of the Indian tourism industry.
Myths abound about the origins of this desert
region of ‘manly men’ and ‘damsels’ in need of
rescue. The maharajas of Rajasthan claim
descent from the sun and the moon gods. The
Rajputs are a warrior race known for their
martial prowess, fabled forts, outrageous
palaces and beautiful cities of sandstone.
The history books tell us of certain dominant
clans who carved out kingdoms in the Thar
Desert a thousand years ago - a fractious lot,
perpetually pillaging each other’s territories.
Akbar subdued them and turned them into
instruments of his government. Rajasthan
provides the more discerning traveller with a
taste of a fabled culture neither Islamic or
Hindu, but a hybrid one forged in the 15th and
16th centuries, and belonging to a time the
Hindu chauvinists attempt to portray as one of
‘Hindu trauma’.89
Our first port of call was a small town in the east
of the province called Mandawa. It seemed at
first to be yet another place typical of its kind sleepy, dusty and cow-ridden; but once we
started exploring it we found a well-preserved
18th century town. At the time Mandawa was a
thriving centre of trade for caravans from the
western borders of India, with a reciprocal trade
in Indian produce, and the town has many fine
havelis, built by rich merchants. Havelis are
houses made of stone, and characterised by
ornately crafted windows and terraces. In
Mandawa their outside walls are painted in a
bold Mughal style, reminiscent of Mughal
miniatures in terms of brushstrokes and the
interaction of space, landscape and the human
figure, combined with the colour and swirl of
Hindu mythology. These tableaux usually
portray incidents in the life of Krishna (an
incarnation of Vishnu). Many havelis are like
small fortresses, with large wooden doors; on
entering, one sees a courtyard with a series of
rooms. This is where the men of the house
89
Their assertion is that Hinduism growth and religious was
truncated by the invasion of Islam. They see it as an ‘alien’
organ on the landscape of India.
congregate. In the bowels of the building is
another courtyard which is larger and is the hub
of the house: this is where the women reside,
segregated from the men.
These buildings are very reminiscent of houses
one would find in the souks of Morocco and
Algiers. The whole region is dotted with these
fine buildings. What heightens their beauty is
the aridity of the landscape, suddenly
interspersed with greenery.
Bikaner is a smallish town that the tourist
brochures say is graced by a fine fort and an
interesting medieval city. As it was on the way
to the sublime Jaisalmer, we decided to have a
look. It has a fort with a palace enclosed within
its walls. The lattice work and finely etched
balconies of the palace were of interest, and
there were some fine havelis, though the Jain
temples were mediocre. The town in general is
characterised by stench, pollution, noise and
crowded streets, and left us all with respiratory
problems. The more astute amongst us decided
to wear surgical masks as protection against
the dust and the pollution.
Being in the desert we decided to go on a short
camel safari, watching the sun go down and
spending the night under the stars. But a camel
is the most supercilious beast on the planet:
mounting and dismounting is not the most
pleasant of experiences, and riding can make
you sea-sick. The night was peaceful and the
stars did grace the sky, but it was cold. Slumber
was disturbed by a cacophony of snoring, the
chattering of teeth, grumbling, as people rose to
relieve themselves, and the flatulence of
camels.
We then made our way to Jaisalmer, a huge
walled city glistening in the sunlight, with
magnificent gates, fine havelis, petite temples
and expansive views. Unfortunately the city’s
inhabitants are too well aware of its
considerable charms, the result being an
abundance of tacky souvenir shops, touts and
hotels. One of the side effects is that this
magnificent citadel is slowly sinking: its ancient
plumbing system can no longer cope with the
amount of water that comes out of its ancient
29
Thar Desert Rajasthan Picture: Jennifer Bennell
Contemplating a night under the stars in the desert
Picture: Jennifer Bennell
pipes. If only part of the money the city
generates was spent on its upkeep we would
not have the sad spectacle of crumbling
sandstone foundations. This is what is
incredible about India.
Stroheim have been without them?). The Rajput
maharajas were a decadent lot, squandering
their wealth on sumptous palaces, earthly
pleasures and polo. (It was here that polo was
brought to perfection.) The ‘new’ palace is both
a five star hotel and the residence of the
maharaja, reminiscent of the Victoria Memorial
in Kolkatta or, for that matter, any large English
train station of that era. The city has the usual
Indian inconveniences. But what really brought
us here was the fort with its magnificent gates –
three, we think. It had the usual fine filigree
work on its windows, and the area where the
women resided was done in the Mughal style
with arched columns, tiles and a finely cut inlay
of semi-precious stones. It also had the usual
array of royal tunics, gold and silver encrusted
swords and daggers, an armoury, howdahs,
carriages and palanquins. It has a magnificent
collection of Rajput miniatures, capturing not
only the bustle of court life but the role of the
individual. The colours are rich: blues, gold and
reds ravish the eye.
We found the views of the medieval city with
their cobalt blue houses enchanting. It gave us
an insight into the fragility of life here during the
medieval period and why they needed to build
these huge forts and massive walls just to
survive. Those times might seem romantic with
their tales of valour and gallantry, yet for
ordinary people life was darkened by the fear of
pillage and death. These kingdoms were at
continual war with each other and with the
invaders who advanced periodically from its
western borders.
A view of the medieval city of Jodhpur from the ramparts
of the fort Picture: Jennifer Bennell
Facade of a Jain merchant’s haveli in Jaisalmer Picture:
Jennifer Bennell
Jodhpur is the city where the riding pants of that
name originated (what would Erick von
Pushkar is where Lord Brahma, according to
the epics, dropped a lotus flower and Pushkar
floated to the surface. It is a city dominated by a
giant tank, surrounded by Ghats and framed by
30
white temples. When we visited the tank was
empty and the Ghats were populated by young
Brahmin boys in tight hipster jeans and even
tighter shirts, selling blessings. The temples are
not especially notable for their beauty, and the
tourists have adapted all too well to the local
scene, including the use of bhang (hashish).
palatial
government
buildings,
parks,
monuments and temples relieved the linear
monotony of its grid. This being India, the
impression was marred by a failure to maintain
the city’s infrastructure and by the congestion
on the streets. Jaipur has a mediocre royal
palace and a useless royal family.
The streets are clean, but every shop is a
souvenir shop or restaurant catering to a
particular western sensibility - vegetarian,
spiritual (Hindu mysticism) and karmic. Being
enamoured of none of these we retreated to our
hotel, which was nestled between hills, paddy
fields and trees: a refuge from the faux
Hinduism that locals sell and Westerners buy.
The jewel of the city is the Hawa Mahal (The
Palace of Winds). Hidden on a busy and
polluted market street, it allows a glimpse of its
honeycombed windows, and one must exercise
courage when crossing the street to get a
proper look at this majestic building. It is five
storeys high and made of sandstone, with
peepholes from which the king’s harem could
glimpse life outside their walls. We thought it
the most beautiful haveli of all those we were
privileged to see. Havelis are magnificent
edifices that combine the best of Muslim and
Hindu sensibility in architecture.
A few miles up the road is Ajmer, which most
western tourists seem to shun. Unlike Pushkar
it has a magnificent lake, so blue in the midday
sun that it blinded our eyes. Akbar built a palace
here. Ajmer is the location of the famous Mayo
College, where many an Indian prince received
his education. It is also a place where one can
see how a temple was destroyed and replaced
by a mosque.
But that is not what makes Ajmer worth visiting.
Located in the old part of town is the Dargah,
which is one of the most important Muslim
pilgrim sites in India. It houses the tomb of
Chishti, a Sufi saint who came here from Iran in
1192. One first enters through a large arch and
as with any temple or mosque, walks across a
long street of merchants selling all kinds of
merchandise to the devotees.
Then one enters through another gateway, to
the side of which is a simple marble mosque. Its
clean and linear shape gives it a grace lacking
in many larger mosques. Opposite is the tomb
where the Sufi saint lies buried. When we
arrived the tomb was closed and hundreds of
supplicants, both Hindu and Muslim, were
waiting silently and patiently for it to open.
Qawwali music (Urdu devotional singing with
accompaniment) was being performed. Like
Sikh religious music, it has the ability to enchant
the listener. What moved us was its authenticity
- a reminder of the damage done when the
British and their allies attacked this culture.
Next stop was Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan,
and a city planned like Paris: wide streets,
Eleven kilometres from the city is the mammoth
Amber (‘high’) Fort, and we took a ride on an
elephant to get to the top of it. Our legs seemed
to dangle over the parapets, while in front of us
we could see only the periodic defecation of
elephants. Amber fort is like all other Rajput
forts, just bigger and grander.
Next we went to Akbar’s great folly, Fatehpur
Sikri. It is 26 miles from Agra and took 15 years
to build: a series of palaces, a great mosque,
formal courtyards, water channels, harems and
government buildings. The city was later
abandoned because of a lack of water. Two of
Akbar’s abiding interests were architecture and
the government of a multi-ethnic empire.
Fatehpur Sikri is a beautiful monument to these.
Islamic and Hindu elements were blended in
these buildings, which reflected Akbar’s desire
to integrate his diverse empire. As one walks
across this abandoned city, one comes across
pillars and arches that would be more at home
in a Hindu or Jain temple, and arches, cupolas,
domes and water causeways, innovations that
Islam brought to the subcontinent. One of the
most beautiful buildings we saw was the Panch
Mahal (Palace of Five Stories), facing out to the
countryside.
31
The Show stopper: Taj Mahal Agra Picture: Jennifer Bennell
The lower stories are graced by fine pillars, and
as one looks up, the floors get progressively
smaller, with the fifth floor being graced by a
lovely dome. On a hot summer night one can
imagine Akbar sitting there, welcoming the cool
night air, meditating on how he could reconcile
the religions and cultures of his fractious
empire.
Next on the itinerary was the showstopper, the
Taj Mahal. This is situated in Agra, another
large city drowning in pollution. The Taj Mahal
is situated in a formal Mughal garden and
framed by the Jamuna River. It is a building
made of the finest of marble, and its white
facade and graceful minarets beguile the viewer
with their beauty and grandeur. One can forget
for a while the teeming and noisy stream of
humanity thronging to see this magnificent
structure.The marble is enhanced with black
tracery, and inlaid with Islamic inscriptions and
geometric patterns.
The building is perfectly surmounted by its
dome, reminiscent of Venice’s Romanesque
churches. What can one say that words and
pictures have not already expressed? Only that
one must see it in person. It must be one of the
most civilised and exquisite structures ever
created, and, yes, it is an Islamic building.
32
Marion Dufresne, un
marin malouin à la
découvertes des mers
australes
good relations with the local Maoris. That
afternoon they planned to fish with a seine.
They were never to return to their ship.
Everyone of them was surprised and killed
and their bodies devoured according to Maori
rite. The officer's name was Marc-Joseph
Marion Dufresne and the wounds to his side
and to his head or neck brought to an end
one of the most colourful careers in the
annals of French maritime history.
I first heard of Marion Dufresne while
researching the role of Mauritius (then the
Isle de France) as a base for French
exploration of Australia. My interest in his life
became keener when I learned that he had
actually settled on my mother's native island.
In fact, the land he acquired in 1769 became
part of the sugar estate where my mother
spent her early childhood and where my
grandfather was mortally wounded by an
assassin's knife.
In my preliminary research of his family, I
also discovered a number of surprising
connections with my own ancestors in
Brittany.
But this biography is not the
product of a family historical adventure; more
than anything it was the enigmatic
circumstances of Marion's death and his
omission from published Australian history
which spurred me to begin more serious
scholarship.
Edward Duyker, Marc-Joseph Marion
Dufresne, un marin malouin à la
découvertes des mers australes, French
translation by Maryse Duyker (with the
assistance of the author and Maurice
Recq), Les Portes du Large, Rennes, pp.
352, ISBN 978-2-914612-14-2, publication in
September 2010, distribution in France
and overseas AFPU Diffusion, €24.
lesportesdularge@numericable.com
On the afternoon of 12 June 1772 a French
officer in his late forties wearing a coat of
scarlet and blue English velvet landed at Te
Hue cove in New Zealand's Bay of Islands.
He was accompanied by a number of his
fellow officers, a longboat crew and a black
slave. They had landed at Te Hue many
times in the previous weeks and had enjoyed
I could be cynical and suggest that had he
been English he might have fared better. Yet
he is often absent from the pages of French
reference works. This is despite the fact that
in 1772 he discovered the most westerly
islands in the Indian Ocean, was the first
explorer after Abel Tasman to visit Tasmania
(then Van Diemen's Land) and was one of
the earliest European visitors to New
Zealand.
Although Marc-Joseph Marion Dufresne will
always remain in the shadow of his
contemporary, James Cook, both men share
striking parallels in their lives. Both were
brilliant mariners who proved their skills in
merchant shipping before joining the Royal
Navy of their respective nations. Both were
involved in scientific efforts to observe the
transit of Venus.
Both sought the
33
whereabouts of the South Land and both
eliminated its possibility in various latitudes.
Finally, both died tragically at the hands of
Polynesians.
Greater knowledge of Marion's life offers
numerous insights for Australian and New
Zealand historians, but also elucidates
aspects of eighteenth-century Anglo-French
rivalry and the course of exploration and
colonization in the Indian Ocean and the
Pacific. While Marion's early success as a
privateer, his part in the daring rescue of
Bonnie Prince Charlie, his numerous
voyages to the East and his entrepreneurial
boldness beg biographical description, they
also help explain the making of an explorer.
Despite the dramatic breadth of Marion's life,
the few scholars who have written about him,
or his exploits, have mainly dealt with his
final voyage. The first published account of
this
expedition
of
1771–1772
was
undertaken by the astronomer and voyager
Alexis Marie de Rochon (1741–1817)–
sometimes referred to as the Abbé Rochon
although he was never ordained and
eventually married.
Rochon edited the
journal of Julien Crozet (1728–1782),
Marion's
second-in-command
on
the
Mascarin. Rochon's effort appeared in Paris,
in 1783, under the title Nouveau voyage à la
mer du sud. It is an important source
because Crozet's original ship-board account
has disappeared; only a summary has
survived in manuscript form.
This
eighteenth-century text was the only readily
accessible account for more than a century
and was most certainly known to later French
explorers who followed in Marion's tracks
such as d'Entrecasteaux, Lapérouse, Baudin
and d'Urville.
It also provided the raw
material for Alexandre Dumas' Capitaine
Marion and for Jules Verne's account of
Marion's demise in Les enfants du Capitaine
Grant (1868). An Officer of the Blue, my
biography of Marion Dufresne was first
published in English by Melbourne University
Press as a Miegunyah book in 1994. The
present volume is the first French-language
edition, but it is not simply a translation. It is
a thorough historical revision and contains,
for the first time, all the original quotations
from French language sources in the original
French.
A close-up of the plaque from above right plinth
34
Australia’s Oldest
House
Mrs Gregory, later Dame Helen, Blaxland
created the country’s first house museum with
a deliberate focus on Australian Colonial
furniture – then a nascent collecting interest.
In the absence of clear documentation the
Trust assigned the date c. 1798, reasoning that
Harris would have built a house within five
years of his purchase of the land. In the mid
1970s doubts were raised as to the veracity of
this date with the discovery of a letter written in
1839 by Elizabeth Macarthur, who lived at the
adjoining property, referring to `a new cottage’
on Dr Harris’ estate.
The argument as to whether the house was
built in the 1790s or the 1830s hotted up in the
mid 1980s when the Trust commissioned
architect David Sheedy to prepare a conservation report. Sheedy argued that the
cottage was most likely built in the early 1790s,
Surgeon John Harris and Experiment making it the oldest intact house in Australia. A
Farm Cottage. A Contest in Context panel, including the historian James Broadbent
and conservation architect Clive Lucas countered, that because of the scale and sophisSue Rosen, Australia’s Oldest House:
Surgeon John Harris and Experiment Farm tication of the house it could not predate the
1820s.
Cottage, Halstead Press, Ultimo, 2010
Experiment Farm, Parramatta is an iconic
place. It was the site of the first land grant in
Australia, made to the convict James Ruse in
1790. In 1793 Ruse, concerned at the declining
yields from Parramatta’s mediocre soil sold his
farm to Surgeon John Harris.There is a long
pedigree of historical dis-putation concerning
the farm and people associated with it. In the
1830s Ruse chall-enged Colonel George
Johnston’s claim to be the first person to step
ashore from the First Fleet, stating that the
honour was all his because he was carrying
Johnston on his back.
The debate was given a more volatile
dimension by the Trust’s decision in 1984 to
abolish its Parramatta Properties Committee
which under the Chairmanship of Philip Simpson had successfully managed both Old
Government House and Experiment Farm
Cottage. In some circles within the Trust it was
no longer simply an argument about dates but
also about who was best equipped to manage
the property – the volunteer committee,
largely, but not exclusively early-daters or the
Trust’s staff and its honorary expert advisors,
mostly late-daters.
Sue Rosen’s book revives a later debate about
firsts which is whether Experiment Farm
Cottage, rather than its neighbour Elizabeth
Farm, is Australia’s oldest house.
Rosen’s book was commissioned by the late
Mrs Caroline Simpson, an ardent early- dater
and the wife of the Chairman of the Parramatta
Properties Committee. Her generous
patronage funded Rosen’s extensive research
both within Australia and abroad.
In 1963 the National Trust (NSW) acquired
what was advertised as `James Ruse
Historical Cottage’ and restored and furnished
it as a colonial house museum. While the
restoration of the building was heavy handed,
the collector and connoisseur Ken BernardSmith working under the inspired leadership of
While the work adds considerably to our
knowledge of John Harris and the early
colonial period and locates some important
new documents in relation to Experiment Farm
Cottage it does not prove, as it claims, that
35
`Experiment Farm Cottage is the oldest
surviving European building in Australia.’
other buildings in the town accurately. While it
is possible, as is the case with John Macarthur’s Elizabeth Farm, that Surgeon Harris
The problem is that virtually all the evidence
might have built a small house in the 1790s
cited to support an early construction date is of
which he later extended, the fabric of the
a contextual, rather than an absolute nature.
building does not show this.
Rosen builds her case on the argument that
Harris had the means, the motivation, the need The house underwent extensive conservation
and the skill to build the house in the 1790s.
works in the 1990s which included the removal
She suggests that it was modelled on houses
of cement render. There was no evidence in
he might have seen in India.
the brickwork to indicate an earlier building was
contained within the kernel of the existing
Back in the 1980s the late-daters in the
house or modifications where windows had
National Trust who rejected the 1790s date
been converted to French doors.
had the same problem; their arguments relied
on contextual, rather than absolute evidence.
The combination of the pictorial, physical and
They reasoned that because the house was
documentary evidence indicates that while
double pile (two rooms deep), had an inteHarris built a house on the site in the 1790s he
grated verandah, eleven French doors (the
later replaced this with the present building. A
earliest documented example of a French door letter by the Surveyor General, written in
in Australia is at Government House, ParraNovember 1834 reporting that Harris has
matta in 1816) and no chair rails (the surbase agreed to lease Experiment Farm to agist the
government oxen but `reserves to himself the
or chair rail was a standard element of
right of setting back his fence about fifty yards
domestic architecture until the 1810s) the
from a cottage that is now building’ establishes
house could not predate the 1820s.
a construction date for the new house.
Although not an absolute proof, these
arguments had considerable weight. Why, for Rosen does not give sufficient weight to this
example, if Harris pioneered the use of the
important piece of evidence asserting it refers
French door at Experiment Farm in the 1790s to the construction of another cottage on the
did he not include a single one in his larger and estate. Interestingly, she locates an additional
grander Ultimo House which he built in 1805? document referring to the construction of the
Why did it take over twenty years for the
cottage. It is a court case in July 1834 where
French door, a charming and useful device in
Robert Holdaway, a carpenter employed by
Sydney’s mild climate, to appear in other
Harris and in charge of his master’s new
colonial houses? Why, if Harris’ Experiment
building testifies that William Williams had
Farm Cottage was so remarkable for its place forced the back door and was found `in the
inner room behind the Door’. The inner room
and time did no-one comment on it?
behind the door fits the description of the
The Trust carried out further research in the
pantry of the present Experiment Farm
1990s. This included the identification of a
Cottage.
number of early-nineteenth-century images
In her book Rosen counsels `that appropriate
showing a cottage on the site of the present
historical evidence is not about cobbling
house. The two most important were by
together a story to suit a hypothesis’ and that
George Evans and John Eyre. The Evans
view, a watercolour painted in 1804, shows the `there is a need to be continually alert for
alternative interpretations so they can be
western and northern elevations of a single
tested and eliminated’.
pile cottage at Experiment Farm. Eyre’s view,
published in 1813 as an engraving, show the
It is unfortunate that she neither mentions nor
southern elevation of the house. As in the
analyzes 1804 and 1813 images referred to
Evan’s view, it is a single pile house.
above which show a house on the estate which
Both images are panoramic views of
is markedly different from the existing one. As
Parramatta thus enabling the location of the
a result she fails to put and test the hypothesis
cottage to be referenced. Both works show
that Harris built a single pile cottage on the
36
estate in the mid-1790s of a scale similar to
Macarthur’s Elizabeth Farm. The original
Elizabeth Farm while not large, provided a
reasonable standard of accommodation and
had two good principal rooms.
The book is critical of conservation work
carried to the building in 1991 and its setting in
2001, claiming that `the authentic has been
partly destroyed and the public deceived’ . It
neither outlines what these works were or
explains in what way they have been
With the construction of Ultimo House in 1805
destructive. The 1991 work to the building
the 1790s Experiment Farm Cottage ceased to
involved removing destructive and obtrusive
be Harris’ principle residence. This provides a
elements from 1963 restoration, putting back
credible reason why he was not motivated to
early fabric such as the verandah columns
extend or replace it. It was sufficient for his
which had been removed in 1963, revealing
needs in Parramatta a place he lived at only
original fabric which had been concealed in
sporadically. It was only towards the end of his
1963, recreating minor missing details based
life when he was making provision for his
on historical evidence, such as the unusual
nephew’s large family that he was moved to
triple Taurus on the base of the verandah
replace the earlier cottage with the present
columns and painting the cottage internally and
house. This hypothesis is supported by the
externally based on evidence of the earliest
physical, pictorial and documentary evidence
extant colour scheme.
for the estate.
The 2001 landscape works, carried out in
Rosen cites scientific analysis of brick and
conjunction with Parramatta City Council,
mortar samples of the extant cottage in support
completed a long term vision of improving the
of her case. This evidence must however, as
setting of the cottage by the provision of a
Rosen concedes, be treated with caution.
more discreet car park and the reinstatement
In 1986 Dr George Gibbons and Mr N. Van
of the carriage drive and landmark plantings.
Hook of the NSW Institute of Technology
Both projects were based on sound historical
analysed a sample of mortar and brickwork
analysis.
from the cottage. While they found the mortar
Australia’s Oldest House is a book which
and brick samples were similar to other
seems to have been shaped as much by a
examples of bricks and mortar dating prior to
casserole of internal dissent which occurred
1820 (and indeed 1800) they qualified the
within the National Trust twenty-five years ago
observations by noting that the mortar could
and Rosen’s desire to see members of the
be as late as 1830 and the bricks as late as
Professional Historians Association play a
1860. In respect of the mortar sample their
greater role in conservation planning in
report also carried the caveat `it must be
Australia, as by dispassionate enquiry to find
stressed that mortar analysis is indicative at
out more about the history of Experiment Farm.
best, and anomalies can occur’.
To my mind the focus on whether the house
A disturbing aspect of the book is the attack it was built in 1795 or 1834 has clouded the
makes on the National Trust’s management of more interesting challenge which is to more
Experiment Farm Cottage. It is alleged that the fully document the sequence of buildings on
Trust failed to draw on `appropriate multithe estate from 1790, the year Ruse received
disciplinary expertise’ in researching and
his grant, to 1838 when Surgeon Harris died.
managing the property. This is not correct.
Ian Stephenson
Distinguished architects, archaeologists and
University Curator
architectural, landscape and furniture
University of New England
historians have been involved in the conserIan Stephenson was employed by the National Trust
vation and interpretation of the property. The
of Australia (NSW) from 1990 to 2001 including
basis of the criticism seem to lie in not
seven years as their Senior Curator. In this capacity
he was involved in the conservation works to the
employing a member of the Professional
Historians Association, an association of which property in 1991 and 2001. From 2001 to 2007 he was
Director of Historic Places, ACT and from 2007 to
Rosen is a member.
2009 the CEO of the National Trust of South
Australia.
37
Lennie’s Ride
Mary Small
Lennie’s Ride, illustrated by Marion Wilcocks,
Small Endeavour Publishing, Sydney, 2010, ISBN
978-0-646-52894-6, pp. 72, RRP $15.
Lennie Gwyther, a nine-year-old son of a
farmer, rode his pony, Ginger Mick, 600 miles
from Leongatha in the Gippsland region of
Victoria to Sydney to witness for himself the
celebratory opening of the Harbour Bridge on
Saturday 19th March 1932. During his
journey, newspaper reports of his progress
made him so famous that he was invited to
take part in the Grand Procession after the
official opening.
The stuff of legends, Lennie's Ride is the
story based on family records of a remarkable
young Australian.
Lennie's Ride is the result of a close
partnership between Sylvania author Mary
Small, her long time friend Margaret
Knowlden (who designed, edited and typeset
the book) and illustrator Marion Wilcocks who
lives in England.
This is an extraordinary yet true story. Lennie
Gwyther (1922–1992)’s exploits at the age of
nine would be hard to believe if they were not
so well documented. Mary Small has put her
accomplished skills as an historian and
children’s author to excellent use in
recounting this inspiring story. Marion
Wilcock’s delightful watercolour illustrations
are augmented with historic photographs from
private and public collections.
1-4 copies at $15 each plus postage and
packaging - 5-9 copies at $12 each plus p/p
10 copies + at $10 each plus p/p. Contact
mary@marysmall.com.au for orders:.
38
Notice to Contributors
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39