Mattie

Set in England and Australia 1837 to Bathurst in 1850s & 60s."Mattie" is the story of a girl who is typical of the many convicts who came to Australia during its first 75 years. Mattie was born in England and spent the first of her childhood in a foundling home. She was taken from the home and put to work on a dairy farm, a cold and uncomfortable life. In 1837 her master charged her with stealing when she took some food to feed some hungry children and was convicted to serve seven years in New South Wales, arriving in 1838. In the gaol she meets some unpleasant women but also finds a friend who becomes a mother figure for her. Peg, who is an aristocrat, had been charged with murdering her husband, and until Mattie comes into her life had given up the desire to live. She had been sentenced to death but the sentence changed to life imprisonment. She finds Mattie a nice child who is totally untaught and so she sets about teaching her to read from the only possession she has, her Bible. The Bible is a small one that she is able to keep secreted in her pocket, and on the occasions that there is enough light in the cell she teaches the child to spell, read and learn some of the decencies of life. Quite an achievement in those conditions, but a true scenario as this was often the only book accessible and those lucky enough to learn to read often did so from a bible. On the voyage out, during a storm, a passenger falls and breaks a leg. This passenger has a small baby and the surgeon asks Peg to take over the nursing care of the passenger, Mrs Proudfoot and her little boy. She refuses and suggests that Mattie be given the chance, insisting that she is an intelligent and willing girl. So Mattie's life changes dramatically. Peg dies and Mattie is left entirely in the care of Sue Proudfoot. Peg gives instructions to the surgeon to see that Mattie gets her precious Bible when she dies. The Chaplain of the ship, the Rev Mr Goodes, his wife and the surgeon who all help to look after Sue Proudfoot, take great notice of Mattie and all contribute to her further education. On arrival in Sydney, as Sue is still incapacitated, she persuades her husband, who has made a home for her on the Hawkesbury, to take Mattie with them to be nursemaid to the baby. Mattie spends her adolescent years in the Proudfoot home very happily looking after the first and subsequent children. Mattie then meets Jim Saunders who, with his father has a store in the local town. The Story continues in Bathurst and the goldfields up there and follows the growth of that area.