►
From YouTube: The Irish Famine Lecture Series: The Earl Grey Scheme: Irish Famine Orphans in Australia
Description
The Earl Grey Scheme: Irish Famine Orphans in Australia I Thursday 2 February I Jonathon Fairall Australian journalist and author
Author of Earl Grey’s Daughters: The Women Who Changed Australia (SPSP, 2019). It tells the story of refugees from the famine who endured the longest possible sea voyage to find a new life in Australia. He is the author of two historical books and also writes about science and technology for newspapers and magazines.
A
Welcome
back
everyone
I'd
like
to
introduce
our
next
speaker.
His
name
is
Jonathan
Farrell
as
a
feral,
John,
sorry,
Jonathan,
Farrell
Jonathan
is
an
Australian
journalist
and
author.
This
evening
he
was
speaking
about
the
earl
gray
scheme,
Irish
famine,
orphans
in
Australia.
He
is
author
of
Earl
Gray's
daughters,
the
women
who's
changed
Australia
published
in
2019..
A
B
B
This
is
the
story
of
how
an
Irish
catastrophe
helped
shape
history
on
the
far
side
of
the
world
once
I.
What
I
want
to
do
over
the
next
15
minutes
or
so
is
describe
the
scheme
and
then
to
take
you
down.
One
of
History's
byways
examine
how
it
arose
and
then
look
at
the
consequences
that
it
had
for
Australia
and
Australian
history.
B
B
B
So
what
was
the
background?
Why
did
well
human
physiology
dictated
that
that,
in
the
extreme
conditions
that
existed
in
the
work
hours
during
the
famine
years,
girls
did
rather
better
than
boys,
or
at
least
they
didn't
die
as
fast?
There
seems
little
doubt
that
females
can
tolerate
extreme
food
scarcity
better
than
males.
B
This
was
exacerbated
by
the
normal
idiosyncrasies
of
society.
It
was
a
desirable
for
men
and
young
boys
to
leave
the
workhouses
and
seek
their
Fortune.
A
female
also
were
part
of
intact.
Families
should
leave
as
soon
as
they
could,
but
often
girls
have
no
options.
They
were
in
truth.
Few
ways
to
earn
a
living
in
1850s,
Ireland
for
men
or
women
had
the
opportunity
for
a
woman
to
own
her
own.
B
Keep
with
few
and
far
between
the
result
was
that
most
workhouses
at
Ireland
kind
of
flock
of
young
girls
who
had
no
future
the
normal
courting
and
mating
rituals
that
would
have
led
to
marriage
and
children
could
not
be
countless
done
at
work
house.
They
couldn't
be
discharged
into
the
responsibility
of
a
family
because
there
wasn't
one
there
were
few
or
no
acceptable
ways
for
them
to
earn
their
own
Keep,
so
they
and
their
Guardians
were
trapped
by
1848.
B
B
Well,
on
the
other
side
of
the
planet,
they
had
the
opposite
problem.
If
you
know
anything
about
Australian
history,
you'll
know
that
it
was
settled
by
convicts
from
England.
The
English
had
been
in
the
habit
of
exporting
their
problems
to
the
Caribbean
and
the
North
American
colonies
for
over
200
years.
But
when
the
Americans
declared
independence
in
1776,
that
was
no
longer
tenable,
so
the
First
Fleet
arrived
in
botany
bay
in
1788
for
the
next
50
years,
or
so
the
English
used
Australia
as
a
Dumping
Ground,
not
only
for
criminals,
but
also
for
political
prisoners.
B
B
English
criminals
were
a
tiny
minority
of
the
population
from
the
start
of
the
19th
century.
Free
men
formed
a
rapidly
swelling
majority,
they
had
opinions
and
they
were
not
backwards
in
making
sure
the
colonial
authorities
knew
what
they
were.
It
didn't
take
long
from
anti-transportation
Center
to
emerge
among
them.
B
A
second
point
to
make
is
that
the
population
was
overwhelmingly
male
convicts
were,
of
course,
almost
exclusively
in
that,
but
a
free
settler
was
typically
a
young
man
trying
his
luck,
not
a
woman
in
search
of
a
new
life
in
the
First
Fleet.
There
were
548
males
and
188
females
among
the
convicts.
That's
more
or
less.
Three
to
one,
but
over
time
it
got
much
worse.
In
1850,
in
some
parts
of
the
country
there
were
17
men,
Every
Woman,
it's
not
surprising.
B
B
B
B
B
So
it
was
that
the
sabrans
hailed
through
Sydney
heads
in
April
1848
with
53
young
women
on
board
over
the
next
few
years,
23
ships
departed
Plymouth
every
two
months,
or
so
mostly
with
about
200
Autumn
girls.
The
expectation
was
this
would
ramp
up
to
about
20
000
people
annually
for
a
while
it
seemed
to
work,
it
would
seem.
Most
of
the
girls
were
welcomed
into
their
new
homes.
They
got
jobs
within
a
few
weeks.
As
far
as
we
can
tell,
there
was
very
little
exploitation
on
the
trip
out.
B
The
ship's
doctor
was
explicitly
charged
with
their
protection
when
they
arrived,
they
were
housed
in
converted,
barracks
and
work
was
found
for
them
at
pre-ordained.
Set
rates
of
pay,
then,
as
they
moved
into
the
community,
their
employers
were
expected
to
see
to
their
spiritual
and
physical
welfare.
B
Sometimes
things
went
wrong.
Some
ships
doctors
took
advantage
of
this
situation.
Many
employers
did,
but
on
average
they
did
well.
It
took
them
two
years
to
find
a
husband
and
once
again,
on
average,
they
went
on
to
have
nine
children
each.
My
wife's
granny
had
13
kids,
12
of
whom
lived
to
maturity.
B
B
B
B
Now.
Suddenly,
here
was
a
second
scheme
concocted
by
Earl
Gray
this
time
to
bring
in
Irish
orphans,
the
colonists
demanded
a
say
in
the
type
of
Migrant
being
bought
out.
This
was
especially
so
when
it
became
apparent
that
the
scheme
was
being
funded
by
Colonial
land
taxes.
After
the
American
example,
Whitehall
was
sensitive
to
Colonial
opinion.
B
Indeed,
Catholic
and
Protestant
antagonism
was
one
of
the
defining
characteristics
of
Australian
Society
mixed
marriages
between
adherence
to
the
two
sects
were
a
rarity,
and
this
situation
lasted
right
into
the
1950s.
When
a
tidal
wave
of
immigration
from
Catholic
Europe
made
a
mockery
of
English
prejudice,
there
wasn't
any
anti-catholic
legislation
in
the
Australian
colonies
that
affected
entry
to
universities
or
the
professions.
There
were
some
de
facto
segregation
in
some
workplaces,
but
Catholics
never
suffered
the
kind
of
economic
disadvantage
they
did
in
the
UK.
B
For
all
that,
the
Catholic
Protestant
divide
was
a
part
of
the
economic
structure
of
the
earl
gray
girls
found
when
they
arrived
for
the
next
two
years.
The
local
press
was
full
of
such
anti-catholic.
Vitriol
with
the
colonial
office
began
to
fear
for
the
safety
of
the
girls.
The
scheme
was
abandoned.
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
The
move
to
self-government
was
motivated
in
both
Whitehall
and
the
colonies
by
the
discovery
of
gold
in
1851
two
years
after
the
earl
gray,
girls
arrived
most
of
those
who
actually
grabbed
for
gold
wound
up
poor
and
disillusioned.
Various
Australian
Gold
rushers
underpinned
a
wave
of
prosperity
over
the
next
20
years,
which
utterly
disrupted
social
relationships.
In
the
country
a
population
increased
in
1841
there
were
about
200
000
Europeans
in
the
Europe
in
the
Australian
economies.
Twenty
years
later,
in
1860
there
were
1.1
million
and
they
were
all
much
richer
than
before
landowners
found.
B
B
As
you
would
expect,
some
of
the
earl
gray
girls
suffered
horribly
from
their
experiences
in
the
famine.
Moving
to
the
Colony
didn't
improve
things
today
we
would
say
they
had
post-traumatic
stress
disorder.
They
must
have
all
of
them
being
flawed
by
homesickness
on
occasion,
but
if
that
was
their
only
suffering,
they
were
lucky.
Some
were
made
pregnant
by
their
employers.
Some
were
raped
a
few
brutalized
by
their
circumstances
committed
suicide.
B
B
B
My
wife's
Brenny
was
one
of
those
fortunate
ones:
the
poor,
mother,
a
peasants
daughter
from
County
Offaly.
She
died
a
respected
and
Wealthy
matriarch,
but
rich
or
poor,
successful
or
not
all
of
them
left
a
mark
on
their
new
country,
and
thank
you
very
much
for
your
attention.
If
you
have
any
questions,
I'll
certainly
have
a
go
at
answering
them.
A
A
B
B
They
sent
a
a
selection
party,
was
headed
by
lieutenant
Lieutenant
Henry
I
think
was
the
man's
name,
who
visited
all
who
did
a
trip
in
1847,
1846,
1847,
I,
think
to
all
the
workhouses
and
and
selected
girls,
and
basically,
what
happened
was
all
the
all
the
all
the
lighting
girls
were
bought
downstairs
stood
in
a
row.
Lieutenant
Henry
walked
up
and
down
the
lines
and
said
you
look
like
the
right
sort
of
goal
to
go.
B
Would
you
like
to
go
to
to
Australia
now,
of
course,
the
fact
of
the
matter
is
most
of
these
girls
would
have
had
absolutely
no
idea
where
Australia
was.
They
would
have
had
absolutely
no
idea
what
was
involved,
but
they
would
have
had
absolutely
no
idea
of
what
their
what
their
future
prospects
would
be,
but
I
guess
they
would
have
had
a
pretty
good
idea
what
their
prospects
would
be
if
they'd
stayed
in
Ireland
and
they
were
not
good.
B
So
in
that
sense,
for
all
of
them
it
was
it
was.
It
was
an
opportunity
now,
for
all
the
usual
reasons,
some
of
some
of
those
girls
could
take
advantage
of
those
opportunities
and
some
of
them
couldn't
some
of
them
had
bad
luck.
Some
of
them
had
a
good
fortune,
but
yes
you're
right.
They
all
they
all
did
make
a
mark.
A
B
Well,
this
goes
back
to
the
earlier
point
of
let's
not
let's
not
superimpose
modern
expectations
on
on
an
old
situation.
I
mean
you
would
not
have
enjoyed
the
trip
and
I
certainly
wouldn't
have,
but
I
think
by
that
time
this
was
1850
all
right.
The
the
British
had
a
lot
of
experience
by
that
time,
a
moving
of
moving
civilians
around
the
world.
B
They
could
send
people
to
India,
not
not
not
not
semen,
but
they
could
send
people
to
India.
They
could
send
people
to
North
America,
they
could
come
backwards,
they
could
go
backward,
go
back
and
forth
and
run
an
Empire,
so
they
knew
how
to
do
it.
They
knew
how
to
keep
people
alive
and
the
second
portrait.
The
second
point
to
remember
is
that
the
the
second
Fleet,
the
second
convict
plate,
the
first
convict
plate.
B
B
Not
only
were
the
mortality
rates
bad,
but
most
of
the
people
who
got
off
the
ships
were
basket
cases
they
and
especially,
they
were
not
fit
for
work.
So
the
implication
was
that
colony,
which
was
essentially
starving
at
the
time,
got
lumbered
with
all
these
people
getting
off
a
ship
who
needed
enormous
amounts
of
care,
so
British
Columbia,
sorry,
Australian,
Colonial
authorities.
B
B
A
Thank
you.
It
is
certainly
hard
to
consider
or
come
sorry
comprehend
our
journey
of
four
to
six
months,
as
you
say
very
difficult,
but
the
regulations
and
players
actually
ensured
that
it
was
relatively
safe
and
journey
to
ensure
the
ship
said
an
interest
in
making
sure
everyone
arrived
safely,
as
you
said
that
they
weren't
getting
getting
paid.
C
C
Wasn't
this
idea
of
compliant
young
girls
sitting
there
being
told
what
to
do
and
they're,
not
in
Australia
and
again
a
similar
thing,
and
you
know,
there's
a
couple
of
workhouse
museums
in
the
in
the
country,
the
parking
across
as
a
special
emphasis
on
the
orphan
girls
and
that
they've
reconstructed,
the
the
suitcases
that
they
would
have
been
used
in
the
clothes
that
sort
of
stuff?
And
it's
well
worth
president.
If
you're
aspect
of
the
subjective.
A
B
Just
about
those
well
actually
yeah,
there
are
a
couple
of
things.
One
was
just
about
those
those
those
cases
yeah
each
each
girl
was
given
a
case,
and
it
was
about
I,
don't
know
if
I
said
a
meter,
a
meter
by
probably
500
mils
Maybe
by
500
mils
in
Dimensions,
into
which
she
put
all
her
stuff,
and
this
became
a
bit
of
a
talent.
These
cases
became
a
bit
of
a
Talisman
for
these
for
these
girls
as
they
as
they
grew
up
and
Grew
Older.
B
You
know
for
for
a
hundred
years,
my
own,
my
own
reading
of
the
sources
is
that,
but
certainly
you
can
explain,
you
can
explain
everything
or
with
by
by
understanding
laissez-faire
economics.
I
mean
bear
in
mind.
This
was
the
time
of
Corn
Laws.
This
was
the
time
when
these
new
ideas
about
capitalism,
Adam
Smith
and
all
that
kind
of
stuff
have
really
come
into
the
floor,
and
the
The
View
was
melchion.
B
A
An
element,
though,
of
how
people
perceive
the
earl
gray
scheme
without
knowing
maybe
a
lot
of
information
about
it
as
opposes
the
fact
that
the
ages
of
these
girls,
who
left
they
were
very
young
but
again,
I
suppose
this
comes
back.
But
again
this
comes
back
to
an
extent
as
well
and
how
we
do
our
expectations
of
age
and
our
expectations
at
the
time
of
someone,
14
15
is
very
different
to
what
we
expect
of
someone
14
15.
A
Now
without
completely
a
number
of
people
have
commented
here,
John
they
really
appreciate
your
talk,
they've
enjoyed
it
and
have
found
it
very
balanced
which
the
a
very
balanced
talk
tonight.
Someone
has
actually
commented
or
asked
a
question
that
approximately
40
000
Irish
convicts
were
transported
to
Australia
25
were
women?
Were
the
earl
gray
Girls
part
of
these
numbers?
I
can
confirm
the
weren't
part
of
those
numbers.
This
is
completely
separate
to
those
who
are
transported
to
Australia's
convicts
yeah.
Isn't.
B
A
A
B
B
A
When
you
hear
see,
girls
listed
from
I
I
did
a
little
bit
of
research
from
their
website
and
I
will
circulate
it
to
those,
especially
those
who
residents
here
in
Northern
Ireland,
and
when
you
see
local
towns
like
Market,
Hill,
armor,
bambridge,
rougher
Island,
mentioned
on
the
names
of
the
girls
and
the
rages.
It
very
much
does
bring
it
home,
which
is
fantastic
again.
Comments
everybody's
really
enjoy
the
presentations
tonight,
which
is
fantastic,
I,
know
it's
getting
late
here.
Jared.
Do
you
have
any
other
questions
or
comments
before
we
close
up
for
the
evening?
A
C
I
just
think
you
know
the
tonight
just
reflects
the
the
ethos
of
the
seminar
program.
You
know
that
it's
it's
wide
range
and
subjects
that
may
seem
like
at
a
tangent
when
you're,
focusing
on
the
main
aspect
of
the
1845-52.
You
know
the
ideal
relation
the
workers
actually
are
very
nuanced
and
can
go
into
great
depth
themselves.
You
know
so
I
mean,
like
everybody
else.
Look
forward
to
next
week.
Can.
A
I
just
ask
one
final
question:
before
you
go
John
you
mentioned
that
the
course
of
traveling
to
Australia
then
was
20
pounds.
Okay
and
it
was
two
was
it
two
did
you
say
two
pounds
to
Canada,
yeah
I
believe
two
pounds.
What
would
20
pounds?
Does
anybody
know
what
would
20
pounds
equal
to?
Maybe
Today
I,
just
of
course
serious
amount
of
money,
but
does
anybody
Jared?
Would
you
have
any
idea
well.
B
B
A
A
And
so
those
girls
take
an
opportunity
to
go
to
Australia
for,
for
those
who
were
able
to
for,
like
you,
you
just
heard
maybe
family
reunification
somewhere
today,
we'd
use
that
term
had
a
major,
economical
impact,
then
on
family
members
they
were
able
to
actually
bring
over
and
that's
something
to
probably.
It
would
be
interesting
to
look
at
another
date.
You
know
if
it
wasn't
for
that
girl
going
her
other
siblings,
who
later
came
the
impact
that
it
had
on
the
rest
of
the
family.
B
I
must
say:
that's
not
something
that
that's
not
something
that
I
researched,
I
I
didn't
really
think
about.
I
thought
I
mean
I.
I
did
research,
it
I
researched
it
from
an
Australian
perspective,
but
I
never
researched
it
from
an
Irish
perspective.
I
never
thought
about
what
the
what
the
implications
of
that
would
have
been
for
the
people
who
stayed
behind
in
Ireland
and.
C
C
You
know
it
was
sent
through
an
easy
account.
So,
but
it's
just
interesting
to
think
and
it
shows
you
how
how
Ireland
was
that
people
felt
the
need
that
they
had
to
go
to
the
other
side
of
the
word,
never
returned.
You
know
some
of
them
hanged
away.
Some
of
the
girls
you
weren't
originally,
and
some
committed
suicide.
Some
were
incredibly
homesick,
but
it's
just
again.
It's
a
different
perspective.
A
I'm
just
Joan
mentions
here
that
in
one
case
she
she
she's
aware
of
she.
There
were
three
girls
who
went
on
one
ship.
Their
mother
then
went
as
a
matron
on
a
ship
and
they
were
later
joined
by
the
father,
who
had
been
previously
transported
to
Van
diemen's
land
War
children
were
born
to
the
family,
so
it
was
his
reflection
on
the
the
journeys
family
goes.
Families
go
through
to
survive
and.
C
What
the
Vietnamese
was
a
fairly
small
effort
leader
in
the
great
hunger
and
in
there
I
outlined
the
girls
who
went
from
the
three
houses,
workhouse
Manor,
Hamilton,
characters,
Shannon
and
Mohawk,
and
after
reading
that
book,
one
one
woman
in
Australia
was
able
to
pinpoint
here.
Grandmother
was
had
gone
out
in
1847
yeah.
A
You
know
no
John.
Thank
you
so
much
for
your
talk
this
evening.
We
really
appreciate
it
it's
great
to
actually
it's
great
to
hear
from
someone
who's
actually
done
the
research
on
the
other
end
of
the
world
and,
as
you
said,
there's
a
family
connection
there
you
know,
so
we
really
appreciate
it,
and
certainly
the
feedback
has
been
wonderful
here
tonight.