A Convict's Tour of Hell - Sydney Stories with Warren Fahey скачать в хорошем качестве

A Convict's Tour of Hell - Sydney Stories with Warren Fahey

Through the story of 'Frank the Poet’, an early convict rebel, we explore Sydney’s dark convict past. This episode is part of the 'Sydney Stories with Warren Fahey' series. Sydney abounds with curious history. Some stories are known and many have disappeared over time. Cultural historian and storyteller Warren Fahey has created a dozen video stories of the city's past; each offering a unique slice of Sydney’s hidden history. Visit Warren's website: https://www.warrenfahey.com.au/ Sydney Stories with Warren Fahey features footage from the collection of the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. It was created with assistance from the City of Sydney Creative Fellowships Fund and support of The Vine Foundation. The grants were under the auspice of the Folk Federation of New South Wales. A CONVICT’S TOUR OF HELL The curious story of Sydney’s colonial convict past. Synopsis The ghosts of Sydney’s convict past hover across our city to remind us of the penal transportation system which saw over 160,000 men, women and children transplanted to Australian shores. Approximately half were destined to Sydney. Apart from the dubious legality of taking the land from the indigenous people (without a thought of treaty), the British set to building the first colonial settlement on prime Gadigal land, using the bitter hard sweat of convict labour . On arrival, the majority of First Fleet convicts were released to fend for themselves, to build rudimentary shelter in the area now known as The Rocks. The system didn’t care less whether they returned or not - ‘good riddance to bad rubbish’ - but the authorities knew the terrified and hungry convicts would return next morning - and they did. The plan was to build a settlement, in effect, a goal town, which would cope with successive arrivals of transports. Convicts were set to work. Men, yoked together like cattle, forged through the wild bushland to turn tracks to roads; gangs in heavy leg-irons smashed sandstone to make bricks, and men, skilled or otherwise, laboured to create buildings great and small. Around 13,000 women were sentenced to Australia. There were also children, some as young as nine year’s of age sentenced to transportation, usually for petty thievery. On arrival women and children were expected to work. The women and young girls were despatched to the Female Factory at Parramatta, where they worked in laundries and fabric repair or were despatched as indentured farm workers. The story of Frances McNamara, better known as Frank the Poet, is both colourful and dark. Sentenced at 21 for stealing plaid he was sent to Sydney for 7 years. Arriving on the transport ship Eliza, 1832, the self-proclaimed poet, appears to have almost immediately stepped on the toes of the system. Over his years in Australia Frank MacNamara wrote many poems and the extraordinary monolgue, A Convict’s Tour of Hell. This program tells Frank’s story.