THE POET SOCIETY
On the Summit of Mt. Clarence
A poem by Henry Lawson
On the top of Mount Clarence, Albany, W.A., stands a tall flagstaff, which was erected for signalling purposes before the telephone was laid from the town to Breaksea Island. Wherefore the Muse:
On the summit of Mount Clarence rotting slowly in the air
Stands a tall and naked flagstaff, relic of the Russian scare,
Russian scare that scares no longer, for the cry is "All is well",
Yet the flagstaff still is standing like a lonely sentinel.
And it watches through the seasons, winter's cold and summer's heat,
Watches seaward, watches ever for the phantom Russian fleet.
In a cave among the ridges, where the scrub is tall and thick
With no human being near him dwells a wretched lunatic:
On Mount Clarence in the morning he will fix his burning eyes,
And he scans the sea and watches for the signal flag to rise;
In his ears the roar of cannon and the sound of battle drums
While he cleans his gun and watches for the foe that never comes.
And they say, at dreary nightfall, when the storms are howling round
Comes a phantom ship to anchor in the waters of the "Sound",
And the lunatic who sees it wakes the landscape with his whoops,
Loads his gun and marches seaward at the head of airy troops,
To the summit of Mount Clarence leads them on with martial tread,
Fires his gun and sends the Russians to the mustering of the dead.
Western Australia Mail Service
Albany was the selected port for mail transported by ships on passage from England to the eastern colonies and then to the west. The mail despatch from England took approximately eight weeks to reach King George Sound. At this time New South Wales retained administrative control over King George Sound until 7 March 1831 and any outward mail up to this time, belonged to NSW. Some two and a half years after the settlement at Albany, the British Government decided to permit the establishment of a colony at Swan River.
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Postal requirements at King George Sound remained minimal following the transfer of control from Sydney to Perth. Postal duties were preformed by the Clerk in the Commissariat, J.L Morley. Morley was away in India in 1833 and left Western Australia in September 1834. Sarah Lyttleton was appointed as the colony’s first Postmistress in Albany on 14 October 1834.
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In 1852, a mail service to Australia was introduced by the Royal Mail Steamship Navigation Company and the Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Company (P&O) was awarded the mail contract between Australia and England and Albany was the chosen drop off point by P&O. Albany continued to be an efficient transit point for P&O and other steamer companies until Premier, Forrest made it a condition for Western Australia to form part of the Federation of the Commonwealth of Australia that the British colonies, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania agreed to the transfer of the mail port to Fremantle.
Coaling Station and Port
The quiet waters of King George's Sound was known to offer a sheltered haven and was strategically placed to afford safety from the gales of the Southern Ocean. Albany was well placed to be a coal station to replenish fuel supplies when steam-driven vessels came within the Indian Ocean.
Albany was chosen to be the refuelling coal port for the new mail steamer service between Britain and the Australian colonies (see mail service below). Fremantle was rejected because it did not provide safe anchorage and was not as well placed for the refuelling stages.
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In the nineteenth century Albany took a broader view and understood the importance of connection with the eastern colonies and unlike other ports in Australia, Albany did not exists to flow produce from its regions, which at that time was very much undeveloped. In the late nineteenth century, Albany's connection with Perth by rail in 1889 vitalised her further as a major port of Western Australia.
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Albany's strength is that of the sea and the ships which called into her port, to drop and pick up mail, people entering the colony and on most occasions a port of call for any ships that were bound or had departed Fremantle and was the colony's main link to the outside world until the turn of the century.
List of 23 Convicts proceeding on H.M Colonial Brig "Amity" to King George's Sound
The twenty three convicts chosen in Sydney as workers to establish the settlement at King George's Sound were artisan or skilled labourers serving sentences ranging from seven years to life. The youngest was 17 and the oldest 48, but some had no idea of their age. Eleven were English born and eleven were Irish and one, a John Ryan was American. Four men escaped at the King George Sound Colony and were not recaptured, these were Thomas Woodward, January 1830, John Marsden, February 8, 1831 and George Metham and John Smith on February 11, 1831.
They are listed in order on the convict roll as:
James Shuttleworth, Age: 27, Trade: Carpenter, Manchester, England
Willian Kearney, Age: 34, Trade: Carpenter, Carlow, England
John Ryan, Age: 33, Trade: Sawyer, American
James White, Age: 23, Trade: Carpenter, Worcester, England
Thomas Edwards, Age: 24, Trade: Brickmaker, Derbyshire, England
John McCabe, Age: 33, Trade: Stonemason, Monaghan, Ireland
Denis Dineen, Age: 21, Trade: Blacksmith, Cork City, England
Henry Magee, Age: 44, Trade: Tailor, Monaghan, England
James Lander, Age: unknown, Trade: Shoemaker, Middlesex, England
John Cavanagh, Age: 20, Trade: Labourer, Tipperary, Ireland
Frances Elliot, Age: 17, Trade: Labourer, Cork, Ireland
George Metham, Age: 48, Trade: File cutter, Sheffield, England
John Scott, Age: 21, Trade: Labourer, Birmingham, England
Matthew Gill, Age: unknown, Trade: Labourer, Galway, Ireland
Thomas Woodward, Age: 21, Trade: Labourer, Northampton, England
William Thacker, Age: 24, Trade: Labourer, London, England
Edward Murphy, Age: 18, Trade: Labourer, London, England
Charles Griffiths, Age 34, Trade: Gardener, Bedfordshire, England
Thomas Keegan, Age: 27, Trade: Labourer, Kells, Ireland
Thomas Noel, Age: 24, Trade: Boatman, Galway, Ireland
James McKone, Age: 21, Trade: Boatman, Mayo, Ireland
John Smith, Age: 30, Trade: Baker, London, England
John Marsden, Age: 28, Trade: Horse dealer, Matlock, England
Image: List of 23 Convicts proceeding on H.M Colonial Brig "Amity" to King George's Sound, with their Sentences. Extracted from the Indents of the respective Ships of which they have arrived in this Colony.
World Chain of Light
Edward House, Mark I, Albany was the centre of a large gathering of members of Toc H, Albany and Porongorup Groups and L.W.H and the general public on the 11 December 1938, when the World 'Chain of Light of Toc H was observed, and when the centenary of the building which is used as the Mark was celebrated.
Mr. Robert Stephens, correspondent of the W.A Historical Society, addressed the members of Toc H and L.W.H and delivered a short address on the history of the Edward House. The land on which it stands was taken up in the early days of the settlement, shortly after its transference from New South Wales to the Swan River Settlement, by Mr. George Cheyne, who erected a cottage on it. This home became largely the centre of social life in the tiny settlement, for Mr. and Mrs. Cheyne were extremely hospitable people. After a residence of many years at Albany during which he engaged extensively in industry including whaling and store-keeping, Mr. Cheyne returned to Scotland. He sold his Albany property subsequently to Captain John Hassell, whose daughter eventually became the wife of the late Frank Dymes. On his death the property passed into the possession of his sister, Miss Annie Dymes, a woman whose chief interest in life lay in youth movements.
At nine o'clock, the whole gathering "stood to," to participate in the World Chain of Light. The ceremony, which originated in Western Australia in 1929 is observed by Toc H throughout the world each year. Every year a different Branch or Group commences the chain. In 1938 it started from Toronto, Canada, where at nine pm the lamps and rushlights of Toc H Units in the area were lit. Successive units across Canada and the United States, in South America, New Zealand, Australia, India, China, Europe and Great Britain, stood to, lighting their lamps at nine o'clock and thus passing the light round the world. After the ceremony, a series of speakers traced the history of Toc H, from 1938, through its various - stages, back to the old house of Poperinghe and the newly appointed Albany Toc H Padre, Rev. K. D. Andrews-Baxter, concluded the series by taking his hearers back to the stable at Bethlehem, where he was born on Whom the whole principles of Toc H are founded and without Whom the movement could not continue.
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The World Chain of Light is conducted annually by Toc H members worldwide. It takes place on the 11th – 12th December, those dates being chosen to commemorate the first opening of Talbot House in Poperinghe, Belgium and the birthday of the Founder Padre Tubby Clayton.
It was first undertaken in 1929 at the initiative of Toc H in Western Australia and started in Perth. The host Lamp is lit at nine pm local time on the 11th December and a vigil is maintained for 24 hours. The chain moves westwards around the world with Branches all lighting their Lamps at 9.00pm local time until the chain of light is completed at 9.00pm on the 12th December. A short Service is prepared by the members of the host Branch or Group which includes a Message.