Charles Margerison - Amazing People of Sydney

Imagine that you are taken in handcuffs to a sailing ship. You are pushed below decks with many others. It is overcrowded, smelly and the food is of poor quality. However, you give thanks. Only a few days ago, in London, you were due to be hanged for thieving. On appeal, you pleaded that it was a case of false identification. This was rejected, but your sentence was commuted to transportation to lands beyond the seas. You breathed a sigh of relief, but not for long. On May 13 th 1787, in an old sailing boat full of convicts chained like animals, you set sail.

For the next nine months, you are cooped up on what seems like an endless journey. Many people take ill on the journey and some die. You feel fortunate to have survived. On arrival in your new land, you have difficulty walking, because you have been on the high seas for so long and are weak from the lack of good food.

However, you could have had a different role. Imagine you were Captain Arthur Phillip in 1787. For nine months you have been sailing the mighty oceans leading 11 ships packed with convicts, guarded by marines. In all, there are nearly 1500 people under your leadership. The journey of 10,000 miles and more is arduous. You are going to a place visited only once. Captain James Cook and his crew were there 18 years previously. They stopped at a place called Botany Bay for about a week and now it is your destination to create a new prison colony.

On arrival, you realize the location recommended is not adequate for the purpose. Appointed as the Governor of New South Wales, you go in search of a new landing site and discover a magnificent harbour, which you later call Sydney Cove.

In contrast, you could have been an officer or a marine. You joined the Navy to fight battles, not to take convicts to an unknown land. The journey has been boring, as you only had to guard and control convicts. On arrival, you realize that setting up a new colony is not going to be easy. There are natives with spears who try to attack, but the biggest threat is from hunger and disease. It is a battle just to survive.

These roles belonged to some of the main characters in an amazing story about the formation of a new colony, which became the vibrant city of Sydney, and the start point for the foundation of Australia.

This book tells their stories, as if they have come back through time to give their views. It does so via a concept called a BioView, which is short for biographical interview. From the first landing in 1788, I have traced each generation. During the last 200 and more years, tens of thousands of people have arrived in Sydney. Some were sent as convicts and some chose to travel to a new land, where they saw opportunity. Others who also made outstanding contributions were born in the new colony.

All of the time, the people who had lived there for centuries, looked on. The Aboriginal tribes had often fought amongst themselves, but had found ways to survive in a harsh climate. However, the arrival of the white men and women in the sailing boats was to change all of that. From 1788 onwards, there was a clash of cultures. The traditional owners retreated away from the coast, as the colonists took over more of the land and introduced their technology and way of life.