DAVID ADAMS reads Sarah Goldman’s biography of Caroline Chisholm…
Sarah Goldman
Caroline Chisholm: An Irresistible Force – How Caroline Chisholm Helped Shape a Nation
HarperCollins Publishers, Australia, 2017
ISBN: 978-1460753439
“A woman ahead of her time, Caroline Chisholm’s is a remarkable story, and Goldman’s book is a timely reminder of the key role she played during the early years of white settlement in Australia and the influence she still has on the nation we know today.”
Mention the name Caroline Chisholm and most Australians will know of her as the “emigrant’s friend”, someone who helped female immigrants coming to Australia during the early history of the country’s white settlement to find work, shelter and protection from those who would exploit them.
But, as journalist Sarah Goldman shows in her book charting Chisholm’s life, that was just one of many initiatives – albeit the most successful and well-known – she spearheaded in an effort to improve the lives of others, especially the poor and vulnerable.
This extraordinary English-born reformer – who had come to Australia at the age of 30 in 1838 after having first lived briefly in India – also founded the Family Colonization Loan Society in London to encourage immigration from the UK to Australia and help those making the long journey to do so.
Other achievements included establishing a couple of schools (the first in India, the second in Sydney), bringing about the construction of a series of “shelter sheds” to house those making their way from Melbourne to Victoria’s goldfields and being a passionate advocate for everything from the rights of all to own land to multiculturalism and the benefits of a democratic society.
These and Chisholm’s many projects aimed at bettering the lives of others are outlined in Goldman’s book as she traces Caroline’s life from her birth in Northampton to her marriage to East India Company soldier Archibald Chisholm and her subsequent somewhat itinerant life spent variously in England, India and Australia.
Among the most interesting aspects of the book is Goldman’s account of Chisholm’s marriage to Captain Chisholm, a man she had married only after he had agreed that she would be allowed to “lead a public life” and who she then spent much of her married life apart from.
Goldman also details her rather unusual attitude (at least by today’s standards) towards her children, time with whom often seems to have been sacrificed in favour of pursuing her various callings, as well as the significant financial challenges the family faced, particularly after Chisholm’s fame had waned, and the reformer’s own battles with her health, especially later in life.
One of the things which stands out in the book is just how famous Chisholm was in mid-19th century Sydney and London (less so in Melbourne), a fame which led to professional relationships with the likes of author Charles Dickens and personal friendships with people such as nurse Florence Nightingale.
Yet, while Mrs Chisholm’s strength and relentless determination to do what she felt was right shines through clearly in this book (although there’s certainly also a sense that having instigated a project Caroline wasn’t necessarily someone who stuck with it for the long haul, often simply moving on to the next task), we’re shown only glimpses of her religious motivation. Goldman touches on the subject of Chisholm’s Christian faith many times but it would been good to see a bit more in-depth exploration of how it shaped her views.
Goldman breaks up her book with some imaginative writing at the start of each chapter in which she attempts to recreate vignettes from Chisholm’s life – it’s an added bonus in a genre that can be a little on the dry side. That and the fact she keeps the action moving at a fairly cracking pace make this an engaging read even for someone not particularly a fan of biographies.
A woman ahead of her time, Caroline Chisholm’s is a remarkable story, and Goldman’s book is a timely reminder of the key role she played during the early years of white settlement in Australia and the influence she still has on the nation we know today.
