Stranger in Dixie

"Stranger in Dixie" gives a vivid account of the odyssey of a special man whose endeavours in three different countries in the nineteenth century demanded great courage and creativity. The novel explores several themes including the trauma experienced by the affluent when they fall on hard times, the motivating force of a desire for independence, the importance of encouragement, not criticism in the nurture of human maturity, and how fortune favours those who will "have a go" in the face of adversity. The novel is based upon the life of the author's own Great Grandfather.

John Oxley, the son of an affluent English industrial family, had a highly developed social conscience with respect to the poor of the Yorkshire Midlands in the 1840s. His growing interest in left-wing British politics took him to a meeting of the evolving Chartist movement where he became involved in a melee with the local landowners. A poor Irish tenant-farmer had taken offence at the attitude of one of the English aristocracy who was trying to address the meeting.

?"It's bastards loik you who profit from our 'ard work. Yer children go t' bed with full bellies while ours cry with 'unger." An aggressive murmur of assent went up from the angry crowd. At this the landlord could contain himself no longer. His eyes blazed with fury, and the veins in his neck stood out in stark relief as he tried to take back the initiative. "It's taken me years of hard work to get where I stand today, and I'll be damned if I'll stand by and watch it all crumble because of scum like you. Why did you and the rest of you Irish trash come to this country anyway?" The gentry standing near him aired their approval of his sentiments with a restrained mumble of 'Here, here!' England can do without you lazy, filthy Irish!" he shouted with increasing heat. Go back to Hell where you came from!" At this remark the meeting broke up in wild confusion. Most of the crowd were with the outspoken Irishman, and began to look menacingly toward the landlords who were clustering together for protection.

?Suddenly a well-dressed youth standing nearby, similarly incensed by the landlord's callous barbs, sprang forward like a wild beast, forcefully pushing aside those in his way. "You arrogant parasite!" he yelled as he lunged at the unsuspecting freeholder.............The older man staggered back and landed on the muddy grass grasping his jaw. The hero of the moment was John Oxley, youngest son of Sir Richard and Lady Oxley, a prosperous middle-aged couple from midland city of Sheffield."

Why did this youthful, affluent Yorkshireman subsequently travel to Australia to endure the torturous rigours of the Victorian goldfields, and later to the United States, only to be confronted by the terrors of the American Civil War. Do those influences, as Shakespeare's Hamlet has put it, constitute the "Divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will?"

John Oxley's life was radically changed after his trial and conviction on contrived charges. So much so that, to minimise the disgrace to his family, he changed his name to John Francis.

?John stood there dumfounded, unable to comprehend the severity of his sentence - fifteen years. A wry smile passed momentarily across his face. The irony of the situation had not escaped him. Here he was, the son of a well-to-do British industrialist about to be sent as a convict to the other end of the earth following a poor Bog Irish girl who was a free settler.

?But the gravity of his position soon overwhelmed him as the Justice continued. "John Francis, you will be taken to a prison hulk at Woolwich where you will be held until you are transported to Van Diemen's Land. Take him down!"

?The Magistrate's words pierced John's soul like an arrow, and his heart was suddenly heavy with loneliness. Love and politics were proving to be severe taskmasters.

?In an attempt to frustrate the developing friendship between John and Anna, the daughter of the Bog Irish tenant-farmer, John's father, Sir Richard Oxley had financed the hot-tempered Irishman to move his whole family to Tasmania to set up a small farm there.

In the period of lonely desolation that followed this act of paternal manipulation, John fell foul of British law, and was sentenced to fifteen years of penal servitude. The trauma of the trial, the prison hulk experience and his subsequent transportation to Van Diemen's Land were in marked contrast to the affluent living of his erstwhile childhood and teenage years.

John's introduction to the life of a convict illustrates this abuse to which these rejects of British society were subjected.

?"Ere lad! Lather yourself all over" said one of those deputed to carry out the ablutions, tossing John a chunk of carbolic soap The embarrassment of standing naked on the wharf was as distasteful to John as were the biting winds that blew up the Thames.

?"Ouch!" yelled John as the sadistic fellow took a rough scrubbing brush to his back. The treatment continued for several minutes until he and the other prisoners looked like boiled lobsters with blood oozing from the many deep scratches on their bodies.

The sea voyage in the bilges of the convict ship took the crew and human cargo from one extreme of temperature to the other. With atrocious food and little exercise, conditions for these social rejects of British society were intolerable. Their arrival was even more unfriendly.

?"Come on yer lazy sluggards! You'll travel faster than this tomorrer with a cart load o' stone! My bloody oath, yer will!" shouted one of the Constables. A murmur of complaint earned one poor fellow a cuff over the ear from an over-enthusiastic member of the constabulary.

? "Quiet, yer convict scum! Yer got no rights 'ere!" said the vociferous Constable. "Yer left 'em behind in England. All yer got t' look forward to 'ere is rocks and roads, and plenty of'em, I can tell yer!"

?As John struggled up the gentle slope towards the township, he was horrified to notice four scaffolds upon which the fly-blown corpses of as many men swung to and fro ignominiously. "Go on! Take a good look!" yelled the Constable anxious to put the fear of God into the new prisoners. "That will be you tomorrer if yer give us any trouble." The men

Life as a convict in Van Diemen's Land was no sinecure for John. For a highly educated young industrialist with significant connections in British society, this was a social faux pas of mammoth proportions. There could be no doubt that the experience had shaken John profoundly leaving him unusually depressed. But two other emotions kept bobbing up in his mind, and he could not ignore

them --- his longing to see his little Bog-Irish girl, Anna who had captured his heart, and his passionate determination not to let his father's prediction of ultimate doom become a reality. So John Francis resolved to co-operate with his present masters and learn from them, and to work toward some pastoral occupation of his own in due course.

From the base camp in Hobart Town smaller convict gangs worked at far-flung centres around the island of Van Diemen's Land. Their main task was the clearing of land for future farming activities, and the cutting of roads to facilitate the establishment of roads and the growth of the population. Indeed credit should be given to these pioneers in the development of Australia's primary infrastructure - the basis of a society that would blossom into a nation.

John kept his resolve, and earned merit in his Overseer's eyes, so much so that in seven years he was eligible for parole. A condition of parole was that the convict had the assurance of employment upon release.

?"Have no fear, Ma'm!" shouted John as the jinker drew to a halt. "Why should I?" que