The Silence of Water is a work of fiction informed by historical research.
It is based on some aspects of the life of convicted murderer Edwin Thomas Salt, tailor, excise man and convict number 6101, who arrived in Western Australia on board the Lincelles in 1862. The research included genealogical records; case documents from the National Archives in London and the National Records of Scotland; police, prison and colonial government records from the State Records Office of Western Australia; along with rate books, newspapers and a range of other records, all of which are publicly accessible.
The main characters, events in the public domain and major geographical locations are based upon real people, events and places. Edwin Salt was born in Lichfield, England, and was married three times: to Mary Ann Hall, Catherine Curtin and Annie Edwards. He died at the home of his daughter, Agnes Johnson, in Fremantle in 1910 after a period of estrangement from Annie.
Mary Ann is buried in Colinton churchyard. According to Colonial Secretary’s Office records, it appears Catherine died of natural causes. Annie survived Edwin and was living in their house in Victoria Park, Perth, at the time of his death.
Agnes Salt married George Johnson at Ernest and Florence’s home in Adelaide. They had their four children in South Australia. In the novel, Tom and Ned swap birth order, and Frances is called Fan by her family. I have also made slight changes to the children’s ages.
Ernest Salt married Hannah in Derby, England, before he came to Australia. He spent some time in Perth before moving to Adelaide. One record indicates the real Ernest may have travelled to Adelaide before Perth. I have begun his story with his trip to Western Australia to meet his wife from the emigrant ship Kapunda. Hannah Salt perished on board the Kapunda and Ernest later married Florence in Adelaide. The tailor’s tale recited by Ernest is invented, and includes some genealogical research into the Salt family.
The infant Catherine Salt (‘Baby Cath’) was taken into the Girls’ Orphanage by the Sisters of Mercy, and records indicate that she died there.
Walter Salt drifted in and out of Agnes’s life. He spent time as an itinerant worker and traveller in the goldfields and the north of Western Australia. In this novel, his trip to Adelaide is imagined.
Eliza Salt became a teacher in Lichfield. Eliza corresponded with the authorities while Edwin was in prison and revealed herself to be an intelligent, articulate woman who cared about family. I’ve taken some licence to make her slightly older and given her some unconventional experiences. Based on the archival material, I imagined Eliza as the family letter-writer. Jane McKenzie and Margaret Wallace were real Juniper Green residents and are mentioned in the documents pertaining to Edwin’s trial.
The timing of some events in the novel, including Edwin’s departure from Lichfield, Agnes’s departure for Adelaide, Agnes and George’s return from Adelaide, the arrival and departure of Ernest and his mother, Eddie’s arrival and departure, and some characters’ births and deaths, are imagined.
The case of Edwin’s Lincelles shipmate, the embezzler William Pullinger, is famous and well documented. The scenes on board the Lincelles that involve Pullinger bringing money on board are invented.
William Crawford was the surgeon on board the Lincelles and part of his role was to keep a journal of the voyage. The convict Mick McCarthy shares a name with a real convict who was transported to Western Australia – however, the fictional Mick’s experiences are imagined. The other convict characters, court personnel, police, doctors and other supporting and minor characters are either invented or composites created from experiences detailed in historical records. Henry Wood was a tailor to whom Edwin was ‘ticketed’ upon his release from Perth Gaol. I have based Henry’s character on the real Henry, but changed a few details. Where there were several real people with the same name, some names and details have been changed.
Edwin Stewart Salt was the second son of Edwin and Mary Ann, and Edwin did transfer part of his East Perth land to a man calling himself by that name. The reasons for this, and the character called Eddie, are invented, as is Eddie’s departure for New South Wales. Maryann Farm is an invention sparked by one of the more interesting trails of research breadcrumbs.
The courtroom scenes are drawn from some information in the case documents and newspaper reports of the trial. The report in The Scotsman on 15 February 1860 describes the courtroom as ‘crowded’ and that there was a ‘sensation’ at the jury’s verdict. I have taken some licence with placing Eliza in the public gallery. Some researchers note that in the nineteenth century, women regularly occupied public galleries at trials, and others note that women were likely to have been removed from the court, or barred completely, if evidence of a sexual nature was presented. I like to think my fictional Eliza would have talked her way in.
I have chosen to leave out some details, events and people that aren’t relevant to this story. Where there are gaps, questions and ambiguities in the records, imagination fills those gaps.
Lichfield Cathedral, Stowe Pool, Minster Pool, Semaphore Jetty, the Jetty Hotel (later the Federal), the Exeter Hotel, Greenmount convict station, Saint Ronan’s Well, Wallace’s gin shop and Woodhall Mill are, or were, real places. The Western Hotel is inspired by the pub originally called the John Bull Inn on Howick Street (now Hay Street in Perth) and later redeveloped as the Criterion. The Crown Inn in Lichfield is based on the George Hotel on Bird Street. While the Swan River (Derbarl Yerrigan) runs through East Perth, the stretch of river in this story where Agnes and Cath swim is created from images and archives relating to that area. The beach at Fremantle is based on my favourite stretch of South Beach.
While records indicate that Edwin Salt brought letters and books with him to Western Australia, the family letters and keepsakes are imagined, as is Fan’s notebook. The discussions between convicts on the York road gang, and on board the Lincelles, are all imagined; inspired by information in convict archives and secondary sources. The family visits to Semaphore beach are all imagined.
As historical archives are increasingly digitised and made more widely available, it’s exciting that the depth and diversity of what we can read about aspects of the past is always growing. However, it’s important to remember that some kinds of people were either heavily classified and controlled via colonial archives, or ignored completely. Some were written about in ways that dehumanised, demonised or marginalised them, reflecting the biases, exclusions and power structures of the era.
A list of sources that informed The Silence of Water can be found on my website, www.sharronbooth.com.