their charge’s education as they preferred the children to work in the vegetable gardens and care for the sheep and cattle. This farming enterprise raised significant funds, which were not invested back into the running of the orphanage. The money went straight into the staff’s pockets.
At night, if one of the masters heard a boy crying, he would order every boy to get out and stand at the end of his bed. He would then examine every boy’s eyes to determine who the cry baby was. Once discovered, the boy would be beaten with a cane as punishment.
This was the environment Gordon suffered under. At the age of ten, he was sleeping soundly in the dorm when he felt a hand down the front of his pyjamas. He gasped, but a large hand covered his mouth.
‘Shut up you little grub, or I’ll make life hell for you.’
The master abused the young boy for the next thirty minutes doing unspeakable things. He then left Gordon crying into his pillow, fearing he would be beaten.
The next morning Gordon knew what he needed to do. He was not going to report the abuse as he was aware other boys had been abused for years. He needed to escape from the orphanage, never to return.
He started to formulate his escape plan and after considering the options, he decided his best chance was to make the break when he was in the sheep paddock. Once he got through the barbed wire fence he’d make his way to the railway station where he intended to sneak onto a freight wagon heading for Melbourne.
July 3, 1868
Gordon woke at 6 am as usual, dressed and headed for the sheep paddock where he was required to ensure the sheep had sufficient water for the day. He also fed the flock with fresh hay. This was part of his daily routine, but climbing through the fence and running towards Ballarat was not.
The young fugitive arrived at the station at 7 am and hid amongst the rhododendrons which lined the platform. He’d been in his hiding place for fifteen minutes when he heard the steam train approaching. The locomotive pulled into the platform, slowly blowing its whistle as it came to a stop. Gordon waited until he heard the second whistle alerting passengers it was about to depart. The young boy quickly ran to the freight wagon, slid the heavy door opened and jumped inside just as the train was moving off.
He hid behind two bales of wool, and the gentle rocking of the carriage put him to sleep. He woke to the sound of voices. Railway employees were unloading the cargo at Spencer Street Station, Melbourne. Gordon knew he would need to make a fast exit, so he jumped up and ran for his life. Despite the demands to stop, he just kept running through the exit, past the ticket inspector and out into the street. As he ran through the streets of Melbourne a feeling of freedom overtook him; nobody knew who he was or where he came from. He was anonymous, and he was free.
Gordon had saved some money from the paltry allowance he had been paid for his work at the orphanage, but it was not enough to live on. His next challenge was to survive on the streets.
Gordon would join the hundreds of street kids nicknamed “Street Arabs” who roamed the inner city of Melbourne. These kids used their cunning to prey on unsuspecting adults, stealing money and food, enabling them to survive and in a few cases, thrive.
The young fugitive from Ballarat was inducted into a gang of forty boys and girls calling themselves “The Melbourne Gang” who he met while sleeping in the Botanical Gardens.
They used all their cunning in robbing from the more fortunate including dropping a gold ring, which was previously stolen at the foot of an unsuspecting victim. One of the gang members would point to the ring, suggesting it had been dropped by the gentleman or lady. When the victim denied the ring was theirs the street urchin would insist they keep it. Once it was accepted, the street kid asked for money and usually an argument would erupt. During the fracas, another gang member would pick the gentleman’s pocket or steal the lady’s handbag and run off.
A more common but unsophisticated scam was begging in the street. The gang usually seconded the youngest boys and girls to perform this task.
The older boys tended to work in pairs. One would distract the victim while the other pickpocketed the gentleman’s wallet.
All in all, the gang made enough to survive. They slept in the Botanical Gardens, finding shelter in the rotundas that were located around the gardens.
Gordon was happy for he no longer was beaten or sexually abused and kept company with kids that came from similar backgrounds.
General George
Chapter 13
England is a Nation of Shopkeepers Napoleon Bonaparte
August 1860
George and John had exhausted the gold from the shaft and the Banshees had been successful in laundering all the stolen gold through the mine. It was now time to close it down, though it had earned the reputation as the most lucrative gold mine on the Victorian goldfields. As soon as they walked away, there was a rush to secure a claim from expectant diggers.
George had decided to use his share of the loot to open a large general store on the main street of Ballarat, Lydiard Street.
He simply called it “Georges”. It was a triple fronted two-storey store, stocking everything from miner’s supplies to women and men’s clothing, kitchen equipment and furniture. From the beginning, George ensured the business lived up to its motto of Quod facimus, Valde facimus (What we do, We do well)
Georges became the place to shop in Ballarat. It was profitable from year one.
After the fourth year of operation, George decided to open another store this time in Melbourne. He leased a beautiful building in Collins Street right in the middle of the “top end of town”.
George had gone from being a gold miner left penniless by his crooked partner to high society retail magnate. His social status in Melbourne society was at an all-time high and the young society women showed significant interest in this confirmed bachelor.
One young lady, Mary Branson, caught George’s attention. She was a beautiful redhead with steel blue eyes and alabaster skin. She had been well schooled at Queens Girls Grammar and could hold an interesting conversation.
George decided if he was ever to marry, this was the woman he would commit his life to.
The Governor’s Ball was to be held at Government House on December 1, 1868. George was delighted to receive an invitation. He wrote a letter to Mary and got his butler to hand deliver it to her residence in Toorak where she lived with her parents and younger brother Arthur.
Mary’s mother Anne answered the door and took the letter. The butler waited for an answer.
Anne called, ‘Mary, come downstairs dear! There’s a letter for you, hand delivered I’ll have you know.’
‘Who
