Today's Stories from our Past
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Today's Stories from our Past
E02 –Bound for South Australia – Preparations for Departure
What if you found out that the city of Adelaide was meticulously designed by a visionary figure amidst a backdrop of poor strategic planning and unexpected challenges? Our latest episode of Today's Stories from Our Past reveals the intricate and ambitious blueprint laid out by the South Australian Company. We delve into the crucial roles of key officials and surveyors, particularly Colonel William Light, whose iconic layout of the city was well ahead of its time. Learn how Adelaide earned its name in honour of Queen Adelaide, as chosen by King William IV.
Join us on a rollercoaster journey through the life of William Henry Neale, a man who faced relentless financial struggles yet never gave up. From his beginnings as a corn chandler in Cheam, Surrey, to the collapse of his stagecoach business in Stratford, William's resilience is put to the test again and again. Despite facing debts of over £6,000 and legal battles that culminated in a significant court appearance in 1835, William's story is a testament to human endurance and the complexities of the Insolvent Debtors Act.
Our exploration doesn't stop there. We uncover the audacious escape and next reinvention of William Henry Neale, who left his debts behind in England to find a fresh start as an assistant surveyor in South Australia. Navigate the early challenges faced by Colonel William Light’s survey team, including wage disputes and labour strikes, and get to know competent surveyors like Boyle Travis Finnis and George Ormsby. We also touch on logistical hurdles experienced by Colonel Light, providing a vivid picture of the early, and often tumultuous, days of setting up the colony of South Australia.
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Everyone knows that Colonel William Light designed and laid out the beautiful city of Adelaide.
Speaker 2:Yes, he did, but before he even became Surveyor General, his staff had already been selected for him. Light's view on this was to the point.
Speaker 3:The surveying staff ought to be increased by at least six more efficient young men. But except they are men who perfectly understand their profession, they will be of no use. I would much rather be without any than have many of those already here.
Speaker 2:G'day, I'm Peter.
Speaker 1:G'day, I'm Greg.
Speaker 2:Welcome to Today's Stories from Our Past, a podcast about a history of Australia from about 1800 onwards. The story is told through the experiences of those who lived it.
Speaker 1:We'll tell you stories about Australia that you probably haven't heard before.
Speaker 2:This is the second episode in a season that we've called Bound for South Australia. If you haven't listened to this season from episode one, we'd suggest you stop listening now and go back to the beginning. In the last episode we discussed the background to how the colony of South Australia was formed Edward Gibbon Wakefield's grand plan of systematic colonisation, robert Gugger's zeal in getting the idea off the ground and the fake news report describing the land on KI that they used to sell the land sight unseen.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so what did we discuss in this episode?
Speaker 2:With everything in place, it was time to get things moving.
Speaker 1:So how did they go about that?
Speaker 2:Given that the whole scheme was based on the pre-sale of land, I would have thought that it would not be unreasonable for the new colonists to have land available for occupation as soon as they arrive. This would also suit the profit ambitions of the South Australian Company. They had already spent a lot of money buying land sight unseen so that the scheme could get approval from the British Government to go ahead. Like any commercial enterprise, they needed a return on their investment. The company had a clear business plan with a set of objectives by which they plan to get a return on their investment.
Speaker 4:They were country land and to lease or sell parts of it at their discretion. 3. To lay out farms, erect suitable buildings thereon and let the same on lease, with the right of purchase before the expiration of such lease, at a price to be fixed at the time of the tenant taking possession. 4. To grow wool for the European markets. 5. To establish whale, seal and other fisheries in the Gulf and seas around the colony and to cure and salt fish for exportation. Six to salt and cure beef and pork for ships and for general export. Seven to establish a bank or banks to make loans on the security of land or produce and to perform all necessary and expedient banking operations. 8. To select, contract with and provide the requisite tools for carpenters, brickmakers, lime burners, blacksmiths, boat builders, fishermen and others, so that every want of immigrants might be supplied on their arrival in the colony and others, so that every want of immigrants might be supplied on their arrival in the colony.
Speaker 1:The South Australian Company clearly had a plan for a wide range of commercial activities, as well as the sale of the land that they'd already purchased.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I'd think that a sensible plan would have been Step 1. Appoint all the important officials Governor, colonial Secretary, surveyor-general, resident commissioner, etc. Etc. Step two send the surveyor general and his team out first to select the site of the proposed capital and the best location for agricultural land. They would survey the site of the capital city and the country blocks of land to be ready for occupation. If you remember from the previous episode, everybody was just going to the eastern end of KI initially. Step three send out the government officials to set up a bureaucracy and establish law and order and the commission agents to be ready to divvy up the land. And finally, step four send out the eager immigrants. In that way there would be a first fleet leaving England, but with staggered departure schedule with surveyors going first and immigrants going last. With such a plan the immigrants could immediately get on with settling on their land and developing the new colony.
Speaker 1:Okay, that sounds like a good plan.
Speaker 2:Sounds like a plan, but they barely got past step one before things started to go wrong. But first we need some background on some of the players in this drama. Okay who were they? Everybody in South Australia has heard of Colonel Light. He's the surveyor who designed the layout of Adelaide. Let's talk about him first.
Speaker 1:Hang on, before we talk about Light. You said he had designed the layout of Adelaide. Did he come up with the name of the city as well?
Speaker 2:No, unlike the names of the streets of Adelaide, which became a big issue when they were named in 1837, we'll talk about that in a later episode the name of the main town of the colony had been decided well before anybody even left England. King William IV asked that the town should be named after his royal consort, queen Adelaide. So a bit of royal history here. Adelaide, louise, theresa, caroline Amelia was born in the German Dutch, you see, of Mennenheim in 1792. She was the eldest child of George I, duke of Saxe-Meningham. In 1818 she wed William Henry, Duke of Clarence and St Andrews, who would become King William IV of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover. This happened on the 26th of June 1830. She anglicised her name to Adelaide. Adelaide passed away in 1849.
Speaker 1:Okay, so back to Colonel Light then.
Speaker 2:William Light, better known as Colonel Light, was a naval and army officer. Light was born in Kulakadar, that's, in Malaysia, on 27 April 1786. He was the eldest son of Captain Francis Light, founder and superintendent of Penang, and of Martina Rosels, who called herself Tong Di. She was of Portuguese and French, or Thai and Malay descent. Therefore, under the British system at the time, light was legally classified as Eurasian, an ethnic designation which granted him a middle position in society between the natives and the Europeans.
Speaker 1:Legally classified.
Speaker 2:Yeah, one thing I've realised while doing my family research is that awareness of race and the corresponding prejudices is a constant theme. Anyhow, light lived in Penang until the age of six when he was sent to Thurberton, a village in Suffolk in England, to be educated by friends of his father. An education in England is also a common thread in my family story. Light never saw his parents again. His father died two years later, in October 1794, and although providing generously for his son's education, light did not inherit his father's considerable wealth as the estate had been ruined by maladministration. He became attached to his new family in England and later named his house in Adelaide after their family home. Light was well educated and soon became proficient in French, as well as showing a talent for drawing, watercolour, painting and music. He became known in London as a rich East Indian and attended the court of the Prince of Wales, later King George IV.
Speaker 2:At the age of 13, light volunteered for the Royal Navy, in which he served for two years, leaving as a midshipman. He spent some time as a civilian prisoner in a French prison, from 1803 to 1804. Then, in March 1805, he travelled to Bombay to attend his sister Mary's wedding to an indigo plantation owner, george Boyd. He stayed in India until November 1806. He then returned to Europe. He bought a cornetcy in the 4th Dragoons Regiment of the British Army on 5 May 1808. A cornetcy is the position or rank of a Cornet, that's the rank of a commissioned officer in a cavalry troop. He was promoted to lieutenant in April 1809. Then, while en route to Spain where he served in the Peninsular War, he learned to speak Spanish.
Speaker 1:He seems like a fairly smart and well-educated chap.
Speaker 2:Yep, he certainly comes across that way. From 1809 to 1814, he served courageously under the Duke of Wellington against Napoleon, working on mapping, reconnaissance and liaison. He showed both outstanding bravery and kindness in his actions and was a favourite of Wellington. With outstanding bravery and kindness in his actions and was a favourite of Wellington, he went on to serve in the infantry in various parts of Britain as captain, after buying the rank in November 1814.
Speaker 1:Well, he sounds like quite an impressive soldier as well.
Speaker 2:He certainly was. Anyhow, after quitting the army with the rank of Major. Anyhow, after quitting the army with the rank of Major, light married Elizabeth Poir in Derry Island on the 24th of May 1821. They moved around in literary and artistic circles in Paris and Italy and Sicily for a couple of years. However, his young wife died Unfortunately there's no details of the circumstances. In 1823 he returned to Spain to fight the French invasion as aide-de-camp to Sir Robert Wilson. Originally volunteering as a private, light was made a lieutenant colonel. He was gravely wounded at Caruna in Spain. It's claimed that Light eventually participated in over 45 military battles.
Speaker 2:Returning to England in 1824, at the age of 38, light met and fell in love with the beautiful and wealthy 19-year-old Mary Bennet, illegitimate daughter of the 3rd Duke of Richmond. After a whirlwind romance, they married on 16 October 1824. They travelled to Europe, spending a couple of years in France, switzerland and Italy, where Light published his Views on Pompeii in 1828. Light returned to England where he bought a yacht. The couple cruised the Mediterranean for a few years. In 1830, they went to Egypt where Light first met promoters of the new colony. In Australia, light made many sketches and Mary studied Egyptology while in Egypt. Odd thing to do, becoming a friend and keen correspondent of the Egyptologist John Gardner Wilkinson. The couple became friends with Muhammad Ali ah, that's not the boxer who was Pasha and founder of modern Egypt.
Speaker 1:This guy continues to impress me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but things don't go so well. Soon Light sailed for England in 1831 to help recruit British men for the Pashas Navy. The process became prolonged and Light stayed in England for about four years while Mary continued her studies, travelling to Thebes for a second time and writing detailed journals of her discoveries. Subsequently, light separated from Mary in 1832 after she had formed a relationship with another officer. The couple never divorced and Mary kept the surname Light for herself and the three children she had with other men in 1833, 1834 and 1835.
Speaker 1:Bit of a free spirit there.
Speaker 2:Yes, I'll say, light's got three children with his name, but not his genes.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Light captained the Palestine and the Nile from London to Alexandria to join the Egyptian Navy, reaching Alexandria in September 1834. John Hindmarsh, who would go on to become the first governor of South Australia, had prepared the steamer for delivery and then travelled as a passenger on the ship on its voyage to Egypt. Hindmarsh was made captain of the ship by November Next, when he was almost 50 years old. Light started a relationship with a 21-year-old, mariah Gandy, a woman of Humble Stock, who would be his loyal companion, but not his married wife, as Light couldn't divorce Mary for the rest of his life. Mariah plays an ongoing, important role in our story about South Australia. There's a lot more about her in later episodes.
Speaker 1:Okay, light's had an impressive professional life, even if his personal life was a bit messy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, now, before we can say more about Light, it's time to introduce another character, george Strickland Kingston. Kingston was born in Bandon County, cork in Ireland. He was one of five children. Kingston's father owned a lumberyard and a tenement and was credited with being involved in three canal plans for Bandon. After some training as an architect and civil engineer, kingston moved to England and was employed in Birmingham in 1832. He then took an active part in promoting the South Australia Act in 1834 and helped to lobby successfully for its passage through the House of Commons. We'll talk more about Kingston later in this episode, but now it's time to introduce a third person, my great-great-great-grandfather.
Speaker 1:Okay, and who's that?
Speaker 2:It's William Henry Neill. It's now time to do a backstory on him, to explain why he and his family came out to South Australia. William was born in about 1800 in Cheam, surrey, which today is within the metropolitan area of London, but at that time it was on the outskirts. Oddly, no matter how hard I search, I can't find his exact birth date or his parents' names. The first time I can track down anything about him is when he and his brother Edward are in court. Silence in the court. It's February 1827. William is a corn chandler, that's, a seller of hay and corn. He's claiming that the directors of the steam washing company didn't pay him for deliveries of hay that he made. He lost the case. As we will eventually find out, money issues and court appearances are a recurring theme running throughout William's life.
Speaker 1:Doesn't sound good. What happened to him next?
Speaker 2:In December that year he married Mary Elizabeth Young. The following year he had a son, samuel, who died less than a year old. Then he had a daughter, mary, in 1830 and another daughter, frances, known forever as Fanny, in 1831. By this time his listed profession is a coal merchant. Then, by 1833, I find that William owned a stagecoach business in Stratford. Stratford was an important transport hub with coaches running into London four times every hour.
Speaker 1:That's pretty good stuff.
Speaker 2:Yeah, must have been a busy place. That year. Her son Henry William, forever known as Harry, was born. Her son, henry William, forever known as Harry, was born. This was followed in December 1834, when her daughter Elizabeth was born.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, things seem to be going well for William?
Speaker 2:Well, not really. He had some trouble with the stagecoach business. One of his drivers rode furiously through a street and knocked down and seriously injured a police magistrate. William immediately sacked the driver, but the business's reputation was damaged. Then, in August 1834, there's a newspaper report saying that William is disputing unpaid taxes on his stagecoaches.
Speaker 1:That doesn't sound like William's business is going well, so what happened next?
Speaker 2:Well, the business must have failed, as the next thing I find is that William is up in front of a magistrate in the debtor's court Order. In the court, the person to whom he owed the money doesn't front up, but nevertheless the judge questions William at length. William says that he ended up working in a gambling house and that's where he incurred most of his debts. The judge says that was a poor choice of employment, but William says that was better than starving in the streets. The judge lets him off with a stern lecture, but William didn't seem to learn from that lecture, because by November 1835, William is in the debtor's prison for his unpaid debts.
Speaker 1:This doesn't sound too fleurish.
Speaker 2:No, but you will remember from episode one that Robert Gooja also spent time in jail for unpaid debts. Gooja's debt was 50 pounds. However, there was a way out of jail for both Gugge and William Henry Neill. The Insolvent Debtors Act of 1813 was enacted in response to the heavy demands on the prison system. There were large numbers being incarcerated for debt and there was growing concern for their plight. The Act created a new court, the Court for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors. Those imprisoned for debt could apply to the court to be released, subject to certain conditions. I assume this is how Robert Guja got out of jail. So I found a notification that the Court for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors was about to sit and that William's case would be reviewed.
Speaker 5:The notification read the Court for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors. The matters of the petitions and schedules of the prisoners hereinafter named the same, having been filed in the court, are appointed to be heard at the courthouse in Portugal Street, lincoln's Inn Fields, on Friday, the 13th day of November 1835, at nine o'clock in the forenoon. William Henry Neill, formerly of Cheam farmer, then of Sutton, both in Surrey, corn chandler, coal merchant and livery stable keeper, then of Bury Street, st James's, westminster Clark, to Henry Jackson, of the same place and known as William Henry Neville, and late of number 15, caroline Place, regents Park, both in Middlesex, coal merchant.
Speaker 2:So not only was William in debt, but he also seems to have been a bit naughty. He's using an alias, neville rather than Neil. So off to the court for the relief of insolvent debtors.
Speaker 5:A newspaper reported the following outcome of the hearing William Henry Neilal, a respectable-looking man, apparently about 30 years of age, applied for the benefit of the Act. His debts were upward of £6,000, £5,000 of which were due to his mother, while his assets were not one sixth part of that amount. The case was marked opposed but no creditor appeared to follow up. The opposition not won sixth part of that amount. The case was marked opposed but no creditor appeared to follow up the opposition. Mr Cook supported the petition. The chief commissioner asked the insolvent what he had been. He replied a clerk in a gaming house in Bury Street, st James's, and that several of his debts arose from his having served in that capacity. The court said it was dreadful to see so young a man initiated in vice vice which frequently led to suicide or the gallows. He hoped the situation he was placed in would be a warning to him, for if he should ever come again before the court he would most assuredly be sent back. Until the five years had expired, he was discharged.
Speaker 1:Wow. £6,000 was a lot of money back in 1835. That's the equivalent of about 1.8 million Australians a day. And William got a stern lecture and a threat of more jail. How did he pay off his debts? What happened?
Speaker 2:I am at a loss about what's going on here. As far as I can tell, he never paid off these debts, because the next thing I know is that my great-great-grandfather, William Henry Neal, is appointed as an assistant surveyor as part of Colonel Light's team. William and his family, a wife and four children, are on board the Signet bound for South Australia.
Speaker 1:That sounds odd, though there's nothing in his background suggesting he knows anything about surveying. How can he skip town without paying a 6,000 pound debt?
Speaker 2:What's going on here. I have no idea, but it certainly appears that the reason why my ancestor, william Henry Neal, immigrated to Australia was to avoid the debtor's jail.
Speaker 1:Okay, so what happens next?
Speaker 2:By July 1835, the South Australian Colonisation Commission was able to appoint colonial officers, and George Strickland Kingston was given the position of Deputy Surveyor-General, a role that he felt was below him. At 29 years of age, Kingston was the youngest colonial officer to be appointed. Now we can get back to Colonel Light. By January 1836, Light had returned to London from Egypt. Light was an appointed Surveyor-General of the colony of South Australia, had a salary of 400 pounds a year. The position was formally gazetted on the 4th of February 1836. By now he was 50 years old. However, by then most of his surveying staff, including Kingston, had been selected and their equipment had been purchased.
Speaker 1:That sounds odd. You'd think the Surveyor-General would have had some input in the choice of staff and equipment.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you'd think so, but a group of assistant surveyors were already appointed. William Henry Neal was one of those appointed without Colonel Light's knowledge. His salary as an assistant surveyor was to be £100 a year. That's about 38 shillings a week, or 30,000 Australian dollars a year.
Speaker 1:Is 38 shillings a week, a reasonable wage. At that rate it would take William a lifetime to pay off his debts back in England.
Speaker 2:I'm sure that William couldn't pay off his debts in England and put that wage, but William's wage was better than some. What was effectively the first known labour strike on the South Australian mainland was untaken by unskilled labourers in Light's survey team. Those labourers found out that while they were earning just 12 shillings a week, other locals were earning up to 100 shillings a week. By March 1837, the immigrants, having already got their town blocks, were starting out on their farms. They were employing unskilled labourers to help them.
Speaker 3:On 28 March 1837, while surveying farm blocks, Light wrote in his diary the survey, labourers were several days either wanting rum, biscuits, beef, port tea, sugar, flour, etc. Etc. And these were excuses for knocking off work. The men who had at first worked without murmuring were now changed by the jeers I before alluded to. They were called by many of the newcomers the two shillings a day slaves, and if one day a party was formed to commence the survey, the next was sure to begin by the absence of nearly all of them. Their complaints had much truth. They had signed articles in England for twelve shillings a week and rations the same in quantity as allowed in His Majesty's Navy, and they were sometimes many days with hardly anything but biscuit, sometimes not that Well it's hardly surprising the Libra's jacked up, because they could have earned many times more elsewhere.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, any up Back to the surveying team. As well as William Henry Neill, other surveyors in Light's team included Boyle Travis Finnis, william Pullum, william Jacob, george Ormsby and William Claughton. Boyle Travis Finnis was born at sea off the Cape of Good Hope and lived in Madras in British India. He was sent to England for his education. He entered the Royal Military College at Sandhurst, placing first of 16 candidates at the entrance examination In 1825. He became an ensign and was promoted to lieutenant in 1827 and then spent three years in Mauritius in the Department of Roads and Bridges.
Speaker 2:Finnis was an experienced and competent trigonomic and topographical surveyor who studied contour surveying at Sandhurst and gained valuable experience on major surveys in Mauritius and then Ireland. George Ormsby was also a military ordnance surveyor. Light asked for two more assistant surveyors but was told by the colonial commissioners that his survey team was sufficiently strong. Aside from Light, finnis and Ormsby, the survey team had little or no experience in land surveying. That was clear in official documents, including Light's letter to the South Australian Colonial Commissioners in November 1836, where he wrote, the surveying staff ought to be increased by at least six more efficient young men.
Speaker 3:but except they are men who perfectly understand their profession, they will be of no use. I would much rather be without any than have many of those already here.
Speaker 2:Amongst others. I suspect that Light's referring to my ancestor there as one that he would rather be without.
Speaker 1:That doesn't sound good. Let's go back to step one, the appointment of government officials. Who was appointed?
Speaker 2:Previously, light had given John Hindmarsh a letter of introduction to Colonel Charles James Napier, who was the initial designated governor of the new colony. However, napier was not interested in the position and upon hearing this, hindmarsh rushed to London and lobbied for the position. Napier recommended to the authorities that Light be given the position of Governor, but Hindmarsh had already been promised it. Hindmarsh was a through and through Navy man. He joined the Navy as an incredibly young boy. He was promoted to First Class Volunte volunteer when he was just nine years old and then continued up through the ranks, eventually reaching rear admiral. He saw action in several battles.
Speaker 1:Okay, progress is being made, but did the appointment of Hindmarsh's governor over light cause any friction between them?
Speaker 2:Whether it was this appointment or other issues, I don't know, but friction between the two would emerge. More on that in later episodes.
Speaker 1:Alright, so who's appointed next?
Speaker 2:Robert Gugia got the job he wanted. He was appointed as Colonial Secretary in the new colony. He set about appointing support staff, including my great-great-grandfather, charles 90s, only 19 years old, as his clerk.
Speaker 1:OK, so step one of your schedule has been completed. All the government officials have been appointed, but I detect a few issues there.
Speaker 2:There were more than just a few issues. Let me just summarise them. Number one Lough Jack Hindmarsh, age 51, was appointed Governor ahead of Colonel Light. Being an old Navy man, Hindmarsh saw himself as Supreme Commander of the Col colony. He got a salary of 800 pounds a year, plus extras. He was appointed over Colonel Light, age 50 or so, who wanted the position. Light's salary was half of Hindmarsh's at 400 pounds a year. Light seems to have resented Hindmarsh from the start. Number two Furthermore, Colonel Light, as Surveyor General, had sole responsibility for selecting the site of the new capital, Adelaide, and was answerable to the South Australian Company's resident commissioner, James Fisher, aged 46. Fisher's salary was the same as Light, £400 a year. In this key area, Light was not answerable to Hindmarsh Conflict. There seems inevitable.
Speaker 1:Setting itself up for some problems, aren't they?
Speaker 2:Two people holding the rudder of this surveying exercise. Number three Colonel Light, as Surveyor General, was appointed after the surveying staff had been chosen and their equipment purchased. Light complained that he didn't have enough staff with the right experience, but he was overruled. Number four his deputy, george Strickland Kingston, aged only 29, with a salary of 200 pounds a year, had little surveying experience but nevertheless felt that the position was beneath him.
Speaker 1:Has he got some delusions about his ability or his ego?
Speaker 2:We'll hear more about Kingston in later episodes.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:Number five Innes, aged 29, and Ormsby, who were experienced surveyors, were appointed under Kingston. It was inevitable that Kingston would have problems with these men who didn't approve of his appointment. Furthermore, my ancestor, william Henry Neal, aged 36, was appointed as an assistant surveyor even though he had no experience in surveying. His salary was the same as the experienced surveyors in the Sonoran Fee. Number 6 the salaries of all the staff, including the surveying staff, were set in England before they left. There was no flexibility to adjust these salaries after they arrived, even if market forces were different in the new colony, low wages for the surveying labourers would become an issue.
Speaker 2:Number seven the whole basis of Wakefield's grand plan was that land sales would fund the colony. Individual immigrants and the South Australia Company bought land sight unseen before they left. Having spent their money, they would have expected to be able to get on their land as soon as they arrived. So that they could get on with life in the new colony, they needed a well-equipped, competent surveying team to go ahead of them. Number eight A founding principle of the colony was religious freedom. Thus many members of more fundamental religious groups would travel to South Australia. Colonel Light would be accompanied to the new colony by Mariah Gandy, his supportive lifetime companion, or fallen sinful woman, depending on your religious views. Colonel Light's domestic arrangements would not sit well with some of the people that he would have to work with.
Speaker 1:Okay, so let's look at this In summary. The command structure is fatally flawed. There are two people in charge, Hine, Marsh and Fisher. Then there are the various resentments simmering over salaries and the competencies of various appointments. There are inequities of salaries between the government staff and between the government and settler wages, and there is a poor logistical planning for the development of the colony.
Speaker 2:Yep, and that's about. It Doesn't sound good for the new colony. Most of the important staff for South Australia were appointed in early 1836. Throughout the rest of the world, these events occurred Over in Texas. On 23 February 1836, the Battle of the Alamo began, with the American settler army surrounded by the Mexican army under Santa Ana. The Mexicans had 2,000 soldiers and after 13 days of fighting they overwhelmed the 200 Texan defenders, killing all of them, including William Travis, jim Bowie, inventor of that famous knife, and Davy Crockett.
Speaker 1:Victory or death.
Speaker 2:On 25 February of that year, american inventor and industrialist Samuel Colt received a patent for a revolving gun, which surprisingly later was called a revolver. A revolving gun, which surprisingly later was called a revolver. It was the first multi-shot revolving cylinder firearm enabling the gun to be fired multiple times without reloading. None of those movies about the old west would ever use anything other than a multi-shot revolver, and sometimes I get the impression that the revolvers used in those movies could shoot about 50 rounds without loading.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree with you there. So by now all the government positions have been filled and land sales have been undertaken According to your proposed schedule. Step two would have been the departure of the civilian team prior to the departure of government officials and eager immigrants. The question is did that happen?
Speaker 2:No, In the next episode we'll discuss the departure schedule of the ships, as well as some of those simmering tensions that we've discussed in this episode. Okay, thanks for listening. So it's goodbye from me. So it's goodbye from me.
Speaker 1:And it's goodbye from me you.