Bessie Flower
Bessie Flower | |
---|---|
King George Sound, Western Australia | |
Died | 14 January 1895 |
Occupation | Teacher |
Spouse | Donald Cameron |
Bessie Flower or Bessie Cameron (c. 1851–1895) was a
Early life and education
Flower was born to John and Mary Flower some time near 1851. Her family were
Flower was described as an "intelligent and bright child".
In 1871 Flower was mentioned in a Select Committee report on the Aboriginal Natives, which summarised Anne Camfield's evidence saying "One girl, sent to Sydney, played for some time the harmonium in St. Philip’s Church, and gained her living by teaching...".[4]
Life in Gippsland
In 1867 Flower was given an opportunity which appeared to provide her a chance to improve her teaching. She was offered a teaching position at Ramahyuck Mission in Gippsland in Victoria, but the real plan seemed to have been for her to become a wife to one of Friedrich Hagenauer's favourite converts.[2] Bessie's parents were both Aboriginal whereas her husband, Adolph Donald Cameron, was classed as a 'half-caste'. They married when Bessie was 17 and they had eight children. Both Adolph and Bessie left Hagenauer's employment but his influence continued.
In 1886 the government passed legislation that forced Aboriginal people under 34 years of age with non-Aboriginal parentage (so-called 'half-castes') to leave missions. This meant that Bessie and Adolph were separated from their family and forced to move out and live in a hostile settler community. She found, therefore, that the authorities were trying to separate her from her children. The secretary of the board in charge of that decision, as it happened, was Friedrich Hagenauer himself.[2] They were ultimately allowed to return to Ramahyuck Mission, but two of their daughters were forcibly indentured as domestic servants.[2]
For the last years of her life, Bessie lived at Ramahyuck from time to time and continued to try and help her children and other Aboriginal women to keep their families together.[2] She died of peritonitis in 1895 and was buried in the Bairnsdale cemetery. She was survived by her husband, three daughters and two sons.
References
- ^ "Bessy Flower". Kaartdijin Noongar. 26 September 2012. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f Elizabeth (Bessy) (1851–1895) Cameron, Bain Attwood, ADB, Retrieved 19 May 2017
- ^ Attwood, Bain (1986). '... In the name of all my coloured brethren and sisters...' : a biography of Bessy Cameron. pp. 47–53.
- ^ “Handbook of Western Australia”, C G Nicolay, 1880