William Skirving

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William Skriving (left) at Abbot House, pictured life-size

William Skirving (* approx. 1745 near Edinburgh , Scotland , † March 19, 1796 in Sydney in New South Wales , Australia ) was a reformer in Scotland and an important member of the Societies of the Friends of the People , an organization that advocated civil Rights and against the monarchy in England. He was one of the first political convicts to be deported to Australia. Skirving was one of five so-called Scottish Martyrs .

Early life

William Skirving was the son of William Skirving, a farmer, and his wife Margaret, nee Bryden. He went to the Grammar School in Haddington , then he enrolled at the University of Edinburgh one. In January 1775 he married. He later ran a farm at Strathruddie in Fife . In 1792 he returned to Edinburgh and published the book The Husbandman's Assistant , he also applied for a chair at the University of Edinburgh. This application was unsuccessful.

Political life

He was a liberal who, under the influence of the French Revolution, campaigned for a reform of the constitution in England. In December 1792 he was appointed secretary of the Societies of the Friends of the People , which met in Edinburgh. The leading members of this organization persecuted the government and also accused Skirving of sedition . The trial, which took place from January 6th to 7th, 1794, ended with a 14 year deportation for him. The ship Surprize the Second Fleet laid in May 1794 Portsmouth and laid six months later in the penal colony Australia in Port Jackson to. With him were three other political convicts Thomas Muir , Thomas Fyshe Palmer and Maurice Margarot on the ship.

On the ship, the political convicts planned a mutiny in the first month, which was betrayed. As a result, these convicts' food rations were cut until they arrived. No other penalties were imposed.

Political prisoners were considered educated and committed. They enjoyed special rights and therefore did not have to do heavy labor like other convicts. Skirving was able to acquire a farm with a small house with 40 hectares of land. He named the farm near Sydney, in today's Petersham district , New Strathruddie after his place of residence in England . His agricultural efforts were unsuccessful, because the soil conditions there were not particularly suitable for agriculture. He fell ill and died of dysentery in 1796 .

He was buried in Sydney. On his epitaph was: "A Sedonist, but a man of good, moral character" (German: "A people hater, but a man with a good, virtuous character").

Honors

The Political Martyrs Monument , a 27 meter high obelisk made of sandstone , which refers to the Old Calton Burial Ground on Calton Hill in Edinburgh situated shall, together with the four so-called. Scottish martyrs his name. This is also the case on a metal memorial in Huntershill Village .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b William Skirving (*? -1796) , on anu.edu.au. Retrieved November 3, 2016
  2. ^ The Trail of William Skirving : In: The Edinbourgh Magazine or Literary Miscellany, pp. 77 ff. Vol. III, New Series (1794) ( online on Googlebooks )
  3. ^ Robert Hughes: The Fatal Shore, the Epic of Australia's founding . P. 180. Button. New York 1987 ISBN 0-394-50668-5
personal data
SURNAME Skirving, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English prisoner
DATE OF BIRTH around 1745
PLACE OF BIRTH near Edinburgh
DATE OF DEATH March 19, 1796
Place of death Sydney , New South Wales , Australia