How portraits of criminals ended up on Australian banknotes

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Australia is not only amazing animals and the invasion of spiders, but also very unusual laws, customs and outlook on life. However, the bills with the image of a counterfeiter, horse thief, and also a rebellious social climber are an excellent example of how extraordinary this country is in making certain decisions.

1. Francis Greenway

Francis Greenway, the great counterfeiter and forger, was convicted of forging an architectural contract. In 1814 he was taken to New South Wales and sentenced to fourteen years in prison. Upon arrival, he wrote a highly arrogant job application to Governor Lachlan Macquarie. Surprisingly, it worked and Francis went to work for the government.

He was lucky enough to get to the governor, seeking to improve the colony and needing his skills. Together they built the town squares of the five Macquarie Cities along the Hawkesbury River: Castlerie, Pitt Town, Richmond, Wilberforce and Windsor. In 1816 he was appointed as a civil architect. During his tenure as governor, Macquarie donated two hundred and sixty-five new buildings to the colony, the vast majority of which were designed by Francis Greenaway.

Francis was a prolific architect and many of his buildings are still landmarks of Sydney today. The former Government House Stable, now the Conservatory of Music is the most famous and by far the most magnificent. It’s no surprise that this man’s face and name took pride of place on the ten Australian dollar bill.

2. Mary Haydock

Mary Haydock (later Mary Raby) was an adventurous orphan who lived with her grandmother. She is depicted on a twenty-dollar Australian bill. Mary, disguised as a boy, was caught at the very moment when she, having stolen a horse, set off on her way. At the time, she was fourteen years old and introduced herself as James Burrow, but her real name and gender were revealed during the trial and probably saved her from the death penalty. In 1791 she was transported to Sydney and sentenced to seven years in prison.

In 1794, when she was seventeen, she married Thomas Raby and changed her name to Mary Raby. He was a free settler and Irishman who worked for the East India Company. Mary met him many years ago on a transport ship, when she was only fourteen years old. She received a pardon after her marriage and began working for Thomas in his extensive commercial interests.

When Thomas died, Mary took over his business responsibilities. Soon after his death, his partner also died, and Mary had to independently run the business of her husband, who now became hers by right. She was so capable that she expanded the company to become one of the richest men in the colony. Mary stayed away from the squabbles between the upper echelons of Sydney society and was highly respected. Governors Bligh and Macquarie both dined with her at Government House and praised her as an example of the rehabilitation of convicts.

Mary achieved respectability and became a noblewoman, which meant that she was a landowner with enough income to not work. She could also hide her past as a convict, but the very fact that she was a convict gave her opportunities she had never had before.

Ironically, John MacArthur said in 1822 that "Convicted women tend to be so depraved and cause so much confusion." But Mary was one of the thousands of convicted women who did not cause a riot. People in Australia certainly remember her with love and respect, which cannot be said of MacArthur.

John MacArthur was on a former two Australian dollar bill that was later replaced with a coin. Hailed as the father of the Australian wool industry, he was probably the colony's biggest con man. Ironically, he is the only person ever expelled from a penal colony and forced to remain in England. He was an exile from a country of exiles.

He fought a duel with his commander, seriously injuring him, and was also instrumental in the recall of three governors, and his antics became the cause of the only military coup and overthrow of the government in Australian history.

3. John MacArthur

John MacArthur, who also figured in the Australian currency, arrived in the colony as an officer in the New South Wales Corps in 1790. He started creating problems even before his ship arrived.

The second son of a cloth merchant, John was acutely aware of his humble origins and jealously defended what he considered his honor and status. Although the Code of Honor for Gentlemen forbade commerce and considered it vulgar, and military officers were forbidden, MacArthur came to the colony only to profit. He was directly responsible for bringing the NSW Corps to be known as the Roma Corps and for its terrible reputation as the worst British regiment ever to wear the red uniform.

Any neglect, real or more often imagined, led him to retribution, cherished by years of resentment. No matter who caused this disdain, he acted against anyone, including his commander and three governors. John escaped charges of high treason for participating in the Roma uprising to become the largest landowner in the country. As a result, he became one of the lucky, quirky guys who always got away with everything.

He is often referred to as the father of the Australian wool industry, but in fact his wife, Elizabeth, was in charge. He was not even the first to bring merino sheep to Australia, although buying it from the Royal Herd improved the breed. Elizabeth founded the wool industry with former prisoners and new settlers while MacArthur was expelled from the colony.

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