This contribution relates to a novel of Australian historical fiction [a mixture of fact, fiction and biography] relating to the wife of an English convict, Francis Greenway, who was transported to Australia for 14 years in 1812, and whose architectural talents earned him the favour of the then governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie, who served in that role from 1810-1821, while Mrs Greenway, became an unexpected friend, of Macquaries’ wife, Elizabeth.
‘The Talented Mrs Greenway’ by Tea Cooper [published in 2023, of 357 pages. The story of the generally unheralded wife of Sydney convict/architect, Francis Greenway. As the author herself describes the book ‘this is ‘a fictional account of Mary Greenway’s life, as there is so little information about her life recorded in history. As with most of her books, ‘The Talented Mrs Greenway’ is a mixture of fact and fiction, another of my favoured ‘historical novels’ set in the early convict era of Australia, and again, dealing essentially with the life of an heroic but generally unrecognised woman of those times.
Set mainly in 1814 Sydney town, this novel brings to life the story of an enigmatic figure, wife to feted colonial architect Francis Greenway, and asks, whose hand really shaped Sydney? Who is the talented Mrs Greenway?.
Once again, as noted in the Sydney Morning Herald at the time of publication – Another overlooked woman has been rescued by Tea Cooper from between the lines of history, this one with a famous husband [as] convict-era Sydney comes to life in all its squalor and savagery and tumultuous promise.’ Or as another reviewer noted – Tea Cooper has delivered once again! … yet another engaging and masterfully crafted story. Not only does [it] provide a truly engaging story about the early days of colonial Sydney but she melds fact and fiction to present yet another strong female character from history.’
I’ve commented on books about many such women over the last couple of years, and so often, they have persons who previously were not given much credence tom but thanks to mainly Australian novelists, we are given the opportunity to become aware of them.
A summary of the novel from Tea Coopers website reveals the following synopsis.
When Mary Greenway, freshly arrived from the old country, steps into the maelstrom of Sydney Town with three children at her skirts, she has high hopes of a new beginning, despite having little money and a husband in irons. After all, the sudden death of her sadistic first husband has meant freedom from her gilded cage and Francis Greenway is an architect of some promise, recommended by none other than Admiral Phillip himself.
Mary is a woman of great resources and an even greater creative passion, a passion that will surely burn through anything that the filthy, burgeoning, vitality of colonial Sydney can throw at her. Soon ensconced in a tiny cottage in George Street, Mary sets about moulding a life for her family from the unpromising clay of Sydney Town, with a determination fired in equal parts by guilt for her disastrous past action and a desire to realise her true calling.
When she is befriended by Elizabeth Macquarie it seems that fate is smiling on them and the promise of a better life is within her grasp. But fate is a difficult mistress and she has past secrets to keep, current betrayals on the brink of discovery and the stakes are higher than ever. With Mary’s grip on this new life slipping, will the past come back to haunt her?
As for Mary’s more heralded husband, Francis – if you are not familiar with him – and this novel suggests or imagines that many of his architectural designs were often the brain-child of his wife – Francis Greenway (20 November 1777 – September 1837) was an English-Australian convict and colonial architect. After being convicted of forgery in England and subsequently transported to New South Wales, Australia (known then as New Holland) at age 37, Greenway was appointed the colony’s official architect by Governor Lachlan Macquarie despite his convict status. Over the next two decades, Greenway designed the General Hospital (commonly known as the Rum Hospital), St James’ Church, and the Macquarie Lighthouse. His designs incorporated neoclassical architectural principles and responded to the practical needs of the developing colony. Prior to been transported to Australia, in 1812 he pleaded guilty to forging a financial document [which Cooper’s novel actually intimates that it was Mary herself who forged the document but Francis took the blame for it]. While initially sentenced to death, it was commuted to 14 years’ transportation. Whilst awaiting deportation to Sydney, Greenway spent time in Newgate Prison, Bristol, where he painted scenes of prison life.
In actual fact, Greenway far more buildings than indicated above. Between 1816 and 1818, while still a convict, Greenway was responsible for the design and construction of the Macquarie Lighthouse on the South Head 2 km from the entrance to Port Jackson. After the success of this project, he was emancipated by the governor Lachlan Macquarie on 16 December 1817 at the Lighthouse. In the role of Acting Civil Architect and Assistant Engineer responsible to Captain J. M. Gill, Inspector of Public Works, he went on to build many buildings in the new colony. Greenway’s works include Hyde Park Barracks, extensions to First Government House, the stables for a projected new Government House (condemned for their ‘useless magnificence’ by a visiting British official, the building is now home to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music), and St James’ Church, Sydney, which was chosen as one of Australia’s only two man-made ‘treasures’ by Dan Cruickshank in the BBC series Around the World in 80 Treasures. He submitted designs for the first Catholic church in Sydney, St Mary’s but they did not match the ambitious scale envisaged by the priest Fr Therry, and were not proceeded with.
Greenway was dismissed by the next Governor, Thomas Brisbane, in 1822.
Greenway died of typhoid near Newcastle, New South Wales in 1837, aged 59. The exact date of his death is not known. He is believed to have been buried in the Glebe burial ground at East Maitland on 25 September 1837, but his grave is unmarked.
Mary, the subject of the book, died 5 years before her husband. Earlier, as described in the novel, Mary, seeing the need for a school, not simply run by men or the church, and available generally for the higher echelons of the female population in the early 1820’s, decided to open a school herself, and do the teaching, as she didn’t want a male tutor for her daughter! As Cooper put it – “I intend to start my own school. Most of the schools in town are run by the churches and the tutors are all men. I want something different for my own daughters and all the other young girls in the colony. A real education, not one that revolves around the feminine arts – embroidery, painting, music and flower arranging. They should learn mathematics, geography, and science…and architecture perhaps…..I don’t intend a school for only the wealthy free settles. I intend a mix of emancipists and exclusives’
She must have achieved some success in that venture. Recorded in the Sydney Monitor, Saturday, 28th April, 1832. ‘DIED: On Wednesday night, at her Residence in George-street, after a lingering illness, MRS GREENWAY, deeply regretted by her friends. Mrs Greenway, having educated a great number of ladies of the Colony, now at the head of families, was generally known, and as universally beloved. Her accomplishments were considerable but they were equalled, if not excelled, by her fine sentiment and excellent principles, which rendered her society an acquisition to all who had the opportunity of enjoying it’.
Governor Lachlan Macquarie wrote about Mary in his papers “as a pleasant respectable woman whose earnest entreaty encouraged him to grant Francis Greenway an absolute pardon.”
Francis Greenway himself in the Sydney Gazette described Mary as “the mild, unobtrusive but talented Mrs. Greenway.”
As Tea Cooper notes in her historical notes about the novel, there are few references to Mary, but those that did exist, she incorporated into the book. Although Francis Greenway’s life she considered fascinating and well documented, it was his wife who captured her imagination, specifically because of the lack of references to her. To all intents and purposes, she didn’t exist until she met Francis. Her first marriage saw her forcibly homebound. She had been born Mary Moore in about 1779, and while she adored her late father, he ‘bequeathed’ her in marriage to a James Tripp [Cooper gives James’ fictional name as Fripp because of uncertainty over the Thripp name – there is a record of the marriage of a Mary Moore to a James Tripp who passed away in 1808 but whether that was the Mary in this novel was apparently not provable).
James was a cruel and domineering man who prior to his sudden death in 1808, lost most of the fortune his father-in-law had left to him, basically leaving Mary destitute and without a home, prior to meeting Francis.
Mary Moore had two children to her first husband, born before she married Francis Howard Greenway, on 27 April 1809 at St Michael’s, Bristol, Gloucestershire, England. They were George Greenway born July 1807 and William Greenway born October 1808. Their Baptisms took place on the 12 November 1811 and are listed as Greenway.
Mary Greenway gives birth to a son called Francis John Greenway (Frankie) born December 1813. She had intended to travel to Australia on the same ‘convict ship’ as her husband, but with the impending birth of their first child, it was decided it was safer to wait until after the birth. So eventually, Mary Greenway with her three sons emigrated to Australia as a Free Settler aboard the Ship “Broxbornebury” in 1814, all listed on the Manifest.
Mary and Francis would have four more children born in George Street, Sydney. They were: Caroline Ann Greenway born 2 February 1816; Charles Capel Greenway born 13 March 1818; Henry John Valentine Greenway born 15 February 1820; and, Marian Kezia Jane Agnes Greenway born 21 June 1824.
A book, described in one manner as ‘Breathes brilliant life into a fascinating woman and questions whose hand really shaped early Sydney’, Mary Greenway or her credited husband, Francis.
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