My Life at the Turn of My Life at the Turn of the Centurythe Century

By Noel Chandra

After the federation in 1901 my family and I thought that

the Federation would significantly alter our lives. One year later it still did

not provide the impact we had

hoped for-it did not improve our lives.

My name is Benjamin. I am 11 years old and I live

in The Rocks, Sydney.

This is where I live with my father, mother and sister Louisa. It is very

cramped and we all sleep and eat in the same room.

This is where I work as a chimney sweeper. I get paid 8 shillings for a week’s

work.

My father is a rat-catcher and my

mother is a housewife who

cooks and cleans.

One day I got home from work and I saw my sister lying on the mud floor inside our

house with black boils on her neck. This was the work of the Bubonic Plague.

My sister was buried in the cemetery and I never got to say goodbye.

For the next 3 months the Bubonic Plague was killing many people. Almost 100

people died from The Rocks. Father had to work more as their was a need to kill the

rats.

In the next few weeks I was very depressed so I decided I would work harder to take up some of my time.

A few weeks later a petition was started by a

woman named Louisa Lawson, she came to our house and talked

to my mother about a petition.

The petition was about giving females the right to vote.

The next day their was a protest on the streets of Sydney. Their was a lot of

people, young and old.

The leaders of the state, eventually

gave in after seeking permission

from Britain.

In 1902 women were granted the right to vote in state and federal elections. This

was due to the hard work of Louisa Lawson.

My mother became a good friend of Louisa. Louisa’s son Henry was a poet and

every Saturday I would visit his house, where he would to teach me how to read

and write.

One day I walked to Henry’s house, he was writing an essay. The essay was

called “A Neglected History”.

He wanted to make his writing more interesting and put forward a message that we can build in a better society.

15 YEARS LATER

Henry’s dream came true. The items he mentioned in the essay came true.

REFERENCES http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2001/spirit/large/53.jpg http://www.nettlesworth.durham.sch.uk/time/victorian/pollute.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ca/Louisa_Lawson.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Henry_Lawson_photograph_1902.jpg http://blaketreadwell.com/images/parade.jpg http://www.ihategreenbeans.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/tombstone-clipart.gif http://www.istrianet.org/istria/medicine/plagues/images/bubonic-plague.jpg http://www.ohiohistorycentral.org/images/953.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stuart_A._Donaldson.jpg