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A NEW MISSIONWhen my husband, Archibald, told us that we were going to move to Australia, friends warned me that it was a rough and dangerous place. I was 31 when we arrived in Sydney, and they were right; it didn’t feel safe at all.I decided I would do what I could to make it better for new arrivals.New South Wales was a prison colony. It was a society based on managing the criminals that had been banished from England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.When the ships docked in Sydney, thieves would often approach single immigrant women and take their money under the pretence of finding them a job or a place to stay. It was terrible, and I knew that something needed to be done right away. I made it my job to go down to the quayside, where I provided a friendly welcome and guided vulnerable arrivals away from immediate danger.<img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2F1239fe80cc334f41b6b01e0f569f4920" alt="Chisholm meeting people at the harbour" style="width: 307.944px; height: 445px;">However, I also wanted to do more. We needed to make things safe for families and make Australia a happy place to live. I was willing to use my time and some of my own money, but I needed the support of others. I managed to persuade the Governor of New South Wales, Sir George Gipps, to provide temporary accommodation for young women just off the ships.I would then ride my white horse, Captain, around looking for jobs for the women under my care. I surprised the town folk. I don’t think they were used to seeing a woman take charge.HELPING THE NEEDYEight years after arriving in Sydney, I had helped over eleven thousand people find homes or settle as farmers in New South Wales.But to really improve conditions for immigrants, I knew that I needed to talk to people in higher authority. These people lived 10,000 miles away in London. So, in 1846, I set sail for England.Looking back at the Sydney shoreline, I realized how quickly things were changing. Australia was becoming a land of opportunity. Some families in England were desperate to be reunited with loved ones who had been sent out as convicts but had no way of paying for it.A good friend of mine, well-known writer Charles Dickens, was fascinated by stories of Sydney. His fictional novels had highlighted the problems of overcrowding and poverty in England. With his help, I established the Family Colonisation Loan Society, which aimed to lend half the cost of the fare to emigrants. (The emigrant would provide the other half.)MAKING A DIFFERENCETo my delight, my work was paying off and changing the way people saw Australia. One ship owner, W.S. Lindsay, even built the Caroline Chisholm ship, which made its maiden voyage to Australia in 1853.<img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2Fdf5b5cba9ead4232bcd3314c68605000" alt="Sewing class at a Ladies' School" style="width: 344.878px; height: 249px;">In 1854, I decided to set sail for Australia again. I knew that a gold rush had begun in Ballarat, Victoria. People had rushed to make it rich, panning for gold, but the conditions were appalling. I suggested that ‘shelter sheds’ be built so families could have roofs over their heads.When I was 49, I became sick with a kidney disease. It took a while before I felt strong enough to put my efforts back into big projects. But when I recovered, I opened a girls’ school.<img src="https://cdn.builder.io/api/v1/image/assets%2Fb3b13b7f131f44b8b9040dab74852379%2Fd01f4ffdbfb34dedaf0c42c905bf8c37" alt="Caroline Chisholm portrait" style="width: 271.49px; height: 404px;">In 1866, when I was 58 and in poor health, my family and I decided to return to England. We lived in Liverpool and then in London, where we saw similar problems to those in Australia. There was much work to be done, but by helping others, I was living the richest of lives. Hard work creates purpose—and with purpose comes fulfillment and happiness.GLOSSARYImmigrant – A person who arrives to make a new life in a new country.Emigrant – A person who leaves their country and travels to another to start a new life.Gold rush – When a large group of people move quickly to a new goldfield to make their fortune.LEGACY AND RECOGNITION<ul> <li>Caroline Chisholm improved the living standards of immigrants. Her dedication to helping young convict women earned her the title "The Emigrants’ Friend," which is inscribed on her headstone.</li> <li>A version of the Family Colonisation Loan Society, which she established in 1849, still operates today.</li> <li>The Chisholm Institute, a technical and further education institute in Melbourne, Australia, is named after her.</li> <li>A memorial stone in Melbourne commemorates her initiative in organizing shelter sheds along the goldfields route.</li> <li>The Caroline Chisholm Society, which supports pregnant women and young families, was established in 1969.</li></ul>IMAGE CAPTIONS AND CREDITSSewing class at a Ladies' School, Kamehameha School Sewing Class (not Chisholm’s school), Kamehameha School’s Photo Archives, Luryier Diamond, photo archivist, Public domainChisholm meeting people at the harbour, AlamyCaroline Chisholm portrait, Antoine Claudet, photographer; J. B. Hunt, engraver, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

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