Interesting information but not strictly correct

@JudyEv (381810)
Rockingham, Australia
May 19, 2022 6:43pm CST
As we entered the door of the Shipwreck Museum in Fremantle, Western Australia, we saw a notice board which contained a number of dot points about significant events that had all happened in that day – 16th May – but in different years. However, the photo I took of the notice is fuzzy and when I tried to verify the bits I could read, nothing fitted. But of course lots of other interesting data popped up in my research. Here are two of the items: • Matthew Flinders was born in Donington, Lincolnshire, England, in 1774. That is all true but he was born on 16th March, not 16th April. • The first 208 convicts arrived in 1851 under the command of Edmund Henderson, who later returned to England to become head of the London Metropolitan Police from 1869 to 1886. This doesn’t tally with my research which says the first ship, Scindian, brought convicts to Fremantle, Western Australia on 1 June 1850. The notice board has the date wrong but I guess that’s poetic licence. My research says there were 75 convicts as well as guards, warders and their families. This might have added up to 208 all told. What I found funny was that the ship with its human cargo overtook the ship carrying the news that the Scindian was on its way so nothing had been prepared for the arrival of all these extra people. No phones, telegrams or Zoom in those days!! And I’m sure it wasn’t funny for the poor new settlement battling to provide for its own inhabitants, let alone being landed with a heap of newly arrived people The photo is of one of the exhibits in the museum.
11 people like this
12 responses
@rebelann (117199)
• El Paso, Texas
20 May 22
Boy was I off base with the facts. I always thought it was Queen Elizabeth I who had convicts sent to Australia, where the heck did I get that notion?? Her reign suggests it was probably the Americas where convicts were sent in those days.
3 people like this
@Fleura (34926)
• United Kingdom
20 May 22
The idea of sending convicts overseas didn't come up until the 18th century. Before that they just stayed in prisons in Britain, like normal!
3 people like this
@JudyEv (381810)
• Rockingham, Australia
22 May 22
@Fleura I think the gaols were overcrowded and they were keeping prisoners on vessels moored in the river so they were looking for somewhere to send the prisoners. Then, when stories came back that the French had landed on Australian shores, the English were scared they'd annex it before them (the British) so they made great haste to get here first and claim it for themselves.
3 people like this
@JudyEv (381810)
• Rockingham, Australia
22 May 22
Convicts were sent to America first, then, with the American Revolution, Britain needed somewhere else to send them.
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (174245)
• United States
20 May 22
Verifying information can often be more fun than the information itself.
3 people like this
@JudyEv (381810)
• Rockingham, Australia
22 May 22
True, but if I had had a clearer copy of the notice, I probably wouldn't have bothered.
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@DaddyEvil (174245)
• United States
22 May 22
@JudyEv I do that, too. I'm just too curious.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381810)
• Rockingham, Australia
22 May 22
@DaddyEvil That's part of it for me but I also like to have things correct. I don't like spouting my mouth off here if the facts aren't right.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (86575)
• United States
20 May 22
Don’t you hate that? You’d think a museum would have someone to verify the facts. I remember when I went to the Alabama Music Hall of Fame they had a display that said Toni Tennille (an Alabama native) wrote “Love Will Keep Us Together.” Oh, no she didn’t!!! Nice cannon. That probably kept the prisoners in line.
3 people like this
@JudyEv (381810)
• Rockingham, Australia
22 May 22
If it's written on a notice, then I just believe it! I'm gullible that way! If my photo hadn't been blurry, I would have just written up the wrong info. A good lesson for me.
1 person likes this
@jstory07 (148720)
• Roseburg, Oregon
20 May 22
That canon sure is cool looking. I like reading about these types of facts.
2 people like this
@jstory07 (148720)
• Roseburg, Oregon
22 May 22
@JudyEv When there is another free day I will go back to ours this summer.
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@JudyEv (381810)
• Rockingham, Australia
22 May 22
I'm glad you found it interesting. I need to go back to that museum one day.
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@Morleyhunt (21741)
• Canada
20 May 22
I’ve always found that verifying information can lead you down some entertaining bunny trails.
3 people like this
@JudyEv (381810)
• Rockingham, Australia
22 May 22
It certainly did in this case. There were other facts I couldn't verify too but I thought the post was long enough.
1 person likes this
@Ronrybs (21503)
• London, England
20 May 22
All the best people have birthdays on the 16 March! ;-) I used to live not far from Donnington
2 people like this
@JudyEv (381810)
• Rockingham, Australia
22 May 22
Are there monuments to Matthew Flinders? I guess there would be. He had a black cat called Trim that went on many voyages with him. Trim appears in some of the statues. Edit: Did I miss something? Is your birthday March 16? I'm a bit slow sometimes.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (381810)
• Rockingham, Australia
28 May 22
@Ronrybs Well, I hope you had an enjoyable day.
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@Ronrybs (21503)
• London, England
27 May 22
@JudyEv I have not been to the Donnington town centre, but I'm sure there must be something there. Indeed, it is 16 March for me
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@snowy22315 (208751)
• United States
20 May 22
I guess you will have to straighten that museum out...
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@JudyEv (381810)
• Rockingham, Australia
22 May 22
I find it really annoying. I guess I should know better than to believe all I read. lol
@Shavkat (141906)
• Philippines
20 May 22
I wish I could go to museums. I am planning to do it soon.
1 person likes this
@Shavkat (141906)
• Philippines
25 May 22
@JudyEv In my country, we still need to wear them.
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@JudyEv (381810)
• Rockingham, Australia
22 May 22
We wore our masks inside although we weren't obliged to.
1 person likes this
• Midland, Michigan
20 May 22
And not only did they have to deal with people they weren't ready for but the people coming were convicts. Certainly they weren't expected to live with the rest of the village/townsfolk.
1 person likes this
• Midland, Michigan
22 May 22
@JudyEv I can't even imagine what it must have been like for them back then.
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@JudyEv (381810)
• Rockingham, Australia
22 May 22
That's so true. There was little enough food for everyone as it was without having to cater for extras.
1 person likes this
@Fleura (34926)
• United Kingdom
20 May 22
It's like when you send a postcard and then you get back from holiday before it arrives! Very annoying when some place like a museum can't get its facts right. You tend to trust those places to be telling the truth, otherwise you can't believe any of it!
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@JudyEv (381810)
• Rockingham, Australia
22 May 22
Exactly. I believed all of it. I still would if it weren't for the blurry photo. And I would have spread the falsehoods here! The shame of it all (except I wouldn't have known about it)
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (222286)
• United States
20 May 22
Thank you for the information about the convicts. My husband would love to see that cannon. He wants one of his own!
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@JudyEv (381810)
• Rockingham, Australia
22 May 22
Maybe he would fire off a cannonball on New Year's Eve.
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@LindaOHio (222286)
• United States
22 May 22
@JudyEv He probably would.
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@CarolDM (203396)
• Nashville, Tennessee
20 May 22
Too bad to see museums get the information wrong.
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@JudyEv (381810)
• Rockingham, Australia
22 May 22
I find it quite annoying. Surely a place like that should have their facts correct.
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@CarolDM (203396)
• Nashville, Tennessee
22 May 22
@JudyEv Really no excuse for it not being correct.
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