Belinda Murrell: Bringing Australian History To Life | Page 24

INSPIRATION
STRAP HERE

A VERY PERSONAL STORY
THE RIVER CHARM IS BASED ON THE LIFE OF BELINDA’S GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GREAT-GRANDMOTHER,
A REMARKABLE WOMAN WHOSE ACHIEVEMENTS ARE REMEMBERED TO THIS DAY.
Treasures

When my grandmother Nonnie died, she left me a pile of her
treasures. Among them were a painting of Oldbury and a
pile of old books. One had been written by James and one by
Charlotte.
Two years ago an extraordinary heirloom came to light,
which had been inherited by a distant relative, Jan Gow. It was
Charlotte Waring Atkinson’s sketchbook, filled with exquisite
sketches. Three generations of my family went to view the
sketchbook before it was auctioned. In complete awe we
examined the book, as the curator explained the significance
of the drawings. It was more than a sketchbook. It was
Charlotte’s teaching book – that she used to instruct her four
children about the natural world around them, about the local
Aborigines and about her own family stories.
Many of the stories which Charlotte told her children are
preserved in A Mother’s Offering to Her Children, Australia’s
first published book for children, and in the writings of her own
daughters Louisa and Charlotte.

The real charm

‘Nonnie’ – Belinda’s grandmother who took her for trips to see Oldbury.

W

hen I was a child, my grandparents, Nonnie and
Papa, several times took me down to the Southern
Highlands to Sutton Forest to visit Oldbury with
my younger sister Kate. We would peer through
the hedges at the grand old house which had been built by
my great-great-great-great-grandparents James and Charlotte
Atkinson in 1828. By then it was looking neglected and forlorn.
We would visit the churchyard where the family was buried.
On the long drive down and back, they would tell us romantic
stories about James and Charlotte, and their four children.
Over the years, these stories would be added to and
enriched by my mother, Gilly, and by snippets from distant
aunts and uncles at family gatherings.

24 randomhouse.com.au/teachers

My mother has a beautiful rose gold charm bracelet which
has been handed down through her family. One of the charms