Matthew Everingham, The First Fleet

                                                  The First Fleet : Matthew Everingham[pic 1]

In the 18th century unemployment was growing, cities were overcrowded and poverty encouraged the poor to steal food or clothing. The penalties for theft and burglary were severe and Matthew Everingham was no exception to this rule. Matthew was sentenced to 7 years in prison for stealing law books. He was one of the first to be transported in one of the first fleet boats. Matthew Everingham was only 15 years old when the sentence was handed down. During his 8 month journey to Australia, he had to deal with the beatings and atrocities that the guards did to him. He had to make friends because in these boats, certainly there were innocent people and people who did not deserve to be there but there were also real criminals capable of killing to feed themselves. Matthew Everingham also had to develop his mental health because he was young and could not see his parents, he had to endure the cries of his comrades and the death of the latter, he also had to control his emotions because when one of his comrades died, the guards threw him into the water and Matthew could not come to help him for fear that these heartless guards would surely say "You want to join him? ". The young boy had to endure the dirtiness of the rooms, the stench, and not to mention the diseases caused by the poor hygiene conditions. The only thing that kept him alive until then was his imagination because he had hope that in Australia, the soil would be rich and he would finally be able to feed himself well, but this was not the case because when he landed in Australia, Matthew was desperate to see that the soil was poor. He had to defend himself against the wild animals but also against the Aborigines who were defending their land. This period was not at all easy for Matthew Everingham but he managed to get through it which shows how strong he was mentally and physically even at his young age.

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