TitleBronze Bust Caroline ChisholmObject TypeArtworkDate1988DescriptionThis Bronze Bust of Caroline Chisholm was commissioned by Shellharbour Municipal Council for the opening of Tongarra Museum 27 March 1988.
The bust was made by Australian Sculptor Alexander Kolozsy.
The bust was commissioned in recognition of her vital contribution to early settlement in the Shellharbour area.CreatorKolozsy, AlexanderProvenance and SignifcanceCaroline Chisholm was born at Southampton England in 1810.
In 1842, Captain Robert Towns of Shellharbour offered Chisholm 4000 acres to settle families on clearing leases on part of the original Peterborough Estate.
In 1843, 23 families of some 240 persons signed and left on the Steamer 'Wollongong' for the shores of Shellharbour.
Robert Towns provided rations for the families for the first five months and Caroline Chisholm engaged a school teacher to open a school and employed three bushmen to show settlers how to clear and crop the land.
The Sydney Morning Herald reported the departure of Chisholm and the 23 families - 240 people altogether.
As clearing lease tenants, the families were given the land rent free for 6 years in exchange for clearing the land. Clearing a lease was a slow and physically demanding occupation. The leases in the Illawarra were heavily timbered and cabbage palm predominated in the thick scrub. Cabbage palm would not burn but was cut into lengths and rolled to the nearest stream and pushed in. The pigs ate the chips from inside the palm and the tender tops were used as a vegetable and the fronds were used to produce cabbage tree
In 1988 Australian sculptor Alexander Koloszy received a commission from Shellharbour Council to create a life size bronze bust of Caroline Chisholm for the opening of Tongarra Museum.
Caroline Chisholm was instrumental in the early European settlement of Shellharbour.
