Margaret Faith

Bricks of Character & Mortar Margaret Faith

This story is based on fact. It tells of a family who lived in Scotland's Glasgow at the turn of the 20th Century. Poverty-stricken and living in the most deplorable conditions, as was the lot of their class, they delt with their situation with determination and courage. From this family emerges Meg. At age sixteen, she is destined to raise her nine siblings, on the death of her mother. Seeking a better life for one of her children, she sends her sixteen-year-old son to work in Australia's bushland. She, at forty-nine, her husband, at fifty and other members follow. Thrust into the Australian bush they encounter people, situations, and a climate so foreboding it takes all of Meg's courage and tenacity to make survival possible. Among her more courageous projects is her proposal that they make, by hand, bricks to build their own home. They make 44,000. With little money, no previous building experience and limited equipment they toil in Australia's unrelenting sun to do so. Notwithstanding, trials prevail and a move to the city finds them building again. This is just one of the many stories of the migrants who pioneered Australia.