Essington (1974)

Written by Thomas Keneally, Essington told the story of a motley group of Royal Marines and their interchangeable wives in a malarial stretch of Australia in 1840.

At times, it was almost like Under Milk Wood. Pretty Polly (Jacqueline Kott) was the sergeant’s wife whom the men played cards for, while the officers all quietly went mad.

For ten years, Captain John Macarthur (Michael Craig) had tried to maintain a dignified standard of behaviour as commandant of the township of Victoria, Port Essington, in the Northern Territory.

Now – with morale low because of the fight against the climate, the effects of isolation and inadequate supplies –  many in the small community of European settlers were disturbed by his increasingly unreasonable demands and rigid leadership, and pressure was mounting for his second-in-command to take charge.

Bob Squires (Chris Haywood), a convict on the run, stumbled into the township and made himself invaluable to the men of the disintegrating garrison.

Meanwhile, Private Evans (John Hargreaves) deserted his post and ran off with a local Aboriginal woman, creating even more tension amongst the Royal Marines detachment.

A naval vessel eventually arrived with orders to evacuate the settlement and destroy the fort to prevent it from falling into the hands of a possible enemy. Squires remained behind with the half-witted Pretty Polly.

The steamy drama – produced by the Australian Broadcasting Commission – was aired on television in the UK as part of The Globe Theatre in November 1974.

At the 1976 Logie Awards,  Keneally won for Best Script, while Chris Haywood won the Best Individual Performance by an Actor Award.

In reality, Port Essington was located on the Cobourg Peninsula in what is now the Northern Territory and was established by the British to create a “second Singapore” – a major trading hub to facilitate trade with Asia and deter French or Dutch expansion in the region.

The location was incredibly remote, and supplies from Sydney were infrequent, often leaving the settlers to survive on dwindling resources.

The settlement was abandoned in 1849 due to disease (malaria, scurvy, and dysentery were rampant), extreme weather, and its failure to become a viable trading port.

Captain John Macarthur
Michael Craig
Bob Squires
Chris Haywood
Private Evans
John Hargreaves
Pretty Polly
Jacqueline Kott
Father Angelo Confalonieri
Tim Elliott

Wyn Roberts
Cornelia Frances
Ken Goodlet
Melissa Jaffer
Reg Evans
Drew Forsythe
Hugh Keays-Byrne
Sandra MacGregor

Director
Julian Pringle