The Cabbage Tree Hat Boys (13 Dec 1965) ITV

 An ITV play from Peter Yeldham.

Premise

A powerful struggle between rich Australian landowners, who want the cheap convict labour sent from Britain and the ordinary people who want to make the colony a decent place to live in. 

It opens with a convict ship, the Hashemy, about to dock at an Australian port in 1849, resuming transportation to Australia The cabbage tree hat boys, so called because the hats they wore were made of leaves of the cabbage tree, spear-head a group campaigning against the British transportation of convicts to Australia, and dodge back power British soldiers to paste up protest notices.  (The Observer called them "the teds and CND-ers of their time".)

The boys' activities do not, however, go unnoticed by the authorities. Jeremy is a former Irish convict. He is the father of Matthew, one of the boys, is torn between sympathy for his son's actions, which he considers right, and his anxiety to avoid trouble. 

Cast

* Ewan Hooper as Jeremy Conway
* Jane Hylton as Kitty Conway, his wife
* Ewan Roberts as Edward Grayson, a magistrate
* Robert Arnold as Captain Johnson, a British officer
* David Cook as Matthew Conway
* Christopher Burgess as Trooper
* Ronald Cunliffe as Jamie Stuart
* David Ellison as Corporal
* Edward Higgins as Shopkeeper

* James Lynn     as Eli Levitt
* Jacqueline Pearce as Maureen Geraghty
* Victor Platt as Geraghty
* Celestine Randall as Flora
* Sam Walters as Private

Production

Produced by Cecil Clarke
Production Design by Richard Lake
Directed by  Graham Evans     

Other adaptations

It was adapted for British radio in 1969. And for Australian radio in 1965, in 1966, 1967 and in 1969.

Reception

The UK broadcast was reviewed by the Sydney Morning Herald which called it "entertaining and socially significant", quoted some positive British reviews (typical), expressed relief "for once the British producers resisted the temptation to imitated Australian accents" and thought the depiction of Sydney was "a bit naive".

SMH 17 Dec 1965 p 9

London Daily Tele 14 Dec 1965