Editing George Lansbury (section)

===Australia===
[[File:StateLibQld 1 110096 Drawing of migrants disembarking from a ship, ca. 1885.jpg|thumb|upright|Migrants disembarking from a ship in Brisbane, c. 1885]]

In 1881 Lansbury was a railway contractor employing three men and living in Whitechapel with his wife Elizabeth and the first of twelve children, the new-born Bessie;<ref>1881 England census</ref> another daughter, Annie, followed in 1882. Seeking to improve his family's prospects, Lansbury decided that their best hopes of prosperity lay in emigrating to Australia. The London agent-general for [[Queensland]] depicted a land of boundless opportunities, with work for all; seduced by this appealing prospect, Lansbury and Bessie raised the necessary passage money, and in May 1884 set sail with their children for [[Brisbane]].<ref name= S10/><ref name= P22>Postgate, pp. 22–23</ref>

On the outward passage, the family experienced illness, discomfort and danger; on one occasion the ship came close to foundering during a [[monsoon]].<ref name= P22/> On arrival at [[Brisbane]] in July 1884, Lansbury found that, contrary to the London agent's promises, there was a superfluity of labour and work was hard to come by. His first job, breaking stone, proved to be too physically punishing; he moved to a better-paid position as a van driver, but was sacked when, for religious reasons, he refused to work on Sundays.<ref name= P24>Postgate, pp. 24–29</ref> He then contracted to work on a farm some 80 miles inland, to find upon arrival that his employer had misled him about living conditions and terms of employment.<ref name= S13>Shepherd 2002, pp. 13–15</ref>

For several months, the Lansbury family lived in extreme squalor before Lansbury secured release from the contract. Back in Brisbane, he worked for a while at the newly built Brisbane cricket ground. As a keen follower of the game he hoped to see the [[History of Test cricket from 1884 to 1889#Lillywhite, Shaw and Shrewsbury's second tour 1884/5|visiting English touring team]] play but, as Lansbury's biographer [[Raymond Postgate]] records, "he learned that cricket watching was not a pleasure for workmen".<ref name= P24/>{{refn|The English team, managed by [[Alfred Shaw]], was in Australia from November 1884 until the end of March 1885, playing one match in Brisbane at the end of January.<ref>{{cite web |url-access=subscription  |url=http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/134/134735.html |publisher=CricketArchive |title=Brisbane v A Shaw's XI, 1884–85 |access-date=28 September 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://test-cricket-tours.co.uk/page_1610647.html|publisher=Test Cricket Tours|title=Test Cricket Tours – England to Australia 1884–85|access-date=28 September 2020}}</ref>|group= n}}

Throughout his tenure in Australia, Lansbury sent letters home, revealing the truth about conditions facing immigrants.<ref name= P24/> To a friend he wrote in March 1885: "Mechanics are ''not'' wanted. Farm labourers are ''not'' wanted&nbsp;... Hundreds of men and women are not able to get work&nbsp;... The streets are foul day and night, and if I had a sister I would ''shoot her dead'' rather than see her brought out to this little hell on earth".<ref name= S13/> In May 1885, having received from his father-in-law Isaac Brine sufficient funds for a passage home, the Lansbury family left Australia for good and returned to London.<ref name= P24/>