Blurb There he was – John Hughes – a handsome young man with face blackened, clad in a white nightdress and bonnet adorned with feathers. Leading hundreds of other young farmers similarly disguised, he was on a mission. After midnight under moonlight, amid a cacophony of drums, horns, gunfire and general caterwauling, they announced their … Continue reading Book Review – No Ordinary Convict: a Welshman called Rebecca by Janine Marshall Wood
Australia 19th century
Faces in the Street – ‘A beautiful head of hair’
Unidentified young woman c1870-1900Photographer: George & George's Federal Studio The use of the term crowning glory to describe a woman’s hair has been around since the middle of the nineteenth century. As the Albury Banner and Wodonga Express put it, ’Whether the locks be golden-hued or ebony, one of the greatest gifts of the Creator … Continue reading Faces in the Street – ‘A beautiful head of hair’
Putting Words in their Mouths – Writing historical fiction based on real lives
At the Springs, Mount Wellington c.1880 Last month I was invited by the writer, Jean M Roberts to contribute a post about my latest novel to her blog, The Book’s Delight. My post looks at the challenges I faced trying to write accurately and honestly about the characters of my novel and not treat them as … Continue reading Putting Words in their Mouths – Writing historical fiction based on real lives
‘No pen can write, no tongue can tell the aching’ – Transported convicts, love tokens and tattoos
Ships in the Thames by Samuel Atkins c.1790Courtesy of the National Library of Australia This article was first published in the February 2022 edition of Historical Times a free interactive digital magazine issued every month full of news, reviews, offers and articles from a wide range of historical authors and experts, well known and not so. If … Continue reading ‘No pen can write, no tongue can tell the aching’ – Transported convicts, love tokens and tattoos
Cold Blows the Wind – my newest novel
Well here it is, my latest novel—published last Thursday—Yay! Unlike my previous two novels which were set in the Elizabethan period and peopled by fictional characters, Cold Blows the Wind begins in Hobart Town, Tasmania in 1878 and follows a period in the lives of my paternal great-great grandparents Sarah Ellen Thompson and Henry Watkins … Continue reading Cold Blows the Wind – my newest novel
Cold Blows the Wind
Release date: 28 April 2022. Cold Blows the Wind Hobart Town 1878 – a vibrant town drawing people from every corner of the earth where, with confidence and a flair for storytelling, a person can be whoever he or she wants. Almost.Ellen Thompson is young, vivacious and unmarried, with a six-month-old baby. Despite her fierce … Continue reading Cold Blows the Wind
Wanted! A Husband
Matrimonial advertisements were a common feature of the Wanted section of Australian newspapers in the second half of the 19th century; however, those placed by women were far less common than those by men. This is to be expected, in part, seeing that in the 19th century men outnumbered women, particularly in the earlier years, … Continue reading Wanted! A Husband
Wanted! A Wife.
A few months back, while looking at the Wanted ads in issues of the Hobart Mercury of 1878, I was surprised to find, in amongst those for capital hearses, magpies and generally useful boys, an advertisement headed Wanted, a Wife. Mercury, Tas, 22 March 1878 Initially, I was interested to see if ‘Bachelor’ had advertised … Continue reading Wanted! A Wife.
Catherine Meyrick 