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
Transportation
‘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
Can’t see the Woods for the … Woods – The search for one Henry Woods
Mount Wellington standing sentinel over Hobart I took my first steps into family research about fifteen years ago when I inherited my father's papers. He had only made intermittent attempts to trace his family history so all I found was a small collection of letters and certificates along with a very basic family tree. I … Continue reading Can’t see the Woods for the … Woods – The search for one Henry Woods
Van Diemen’s Land
Like so many traditional songs there are a number of versions of Van Diemen's Land. Apart from various musical interpretations, there are a variety of lyrics depending on the country of origin of the singer, England or Ireland. The earliest published lyrics can be found in the Launceston Examiner of 21 Nov 1839 (p.2, c1). … Continue reading Van Diemen’s Land
One Minute Book Review – Australia’s Birthstain : The Startling Legacy of the Convict Era by Babette Smith
This book deals with Australia’s convict beginnings and the attempt, in the century following the ending of transportation, by both families and society, to cover up the past. Smith focuses on the convicts of six ships who are representative of the range of convict experiences and traces their lives from their conviction to freedom. Their … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Australia’s Birthstain : The Startling Legacy of the Convict Era by Babette Smith
Catherine Meyrick 