Australia's Birthstain: The Startling Legacy of the Convict Era

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Allen & Unwin, 2008 - Australia - 400 pages
Publisher's description: Why is it that Australians are still misled by myths about their convict heritage? Why are so many family historians surprised to find a convict ancestor in their family trees? Why did an entire society collude to cover up its past? Babette Smith traces the stories of hundreds of convicts over the 80 years of convict transportation to Australia. Putting a human face on the convicts' experience, she paints a rich picture of their crimes in Britain and their lives in the colonies. We know about Port Arthur, Norfolk Island, chaingangs and floggings, but this was far from the experience of most. In fact, most convicts became good citizens and the backbone of the new nation. So why did we need to hide them away? Australia's Birthstain rewrites the story of Australia's convict foundations, revealing the involvement of British politicians and clergy in creating a birthstain that reached far beyond convict crimes. Its startling conclusion offers a fresh perspective on our past.
 

Contents

Introduction
1
Something to Hide
9
Amnesia
32
An Amazing Cast of Characters
57
A Convict Community
111
Outward Bound
138
The Bathurst Road
168
An Unclean Thing
200
Distinctions of Moral Breed
287
The Lost World
317
Acknowledgements
342
Notes
345
Bibliography
374
Index
387
Back flap
401
Back cover
402

A Pervading Stain
222
Best Forgotten
254

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Page 112 - From distant climes, o'er widespread seas, we come, Though not with much eclat or beat of drum, True patriots all; for be it understood, We left our country for our country's good...
Page 14 - ... bind the person taking the same to engage in any mutinous or seditious purpose; or to disturb the public peace, or to be of any association, society or confederacy formed for any such purpose, or to obey the orders or commands of any committee or body of men not lawfully constituted or of any leader or commander or other person not having authority by law for that purpose, or not to inform or give evidence against any associate...
Page 320 - ... it blushes for. But the sad, grim truth remains. For half a century the law allowed the vagabonds and criminals of England to be subjected to a lingering torment, to a hideous debasement, to a monstrous system of punishment, futile for good and horribly powerful for evil...
Page 139 - Who would not live a year or two in Sydney, To get acquaint with all its nonpareils ; To dine with people of a certain kidney, And bask all in the sunshine of their smiles ? They don't live quiet, as they ought, and hid. Nay, Proud of expulsion from the British Isles, Some glory in their shame ! Very strange tales Are told of gentlemen of New South Wales.
Page 112 - Some of the actors acquitted themselves with great spirit, and received the praises of the audience: a prologue and an epilogue, written by one of the performers, were also spoken on the occasion; which, although not worth inserting here, contained some tolerable allusions to the situation of the parties, and the novelty of a stage-representation in New South Wales.
Page 244 - Shall fathers weep and mourn To see a lovely son Debas'd, demoraliz'd, deform'd, By Britain's filth and scum? Shall mothers heave the sigh, To see a daughter fair Debauch'd, and sunk in infamy By those imported here? Shall pastors have to gaze, In sorrow, o'er the land; To see immortal souls debas'd And, dying, be condemned? And shall the rising race, Thro' ages yet to come, Reflect with shame on those who made Their land a penal home?
Page 315 - He had been always escaping, always rebelling, always fighting against authority— and always being flogged. There had been a whole life of torment such as this— forty-two years of it; and there he stood, speaking softly, arguing his case well, and pleading while the tears ran down his face for some kindness, for some mercy in his old age. "I have tried to escape— always to escape," he said, "as a bird does out of a cage.
Page 109 - England, perched upon a three-legged stool, with a bed under him for a cushion — a patchwork quilt round him for a robe of office — and a huge swab combed over his dignified head and shoulders in lieu of a wig. Barristers, with blankets round them for gowns, pleaded eloquently the causes they were engaged in, brow-beating and cross-questioning the witnesses, according to the...

About the author (2008)

Babette Smith is the author of The Luck of the Irish: How a Shipload of Convicts Survived the Wreck of the Hive to Make a New Life in Australia which won a NSW Premier History Award 2015 in the category of NSW Community and Regional History. The prize carries a monetary award of $15,000.

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