Convict Orphans: The heartbreaking stories of the colony's forgotten children, and those who succeeded...

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Lucy Frost

Convict Orphans

The heartbreaking stories of the colony's forgotten children, and those who succeeded against...

Lucy Frost

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English

Allen & Unwin
28 February 2023

History; Australasian & Pacific history; Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900; Social & cultural history

Longlisted for the 2024 Green Family Tasmanian History Award

All families have their secrets, and a convict ancestor or an illegitimate birth were shames that families once buried deep. Among the best-hidden stories in Australia's history are those of the convict orphans.

Agnes arrived on a convict transport aged four and was abandoned when her mother needed to escape an abusive husband. After their mother died and their father deserted them, Maria and Eliza Marriner were taken into state care too. Cut off from family, behind the walls of the imposing sandstone buildings of the Queen's Orphan Schools, they were among hundreds of young children entrusted to the much feared Matron Smyth.

At the age of twelve, the children left the orphanage to work without pay on farms and in homes-some of them places where no child should ever have been sent. Although colonists called it white slavery, the authorities turned a blind eye to what was really happening.

These are stories of abuse and abandonment, and also of great generosity and kindness from individuals who rescued and supported children. Some children managed to build happy lives for themselves, but many could not navigate a system stacked against them. There are disturbing parallels between the Queen's Orphan Schools in Hobart and other children's institutions in Australia into the 21st century.

'This moving story of thousands of cast away children is a vital part of our nation's history.' -David Hill, author of The Forgotten Children

'A beautifully written book detailing the evocative, heartbreaking stories of convict orphans painstakingly pieced together' - Professor Tanya Evans, author of Fractured Families

'A fascinating study, richly textured, and extremely well-researched' - Professor Barry Godfrey, University of Liverpool

By: Lucy Frost
Imprint: Allen & Unwin
Country of Publication: Australia
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 153mm,
Weight: 360g
ISBN: 9781761067686
ISBN 10: 1761067680
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 28 February 2023
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction1. Lessons from the Cook-house 2. In the Homes of Strangers 3. Up and Down the Stairs of Boarding-houses 4. Jobs for the Boys 5. Braving the Wilds of the Huon 6. The Children Who Ran 7. Children at Risk 8. The Perils of Being a Girl 9. A Legacy of Trauma 10. On Their Own 11. Agnes and Sarah Epilogue Acknowledgements Select bibliography Index

Lucy has spent a career researching and writing about nineteenth-century women and children. The author of Abandoned Women, No Place for a Nervous Lady and other books, she is Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Tasmania.