Parramatta Female Factory Biographies

Parramatta, New South Wales  by Lycett, Joseph, c. 1775-1828 Published by J. Souter, Sep.1, 1824 (National Library of Australia) Biographies of female convicts  who spent some time at the Parramatta Female Factory previously prepared for the Parramatta Female Factory Online have been relocated to this page. Additional biographies also include female convicts who worked in … Continue reading Parramatta Female Factory Biographies

Earth, Wind, Fire, Water – Gold!

Earth, Wind, Fire, Water — Gold: Bushfires and the Origins of the Victorian Gold Rush Douglas Wilkie Originally published in History Australia, vol.10, no.2, August 2013 Abstract Many historians have noticed the coincidence of the 1851 Black Thursday fires in the Port Phillip District of New South Wales (Victoria) with the beginning of the Victorian … Continue reading Earth, Wind, Fire, Water – Gold!

Frankenstein, Convicts, and Wide-Awake Geniuses: The Life and Death of Charles Brentani

Originally published as Douglas Wilkie, ‘Frankenstein, Convicts and Wide-Awake Geniuses: The life and death of Charles Brentani’, Victorian Historical Journal, Vol. 87, No. 1, June 2016 Extract: In 1838 Alexander Maconochie, private secretary to the Van Diemen’s Land Governor, Sir John Franklin, wrote a damning report on the state of prison discipline in the colony. … Continue reading Frankenstein, Convicts, and Wide-Awake Geniuses: The Life and Death of Charles Brentani