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
Van Diemen’s Land
The Deconstruction of a Convict Past
Joseph Forrester, a silversmith, was transported to Van Diemen's Land in 1828 after being caught stealing diamonds from a West End London jeweller. Charles Brentani was transported to Van Diemen's Land in 1834 after being caught stealing silver from a Sheffield clergyman. Brentani was was assigned to various employers and eventually set up his own … Continue reading The Deconstruction of a Convict Past
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The Journal of Madame Callegari
WHO WAS MADAME CALLEGARI? Was she one of these? The Transported Convict The Venetian Merchant's Wife The Heroine of the Californian Goldrushes The Adventurer of the Mexican Jungles The Celebrity of European Literary Circles The Plantation Owner of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec No. Madame Callegari was not just one of these. In fact, she was … Continue reading The Journal of Madame Callegari
Historia Incognita 