An Irresistible Temptation

An Irresistible Temptation
Author: Carol Baxter
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Total Pages: 433
Release: 2006-11
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1741760070

Set against the backdrop of a particularly divisive period in colonial New South Wales, Australia, this sensational story recounts the scandal that centered on the alluring convict Jane New and her role in the public vilification of Governor Ralph Darling and the elevation of William Charles Wentworth from journalist and public figure to the colony’s master political operator.

An Irresistible Temptation

An Irresistible Temptation
Author: Carol J. Baxter
Publisher: Allen & Unwin Academic
Total Pages: 422
Release: 2006
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9781741149241

There's seduction, dramatic escapes, embezzlement and political intrigue aplenty in a fast-paced narrative history about a scandal that rocked Australia's early colony to its core.

A Savage Country

A Savage Country
Author: Paul Moon
Publisher: Penguin Random House New Zealand Limited
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2012-04-26
Genre: History
ISBN: 1742532438

New Zealand in the 1820s had no government or bureaucratic presence; no newspapers were published; the literate population was probably no more than a couple of dozen people at any one time. Early explorers' assessments of New Zealand were haphazard at best - few knew what to make of this foreign land and its people. In this groundbreaking history of early New Zealand, Paul Moon details how so many of the events in this decade - the introduction of aggressive capitalism, the arrival of literacy and the beginnings of Maori print culture, intertribal warfare, Hongi Hika and the British connection, colonisation as a simultaneously destructive and beneficial force - influenced the nation's evolution over the remainder of the century. Moon leaves no stone unturned in his examination of this dynamic and fascinating pre-Treaty era. Surprising and engaging, A Savage Country does not merely recount events but takes us inside a changing country, giving a real sense of history as it happened. 'Paul Moon has produced an engrossing account of a singular, violent and confused decade in New Zealand's history.' Paul Little, North & South

Fettered Frontier

Fettered Frontier
Author: Jennifer Harrison
Publisher: Boolarong Press and Brisbane History Group
Total Pages: 206
Release: 2023-04-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 1922643610

Historian Jennifer Harrison’s latest book Fettered Frontier, Founding the Moreton Bay Settlement 1822–1826, a companion volume to Shackled: Female Convicts at Moreton Bay 1826 –1839 (2016) investigates the struggle to locate and establish an outpost in remote Moreton Bay. She uses original government correspondence, diaries, journals and maps and also examines the many mangled foundation stories from the time of the original site at Redcliffe and its removal to a location on the Brisbane River. The search for the river involved several exploratory voyages, the discovery of convict timber getters who had totally lost their bearings and the helpful local Aboriginal people. The stream, shrouded by mangroves, was finally discovered. A significantly sized waterway, it was appropriately named for Governor Sir Thomas Brisbane as was the campsite on its bank. Much research has concentrated on accurately re-creating economic, climatic and legal back stories together with defining the characters who made the decisions in London, Port Jackson (Sydney) and locally as well as the convicts who undertook the heavy manual work. Happy 200th Birthday, Brisbane — you have come a long way.

The Peculiar Case of the Electric Constable

The Peculiar Case of the Electric Constable
Author: Carol Baxter
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 404
Release: 2013-09-01
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 1780742444

John Tawell was a sincere Quaker but a sinning one. Convicted of forgery, he was transported to Sydney, where he opened Australia’s first retail pharmacy and made a fortune. When he returned home to England after fifteen years, he thought he would be welcomed; instead he was shunned. Then on New Year’s Day 1845 Tawell boarded the 7:42 pm train to London Paddington. Soon, men arrived chasing a suspected murderer – but the 7:42 had departed. The Great Western Railway was experimenting with a new-fangled device, the electric telegraph, so a message was sent: a ‘KWAKER’ man was on the run. The trail became a sensation, involving no apparent weapon, much innuendo, and a pious man desperate to save his reputation – and would usher in the modern communication age. Told with narrative verve and rich in historical research, this is a delicious true tale of murder and scientific revolution in Victorian England.

Breaking the Bank

Breaking the Bank
Author: Carol Baxter
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2008-05-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1741763681

A fast-paced history of Colonial Sydney that tells the extraordinary story of the country's largest ever bank robbery and the people caught up in its wake - from the author of An Irresistible Temptation.

This Errant Lady

This Errant Lady
Author: Jane Franklin
Publisher: National Library Australia
Total Pages: 286
Release: 2002
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0642107491

Jane Franklin's diary account of her travels from Van Diemen's Land to Port Phillip and then overland from Melbourne to Sydney in 1839 provides a detailed and colourful snapshot of colonial society recorded by a sharply observant witness -- back cover. includes brief references to Aboriginal people.