Free shipping on orders over $99
The Convict's Daughter

The Convict's Daughter

The scandal that shocked a colony

by Kiera Lindsey
Paperback
Publication Date: 01/05/2016

Share This Book:

 
$32.99

A dramatic and fast-paced biography of a currency lass born to convicts who gained their freedom and then their fortune in 1840s Sydney. At the age of 15 Mary Ann Gill slipped out her bedroom window to elope with a gentleman settler, but when her father discovered his daughter's disappearance he pursued the couple and fired two pistols at his daughter's suitor, unleashing a national scandal.

One wet autumn evening in 1848, fifteen-year-old Mary Ann Gill stole out of a bedroom window in her father's Sydney hotel and took a coach to a local racecourse. There she was to elope with James Butler Kinchela, wayward son of the former Attorney-General. Her enraged father pursued them on horseback and fired two pistols at his daughter's suitor, narrowly avoiding killing him.

What followed was Australia's most scandalous abduction trial of the era, as well as an extraordinary story of adventure and misadventure, both in Australia and abroad. Through humiliation, heartache, bankruptcy and betrayal, Mary Ann hung on to James' promise to marry her.

This is a compelling biography of a currency lass born when convicts were still working the streets of Sydney. Starting with just a newspaper clipping, historian Kiera Lindsey has uncovered the world of her feisty great, great, great aunt, who lived and loved during a period of dramatic social and political change.

"A wonderfully vivid and pacey tale of passion, scandal and big ideas." - Michael Cathcart, presenter of ABC Radio National's Books & Arts

About the Author
Kiera Lindsey has a passion for Australian history. She has worked in the Australian film and television industries and presented a history program on ABC Radio. She has also published a regular column in The Adelaide Review. She lectures in Australian history at the University of South Australia, and was the winner of the inaugural Greg Dening Memorial Prize.

ISBN:
9781760112585
9781760112585
Category:
Biography & True Stories
Format:
Paperback
Publication Date:
01-05-2016
Publisher:
ALLEN & UNWIN
Edition:
1st Edition
Pages:
336
Dimensions (mm):
234x153mm
Kiera Lindsey

Kiera Lindsey has a passion for Australian history.

She lectures in Australian history at the University of South Australia, and was the winner of the inaugural Greg Dening Memorial Prize.

She appears as an on-camera historian in a four-part series on Australian bushrangers for Foxtel's History Channel, 2017.

Click 'Notify Me' to get an email alert when this item becomes available

Reviews

Be the first to review The Convict's Daughter.