
Prison Hulk to Redemption
Description
Alles über E-Books | Antworten auf Fragen rund um E-Books, Kopierschutz und Dateiformate finden Sie in unserem Info- & Hilfebereich.
SECOND EDITION 2023 revised 2026
A history of colonial Australia, not of the famous and heroic, but of the small people, the anonymous people who were the heartbeat of a growing nation
In this first book of his social history series, the author sets out on a journey through Australia's colonial history with his ancestors from the British Isles. All arrived by the 1830s, two on the First Fleet in 1788. Most are from central and southern England. Four are from two little villages close to each other in Wiltshire: Semley and Donhead St Mary. In addition, two convicts and one free settler came from Dublin, Monaghan, and Donegal in Ireland, and a farming family of four came from Aberdeen in Scotland. It is surprising how much he finds out about them all?joys, successes, and tragedies. Their lives are anything but dull.
James Joseph Wilson, who narrowly escaped the gallows and was surprisingly literate for a man thrice convicted of burglary, arrived in Port Jackson on board the Prince Regent in 1827. The colonial authorities assigned him to Robert Lowe, one of the Colony's early landholders. Lowe sent him to Mudgee in north-western New South Wales to shepherd his flocks. Young 18-year-old hutkeeper James Joseph was one of the first inhabitants in the Mudgee area.
He teamed up with fellow convict Michael Jones to look for land. They married sisters Jane and Elizabeth Harris, daughters of free settlers, and travelled northwest to the Coonamble area, 330 miles from Sydney, to set up their farms. The two freed convicts and the Harris sisters became his great-great-grandparents.
Nine convicts are in his ancestors' direct line. He traces their lives against the social and historical background of colonial Australia, presenting a very different picture from the view usually found in school history books. They all thrive, taking advantage of their second chance. This book is the story of their redemption.
Besides offering the reader an interesting, sometimes gripping family story, he reveals the cultural continuities in which his ancestors acted and how they responded to those continuities in a totally different physical environment. He seeks to discover the extent to which the outlook, culture, and character of his ancestors shaped his extended family and him into what they are.
Naming his family Catholic is not gratuitous. Religion, as a social and political force, always plays a vital role in a nation. It is emphatically the case in Australia, where the national establishment threw together a sizable underclass of (Irish) Catholics with the Protestant Ascendancy. How was that to work out in a democratic order where there was no legal disqualification based on religion? He deals with that. Second, of my original ancestors, only three were Catholic. The rest were a mixture of Protestants, from the Church of England to Scottish Wesleyans, to dissenters. How the Wilsons ended up Catholic makes an interesting story.
And finally, perhaps most importantly, he sketches a picture of how Australia developed as a new people and a new nation. In 1950, most Australians had an ancestry like his.
Since the publication of Prison Hulk to Redemption in 2016, the author has made many adjustments and additions. In preparing this second edition, the author emphasises the social and cultural continuities to bring out his ideas about what it means to be a people and a nation.
These ideas are drawn from his interpretation of Edmund Burke's political philosophy, which he conceives as a Natural Law conservatism. Burke had distinct ideas on how a healthy nation develops and, if it is not careful, how it decays, collapses, and falls prey to takeover. The author's book is a Burkean interpretation of Australia's colonial times.
More details
Person
After a lifetime working in the book business (mostly educational publishing) I now concentrate on my writing.
One of my formative experiences was living in Holland with my Dutch wife for two and a half years. On returning to Australia, I completed a major in Dutch Language and Literature before a master's degree in philosophy. My studies and immersion in another culture and language, together with my Catholic faith, form the biggest influences on my writing. But shaping those influences are my mother and father. One could not have more principled parents.
My master's thesis was on Edmund Burke whose thought permeates my writing. My preoccupations are social and cultural from a Catholic and (Burkean) conservative perspective. This reflects my acceptance of the Catholic idea of the reciprocal relationship between faith and reason.
My favourite fiction authors are Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, and Evelyn Waugh. Evelyn Waugh's style and mastery of English have been my biggest influence ? not in vain, I hope. My favourite modern non-fiction author is philosopher Roger Scruton. I spend my leisure time reading and occasionally walking along the nearby shores of Port Phillip Bay. I love opera, musicals, and the ballet (The Nutcracker is my favourite.) I enjoy fifties rock 'n' roll and forties big band. Mozart is my favourite classical composer, but I am acquiring a liking for Bach.
My novels are in the genre of the 'Catholic novel'. They are in the style of Catholic novelists Evelyn Waugh, Grahame Greene, and Morris West. I deal with similar political, philosophical, and moral issues. The difference from general fiction is the assumed philosophical framework. Most modern fiction assumes a materialist framework while the Catholic novel assumes a natural law framework (See the 'Catholic Novel' page on my website.) Finally, there is always a romantic content in my stories. Love relationships are an incisive way of exploring the human person.
System requirements
File format: ePUB
Copy protection: Adobe-DRM (Digital Rights Management)
System requirements:
- Computer (Windows; MacOS X; Linux): Install the free reader Adobe Digital Editions prior to download (see eBook Help).
- Tablet/smartphone (Android; iOS): Install the free app Adobe Digital Editions or the app PocketBook before downloading (see eBook Help).
- E-reader: Bookeen, Kobo, Pocketbook, Sony, Tolino and many more (not Kindle).
The file format ePub works well for novels and non-fiction books – i.e., „flowing” text without complex layout. On an e-reader or smartphone, line and page breaks automatically adjust to fit the small displays.
This eBook uses Adobe-DRM, a „hard” copy protection. If the necessary requirements are not met, unfortunately you will not be able to open the eBook. You will therefore need to prepare your reading hardware before downloading.
Please note: We strongly recommend that you authorise using your personal Adobe ID after installation of any reading software.
For more information, see our ebook Help page.