Fractured families : life on the margins in colonial New South Wales / Tanya Evans.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Evans, Tanya, 1972- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Pioneers--Australia--New South Wales--Biography.

Pioneers.

Frontier and pioneer life--Australia--New South Wales.

Frontier and pioneer life.

Economic conditions.

Social conditions.

New South Wales--Social conditions.

New South Wales.

New South Wales--Economic conditions.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

ix, 304 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Sydney, NSW, Australia : UNSW Press, 2015.

Summary:

Most convicts arriving in New South Wales didn't expect to make their fortunes. Some went on to great success, but countless convicts and free migrants struggled with limited prospects, discrimination and misfortune. In this rich and revealing book, Tanya Evans collaborates with family historians to present the everyday lives of these poorest colonial people. We see families who have fallen on hard times because of drink, unwanted pregnancy, violence, unemployment or plain bad luck, seeking help and often shunted from asylums or institutions. We see how disadvantage can be passed down from one generation to the next. The detailed and extensive archives of The Benevolent Society - Australia's first charity, founded in 1813 - allow us to reclaim these unknown lives, understand our own history better and appreciate the often random nature of betterment and progress. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 An asylum for the aged poor 21

2 'Pioneer' family history and social mobility 41

3 From Stolen Generations to Link-Up 57

4 Families without breadwinners 82

5 Orphans and spinsters 108

6 Fortune hunters and the fated 134

7 Midwifery and mothers 161

8 Faith, philanthropy and family life 190

9 Family history and shared authority 219.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 286-298) and index.

ISBN:

9781742232577

1742232574

OCLC:

917888097

Online:

Contributor biographical information

Publisher description