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Janet McCalman AC, Emeritus Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor, The University of Melbourne

Determined survival, desperate poverty and fractured families: the stories of Australia's convict orphans

Boys outside a store in the central highlands town of Bothwell, c. 1870. Tasmanian Archives, PH30/1/767

Convict Orphans has a long but apt sub-title: “the heartbreaking stories of the colony’s forgotten children, and those who succeeded against all odds”. And this is exactly what this beautifully written book is about.


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