Fate of the Artful Dodger: Parkhurst Boys Transported to Australia and New Zealand 1842-1952 by Paul Buddee

Book Description

Secondhand. Very good condition. Minor wear to book corners and edges. Previous owner has signed inside page, now covered with blank ex libris bookplate sticker. Light foxing to top and right foredges. Dust jacket has some light creasing at edges and spine. Interior and binding are also very good.

This is the story of the youngest convicts transported to Australia and New Zealand. They were youths aged twelve to eighteen, collectively nothing less than the archetypal Artful Dodger, whom Charles Dickens made us half fear and half love.

Nearly 1500 of these miscreants, most undernourished and all of them under-cared, were herded out of England's Parkhust gaol, into sailing ships for the long risky journey to Australia.

An astonishing number became settlers. They survived and prospered with thousands of descendants. An enlightening and detailed account of child transportation and settlement in colonial Australian and New Zealand from 1842-1852. (book flap)