Fractured Families: Life on the Margins in Colonial New South Wales by Tanya Evans

Book Description

Secondhand. Good condition. Ex library copy with external stickers and protective plastic covering. Remnant of date due slip on author bio page is now covered with blank ex libris bookplate sticker. Marks on irhgt foredge. Top and right foredges are sunned. Interior and binding are still very good.

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 many 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 the way in which 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 and understand our history better, not to mention the often random nature of betterment and progress. (back cover)