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Botany Bay (1853) reprinted 1989
A series of lively tales set in the convict period of early Australia. They are fictionalised true stories based on real characters and events in NSW. There is the wonderful story about Fisher's Ghost and an amusing depiction of the convict pickpocket George Barrington, Some of the successful women ex convict entrepreneurs are included and a story about the legend of the builder of Vaucluse House who brought soil out from Ireland to keep the snakes out of his garden. The legend being that St. Patrick rid Ireland of snakes.

This group of tales by John Lang about convicts gives us a alternative view of convict life different to that depicted by later writers who were not there. There are also a couple of stories about the Aboriginal people of Australia.

Botany Bay was first produced as a series of stories in Household Words from 1853 onwwards,with a few having been published in The Welcome Guest 1859. The stories were reprinted in The Mofussilite 1862. The stories appeared in book form published by W. Tegg, London 1859 (numerous editions under various titles).

A new edition is availble from Mulini Press

John Lang
Botany Bay or True Tales of Early Australia
Mulini Press Canberra, 1994
ISBN 0949910-40-6
122 pp
Price: $25.00 paperback; $45.00 cloth; plus postage and packing

To be obtained from:
The Mulini Press
PO Box 82
Jamison Centre ACT 2614, Australia
or e-mail to < vcrit @ bigpond.com >

 
 
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