Cirrus@Austlit

'Before any official midwifery training was instigated in New South Wales numerous women worked as midwives. Many were untrained and practised independently but a few had overseas midwifery qualifications which gave them prestige in the practice of their craft.

'In the days of secret abortions and baby farming, before modern medical procedures saved the lives of thousands of women and babies, midwives emerged from the ranks of convicts and free immigrants as entrepreneurs. Their business activities, attitudes, work ethic and experiences formed the foundations that helped to shape midwifery for future generations.

'This book weaves the stories of nine midwives into an account of the development of midwifery training in New South Wales. The women’s lives span the nineteenth century and provide a fascinating perspective of maternity care and life in colonial Sydney.' (Publication Summary)

'Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, was first known as Moreton Bay, a place of secondary punishment in New South Wales until 1859. Who were the women convicts who were sent there? Were they part of a distinct criminal class? Could they control their own destinies in any way or were they victims of an uncompromising penal system? Were they irretrievably tied to their criminal past or did they develop new lives?

'This book identifies each woman sent to Moreton Bay and brings to light their full stories. Here the women are evaluated to enable an understanding of the procedures which ordered their lives. As the new settlement developed, the social conditions proved as much a shackle as their criminality.' (Publication summary)

'An astute observer, throughout her life Caroline Thomas kept detailed diaries recording the joys and sorrows of family life in London and the Australian bush. Her diaries provide an insight into the busy social life of a girl in comfortable family circumstances at the time of London's Great Exhibition in 1851 and following her father's disgrace and flight to Australia, her forced migration to Sydney. Caroline's Diary reflects the fragility of life and her ability to adapt, whether it was the dangers of pregnancy and birth, the deaths of several of her eleven children, the chronic illnesses of her husband and the death of her sister in the Siege of Lucknow. The husband she adored moved her, often without notice, from the city life she had always known to the bush. We read how she made a comfortable home as a young bride at Buckinbah, Wellington, as a young mother at Saumarez in Armidale and later, with her growing family at Wivenhoe at Camden.' (Publication summary)

'This beautifully written book tells the story of the penal settlement on Cockatoo Island, the struggle to build a dock and an autocratic superintendent who turned the island into a secret gentleman’s fight club with his bare-knuckle prize-fighting convicts. It is a true story of corruption, patronage and intrigue. With a cast of memorable characters, this is narrative history that is as exciting to read as a novel. The island was a microcosm of colonial life, where gentlemen and convicts were involved in drama, death, turmoil, farce and moments of compassion. In the background was the island, a place that confined and surprised them all. Guarded by sea and circling gulls, the island has been a potent element in the lives of all those who lived on it. Under the Colony’s Eye reveals some of its long-held secrets.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.