'For a long time the French presence in Australia remained understated, yet French nationals were present from the very beginning of the colonial period. Their contribution to the European discovery of the country and to its economic, cultural and social development was significant. This book tells the stories of twenty-four leading French figures in Australia who contributed to the rapprochement between the two countries.' (Publication summary)
CONTENT:
S.E. CHRISTOPHE LECOURTIER, AMBASSADOR OF FRANCE, Foreword
ERIC BERTI Introduction
EDWARD DUYKER on Père Receveur and botanist Labillardière
JOHN WEST-SOOBY, JEAN FORNASIERO and MARGARET SANKEY on Nicolas Baudin
KENNETH DUTTON on Francis Barrallier, surveyor and cartographer
NEVILLE POTTER on Nicolas Rossi, superintendent of police
MICHEL REYMOND on Joseph Bernard Reymond, rural pioneer
ROSLYN MAGUIRE on Didier Joubert, pioneer of Hunters Hill
JACQUELINE DWYER on Georges Playoust, wool-buyer
JOHN DRURY on Berthe Mouchette, founder of the Melbourne Alliance française and artist, and on her sister Marie Lion, artist
GEOFFROY de LASSUS on Charles Phalempin, founder of the French bank in Australia
DIANNE REILLY on Comte Lionel de Chabrillan, the first French Consul in Melbourne, and on Antoine-Julien Fauchery, miner and photographer
WALLACE KIRSOP on Francis de Castelnau, scientist and consul general
ERIC BERTI on Georges Biard, consul general of France in Sydney
PATRICIA CLANCY on Céleste de Chabrillan, courtesan, consul’s wife and author
ELAINE LEWIS on Léon Caron, conductor, composer and violinist
MAURICE BLACKMAN on Paul Wenz, author and grazier
ERIC BERTI on Jacques Playoust, French-Australian poilu
PETER BROWN on Augustine Soubeiran, educator and WW1 fund-raiser
COLIN NETTELBECK on Charlotte Crivelli, WW1 fund-raiser
MARGARET BARRETT on André Brenac, Leader of the Free French in Australia
STEPHANIE ANDERSON Narcisse Pelletier, the castaway
TOM LOCKLEY and ERIC BERTI, on Maurice Guillaux, aviation pioneer
CAROLE ROUSSEL Pierre Roussel, Founder of the Botany Bay Lapérouse Museum
IVAN BARKO and COLIN NETTELBECK, Afterword
IVAN BARKO and ERIC BERTI, List of French Consuls and Ambassadors in Australia (1842–2015)
