y separately published work icon Fifty Years Ago: An Australian Tale single work   novel  
Is part of True Stories of the Penal Days James J. Wright , 1897-1898 series - author
Issue Details: First known date: 1867... 1867 Fifty Years Ago: An Australian Tale
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Book One - The Oath; Book Two - The First Black Hand; Book Three and Four - The Third Black Hand. The story opens on a NSW squatter's run where the family of George Maxwell, with the exception of his son George and the partly deranged Jamie dedicate themselves to revenge and follow the warriors into the bush. Descriptions of Aboriginal life are given. An Aboriginal girl becomes their ally and is the occasion for comments on the treatment of women by whites and blacks. Over the next three years, George and Jamie take their promised revenge on the warriors and their tribe, involving a sub-plot with a miller, his daughter, her lover and an ex-convict; another with Black Harry, the sawyer - a negro - his partner, Ironbark Jack near the Coal River; and with a gang of escaped convicts camped at Sugarloaf Mountain near the Hawkesbury. Themes vengeance and forgiveness. (PB)

Contents

* Contents derived from the Canberra, Australian Capital Territory,:Mulini Press , 1999 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
A Neglected Novel: Charles De Boos' 'Fifty Years Ago', Laurie Clancy , single work criticism biography (p. 2-9)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 1869
Serialised by: The Australian Journal 1865 periodical (900 issues)
      1869-1870 .
      Note/s:
      • Serialised in eleven instalments in The Australian Journal from April 1869 to February 1870.

Works about this Work

Charles Edward Augustus de Boos, 1819-1900 : His Life, Work, and Writing Peter Crabb , 2014 single work biography
— Appears in: JASAL , vol. 14 no. 3 2014;

'Charles de Boos was one of a number of mid-nineteenth century writers who helped to lay the foundations of Australian literature. His early life experiences of Huguenot ancestry and participation in the Carlist wars in Spain, followed by his initial years in Australia, made essential contributions to the person he was. So did his extremely varied working life, particularly as a reporter for the 'Argus and the 'Sydney Morning Herald', and later as a mining warden and police magistrate in New South Wales. His reporting on the goldfields in Victoria and especially New South Wales, added to his experiences of significant social and legal issues, and his concerns for the 'under-dogs', women, children, the diggers, the Chinese, and the Aborigines. It was his knowledge of the goldfields and gold mining that led to his appointment as a mining warden and other official roles in a number of locations over a period of fifteen years, work to which his social view contributed much and for whch he was highly respected, in marked contrast to what some have written.

'His life experiencess, work and travels provided the basis for his many and varied writings, to which the second half of the essay is devoted. From his parliamentary reporting came his satirical writing. From this and his travels came his social commentary. His first two novels were set in early nineteenth century rural New South Wales, 'Fifty Years Ago' being his most well-known work, "one of the best books written in the infancy of Australian literature". His subsequent fiction, notably 'Mark Brown's Wife', was set in the goldfields of New South Wales and Victoria.

'He made an as yet unacknowledged contribution to the foundations of Australian literature. He was a man who was ahead of his times in so many ways, one who gave voice to a different way in colonial New South Wales.' (Publication abstract)

Inside Out in the Land Down Under : Reading Trauma through Janette Turner Hospital's Oyster Isabel Fraile , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Splintered Glass : Facets of Trauma in the Post-Colony and Beyond 2011; (p. 221-243)
Isabel Fraile claims that 'While a thoroughly enjoyable and gripping experience, reading Janette Turner Hospital's Oyster (1996) often manages to feel, at the same time, like reading a handbook of trauma theory.' (p 221)
Turning Fact into Fiction: The 1857 Hornet Bank Massacre Patricia Clarke , 2005 single work criticism
— Appears in: Margin , April no. 65 2005; (p. 8-17)

This article compares the similarities in plot and theme between the real events of the 1857 Hornet Bank massacre of the Fraser family by members of the Yiman people and the subsequent retaliation, with the fictionalised massacre in Charles de Boos novel Fifty Years Ago: An Australian Tale (1867). The author also looks at the actual event as protrayed in Rosa Praed's novels and autobiographical writing.

A Neglected Novel : Fifty Years Ago by Charles de Boos Laurie Clancy , 1999 single work criticism biography
— Appears in: Margin , July-August no. 48 1999; (p. 2-16)
A Neglected Novel: Charles De Boos' 'Fifty Years Ago' Laurie Clancy , 1999 single work criticism biography
— Appears in: Fifty Years Ago: An Australian Tale 1999; (p. 2-9)
New Books 1906 single work review
— Appears in: The Australian Town and Country Journal , 21 November vol. 73 no. 1920 1906; (p. 43)

— Review of Fifty Years Ago: An Australian Tale Charles De Boos , 1867 single work novel
Turning Fact into Fiction: The 1857 Hornet Bank Massacre Patricia Clarke , 2005 single work criticism
— Appears in: Margin , April no. 65 2005; (p. 8-17)

This article compares the similarities in plot and theme between the real events of the 1857 Hornet Bank massacre of the Fraser family by members of the Yiman people and the subsequent retaliation, with the fictionalised massacre in Charles de Boos novel Fifty Years Ago: An Australian Tale (1867). The author also looks at the actual event as protrayed in Rosa Praed's novels and autobiographical writing.

Inside Out in the Land Down Under : Reading Trauma through Janette Turner Hospital's Oyster Isabel Fraile , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Splintered Glass : Facets of Trauma in the Post-Colony and Beyond 2011; (p. 221-243)
Isabel Fraile claims that 'While a thoroughly enjoyable and gripping experience, reading Janette Turner Hospital's Oyster (1996) often manages to feel, at the same time, like reading a handbook of trauma theory.' (p 221)
A Neglected Novel : Fifty Years Ago by Charles de Boos Laurie Clancy , 1999 single work criticism biography
— Appears in: Margin , July-August no. 48 1999; (p. 2-16)
The Treatment of the Aborigine in Early Australian Fiction, 1840-70 J. J. Healy , 1972 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , May vol. 5 no. 3 1972; (p. 233-253)
White on Black Justin D'Ath , 1993 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , September no. 154 1993; (p. 35-39)
Last amended 22 Apr 2015 11:17:37
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