An Australian Ploughman's Story single work   short story  
Issue Details: First known date: 1850... 1850 An Australian Ploughman's Story
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

A story about a series of unfortunate events that lead to a young man's transportation to Australia. He suffers trials and tribulations until he has the good fortune to meet the anonymous narrator who helps the young man find stability in his life. Consequently, the transportee becomes a prosperous farmer and is reunited eventually with his wife and child. The message of the story is directed at English readers: 'tell the wretched and the starving [in England] how honest sober labour is sure of full reward here [in Australia]. Tell them that poverty may be turned to competence, crime to repentence and happiness'.

Notes

  • This story was originally published in Household Words in 1850. Sidney subsequently revised it for inclusion in Gallops and Gossips in the Bush of Australia (1854), where it appears as Chapter IV (pp. 57-70), which is titled 'A Prisoner's Story'.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Household Words vol. 1 4 May 1850 Z1243052 1850 periodical issue 1850 pg. 39-43
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon The Goulburn Herald and County of Argyle Advertiser vol. 3 no. 137 8 February 1851 Z1763873 1851 newspaper issue 1851 pg. 1-2
    Note: Unattributed author: 'From Dicken's Household Words'.
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Further Tales from Botany Bay John Lang , Samuel Sidney , Victor Crittenden (editor), Canberra : Mulini Press , 2005 Z1228008 2005 selected work short story extract This selection claims to brings together the uncollected Australian stories of John Lang, previously published separately in English and Indian periodicals and newspapers. Research since its publication shows that some of the stories are in fact extracts from a novel Gallops and Gossips in the Bush of Australia by Samuel Sidney Canberra : Mulini Press , 2005 pg. 82-92
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Tales of the Bushman Samuel Sidney , John Sidney , Canberra : Mulini Press , 2006 Z1328626 2006 selected work short story

    John Sidney came to Australia in 1840. He spent ten years in the colony. On his return to England he told his brother Samuel about his experiences in Australia. Samuel wrote them down and they were published in Household Words 1850-1852. John returned to Australia and sent news back to his brother. Samuel Sidney never visited Australia. His novel Gallops and Gossips in the Bush of Australia is based on his brother's information.

         Canberra : Mulini Press , 2006     pg. 15-26
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Related Works

y separately published work icon Gallops and Gossips in the Bush of Australia, or, Passages in the Life of Alfred Barnard Samuel Sidney , 1854 single work novel From a roving, largely outdoors, education in England and France, the narrator - an orphan - becomes unfitted for an office profession and emigrates to Australia. The stories recount aspects of his life in the colony. The narrator finally returns to England - near York - for Christmas. He hears sad tales of England's poor but finds rich welcome with his family - and a wife.
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Last amended 12 Dec 2011 15:57:38
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