Cirrus@Austlit

'With "humin hopes" of a better life, the newly married Charles and Louisa Moore set sail for Australia in 1855 on the emigrant ship Constitution. In a moving example of history written "from below" Charles, a plasterer by trade, kept a detailed diary of the voyage, of the time spent in quarantine on arrival, and of his first week working in Sydney town.

Written with verve and humour, his diary tells of ice bergs, smallpox, storms, births and deaths, and the rituals and routines of life at sea. The troubled voyage was discussed at length in official correspondence of the day - now printed here along with the diary. A list compiled in 1855 of all the immigrants is included.

We also read of the 50th anniversary organised by the survivors in 1905, as well as 20 stories of Constitution immigrants' lives in Australia, written in 2005 by their descendants. Humin Hopes gives a rich, rounded picture of immigrant life in the 1850s and after.' Source:www.pigfacepress.com/ (Sighted 09/10/2009).