Bone and Beauty: The Ribbon Boys' Rebellion of 1830

(Paperback)

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A new perspective on a dramatic moment in Australian colonial history. October 1830 Rebelling from years of maltreatment and starvation, a band of Ribbon Boys liberate eighty convicts from Bathurst farms and lead them inland towards freedom. Governor Darling, fearing that others would also rise up, sends the 39th Regiment in pursuit. Three bloody battles follow, but to whom will justice be served Rich with detail, Bone and Beauty fuses archival evidence and narrative technique to tell the gripping story of the Ribbon Boys and their reputed leader Ralph Entwistle. For the first time, the influence of Irish secret societies, the scale of oppression and corruption, and the complex web of criminal and family relationships behind these events are revealed.

Reviews

'The convict uprising at Bathurst in 1830 has been almost completely forgotten. Jeanette M. Thompson has brought the story back from obscurity in a most lively and readable way. She has combined serious research with imaginative flair.' Henry Reynolds

Author Bio

Jeanette Thompson graduated as Doctor of Creative Arts from the University of Technology Sydney. Bone and Beauty grew out of Jeanette's research into Australian colonial history and creative nonfiction writing. She has been a lecturer in Children's Literature, Charles Sturt University, and a tutor for the Family History Unit, University of Tasmania. Her research and community writing have explored ways of making history accessible and engaging for a wide variety of audiences.