Jim McGuiness

Son of a Convict Jim McGuiness

Tom, an eight year-old-boy with his younger sister and convict mother, survive the privations of a female-only convict ship under a ruthless captain to arrive in the fledgling Colony of New South Wales. He will be part of the evolution of that Colony from a penal settlement to a democratic State. It was a time of lawlessness, bushrangers, and gold rushes, of ordinary people struggling to build a community in a land of droughts and floods. The story of Tom's life and his deadly confrontation with outlaws is woven into the tapestry of the dramatic events in New South Wales between 1817 and 1862. A great part of this story is given to detailed accounts of the infamous acts of Governor Darling, bushrangers Donohoe, Gardiner and Peisley, the lives of newspapermen William Wentworth and Robert Wardell, the gold riots at Lambing Flat - and much more.