When Carol Baxter began researching Captain Thunderbolt’s lover, Mary Ann Bugg, for her book Captain Thunderbolt and his Lady, historians told her that she wouldn’t have a hope of discovering the full details about Mary Ann’s parents, siblings, partners or children. Mary Ann Bugg – they said – was part-Aboriginal so she had slipped through the cracks. For a professional genealogist, that was a red rag to a bull! With money, persistence and sheer luck, Carol was able to break through these previously impenetrable research barriers.