Biographies

Case study: researching the notorious Mary Ann Bugg

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.

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Seven Years in the Australian Bush

Written in Sydney in 1877 by James B Stevenson, this book was published in 1880 and tells how he spent his first seven years in the bush in the Australian colonies. He arrived during the 1860s in Moreton Bay and travelled to Rockhampton – he was there when the famous bushranger Gardiner was brought in by the police. Following his life as a roving bushman he resided in Sydney.

Those who have not seen it can form no idea of the scene on board an emigrant vessel upon the day of landing. It is impossible to describe the awful confusion.