Convict Maids: The Forced Migration of Women to Australia

ISBN-13: 9780521446778 / Angielski / Miękka / 1997 / 352 str.

Deborah Oxley

Opis

Convict Maids looks at female convicts transported from Britain and Ireland to New South Wales between 1826 and 1840. Deborah Oxley refutes the notion that these women were prostitutes and criminals, arguing that in fact they helped put the colony on its feet. Analyzing their backgrounds, Oxley finds that they were skilled, literate, young and healthy--qualities exploited by the new colony. Convict Maids draws on historical, economic and feminist theory, and is impressive for its extensive and original research.

Recenzje

'… raises a wealth of stimulating new questions about convict women, the colonial enterprise, both British and Australian society and, indeed, about the very bases of economic analysis.' Australian Feminist Studies

Spis treści

1. Elizabeth: a note on data and method; 2. Mercury's charges: the crimes of convict women; 3. Piso's justice: Irish and English offenders; 4. Economic accoutrements: the skills of convict women; 5. Ireland's distant shores: working life in Ireland; 6. England's castaways: working life in England; 7. Colonial requirements: coerced and free immigrants; 8. Misconceptions; 9. Britain's loss/Australia's gain?; Concluding remarks.