Colonial Duchess: The Migration of Irish Women to New South Wales Before the Great Famine / Elizabeth Rushen

In just two years, 750 young Irish women sailed from Cork to Sydney on the Duchess of Northumberland in 1834 and again in 1836 and the James Pattison in 1835. For the women who took the courageous decision to emigrate, the pain of leaving Ireland was mixed with the excitement of forging a new life in the colony of New South Wales. This book examines the backgrounds and lives of these young women. Their experiences are representative of countless numbers of single immigrant women who came to Australia during the nineteenth century.