The point Chris makes about many of these convicts being non English speaking has probably been overlooked by most of us. My guess is this would be determined on the original locality of the individual and an opportunity for further research by a budding historian. cheers Peter Page ----- Original Message ----- From: "thebasclains" <thebasclains@aapt.net.au> To: <AUS-TAS-CONVICTS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2005 1:08 PM Subject: [TAS-CON] Drift of Derwent Ducks also >I thought it neccessary to write and post this message also. > Trudy , you have done a wonderful job, I agree this is the quintessential > reference for links not only to "Australasia" convicts, I am biased > because it also mentions Philip LEVY of Liverpool Street who had a couple > of those convicts contracted to work for him. He was my great-grandfather > (x3). > > In light of this book, I am proud of my heritage, Dr Trudy Cowley keep up > your fantastic work, you are a saint who has worked with adversity in > producing this book and for that you should be commended, I am looking > forward to my mum buying the book for my christmas present this year! > > Accolades and ovations well deserved!! > > Cheers > > Polly Basclain > > Congratulations to Dr Trudy Cowley > on what is and will be the quintessential reference to the arrival of 200 > female convicts per "Australasia" in 1849 > Ambitious in scope and executed with commanding authority that can only > come from reference to the staggering number of resources used > The bibliography itself is a major resource and I thoroughly recommend > this book to anyone with connections to that ship > One point that Trudy has brought up that absolutely floored me when I read > it, was the fact that a lot of the convicts from Ireland possibly didn't > even speak English, a point that for some reason had escaped me, due to a > lack of understanding of the plight of these people, which has given me a > whole new perspective in regard to my own Irish connections > cheers Chris in Tremont > > > ==== AUS-TAS-CONVICTS Mailing List ==== > Visit Jenny Fawcett's Tasmanian Convicts website at > http://www.genseek.net/constas.htm > > ============================== > Search Family and Local Histories for stories about your family and the > areas they lived. Over 85 million names added in the last 12 months. > Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13966/rd.ashx > >

Hello All I believe that it was mainly the Irish convicts from the western counties of Ireland that were Gaelic-speaking - many of the 'Australasia' convicts were from these counties - as they were the most severely affected by the famine. Regards Trudy Dr Trudy Cowley List Administrator TAS Convicts Rootsweb List tcowley@bigpond.net.au AUS-TAS-CONVICTS-L@rootsweb.com -----Original Message----- From: Judy and Peter [mailto:petjud52@bigpond.net.au] Sent: Saturday, 10 December 2005 3:18 PM To: AUS-TAS-CONVICTS-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [TAS-CON] Drift of Derwent Ducks also The point Chris makes about many of these convicts being non English speaking has probably been overlooked by most of us. My guess is this would be determined on the original locality of the individual and an opportunity for further research by a budding historian. cheers Peter Page