A Lady's Visit to the Gold Diggings of Australia in 185253 [Paperback]

An 1853 best-selling account of the Australian goldfields for prospective emigrants, possibly hiding the scandal of the author's illegitimate pregnancy.An 1853 account of a trip by Mrs Charles (Ellen) Clacy (18301901) to the Australian goldfields. Essentially a guide for prospective emigrants, with much practical advice within the narrative, this books sheds light on early Australian social history and hints at problems in the author's outwardly respectable life.An 1853 account of a trip by Mrs Charles (Ellen) Clacy (18301901) to the Australian goldfields. Essentially a guide for prospective emigrants, with much practical advice within the narrative, this books sheds light on early Australian social history and hints at problems in the author's outwardly respectable life.Mrs Charles (Ellen) Clacy (18301901) was a clergyman's daughter who, in 1852, travelled to the Australian goldfields. Published in 1853, on her return to England, this work, the first edition of which sold out almost immediately, is essentially a guide for prospective emigrants. It includes, within the lively narrative, practical advice on the cost of living, the labour market, gold-digging regulations, and marriage prospects. Mrs Clacy published several subsequent books, but her life remains obscure. Research suggests an illegitimate pregnancy or an absconding husband, unmentioned in the upbeat and respectable narrative, but possibly echoed by the highly coloured 'tale' of an anonymous emigrant woman, whose lover (twice) leaves her pregnant at the altar to go to the goldfields, with tragic consequences. However this relates to Mrs Clacy's actual circumstances, her writing vividly depicts the mixture of opportunity and hazard in nineteenth-century Australia, illuminating the country's early social history.1. Introductory remarks; 2. The voyage out; 3. Stay in Melbourne; 4. Camping up - Melbourne to the Black Forest; 5. Camping up - Black Forest to Eagle Hawk Gully; 6. The diggings; 7. Eagle Hawk lm