Hannah by Raymond W. Clarke
Genre: Historical, Colonial History, Fact with Fiction, Australia
Read: 19th January 2025
Published: 3rd July 2011
★★★★ 4 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Hannah is based on the life story of Hannah Stanley, a convict woman who is sentenced to death for Grand Theft before her sentence is commuted to transportation for life to New South Wales.
She survives the brutality and filth of English prisons and the long six months in the convict ship Canada before arriving in Sydney Cove in September 1810.
After many adventures in the wilderness of the early colony, she raises a large family and takes a rightful place in the society of the new world.
She never again saw the shores of England but learnt to love the beauty and the uniqueness of the Australian bush.
MY THOUGHTS:
This book has been sitting on my kindle for some years and I finally decided to check it out yesterday. It's a quick read, having devoured it easily in a day.
The story of Hannah Stanley/Clarke is based on facts on the life of the author's great great grandmother who, ostracised from her own family in Kent, took up a maid's position nearby. Influenced by her fellow maidservant Hannah Porter, the pair attempted to steal some clothing from their employer with the intention of selling it on. But having been caught, the two Hannahs were arrested and convicted for grand theft and up before the visiting justice of the Kent Assizes and thus sentenced to death. Their sentences were later commuted to transportation to New South Wales, Australia for life and thus began their journey.
We follow Hannah's stay in Maidstone Prison and then on the Prison Hulk before boarding the convict transport ship Canada for the long six month sail to Sydney Cove. Upon arrival, the convicts are then subject to a selection process during which each are selected - by age, appearance and ability - as servants to landowners or the like to work out their sentences. The remaining are sent up the river to the Female Factory in Parramatta. Hannah was given the latter due to her "condition", a result from the voyage across the seas.
Hannah, and her partner in crime Hannah P, befriended a young Irish lass on the journey over named Rosie O'Donaghue who was barely 14. She was fortunate enough to be granted a kind landowner to work for whom she later married. Hannah P. continued to be feisty which landed her in a world of trouble. She was selected for work in Sydney Town at the ouset but after an altercation with an officer she was sent to Newcastle. Hannah was sent up river to the Female Factory where she befriended Sarah. After a year in the Factory she was granted a Ticket of Leave supported by the local vicar who became her sponsor and she lived with them at their home in Parramatta for the next three years before returning to Sydney Town to seek out her friends. Having a Ticket of Leave gave the convict some freedom in which they could move around freely and earn a small wage but they had to remain in the area, seeking approval to move to another area. Hannah had to gain approval to return to Sydney Town with a job and lodgings already lined up before it was granted.
In Sydney Town, she met Daniel Clarke who remembered her from the selection process upon her arrival four years before. He had never forgotten her and was thrilled to happen upon her again. A seaman by vocation he was prepared to give it all up for Hannah, marry her and raise a family. But their path to marriage was not an easy one, thwarted by an officer who had his sights on Hannah. a convicts required permission to marry. But with references and a close friend of Macquarie on side, their path to marriage was paved and the couple settled on the Hawkesbury, South Creek near Windsor, where they remained for many years raising their family.
The story continues following their move to the Southern Highlands where Hannah bore four more children and rasied them until her sudden death. There is a summary of the family with a short description of Hannah, Daniel and each of their children detailing their births, marriages and the ages they lived till. The book ends with an epilogue of the author visiting Hannah's grave in Suttons Forest, where she lived out her remaining days.
Based on fact, the author has given embellishment through detail and dialogue without really knowing what exactly transpired and thus giving Hannah a good life, if not an easy one, here in Australia. I have always been fascinated by Australia's colonial past and how the town and places I know and frequent were once penal colonies, built on the blood, sweat and tears of many many convicts that came to our shores.
There was a discrepancy in the facts of this story (and it is a big one). In the book, Hannah is sent up the river to the Female Factory in Parramatta BUT the Female Factory wasn't built until 1817 and not opened until 1821 by which time Hannah and Daniel were already married and living in South Creek near Windsor with their children. Hannah was said to have been there in 1810 which is impossible as it wasn't built yet and the architect who designed it, Francis Greenway, hadn't yet been transported. All female prisoners were sent to Parramatta Gaol where they were housed until the Female Factory was opened. I feel as though the author should have known this.
I would have loved to have rated this book higher but I feel it could have benefitted from better editing as there were many typos and scenes seemed to change mid-paragraph without any break or warning. It made it hard to follow at first and having just a simple embellishment to break between scenes would have made it much easier to follow. But that aside, it was an easy read that I thoroughly enjoyed.
An enjoyable journey into Australia's convict past and tribute one of the women who birthed an entire generation and thensome as a result of her petty crime which saw her transported for life.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
He lives in Brisbane, Australia and welcomes reviews and feedback on all his work.
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