Corruption and skullduggery : Edward Lord, Maria Riseley, and Hobart's tempestuous beginnings
Title:
Corruption and skullduggery : Edward Lord, Maria Riseley, and Hobart's tempestuous beginnings / Alison Alexander.
Author/Creator:
Publication:
Dynnyrne, TAS : Pillinger Press, 2014.
Physical description:
xi, 350 pages : illustrations (chiefly colour), facsimiles, genealogical table, maps, portraits ; 25 cm.
Copy specific information:
Some copies signed by author. Item IDs 144710340, 145737813, 145737763, 145737862, 145738068, 145738019, 145737912 & 145737961
Notes:
Features maps on endpapers, inside fold-out cover.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
History note:
Maria Riseley was a pregnant convict in the Female Factory at Parramatta when the aristocratic Edward Lord in 1805 selected her from a line-up to be his wife. Together they set up home and businesses in the new settlement of Hobart Town, where they became wealthy and influential entrepeneurs.
Summary:
"The fascinating story of the officer and the convict, Edward Lord and Maria Riseley, who made a fortune in early Hobart by their business and networking skills - only to throw it away in the 1820s by extravagance and financial incompetence (Edward) and sexual infidelity (Maria). This is also the real story of early Hobart, not whitewashed as it usually is to show our glorious beginnings or because the gullible historian actually believes the official sources... Everyone wanted to make a fortune, and they weren't too scrupulous about how they did it. Fleecing the British government was the most popular way, but they also fleeced each other, exploited, embezzled, stole. Almost no one in Hobart's first twenty years has a creditable record... "--Author's website.
ISBN:
9780646941158 (paperback)
Subjects:
Record ID:
SD_ILS:1178232