For about 190 years, the little village of Windermere has stood on the banks of what we now call the Tamar River, just north of Launceston in Tasmania. The area is the deep time traditional land of the Leterrermairrener Clan who for over 10 000 years knew the area as Kanamuluka. Windermere village has its origins as a…
Tag: Goodson
Woolwich to Norfolk Island in 92 days
In March 1844, the convict ship Blundell departed for Norfolk Island. She was the first convict ship to sail directly, rather than via Sydney. The Blundell was fitted out with a humane experiment; sufficient sleeping room for every convict to allow them to leave their bed without disturbing others. On board for the voyage was…
On “Tasmania” to… Tasmania!
When my 4x great grandmother Mary Ann Goodson departed from her homeland on the convict ship Tasmania in September 1844, I wonder, did she have any idea about what lay ahead? Was she frightened? Nervous? She had every reason to be worried; aged 42 she was not like the young girls that she’d stood next…
Not for all the tea in China
It was late May 1831, and the ship Larkins was at Deptford preparing for departure. She was to deliver a cargo to Van Diemen’s Land and then bring back tea from China. On board, William Evans (the Royal Navy’s Surgeon), began to write in his journal while Captain William Campbell, Lieutenant Espinasse, Ensign Fortescue, Assistant…
YESTERDAY DETECTED AT GOODSON’S POINT
I was sitting at home when the phone rang. It was my friend Judy at Windermere on the banks of the Tamar River near Launceston in Tasmania. This is where various members of my Goodson convict family lived from about 1832 until about 1881. James Goodson (the convict father of the Goodson family) served his…
Tamar Seed
Two hundred years ago, or thereabouts, an illiterate convict ploughman named James Goodson began sowing the seeds of a dynasty; first in poverty-stricken despair in Essex, and then in the rich and fertile north of Van Diemen’s Land, at Windermere on the banks of the River Tamar. Tamar Seed is a collection of family stories…
Wending my way to Windermere
This week I’m thinking about and planning for a visit to St Matthias’ Church for their annual harvest festival on 22 February. You can find out more about the festival at the St Matthias’ facebook page https://www.facebook.com/stmatthiaswindermere/ The beautiful little church on the banks of the Tamar, with its white white walls and its red…
Wild Oats
I’ve just published a book about my 4x great grandfather, James Goodson, and his family. Contact me if you would like a copy! James, his wife and one of his children were convicts, transported to Australia for their crimes. Their individual stories are incredible to learn about. Imagine stealing food just to survive, and then…
KINdling 