There are three books in the William Stewart Saga.Many immigrants came to Australia in the 1800's. One of them was my great grandfather William Thomas Stewart and the Saga is based on his life. He came from Ireland and lived in Australia between about 1847 and 1920.
An Ocean Away is about his early life and journey from Ireland to Australia. Learn about how the Irish lived at the time of the Great Famine, how William's life is changed when his father determines that it's time for his son to move on. Be thrilled, amazed and frightened during his voyage on a steam ship to Australia as William learns to cope with the dangers of life at sea.
Gold Rush is about his time in Ballarat. Learn about Australia's only insurrection and join in the rush to find gold. The excitement, the stories and the expectations lead many to despair and ruin.
Beyond The Mountains completes the saga with his time in the New South Wales gold fields to the West of Sydney. The hunt for gold continues and in spite of the addition of family and responsibilities, the hunger to find the precious metal never leaves him and he can't help himself when the opportunity to join a search for the riches only others seem to find.
Although the saga is mostly fiction, many people came to Australia the way described in An Ocean Away, lived in Ballarat and took part in the Eureka stockade as described in Gold Rush, and went west over the Blue Mountains to the Bathurst region as described in Beyond the Mountains.
While the story is based on William Stewart, the story is also a record of the people at that time. There are many real people in the story, people that I know had contact with William.
The New South Wales Government had supressed news of Australian gold discoveries for many years, fearing that the combination of gold and so many convicts would lead to uncontrollable lawlessnes. They weren't wrong, of course as bushrangers - as outlaws were known at the time - 'bailed up' mail coaches hoping to steal gold being transported to Sydney (NSW) and Melbourne (Victoria).
An old family (descendants of William and Caroline, the William Stewart Saga, above) story had it that Caroline, riding a horse with babe in arms was accosted on the Bathurst road by a bushranger. He wanted to know when the Bathurst mail coach was due. The book is based on this simple, unverified event.
The story begins with a locket's journey from hand to hand Sydney in 1851 before the start of the gold rush in NSW. Learn about Sydney, its government and its people. How they lived, what they did and how they thought about their world.
The locket finds its way into the hands of a policeman. He's a shifty feller and typical of his time. History says that the police often walked on both sides of the law. Our man starts behaving thus, but life's many twists and turns change him.
Join him on his journey West, through the Blue Mountains and all the dangers that entails. Once he gets to the gold fields, he must learn how to find gold. In spite of what the rumours all said, gold digging was very hard work and often unrewarding.
In spite of the danger and the privations, our man briefly finds love, but she moves on. Can he find her again? His search is now two-fold. Love and gold. Will he succeed?
There's action, heartache and danger aplenty. Historically, many of the people are real, as are all of the places we visit.
Peter is only one of many Australian's intrigued by the immigrants that helped build a nation. One of those immigrants was his own great grandfather and sketchy stories of his life have created the books you see above.