Settlers and Convicts: Recollections of Sixteen Years’ Labour in the Australian Backwoods by Alexander Harris (1986, Melbourne University Press)

Author: Alexander Harris (attributed)
Publisher: Melbourne University Press, Carlton, Vic., 1969; 1986 reprint
Format: Paperback, xxv + 245 pages, with 1 plate

ISBN: 9780522839449 / 0522839444
Dimensions: 22 cm
Condition: Very Good – light wear to covers, light tanning of pages

Description:
Originally published in London in 1847, Settlers and Convicts is one of the earliest and most vivid personal accounts of life in colonial Australia. Attributed to Alexander Harris, an "emigrant mechanic," the work recounts sixteen years of hard labour, bush life, and observations of convict society in New South Wales between 1820 and 1836.

This Melbourne University Press edition includes a foreword by renowned Australian historian Manning Clark and offers an insightful perspective on the realities of early settlement, the convict system, and daily life on the frontier.

With a bibliography and index, this volume is valuable for historians, students, and anyone interested in first-hand narratives of Australia's colonial past.

Why You'll Love It:
A rare and compelling narrative of convict-era Australia—this is an essential read for those interested in primary accounts of 19th-century life in the bush and early settler hardship. A foundational work in Australian social history.