About the author
Denise was born in Launceston, Tasmania, and has lived in New South Wales and Queensland. On retirement, she returned to Tasmania and is now living in the north west coastal town of Wynyard.
Her love for Australian colonial history was triggered by a primary school teacher who made convict history come to life. Growing up in the inner suburbs of Sydney, she was surrounded by reminders of the city’s convict past. Her father’s appreciation of the bush poets Henry Lawson, Banjo Paterson and C.J. Dennis, which he was always reciting, further heightened her interest in early Australian History.
It was when her sister sent her information on Lydia Astell and the Janus that Denise decided it was time to discover her roots. She did not want to find she was related to someone famous who lived in the fourteenth century, she wanted to know why her ancestors immigrated to Australia, and she had quite a few eureka moments.
Denise discovered her father had two direct convict ancestors, one in each of his parents ancestry, and three who had been associated by marriage, all of whom had been transported to Van Diemen’s Land. Her mother had four convict ancestors who had sailed to Port Jackson, including Lydia and Thomas Barnes.
The majority of her ancestors were assisted migrants fleeing the mass unemployment and poverty which was a result of the Agricultural and Industrial revolutions in England and a hand full who had been forced out of their homes during the Scottish clearances.
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Once retired, Denise and her husband Col, became caravanners and spent a lot of their time discovering the towns which Lawson and Paterson wrote about in their poetry, as well as exploring the convict trails in Tasmania.
Now that she is back in Tasmania, Denise is enjoying her family and friends, and being part of her community. Her family research continues, and now she is on a quest to bring her convict family history to life in the form of historic novels, the first being The Convict Thomas Barnes.
Denise is willing to share any research information she has found on Lydia and Thomas Barnes, and is interested to hear from Barnes family researchers.
Her love for Australian colonial history was triggered by a primary school teacher who made convict history come to life. Growing up in the inner suburbs of Sydney, she was surrounded by reminders of the city’s convict past. Her father’s appreciation of the bush poets Henry Lawson, Banjo Paterson and C.J. Dennis, which he was always reciting, further heightened her interest in early Australian History.
It was when her sister sent her information on Lydia Astell and the Janus that Denise decided it was time to discover her roots. She did not want to find she was related to someone famous who lived in the fourteenth century, she wanted to know why her ancestors immigrated to Australia, and she had quite a few eureka moments.
Denise discovered her father had two direct convict ancestors, one in each of his parents ancestry, and three who had been associated by marriage, all of whom had been transported to Van Diemen’s Land. Her mother had four convict ancestors who had sailed to Port Jackson, including Lydia and Thomas Barnes.
The majority of her ancestors were assisted migrants fleeing the mass unemployment and poverty which was a result of the Agricultural and Industrial revolutions in England and a hand full who had been forced out of their homes during the Scottish clearances.
.
Once retired, Denise and her husband Col, became caravanners and spent a lot of their time discovering the towns which Lawson and Paterson wrote about in their poetry, as well as exploring the convict trails in Tasmania.
Now that she is back in Tasmania, Denise is enjoying her family and friends, and being part of her community. Her family research continues, and now she is on a quest to bring her convict family history to life in the form of historic novels, the first being The Convict Thomas Barnes.
Denise is willing to share any research information she has found on Lydia and Thomas Barnes, and is interested to hear from Barnes family researchers.
