The Labour of My Hands

The inspiring story of the faith, hope and love of a poor Irish family, buffeted by the conflicts of early 19th century Ireland, sustained through the rigours of the voyage to Australia on a crowded migrant vessel and, after years of perseverance, finding fulfilment as settlers in the rugged beauty of the south coast of New South Wales.

Jamie and Mary Graham and their children represent thousands of families who came to Australia in the mid nineteenth century as government sponsored immigrants. This novel of historical fiction is inspired by the few facts that are known of the Graham family. But the surfeit of information about life in mid-19th century Northern Ireland, in the Colony of NSW and the conditions endured by passengers on migrant vessels during the voyage to Australia, enables us to accompany the Grahams in our imagination on the adventures of their lifetime. The motivating theme of this novel is the question; what caused families like the Grahams to abandon their native surroundings, to subject themselves and their children to the hazards of a four months ocean voyage, and to risk the uncertainties and dangers of the primitive colony at the "bottom" of the world?

The wonderful nation that is Australia today, owes a great deal to the character, sacrifice and hard work of thousands of settlers who came as assisted immigrants on fragile sailing ships in the mid nineteenth century. Jamie and Mary Graham represent that generation of migrants who are an inspiration and they should be celebrated.