Hesperian Press

PLEASE NOTE: Any book title starting with "The" - the second word of the title is used to list by.

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FREE BOOKS

When you visit the shop you can choose from the 'free book shelf'. Mail order - we will try to add in a free book if it does not increase the postage.

It is important that we get support for our books from our readers. Hesperian does not get taxpayer funding.

Many millions of dollars have been mis-spent on unreadable novels and plainly irrelevant and obnoxious propaganda.

There is no other publisher like us in Australia concentrating on REAL Australian history and people.

Hesperian books will stand the test of time.

But if we do not get buyer support we may not be around too long after our 50 years anniversary.  

Across the Great Thirst Land.

R.T. Maurice.

ISBN 978-0-85905-934-3, (R190*, 2022), A4, 28 pages, illustrated, 105 grams, $22.00*

Maurice’s expedition from Fowlers Bay to Wyndham in 1902. A great story which is not well known.

Among the Mangrove Swamps. Broome, Derby and elsewhere, beyond the Pale.  

Thomas Henry “Crosscut” Wilson. Collated and edited by Peter J. Bridge and Chris Holyday.

ISBN 978-0-85905-953-4, (New, 2022), A4, 48 pages,    grams, $30.00*

Crosscut’s description of the Deep North, its customs, and the plight of the discarded White worker in the face of cheap imported labour. 

The Archipelago of the Recherche Expedition. The history, geography, biology, and botany of the islands.

John Bechervaise, Vincent Serventy, James H. Willis.

ISBN 978-0-85905-946-6, (1951 R 2022), A4, 49 pages, illustrated, 180 grams, $30.00*

Closing in on the Kimberley. 1819-1884.

Exploration of Western Australia’s Kimberley Region and the Adjoining Victoria River District of Northern territory.

Edited by Ned Overton.

ISBN 978-0-85905-950-3, (New, 2022), 165 x 240, casebound, 730 pages, heavily illustrated, with maps. Fully indexed, 2kg, $220.00*

A magnificent volume on the early exploration of the Kimberley and NT Victoria River region. Little known expeditions and explorers. Contains the near complete suite of geologist E.T. Hardman’s sketches and watercolours.  

This volume documents the interplay between 1819–1884 of exploration of the Kimberley region and adjoining Victoria River District. From early on, expeditions established different settlement patterns between Kimberley’s eastern and western halves.

Main categories of exploration included appraisal of pastoral lands, topographical, hydrographical and geological surveys and prospecting for precious metals. All but prospecting generally yielded detailed reports, commonly in diary format, mostly with maps of varying accuracy, some in colour. These records are compiled here.

One noteworthy feature of this first Kimberley volume – from an era predating printed photographs – is a collection of Edward Hardman’s 1883–84 watercolour and pastel sketches, many of them full-page, together with the copied etchings. Another highlight is a full translation of the shorthand diary of John Pentecost, ‘Stumpy’ Durack’s 1882 expedition navigator.

All the precursors of Western Australia’s first gold rush are documented; the rush was about to begin.

Dobson of Australia.

Peter J. Bridge.

ISBN 978-0-85905-952-7, (New,2022), A4, 28 pages, $30.00*

Dobson, a lucky Irish prospector at Kanowna headed North. He became a fixture of bush life for several decades and is one of the great characters of the North.

Escape from Rottnest Prison: William Slee - out of the pan and into the fire.

Compiled by Peter J. Bridge. 

ISBN 978-0-85905-958-9, (New, 2022), A4, 24 pages, 100 grams, $22.00*

A luckless prisoner finds freedom as much as he can bear.

Fire, Foxes, and Feral Cats.

Per Christensen

ISBN 978-0-85905-927-5, (New, 2022), A4, 123 pages, illustrations in colour, 510 grams, $40.00

Have you ever wondered why many of our unique fauna have disappeared from Australia in the short time since European colonization? Over the years many theories have been advanced to try to explain this but most ecologists have come now to believe the introduced European Red fox and wild domestic cat, together with changed fire regimes to be the principal causes.

Ecologist Per Christensen was the first scientist to demonstrate this and he was the first to try to develop large scale fauna management techniques using fire and broad scale predator control to carry out re-introduction experiments.

An migrant from Kenya with a background in forestry and a university degree in botany and zoology, Per worked as a research officer in the magnificent southern forests of Western Australia. When green politics and political whim resulted in the amalgamation of forestry, wildlife and National Parks into a new department of Conservation and Land Management Per's work expanded to the arid country.

A serious but at times light hearted account full of interesting characters and amusing situations in which science frequently has to negotiate green politics, political whim, and public opinion. A story of triumphs and failures.

Illicit Gold and the Looting of the Butterfly.

John HC “Muggins” Sleeman. Edited by Peter J. Bridge.

ISBN 978-0-85905-954-1, (R, 2022), A4, 33 pages, 130 grams, $22.00*

A selection of the Kalgoorlie writings of a great goldfields journalist John Harvey Crothers Sleeman, 1880-1946. Includes a biographical introduction and a sketch. Contains some of the more creative descriptions of goldstealing than the usual primitive fare, which explains why those who get caught are generally of an IQ matching their boot size.

Julian Stuart. Short Stories of a Dangerous Democrat.

Peter J Bridge

ISBN 978-0-85905-938-1, (New, 2022), A4, 60 pages, 200 grams, $30.00*

Stuart was jailed in Qld during the 1890 shearers strike. In WA he was a fighter for the rights of workers and became an MP. His fame is for his brilliant poetry and other writings on the goldfields and working life generally.

Marrinup: A cage in the bush. No. 16 POW Camp. Kaefig im wald. Una gabbia nella boscaglia.

By Ernie Polis.

ISBN 978-0-85905-926-8, (New, 2020), A4, 252 pages, heavily illustrated, indexed, French flap soft cover,  1.1kg $60.00* [Postage for a single book will be $12.75. Express $16.25. Multiple or bulk orders will be quoted for before payment.]

The detailed story of the No 16 POW Camp at Marrinup, near Dwellingup, which held thousands of Italian and German POW during WWII. The full history of the camp from 1943 to 1946 together with much personal detail on both the prisoners and the guards with statistics and anecdotes.

A book such as this is to be welcomed as the camp has remained little known to the wider public. The Harvey civilian internment camp being relatively well known.

One of the many highlights are the photos taken by a German POW on his secret Leica camera. The book is the result of some decades of dedicated work by Ernie Polis, an officer in the Australian Army Reserve and in civilian life a cartographer and ranger. Ernie’s parents were Latvian displaced persons after WWII, his background creating a great interest in military history. He is now retired and is president of the Historic and Antique Firearm Research Association.

Mulga Fred. From stock camp to sartorial icon and down-and-out again.

Peter J Bridge

ISBN 978-0-85905-930-5, (New, 2022), A4, 46 pages, well illustrated, 150 grams, $25.00*

Fred, a NW aboriginal became a bush circus horse rider and ended up in Victoria where he was long thought to be the model for Pelaco's "Mine tinkit they fit" shirt advertisements. He was killed by a train in 1948.

Nine Days Entombed. The story of a fight for life.

C.A. Jenkins.

ISBN 978-085905-936-4, (R 2022), A4, 12 pages, illustrated, 80 grams, $22.00*

The real story of the Bonnievale disaster without the multicult promo that has obscured the truth and the real heroes of the mine rescue.

Nulla. Albert "Nulla" Thompson, Drover and Horseman.

Lorraine Rieck.

ISBN 978-0-85905-944-2, (New, 2022), A4, 53 pages, illustrated, 180 grams, $30.00*

The biography of Nulla by his daughter. He grew up in Meekatharra and became a well-known

drover and horseman, despite having a bung leg from a childhood accident.

Ramillies II Convict Transport Ship 1854.

ISBN 978-0-85905-916-9, (New, 2022), A4, 195 pages, 550 grams $50.00*

The second of two vols on this important contribution to convict studies and genealogy in WA. Biographical details of all the convicts.

Recollections From The Coast – Remember old North Beach, Trigg, Watermans Bay and Marmion.

Chris Holyday.

ISBN 978-0-85905-956-5, (New, 2022), A4, 148 pages, heavily illustrated,  620 grams, $40.00*

Chris Holyday has completed a follow up book to Between Beach and Bush. Contains all new content and never seen before photos and stories supplied by pioneer families of the north coast. The Hamersleys, the Watermans, the Mettams, the Newlands, the Riley family and others have opened up their family albums to tell their stories.

The many changes we have seen, in over 300 priceless photos over 23 chapters and 140 pages, are in this new book, along with early houses and shops histories, fishing shacks history and early Scarborough/Trigg surfing history from the 1950s.

Postage:

$11.90 Perth area. $13.25 Australia wide

The Round House 1831-1856.

The early years of Western Australia’s oldest building – and how it survived.  

Steve Errington.

ISBN 978-0-85905-945-9, (New, 2022), 165 x 240, 144 pages, French flaps cover, well illustrated colour, indexed, 380 grams, $35.00.

Fremantle Gaol, better known as the Round House, was built in 1830, was nearly demolished in 1922 but one hundred years later survives as an iconic Fremantle building and a popular tourist attraction.

Dr Steve Errington, one of its volunteer guides and himself a past president of the Royal WA Historical Society, has now completed a three-year investigation of its construction and a detailed study of the 2400+ individual inmates responsible for 3600+ incarcerations. The former relied on two key documents held by the State Records Office, the second revealed an unexpected range of inmates, some of whom were not actually prisoners.

It confirmed a world of universal hard labour, severe punishments for small offences but few deaths in custody.

Although not built with WA’s original inhabitants in mind, before it was abolished as a gaol in 1856 it housed 400+ Aboriginals, generally for short terms. These numbers would have been higher but for the erection in 1848 of a ‘Native Prison’ in St Georges Terrace, Perth – one of many surprising revelations of the study.

The final chapter – the longest – combines an investigation of the post-1856 uses of the building with a report of the struggle for its survival and recognition of key players in the battle.

The book is generously illustrated in colour and is thoroughly referenced and indexed. 

Sealed Souls:  

A Colonial history of Sealing and Whaling on the southern coasts of Australasia from 1798 to 1852.

By John Robertson.

$80.00 plus P&H. Available online at

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  or www.sealedsouls.com

A 540 page lavishly illustrated book with adapted depictions of locations, boats, scenes, people, and maps that will take the reader there, plus a glossary that’s extensive enough to captivate and refer to in years to come.

A new West Australian publication (2022) that pulls the curtain on the darker side of colonial life. Sealed Souls is an historic journey back to colonial times when every player was in it for themselves, from top bureaucrats to lowly escaped convicts, and everyone in between. It was a time when displaced people were forcibly transported half a world away, only to displace others.

This fascinating book chronicles many of the sordid activities of these expired convicts who, as intrepid sealers and sailors, cut a frugal existence on the wild frontiers of Bass Strait, New Zealand, southern Australia and across the broader South Pacific, in many cases surviving with the help of Aboriginal women they had either abducted or bartered for. In 1831, many of these daring characters were chased out of Bass Strait by the Protector of Aborigines and headed westward, island-hopping to the fledgling settlement of Albany in Western Australia where they resurrected a new life hidden behind aliases and deceit.

A thought-provoking history about the beginnings of a young colony on the other side of the world.
 

This is not a Hesperian Press book but it is highly reccommended to anyone interested in WA beginnings. 

The Ship’s Parrot.

Kent Stewart.

ISBN 978-0-85905-949-7, (New, 2022), B5, 101 pages, full colour illustrated, 290 grams, $40.00*

Kent Stewart first set foot in a ship’s engine room at the age of four. At the age of 12 he had his first trip to sea on a sixty-miler. It seemed inevitable that he would eventually go to sea as a ship’s engineer. He grew up on an engineering works, served his fitting and turning apprenticeship at a dockyard, went to sea as an engineer and finally established a marine engineering consultancy. He has spent his whole working life in the maritime industry. He has tug master’s certificates in NSW and Queensland and laughingly tells his deck acquaintances that he has two masters certificates. 

Needless to say, he has a world of experience in marine matters but more importantly he remembers most of it. Where he can’t remember it, he can spin a yarn that has an element of truth to it. This collection of articles was published by Baird Publications in their Workboat World/Ausmarine magazines over a number of years. They have been chosen for their entertainment value and as a friend once said “you have to write them down”, no-one would believe you.

Direct from author. Be quick. A small run.

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Temora. John Kernick, poet & prospector-miner of the Bohemian Gold Mine.

Peter J. Bridge.

ISBN 978-0-85905-955-8, (New, 2022), A4, 50 pages, illustrated, 170 grams, $30.00*

Kernick was a staunch fighter for the working man but left a legacy of poetry and service to his fellow man on the goldfields.

This Fearful Plague.

Bubonic Plague in Western Australia. 1900 to 1906.

By Michelle McKeough.

ISBN 978-0-85905-959-6, (New, 2022), 160 x 240, 124 pages, well illustrated, 220 grams, $35.00*

Tom and Pat

The story of Tom and Pat Fleming, Centralian Pioneers and Missionaries to the Warlpiri People of Australia.

 Ivan Jordan OAM and Ed Kingston.

ISBN 978-0-85905-941-1, (New, 2022), 165 x 240, French flaps cover, 131pages, well illustrated, colour, 350 grams, $35.00.

The Winds of Change

by Gary Mentiplay

ISBN 978 0 85905 931 2. (New, 2022) A4 size, Soft Cover (French Flaps), 302 pages, illustrated colour, 1.2kg,

$60.00 AUD; Postage within Australia $15.00 AUD.

Sub-titled "Memories of BMC Leyland Australia" this book's main focus is on the people that had a close connection with the company. There are 42 accounts from people that were involved at the main BMC Leyland Australia manufacturing plant in Zetland (NSW); the Dealers that sold and serviced the cars; and the owners that bought the cars new.

The company's products are covered, from the early post-war CKD assembled models to the locally manufactured Austin, Morris and Wolseley cars of the late 1950s; the front wheel drive era of the 1960s with the Mini, Morris 1100, Austin 1800, Morris 1500 and Nomad; and on into the 1970s with the Austin Kimberley, Marina and P76. There are in-depth accounts on the Leyland Marina, P76 Targa Florio, Force 7 coupe, plus information on the P76 in Australia's taxi fleets.

Also featured are the stories of two marathon long distance trips. From the United Kingdom to New Zealand in 1950 driving a Morris Oxford overland (with a couple of sea journeys included, of course) and an epic around-Australia drive in the 1979 REPCO Trial by members of the HMAS Cerberus Car Club.

General coverage includes details on the ethnic mix of employees at Zetland; the testing of prototypes in New South Wales and Queensland; Press reports on the future of Leyland Australia from early 1973 and late 1974, and a detailed account of the negotiations between the federal government and Leyland Australia in late 1974 on the closure of the Zetland plant and the company's restructure.

Contact:  Gary Mentiplay;    This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ; Mob: 0420 448 036

Diary. Walker Brothers Prospecting Expedition 1913.

Edited and annotated by by Jeremy Long and David Nash.

ISBN 978-0-85905-727-1, (New, 2022), 165 x 240, casebound, 180 pages, well illustrated in colour, with maps, indexed, 600grams, $90.00*

The annals of Australian land exploration include many expeditions remembered for misfortune, inexperience, or poor bushcraft. None of this applies to the eight months in 1913 when Chris Walker (1861–1930) led his brother Arthur and two other men (Crofts and Everett) prospecting by camel from Ryan’s Well (north of Alice Springs) west and southwest to Wiluna. The aim was to investigate ‘unknown country’ between the routes of previous desert explorers.  The party proceeded carefully, by scouting ahead for water before moving all the camels and equipment on from a known water source. They had no serious misadventures, and Chris Walker sent his diary and map to Canberra with its negative findings of any ‘mining or pastoral worth’. Their only backers were themselves and the Commonwealth Government, and both apparently had no interest in self-promotion. The report was eclipsed by the Great War (WWI), and although the WA section was serialised in a Perth newspaper in 1934, it has been largely overlooked.

Yet Walker’s competent journal includes numerous geological and natural history observations, and several interesting particular notes relating to Aborigines. Walker’s records are the earliest of what was later called Lake Mackay, well before the 1930 sighting by Mackay’s aerial survey.

The book includes maps, and photographs illustrating the route and the people. There are seven appendices, with biographies of the expedition members, a history of the recognition of Lake Mackay, a summary of the flora mentioned, and three indexes.