Prisoners of the Past
Compiled by Calliope Bridge, Celene Bridge, Angela Teague, Mark Chambers & Tom Hogarth
ISBN978-0-85905-657-1, (New, 2017), A4, fully illustrated and indexed, 329 pages, 900 grams
$60.00* + POST
All the mugshots of prisoners released from Fremantle Gaol from 1899 to 1919, over 3850, and fully indexed. A unique picture of the past showing the features of those who had transgressed. Interestingly, non-Europeans, apart from the obligatory Aboriginals, form a far larger proportion of the prisoners than their kind would represent as a percentage of the whole population.
That certain elements do not obviously appear to be represented should not be taken as any indication of their lack of criminality. It may be that they were imprisoned for longer terms for more serious crimes and so do not appear in among the more general riff-raff with the frequency that might expected by their general behaviour. Early feminists are there in their glory, proclaiming their equal rights to criminality. (The publisher’s great aunt among them). There is great room here for the study of, say, the records of the 10,000 transported convicts, recidivists, the colonially grown, and the freely imported transgressors. The joys of multiculturalism have been with us a long time. This will be a valuable reference for genealogists, historians, and budding phrenologists.
Should this offering be attended with the deserved sacrifices, both numen and nomisma, then consideration will be given to a much larger, detailed, compilation, of those votaries of the great retreat from society that overlooks the Western Ocean.
Released February 2017.