Oh Happy Day

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Carmen Callil delves into her ancestry in a meticulously researched narrative driven by righteous anger, revealing a tale of Empire, migration, and the injustices of nineteenth-century England. The journey begins with her great-great-grandmother Sary Lacey, born illegitimate in 1808 as a poor stocking frame worker in Leicestershire. Callil traces Sary's life through slums and tenements, highlighting her numerous pregnancies. We also encounter George Conquest, a canal worker and Sary's child's father, who faced seven years of transportation to Australia for stealing hemp, enduring the harsh realities of convict life. Meanwhile, Mary Ann Brooks and her silversmith father, John, flee Lincolnshire's Workhouse to escape a life of servitude. For George, Australia becomes a transformative experience; he survives, thrives, and eventually returns to England, reuniting with Sary after nearly three decades. He brings her to Australia, where they remain together. Callil not only illuminates the lives of these ordinary individuals, sent as convicts or servants, but also draws poignant parallels to contemporary issues. This narrative is a powerful exploration of poverty, social injustice, Empire, and migration.