Searching for Charlotte

In Searching for Charlotte, two sisters, authors Kate Forsyth and Belinda Murrell, set out to find the true story about their great x4 grandmother, Charlotte Waring Atkinson, who travelled to Australia in 1826 to work as a governess for members of the Macarthur family. The authors knew of many family stories about Charlotte and her husband, James Atkinson, but what was fact and what was fiction?  But what were the circumstances that brought Charlotte to New South Wales, why did the daughter of an apparently well off family need to work as a governess and what were the connections between the names of houses in New South Wales with locations in England? They also knew that Charlotte was the author of the first Australian children's book, A Mother's Offering to her Children - a compilation of lessons for children told in a fictional setting.

For part of the research Kate and Belinda visited family related locations in New South Wales and in England. On the trip to England they took their two daughters with them. When in England they visited villages, looked for possible family properties, explored churches and graveyards and generally looked for clues as to what life may have been like for their ancestors. 

The sisters arrived in England in June expecting the weather to be warm but it was often cold and wet. We have made similar expeditions to England in August and walked in the rain looking for family gravestones or buildings so I can sympathise. Still it is all part of the adventure of family history research and as the authors record, there is a special feeling locating a place where ancestors lived, worked or walked.

The book provides a useful guide for those researching their own family stories. It also provides a picture of what it was like living in Kent in the early nineteenth century. Comparisons are sometimes made to the works of Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte. Life in colonial New South Wales is also described -colonists attitudes to aboriginies, free seelers and convicts, bushrangers and women living in a male dominant society. 

The authors contribute different chapters to the book and repetition in the telling of the story does occur. However Searching for Charlotte generally provdes a readable account of tackling a project to reveal the truth about a family story.

Photos, detailed notes, a bibliography and an index provide clues to additional information.