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Three
women - an Anglican priest from
Hobart, a Sydney corporate
high-flyer and a farmer from
Orange, NSW uncover the
rags-to-respectability tales of
their ancestors, as they trace
their journey from London on
board a specially solicited
all-female transport ship sent
to Australia.
In
1789, the fledgling British
penal settlement in Sydney was
crippled by more than disease
and hunger. Governor Phillip was
anxious about the moral health
of the settlement and sent an
urgent dispatch on the first
ship back to London, requesting
more women to save the
settlement from depravity.
But
help would come from a most
unlikely quarter. Home Office
Under-Secretary Evan Nepean
answered Phillip's call by
scouring the country's prisons
for women of child-bearing age.
Together they were herded aboard
a ship, The Lady Juliana, to be
sent out to Australia, As the
ship crisscrosses the oceans for
almost a year, at each port of
call, the women turn the
boardwalks into catwalks,
transforming the ship into a
floating brothel.
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