The two books
Both books are about 480 pages and contain historical photographs, documents, family information and research gathered over many years. Both are in their final editing stages.
FORTY-FOUR DAYS to Either Heaven or Hell
The true story of John "Jack" Peisley (1834-1862)
A condemned bushranger. A Bathurst gaol cell. A minister who agreed to listen. A family story that refused to stay buried.
For too long, John (Jack) Peisley has been left hanging in one word: "Bushranger".
That word is not wrong, but by itself, it is too easy. It lets the colony, the courts, the newspapers, the landholders and the men of standing all walk away clean.
Book One was written because the story would not sit quietly.
You will enter:
- The Peisley family, before the legend, hardened around Jack.
- Coombing Park, the Abercrombie's, the goldfields, Fogg's Shanty and Bigga.
- Cockatoo Island Prison, its inhumane conditions, the escape attempt, and the sacking of the officials.
- Police pursuit, sly grog houses, courtrooms, gaol cells and the final morning.
Read it if you are prepared to be unsettled.
- Full title
- 44 Days to Either Heaven or Hell – The True Story of John (Jack) Peisley, Regarded as Australia's First Born Bushranger.
- Length
- About 480 pages
THE RECORD BEHIND THE STORY
Historical Information, Notes & References
Book One gives the story its heart. Book Two gives it its bones.
A companion volume for those who want the evidence, the places, the records and the historical trail behind Jack Peisley's life and death.
If you are going to challenge the comfortable story, you had better bring the record with you.
It is the argument room. Because the colonial record was never neutral.
Book Two asks you to look at who held the pen - and who was written over.
Some records confirm. Some trouble the story. Some expose the harshness of the system. Some leave silence, and even that silence matters.
Book One tells the story the colony tried to finish, - Book Two lays out the record it left behind.
Book Two follows the trail through:
- Convict beginnings and the stain carried by later generations.
- Land, stock, law and the power of men of standing.
- Bathurst, Carcoar, the Abercrombie's, Hill End, Cockatoo Island and Old Bathurst Gaol.
- Court reports, trial records, newspaper voices and family memory.
- The wider world of colonial policing, punishment, religion and class.
- Full title
- 44 Days to Either Heaven or Hell – The Historical Notes and References that Tell the Jack Peisley Bushranger Story.
- Length
- About 480 pages
Together, the two books do not ask you to admire John (Jack) Peisley. They ask something more honest.
Can we understand our colonial history if we only listen to those who had the power to write it?