Belinda Murrell: Bringing Australian History To Life | Page 26

INSPIRATION

Louisa Atkinson by Elizabeth Lawson. In
addition, many books gave me an insight
into everyday life in the mid-nineteenth
century including: Mrs Beeton’s Book of
Household Management, The Letters of
Rachel Henning and What Jane Austen
Ate and Charles Dickens Knew by Daniel
Pool.
The staff at the Berrima District
Historical and Family History Society
were very helpful, particularly archivist
Linda Emery and volunteers Philip Morton
and Nancy Reynolds, who shared her
own childhood memories of Oldbury.
Oldbury has since been restored to its
former glory. Charlotte Atkinson would
be proud.

ABOUT THE RIVER CHARM
A river pebble on a charm bracelet has an
astonishing true story to tell, of one family’s
bravery and survival in harsh colonial Australia.
When artistic Millie visits a long-lost aunt, she learns
the true story of her family’s tragic past. Could the
mysterious ghost girl Millie has painted be her own
ancestor?
In 1839, Charlotte Atkinson lives at Oldbury, a
gracious estate in the Australian bush, with her
Mamma and her sisters and brother. But after the death of Charlotte’s
father, things start to go terribly wrong. There are murderous convicts and
marauding bushrangers. Worst of all, Charlotte’s new stepfather is cruel
and unpredictable.
Frightened for their lives, the family flees on horseback to a stockman’s hut
in the wilderness. Charlotte’s mother and the children must fight to save
their property, their independence and their very right to be a family. Will
they ever return together to their beautiful home?

FURTHER
RESEARCH
WEBSITES
✓ Atkinson Family manuscripts,
oral history and pictures
acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/
item/itemdetailpaged.
aspx?itemid=446172
✓ Louisa Atkinson Obituary
oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/atkinsoncaroline-louisa-2910
✓ Gandangara Local Aboriginal
Land Council
www.glalc.org.au

Oldbury as it is today – restored to its former glory.

26 randomhouse.com.au/teachers