Welsh Journals

crimes, such as John Frost, Zephaniah Williams and William Jones who were transported after the abbortive Chartist 'March on Newport' in 1839, and the Rebecca rioters, 'Dai'r Cantwr' and 'Sioni Sguborfawr'. Although few Welshmen, apart from convicts, went to Australia before 1850, Dr. Lloyd has found an interesting link between Swansea and Port Adelaide based on the importation of copper ore. But it was not copper but gold that transformed the situation after mid-century. Many Welshmen were among those who sought their fortune in the Victorian goldfields. Surprisingly, Dr. Lloyd has not used one of the best accounts of a Welsh 'digger', namely, that of Robert Thomas of Llanfechain whose manuscript 'autobiography' is held at the National Library of Wales (N. L.W.MS. 22103B). Another Welshman who made the same journey was Lewis Thomas of Tal-y-bont, Ceredigion. He was one of the few Welsh-Australians to become famous and he is justifiably included in a chapter of case studies of individual Welshmen in Australia. Lewis Thomas's wife of two weeks refused to travel with him when he sailed for Australia in 1859. Thomas had no luck in the goldfields but as a Welshman he had a more sensitive nose for coal. He discovered a rich seam of 'black gold' at Blackstone, Queensland, and within a short time was bringing over colliers from the Rhondda to work his mines. His fortune was assured, and twenty years after their marriage, he was joined by his wife (she must have been a typical Cardi). They built a magnificent mansion called Brynhyfryd, which ironically had to be demolished in 1970, as its foundations were deemed unsafe because of the mines underneath. Blackstone in the nineteenth century was a very Welsh community with its chapels, choirs and eisteddfodau, all patronised by Lewis Thomas, the 'Coal King' of Queensland. Dr. Lloyd's wide research into Gwynedd's maritime connections is put to good effect in the chapter, 'Passages to Australia'. Many of the quotations given in this and other chapters come from one of his favoured sources, The Carnarvon and Denbigh Herald. The concentration on Gwynedd newspapers does give the book a slight imbalance, although the author has attempted to redress this in other ways. This is a fine book which will be referred to constantly in both Australia and Wales by historians of transportation, emigration and trade. It is also a good starting point for those wishing to search for Welsh family links with Australia. However, it needs to be read in conjunction with Bound for Australia by David T. Hawkings (Phillimore, 1987), which provides a survey of potential research material at the P.R.O. and elsewhere. Despite the valuable footnotes, it is disappointing that there is no bibliography or an index in Australians from Wales. An index is surely essential in a book of this nature, particularly one packed with such fascinating detail. National Library of Walses,GWYN JENKINS National Library of Wales, GWYN JENKINS Aberystwyth THE REVOLUTON IN IRELAND, 1879-1923. Edited by D. G. Boyce. Macmillan, 1988. Pp. 278. Paperback, £ 7.95. Irish historiography has undergone a transformation in recent years and D. G. Boyce's symposium is a good example of the change: a book critical of old pieties,