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1871: Bram Deagan wishes for the rest of his family to join him in Australia
1871: Bram Deagan wishes for the rest of his family to join him in Australia
1871. When Fergus Deagan’s wife dies in childbirth, she makes him promise to take their family to Western Australia to join his brother Bram, also to marry again. She’s right. His young sons and newborn daughter do need a mother’s love and he needs something different.
Disowned by her father for becoming pregnant, Cara Payton bears a stillborn baby. She’s in deep despair, until a plea to wetnurse a motherless baby gives her life new purpose. When Fergus proposes marriage, she accepts. She respects him and is happy to stay with the baby she now loves.
During the voyage to Australia, she and Fergus draw closer. Then her past rears its ugly head and they face a terrible crisis.
When they finally get to Fremantle, Fergus and Bram, always rivals, struggle to make friends. To make matters worse, Bram has financial problems and there is no railway where Fergus can find engineering work. Can the two brothers solve their problems? Will the newcomers find a way to build a new life?
This used to be the name for Western Australia and was a place for trade and the excitement around new methods of trade. Maura and Huge Beaufort meet on the SS Delta, one of many ships and steamers of the time to use the newly opened Suez Canal which has been built for the impressive numbers of people wanting to travel to Australia and for it not to take several months.
Fremantle is the centre of the Swan River Colony and is where Bram Deagan has gone from strength to strength building his trade emporium and his family at the same time. Bram was an impoverished Irish immigrant but his passion to do something with his life is legendary. He can’t help but influence those who know him and who come to know him. He’s quite a figure in this book and is trying to encourage his family to come and join him as he can now afford to help them do so.
In The Trader’s Reward – Bram’s oldest brother, Fergus is discovered working in Swindon railway works. He and Bram have not spoken for years and don’t really know where each other is or what they are doing but when Fergus starts to have problems, he sees a reason to reach out and to meet with Bram in Australia. Will the whole family be together again once more?
Author/ Guide: Anna Jacobs Destination: Swindon, Swan River Colony, Fremantle Departure Time: 1871 onwards
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