{"product_id":"the-tin-ticket-the-heroic-journey-of-australias-convict-women-9780425236727","title":"The Tin Ticket: The Heroic Journey of Australia's Convict Women","description":"\u003cp\u003eHistorian Deborah J. Swiss tells the heartbreaking  horrifying  and ultimately triumphant story of the women exiled from the British Isles and forced into slavery and savagery-who created the most liberated society of their time.  Agnes McMillan and Janet Houston were convicted for shoplifting. Bridget Mulligan stole a bucket of milk; Widow Ludlow Tedder  eleven spoons. For their crimes  they would be sent not to jail  but to ships teeming with other female convicts. Tin tickets  stamped with numbers  were hung around the womens necks  and the ships set out to carry them to their new home: Van Diemens Land  later known as Tasmania  part of the British Empires crown jewel  Australia. Men outnumbered women nine to one there  and few \"proper\" citizens were interested in emigrating. The deportation of thousands of petty criminals-the vast majority nonviolent first offenders-provided a convenient solution for the government.  Crossing Shark-infested waters  some died in shipwrecks during the four-month journey  or succumbed to infections and were sent to a watery grave. Others were impregnated against their will by their captors. They arrived as nothing more than property. But incredibly  as the years passed  they managed not only to endure their privation and pain but to thrive on their own terms  breaking the chains of bondage  and forging a society that treated women as equals and led the world in womens rights.  The Tin Ticket takes us to the dawn of the nineteenth century and into the lives of Agnes McMillan  whose defiance and resilience carried her to a far more dramatic rebellion; Agness best friend Janet Houston  who rescued her from the Glasgow wynds and was also transported to Van Diemens Land; Ludlow Tedder  forced to choose just one of her four children to accompany her to the other side of the world; Bridget Mulligan  who gave birth to a line of powerful women stretching to the present day. It also tells the tale of Elizabeth Gurney Fry  a Quaker reformer who touched all their lives. Ultimately  it is the story of women discarded by their homeland and forgotten by history-who  by sheer force of will  become the heart and soul of a new nation.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45951527387189,"sku":"ByrdShop_0425236722","price":62.68,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780425236727.jpg?v=1788112066","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-tin-ticket-the-heroic-journey-of-australias-convict-women-9780425236727","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}