(95) Patchwork Prisoners: The Rajah Quilt and the women who made it, Trudy Crowley & Dianne Snowden

The Rajah Quilt is a quilt made by women on the convict ship Rajah in 1841. There were 180 women on the ship, based on the different skills demonstrated and the known histories of the women, around 30 women probably did the stitching. This intensively researched book tells the story of the women on the ship– circumstances before conviction, transportation, lives in Australia. There is a lot that isn’t known, but this book tells everything else. I thought this was going to be an introduction to a chapter in my diss, I ended up going another way. But I think this will be useful in another project I’ve had simmering about life in the colony in 1840’s. Fun stuff.