"At the very hour I stood before the scholars in my sash the decapitated head of the bushranger Morgan were being carried down the public highway--Benalla--Violet Town--Euroa--Avenel--perhaps it would be better had I known the true cruel nature of the world but I would not give up my ignorance even if I could. The Protestants of Avenel had seen the goodness in an Irish boy it were a mighty moment in my early life." Chapter 1, p. 32

"You may think it strange that a man can survive transportation and the horrors of Van Diemen's Land and then be destroyed in a country lockup but we cannot credit the tortures our parents suffered in Van Diemen's Land--Port Macquarie--Toongabbie--Norfolk Island--Emu Plains. Avenel lockup were the final straw for your grandfather he did not speak more than a dozen words to me from that day until his death." Chapter 1, p.35

"I were...