At Charles Dickens’s request, Caroline Chisholm regaled readers of ‘Household Words’ with letters from Australian emigrants. In one, the writer urged his wife and sister in England to join him in Sydney, where he could supply everything they needed so long (and he stressed this firmly) as they did not remind anyone that he had once been a convict.

The letter-writer went on to extol Australia’s sunny climate, and guessed that it would be good for his wife’s health. He admitted that wages were not as high as in England, but added that the money went further, and that he looked forward to spending the rest of his days with his family in this new land.

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