The School of Historical and Philosophical Studies is pleased to present the first Ernest Scott Prize lecture of 2022:

‘Damaged Goods from Scotland: The long arm of traumatic childhood in convict history’

Presented by Janet McCalman AC, Emeritus Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor

Australia is unique among settler-colonies in having detailed physical and behavourial records of many of its original settlers—the convicts. We can know our European past more intimately than can Canadians or New Zealanders. We may think that we know these stories and what they mean, but when we look at our convict ancestors as a population using the tools of historical demography, there are surprises. Above all that childhood remained the most significant determinant of these troubled lives, not the trials of the convict system nor the tribulations of adulthood.

The Ernest Scott Prize is awarded annually for the most distinguished contribution to the history of Australia or New Zealand, or the history of colonisation. Part II of the 2022 Ernest Scott lecture prize will be presented by the joint winner, Lucy Mackintosh on the evening of 13 October 2022.

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