Episode 46: Babette Smith on “Defiant Voices”, her fascinating illustrated history of female convicts.

History leaps off the page in Defiant Voices, the definitive account of female convicts in Australia by writer and historian Babette Smith. In this ground-breaking work Smith demonstrates that far from being the subdued, downtrodden victims of their fate, the early convict women were feisty, vocal and at times bawdy agents of their own destiny. Babette talks about how research into her own family history sparked her interest in female convicts, her research techniques and what life was like in colonial Sydney for female convicts. A fascinating discussion.

Also listen to this episode on:

This project is supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund