Bushmills
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- Joined
- Feb 7, 2012
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Stopped stuffing round on Arrse and have published a novel thought that you might be interested in a novel, written under the “nom de plume” of Theo Flinn, “Javelin Man; Ticket of Leave”.
One of the characters is an ancestor Sergeant Michael McMahon who married an Indian Lady, my great great grandmother.
You think you’ve had a bad day?
1843 Van Diemen’s Land;
I became a bit jealous as research into my own family tree yielded a faceless collection of Lancashire men and women who were publicans, coal miners, enlisted soldiers, cotton and silk weavers, sea and railway men; most of whom were economic refugees from the Irish Potato Famine of 1847.
After Christmas, we returned to Darwin and the oppressive humidity of a “build-up” that didn’t end until Easter that year and the ancestor hunt became a bit of an obsession. The Top End weather does funny things to people and I recall a drunken phone conversation with my dad in England in which I lamented the lack of substance to our family tree.
Jealousy led to jokes based upon a theme of “checking my change” or “watching my pockets”, that weren’t funny to begin with and rapidly became less so, as the humid Darwin summer dragged on. The response went from polite smiles to a statement that “probably a lot of my bloody relatives were also sent here in chains” and the candid advice that “I stop taking the piss”. I conceded the wisdom of this advice and decided have a look at the long list of “Flynns” who had been transported and see if any might be relatives and the first one I looked at became the hero; John Turner Flinn.
You couldn't make this bloke's story up. Flinn’s convict conduct record was unusual as it revealed a “lifer” who had been a commissioned officer in the Royal Navy and therefore a “gentleman” and there was an enigmatic reference to the “Regiment” which is an army rather than naval term, so I “Googled” further.
My search showed that his case was included in the “Newgate Calendar”, which indicated that it was big news in the 1840’s, so I followed the link and found that Flinn had given evidence for the defense at the trial of Queen Caroline for adultery in 1820. I was a bit sketchy in my recollection of Caroline’s trial, but upon refreshing my memory of Regency history via wikipedia, was struck by the parallels to the British Establishment’s attempted crucifixion by media of a more recent “People’s Princess”.
Perusal of Flinn’s testimony at Caroline’s trial revealed that Flinn admitted that he had operated as a “spook” in 1814 and Google provided references to his employment as an Admiralty Board Agent in Edinburgh. This was a euphemism for British intelligence gatherers at the time. There were also articles about his being commissioned for gallantry by Lord Nelson, saving Launceston from burning to the ground and participation, accompanied by Sir Sydney Smith, in a fake funeral for a Neapolitan Bandit. Sir Sydney was the equivalent of James Bond’s “M” at the time. Then, the coup de grace, Google revealed that there were rumors that Flinn’s wife, Edwardina Kent was the daughter of Queen Caroline and the Prince Regent, which after the Regent’s death would make our hero’s wife the legitimate Queen of England. The story features a lot of my relatives, In Laws and outlaws that were kicking round the System at the time and loads of links to prime source material. “
Let me know what you think. Check out my website or head over to Amazon.
Linked in: Theo Flynn
Website
Australian Customers
British and Irish Customers
American Customers
One of the characters is an ancestor Sergeant Michael McMahon who married an Indian Lady, my great great grandmother.
You think you’ve had a bad day?
1843 Van Diemen’s Land;
- Distinguished Naval Officer and British Intelligence Officer in the “Regiment”, Sir John Turner Flinn has been shipped to Van Diemen’s Land in chains for a “crime” committed in the service of the Crown.
- His estranged wife Edwardina has a Royal Skeleton lurking in her closet.
- After two weeks in the Colony, the new Governor Eardley-Wilmot learns that the cushy job he thought he’d accepted is really a poison chalice. The Colony’s nearly bankrupt and Whitehall expects him to implement policies that are bloody unworkable.
- The New Chief Magistrate, Frank Burgess has to lead a police force where the cops are convicted crims who pocket half the fines.
- The Colonial Auditor, George Boyes is jaundiced by years of living in a convict colony where the biggest thieves are often the men at the top.
- Mary Anne Smith, a beautiful, passionate but brutalised former convict girl has lost her husband and is seeking a strong man; and
- The biggest villain in Australian History; John Giles-Price is a man with a truly evil plan and Flinn, Burgess and Boyes have to stop him.
- Based upon real people, linked to historical records, “Ticket of Leave” represents the first instalment of the Javelin Man Trilogy. It features some strong violence and sex scenes; so don’t buy if you’re of a prudish or sensitive disposition.
- The decks of Nelson’s warships.
- Guerrilla campaigns in Italy with Wellington’s Secret Service.
- The corridors of Whitehall; and
- The show trial of the original “Peoples’ Princess “for sexual infidelity, that nearly brought down the British Monarchy.
I became a bit jealous as research into my own family tree yielded a faceless collection of Lancashire men and women who were publicans, coal miners, enlisted soldiers, cotton and silk weavers, sea and railway men; most of whom were economic refugees from the Irish Potato Famine of 1847.
After Christmas, we returned to Darwin and the oppressive humidity of a “build-up” that didn’t end until Easter that year and the ancestor hunt became a bit of an obsession. The Top End weather does funny things to people and I recall a drunken phone conversation with my dad in England in which I lamented the lack of substance to our family tree.
Jealousy led to jokes based upon a theme of “checking my change” or “watching my pockets”, that weren’t funny to begin with and rapidly became less so, as the humid Darwin summer dragged on. The response went from polite smiles to a statement that “probably a lot of my bloody relatives were also sent here in chains” and the candid advice that “I stop taking the piss”. I conceded the wisdom of this advice and decided have a look at the long list of “Flynns” who had been transported and see if any might be relatives and the first one I looked at became the hero; John Turner Flinn.
You couldn't make this bloke's story up. Flinn’s convict conduct record was unusual as it revealed a “lifer” who had been a commissioned officer in the Royal Navy and therefore a “gentleman” and there was an enigmatic reference to the “Regiment” which is an army rather than naval term, so I “Googled” further.
My search showed that his case was included in the “Newgate Calendar”, which indicated that it was big news in the 1840’s, so I followed the link and found that Flinn had given evidence for the defense at the trial of Queen Caroline for adultery in 1820. I was a bit sketchy in my recollection of Caroline’s trial, but upon refreshing my memory of Regency history via wikipedia, was struck by the parallels to the British Establishment’s attempted crucifixion by media of a more recent “People’s Princess”.
Perusal of Flinn’s testimony at Caroline’s trial revealed that Flinn admitted that he had operated as a “spook” in 1814 and Google provided references to his employment as an Admiralty Board Agent in Edinburgh. This was a euphemism for British intelligence gatherers at the time. There were also articles about his being commissioned for gallantry by Lord Nelson, saving Launceston from burning to the ground and participation, accompanied by Sir Sydney Smith, in a fake funeral for a Neapolitan Bandit. Sir Sydney was the equivalent of James Bond’s “M” at the time. Then, the coup de grace, Google revealed that there were rumors that Flinn’s wife, Edwardina Kent was the daughter of Queen Caroline and the Prince Regent, which after the Regent’s death would make our hero’s wife the legitimate Queen of England. The story features a lot of my relatives, In Laws and outlaws that were kicking round the System at the time and loads of links to prime source material. “
Let me know what you think. Check out my website or head over to Amazon.
Linked in: Theo Flynn
Website
Australian Customers
British and Irish Customers
American Customers