Covering the years 1880-1942 and chronicling poverty, exploitation, destitution, adventure, love, tragedy and an incredible coincidence, The Horsekeeper’s Daughter tells the true story of the County Durham mining village of Seaham, its people, and one remarkable woman. This talk explains the social history behind the book. Twenty two year old Sarah Marshall left the Durham pit villages in 1886 and travelled alone to start a new life on the far side of the world. Spanning ten thousand miles, the narrative weaves between County Durham and Australia, and explores the lives of ordinary folk who faced extraordinary circumstances. The book unravels the social, political and economic factors which resulted in thousands of British women like Sarah leaving their homes and families behind for the new state of Queensland, through the government-sponsored Single Female Migrant Programme. The prejudices, hardships and challenges these young women encountered on arrival in Australia are revealed. The experiences of Sarah and her family are paralleled with those of the loved ones she left behind in Seaham, as they faced their own struggles through times of political upheaval and financial deprivation. Drawing upon family links, original letters and photographs inherited from Sarah’s niece, this talk offers a unique perspective on the forgotten story of a working class girl, and the experiences of the hundreds of single women like her, who left North East England in the late 19th Century and sailed to Australia to forge new lives
