Fun Facts!
from history
The past is full of surprises! Travel back in time.
Find out what life was like…
…in different and even dangerous days.
Australia in Convict Days
In 1841… England and Australia are ruled by Queen Victoria – this is the ‘Victorian era’.
Australia is changing fast. New homes and farms are springing up in South Australia, Western Australia and around Port Phillip (now Melbourne). New South Wales is now longer a dumping ground for convicts. Sydney is a bustling town, where thousands of people have come to seek their fortune.
Find out more about the real world of Letty and the Bushranger’s Boys – click the links below.
Fashion in 1841
Victorian clothes were very different to ours, especially female clothes. Women wore long dresses with very big skirts. Girls’ clothes were similar, but their skirts didn’t reach the floor. Until about the age of five, little boys wore frilly dresses!
Sailing to Australia
The only way to get to Australia in the old days was by ship. Sailing to Australia was tough. Ships were crowded and uncomfortable. Hundreds of people were crammed onto a wooden boat, about 10 metres wide by 35 metres long. That’s a bit longer and thinner than a netball court. For months and months…
Food in 1841
Did people in the past eat the same food as us?
No. Food in colonial Australia was plain – no pizzas, pastas or Asian takeaway. An 1846 recipe book called Modern Cookery (!) has recipes you probably will not like. And some you probably will.
Mrs Chisholm’s Immigrants Home
New South Wales wanted more women in 1841. But when the young women and girls got off the ships in Sydney, they often had nowhere to go.
One woman, Mrs Caroline Chisholm, was determined to do something to help.
Life in Ancient China
China’s history stretches back 5,000 years. During the Qin and Han dynasties of Ancient China, when some of my books take place, China was a big country of 50-60 million people. That’s a lot less than now. But it’s still more than twice the population of Australia.
How do we know what life was like in Ancient China? A small number of books have survived the centuries. Everyday things and pictures of daily life have also been found in Chinese tombs.
Ancient China was a different world to ours. You can read about it in Wicked Warriors and Evil Emperors. And you can look inside it here…
Weapons
A strong army kept the Emperors of Ancient China safe, from foreign attackers and inside threats. But only if they had the right gear. What weapons were in a Han soldier’s kit?
Walls
You’ve heard of the Great Wall of China, right? But did you know that every city in Ancient China was protected with a wall? Even people’s homes had walls and towers.
The Dance of Death
Wicked Warriors and Evil Emperors tells how rebels Liu Bang and Xiang Yu destroyed the Qin Dynasty. What happened next?
The moment the last Qin ruler was dead, the rebels faced a new enemy – each other.
Tigers
Ancient China had large stretches of wild forest. The land was rich in wild animals – monkeys, pandas, bears, deer, wolves, and the world’s biggest tigers…