The Girl Who Stole Stockings front cover Photo: Supplied
Elsbeth Hardie's mother always told her that her family came from Wales, but when she decided to check her genealogy she found out that was wrong, they came from New South Wales – the convict colony we now know as Sydney. Delving deeper she uncovered the fascinating life story of her great, great, great grandparents. One, an infamous bigamist and conman, the other a young thief convicted before she even reached her teens and then sent on a ship to the other side of the world. They went on to travel to New Zealand where they lived and worked amidst of a Māori community in an isolated South Island whaling settlement before moving on, finally, to Nelson.
Elsbeth Hardie has documented their story, and the stories of others, in a new book The Girl Who Stole Stockings.
She talks with Kathryn Ryan.
