New book Irish Bigamy explores a side to relationships and marriages of Irish convicts in Australia, which author Damian Gleeson says is the first of its kind.
Taking account of over 100 case studies in late 18th and early 19th century of bigamy in Irish couples in Australia, the Sydney-based historian says the book could change how we view Irish and convict history.
Gleeson said some acts of bigamy occurred in the marriages of Irish, as well as English convicts due to a prior marriage having taken place before being transported to Australia.
He said, even though bigamy was illegal, it was “preferred by the government and many of the churches” as it was seen as preferable to unmarried couples living together.
“Many of the many of the convicts and ex-convicts settled down and became very respectable citizens,” he told The Catholic Weekly.
“And, of course, there’s a drawback in that lot of them, English and Irish, have got first families in Ireland.”
Gleeson said he did not intent to write about bigamy specifically and originally set out to conduct a “broader study of the Irish.”
“I’m working on a bigger book on the Isle of Sydney, the early Irish in Sydney,” he said.
“This is one of the key themes that emerged and there are so many different complexities to it.”
He is interested in what became of the children produced by these bigamist marriages, a topic which will serve as the basis of his next book.
Gleeson said the children of these types of marriage would sometimes send letters accusing their parents of abandoning their original families.
Some of these double marriages occurred not only because one half of the couple was in Ireland and the other in Australia, but also due to Protestant marriages not being recognised by the Catholic Church, says Gleeson.
Gleeson said his intent with this book was not to pass moral judgement on the actions of those he researched but to shed light on an overlooked facet of life in early Australia.
“It’s a historical analysis that this is simply what happened and it’s up to people how they wish to interpret this,” he said.
Irish Bigamy is available through Colonial Press.