Your cart is empty 
In the wake of devastation and poverty left by the Agricultural Revolution, young newlyweds Emma and Benjamin Bowden emigrate to the free colony of South Australia and the promise of a hopeful future.
Leaving behind everything they have ever known, they journey for 94 days at sea, swept along by the ferocity of the Atlantic gales and the Roaring Forties, to finally disembark in Adelaide, a city still in her infancy. They join Emma's brother William to work on Samuel Davenport's farm. But their lives are soon crushed by tragedy.
Although familiar with the dangers involved, they are forced to relocate to Moonta Mines where Benjamin endures the hardships of working below ground, and Emma faces her own challenges raising her growing family on a mining lease. Eventually, they acquire land at nearby Agery, building their very own "Constantine Farm."
Clearing Mallee scrub from the property is brutal, the droughts and isolation daunting but the Cornish couples are resilient and, as their children run free in the sunny dusty terrain of Agery, and later Moonta, they begin to feel a sense of belonging, of home.
Dianne Griffin lived in Moonta, South Australia, as a child. She loved the town and its people, especially her grandparents, Charles W and Eleanor B Bowden. At 25, Dianne set out to see the world, and re-immigrated to Cornwall and Britain. She married in 1970 and, settling in Ireland, raised three children. Never one to shy away from telling a great story, Dianne published short stories and dabbled in journalism. Moving back to Australia in 1989, she settled in Brisbane near family. She retrained as a Registered Nurse, and, at the age of 50, completed her Bachelor of Science. Dianne's nursing career gives her great insight into the experiences of women, and the inevitable health issues faced by immigrants to Australia in the 19th century. Continuing her lifelong desire to learn, Dianne completed a post-graduate certificate in creative writing, focusing on Life Writing. Dianne's office began to overflow with books, diaries of immigrants and newspapers of early South Australia. With inspiration from her grandfather, who wrote in his preface to History of Agery, "Being blessed with a fairly retentive memory, and having in my possession much authentic information, I have a duty to pass it on – now that I have lived the allotted life span." Dianne discerned the mantle had passed to her, and that the voices in From Cornwall to Moonta should come back to life.
Sneak Preview
