Author Sue Williams, one of Australia’s most prolific writers, has just produced a new beauty: The Governor, His Wife and His Mistress, an historical novel about two forgotten women of early colonial Australia. Sue chats to The Starfish:
What’s your new book about?
It’s an historical novel about the third governor of NSW, Philip Gidley King, who ruled over the new colony from 1800 to 1806. He was fascinating in a number of ways, but no less because he took a mistress from among the convict women, had two sons by her, then was summoned back to Britain to report on the colony, and returned with a new wife in tow. A real-life Madame Butterfly tale!
Philip Gidley King was clearly quite a complex character. Did you grow to like him more or less when you embarked on your research for this book?
I liked him more, the more I got to know him. He was admirable in so many ways — he was quite respectful of the convicts, and recognised that the Aboriginal population were the rightful owners of the new land, a pretty remarkable position to take in that day and age — and in addition started many new enterprises. He was the first to bring merino sheep to the colony, the first to start mining, he tried to export goods to China, he grew cotton. A very smart thinker. But dumb when it came to women! I think he was always torn between the demands of his position and his career, and his love life. Never easy.
How tough was it to be a woman living in newly colonised Australia in the early 1800s?
It would have been extremely tough. Of course, it was harder for the Aboriginal population, but convict women had a very difficult time. One of their only hopes for advancement was if they caught the eye of a man, and hopefully one who was part of the ruling class. Many of them took this route, had children, then were unceremoniously dumped when another prospect came along. They had to be so resilient, yet there were so few options open to them. The fact that so many survived and thrived was testament to their determination and cleverness. Even for women like the wives of Governors it was a trial – they often made a huge contribution, but it was often never acknowledged.
How do you think you’d have coped living in that era?
I think I would have coped; the alternative was unthinkable. But would I have been happy? Absolutely not. It would have been a nightmare. We have it so easy these days. Back then, you were living in a completely unknown environment with communication back to Britain taking six months, and no contact with family and friends.
Tell us about Ann Inett?
Ann Inett was a dressmaker and single mother who’d been sentenced to hang for theft, which was then converted to transportation to Sydney. She had a hard life. She had two children in Britain she’d been forced to leave behind, but she never forgot them, and dreamed of one day being reunited.
Did she hit the jackpot, ending up with Philip King?
Maybe it looked a great prospect at the beginning, but it turned into a poisoned chalice when she bore him two children and he wouldn’t marry her, and instead married someone else of his own class. To make matters worse, he was then determined to take their two sons off her — meaning she’d have lost all four of her children. While, in the long run, it served her well, at that point, it must have looked like all was lost.
Where did you do most of your research into the characters in this book?
There are records about Ann Inett in England which I was able to access on the internet, and I spoke to some of her surviving relatives. Philip Gidley King wrote in his journal every day which was a great source of information, and that’s in the Mitchell Library in Sydney. I also talked with his descendant, historian Jonathan King. And his wife, Anna Josepha, wrote about her voyage to Australia and there are good records kept on her.
What gems did you uncover which helped you bring this story to life?
Everything I read glossed over the fact that Philip Gidley King had two sons by his mistress, then married another. It was only ever mentioned in passing, and seemed to suggest Inett was quite happy with her lot, and willingly gave up her lover, then their children. I felt that wouldn’t be true. And so I explored that, using fiction to bring colour and light and dark to the situation.
What’s the feedback been like for this new book?
It’s been fabulous. I’m thrilled, as I think Gidley King isn’t half as well known as other Australian governors. But it seems this story of love and betrayal and revenge has found a really appreciative audience. It’s apparently been selling even more strongly than my first two historical novels, and those both proved best sellers.
You’ve been writing historical novels for several years now; you must have learned so much about our early history. What is it about it that fascinates you?
Our early history is absolutely amazing. Just think: a whole population of people sent to the other ends of the earth to set up a society, based on little more than hope and optimism. Added into that are convicts, often the poorest, most wretched people in Britain, soldiers often out to better themselves, chancers who have few skills but hope to strike it rich, and a land with indigenous people suffering so much from being displaced. It’s an incredible theatre in which so many really unlikely things happened!
Are there still many stories to uncover, just waiting to be told?
There are thousands. And it’s great that so many people are now delving into our history to bring them out into the light, especially the women’s stories.
This is the prequel to your book That Bligh Girl. Which book did you enjoy writing the most?
That’s like nominating a favourite child. I’ve enjoyed both of them tremendously and, I must say, much more than the first, Elizabeth & Elizabeth, when I didn’t really know what I was doing. Now I’m much more relaxed and ready to enjoy the experience.
No doubt you’re on to your next novel?
Yes. It’s called The Duke’s Secret and it’s an historical novel, but with a contemporary strand. It’s about the Duke of Wellington, who beat Napoleon at Waterloo and became “the hero of the world”, as he was dubbed. This is a bit of a personal book. We have a family legend that we’re related to him, as we have an ancestor who was a maid in his London household who mysteriously became pregnant and had a daughter – yet who wasn’t thrown out, as usually happened when servants fell pregnant – and the daughter was also brought up in his home. Generations of my family have always told the story that she became pregnant to him and she was his secret lover. So I explore this story, with a contemporary person (loosely based on me) investigating the link … It comes out in January. I can’t wait!
The Governor, His Wife and His Mistress (Allen & Unwin) is out now.
