The secret of the youngest rebel by Jackie French
The Secret Histories Book 5. Angus and Robertson, 2019. ISBN:
9781460754801. pbk., 110pp.
French's historical novels present an area of history readers know
little of, but by the time they read her books, they will have
gained an overview of the period in which the book is set, a glimpse
into the lives of people their own age and a strong feeling for the
setting of the incident.
Based on eyewitness accounts, this fifth title in The Secret
Histories series reveals a time of rebellion amongst the
disenfranchised in the early years of Sydney Town. The Castle Hill
Rebellion of 1804 is given scant attention in history books, but
French fleshes out the rebel Philip Cunningham, the reasons for the
uprising, its failure and consequences for the colony.
Like the four other novels in this fine series, a young person is at
the centre of the action and we see this doomed riot against the
government through his eyes.
Homeless in Sydney Town sees Frog stealing for a living, waiting at
meetings to pick pockets and one day he meets Mr Cunningham, an
Irish convict, sent to Australia in irons for his part in the anti
British uprisings in Ireland in the late eighteenth century. Told to
watch out for the fire at Parramatta, the signal for the rebellion
to start, Frog is taken up with the cry, Death or Liberty, and sets
out to join Cunningham and his army of rebels.
But the series of fires set as the signal to join in do not
eventuate, spies and traitors within the camps having given them
away. Wounded and watching from his vantage point in a tree, Frog
sees the rebels killed, captured and taken away, the rebellion put
down.
He is taken in by a family who look after him and he hears of the
wider problems within the social structures in Sydney Town, caused
by the power and influence of the NSW Corps or Rum Corps as it was
known. French adds several pages of information at the end of Frog's
story filling in details about Sydney Town at the time and why
people were so unhappy they were willing to fight.
A piece of Australia's history is made known to a wider audience
through this well told story of Frog. French does not overtax her
readers with facts, leaving them at the end for people to read after
the story has finished, but unbeknownst to them, readers will have
gained more than they realise through the story.
Fran Knight