Description
Alexander Kinghorne was a child of the Scottish Enlightenment, an agricultural innovator, surveyor, civil engineer and incurable romantic. But at the age of 54, driven by adversity and hope, he chose to take his family to the penal colony of New South Wales. Would he succeed in this new land? Would he rescue his children and restore them to the prominence in society he was sure was enjoyed by his shadowy forbears? Alexander’s achievements extended beyond these things to a more intangible legacy of humanity and support for others.
‘… this excellent book shows what can be done when skilled, painstaking historians, working at a high level of scholarship, tackle a difficult challenge. It is an encouragement to others to do likewise … Courageous battlers who never gave up, like Alexander Kinghorne, deserve to be remembered, and their lives recorded with sympathy.’-Stuart Braga MA PhD, FACE
Author information
![Alex Pugh]()
Alex Pugh graduated from the University of Sydney (BA Hons, 1975), studying history under Patrick Collinson, Maida Coaldrake, Ros Pesman, Marley Stephen, John O. Ward and R. Ian Jack. After a career in business (1975–2009), Alex returned actively to his love for historical research, with interests in mediaeval, church, Levantine and Australian history. He has published A Short History of St James’ Pitt Town (Parish of Pitt Town Australia, 1999) and the Recollections of Mary Pugh née Diacono (Kontea Foundation Cyprus, 2009). He has been involved in lay ministry in the Pitt Town Anglican Community Church since 1997.
![Chis Maxwell]()
Chis Maxwell graduated from the University of Sydney (BScAgr, 1974, PhD 1979). He is Emeritus Professor of Reproductive Biology in the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Sydney. In 2007 he received the Urrbrae Award for outstanding contributions to Australian agriculture, and has life memberships of the Society for Reproductive Biology and the International Association for Applied Animal Andrology. Chis published 350 journal articles and 4 books during his scientific career. Since retirement (2008) he has been involved in lay ministry at St John’s Anglican Church, Beecroft. This is his first historical book.
