A Problematic Patriarch

"The convict's plea in mitigation was one of misfortune, abandonment, abuse, neglect and destitution: human flotsam and jetsam caught in the massive transformation of the industrial and agricultural revolutions, the pursuit of empire and the insatiable hunger for land."

Janet McCalman



"Jonathan Harris' life as a convict and transportee was remarkable in its own right. Equally remarkable is the fact that he contracted three marriages over the course of his lifetime and sired a total of 17 children. In the main, the life led by each of these children was quite different from that led by his or her siblings and by Jonathan. Many went on to have large families in their own right, and there are no doubt very many Australians alive today who can trace their ancestry back to Jonathan Harris. Time has rendered him the patriarch of a very large Australian family.

My object in this work is not only to trace Jonathan's life, but also to provide brief sketches of the lives of all 17 of his sons and daughters."

Garry Moore