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Above the Starry Frame
In 1850, William Irwin arrived in Australia, alone and just eighteen years old. A refugee from Ireland's Potato Famine, hed left a country oppressed with hunger and poverty for the frontiers of a new world. As a digger and a publican in gold rush Ballarat, he was swept up in the Eureka Stockade. With an ocean between William and his loving parents and siblings, he never returned home, though his family continued to write. His great granddaughter Helen Townsend recovered fifty-four of those letters spanning 40 years, and from them she drew powerful inspiration for this book. Above the Starry Frame reimagines the life of William Irwin through the prism of those letters and extensive archival research.
370 pages, Paperback
First published November 10, 2007
About the author
Helen Townsend
31 books7 followersBorn in 1947, Helen Townsend was educated in Melbourne and Sydney and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Economics from Sydney University in 1968.
She worked as a researcher in the Health Department of ABC radio and television for ten years, before becoming a full-time writer. Her many projects since have included the position of researcher for the 1990 ABC/Film Australia documentary of her book Baby Boomers, writer/researcher of a one-hour documentary on Antarctica for Channel 7, researcher for the First State 88 Bicentennial Transport Exhibition and story researcher for the film Phar Lap, among others. The National Times, The Sun Herald, Woman's Day and Cleo have all counted Helen as a freelance contributor. She was also the writer of Australia's first internet soap, 'Friday's Beach', shown on the Microsoft network.
Helen has had 17 books published including Turning Point (1996), Real Men (1994), Heroic Measures (1993), Baby Crazy (1990), Baby Boomers Growing up in Australia in the 1940s, '50s and '60s (1988), Adult Children and Their Elderly Parents (1989) and Balancing Act.
She is married to Steve and has three children, Sophie, Lewis and Patrick. Helen's particular interests are literature, history and social issues.
She worked as a researcher in the Health Department of ABC radio and television for ten years, before becoming a full-time writer. Her many projects since have included the position of researcher for the 1990 ABC/Film Australia documentary of her book Baby Boomers, writer/researcher of a one-hour documentary on Antarctica for Channel 7, researcher for the First State 88 Bicentennial Transport Exhibition and story researcher for the film Phar Lap, among others. The National Times, The Sun Herald, Woman's Day and Cleo have all counted Helen as a freelance contributor. She was also the writer of Australia's first internet soap, 'Friday's Beach', shown on the Microsoft network.
Helen has had 17 books published including Turning Point (1996), Real Men (1994), Heroic Measures (1993), Baby Crazy (1990), Baby Boomers Growing up in Australia in the 1940s, '50s and '60s (1988), Adult Children and Their Elderly Parents (1989) and Balancing Act.
She is married to Steve and has three children, Sophie, Lewis and Patrick. Helen's particular interests are literature, history and social issues.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 9, 2020
I have been thinking for a long time about how I should evaluate the book. I have now decided to give it three stars.
I have the feeling that the book is not easy to classify. It lacks a gripping plot for a novel. For a historical treatise it is too fictional, even if it is based on the author's family letters.
Many characters in the book remain very one-dimensional. For example, I find the sister Eliza not well described. The second wife is also dealt with very briefly.
The letters of the family had large gaps - the author has tried to fill these gaps - but probably due to the lack of better knowledge of the family history the attempts remained uninteresting.
The book seems stiff. I expected more from the author. But I understand that the author felt the need to write about her familys history. But this would (and should) be more a project than a marketable book.
I have the feeling that the book is not easy to classify. It lacks a gripping plot for a novel. For a historical treatise it is too fictional, even if it is based on the author's family letters.
Many characters in the book remain very one-dimensional. For example, I find the sister Eliza not well described. The second wife is also dealt with very briefly.
The letters of the family had large gaps - the author has tried to fill these gaps - but probably due to the lack of better knowledge of the family history the attempts remained uninteresting.
The book seems stiff. I expected more from the author. But I understand that the author felt the need to write about her familys history. But this would (and should) be more a project than a marketable book.
December 7, 2023
Found this book in a Little Library while on holidays….and while I had no book to swap, such was my interest, that I took it anyway. (Something I encourage in my own Little Library at home).
While I have my own views about this being catalogued non-fiction, this historical fiction novel was of high interest to me as parts of it closely resemble a section of my own lineage. I appreciated all the research done by the author and her sister in deciphering family correspondence and working out relationships and historical time line references. I find it odd that there was no bibliography. I would have liked one.
Parts of the novel were too long, but overall I enjoyed imagining the events covered.
While I have my own views about this being catalogued non-fiction, this historical fiction novel was of high interest to me as parts of it closely resemble a section of my own lineage. I appreciated all the research done by the author and her sister in deciphering family correspondence and working out relationships and historical time line references. I find it odd that there was no bibliography. I would have liked one.
Parts of the novel were too long, but overall I enjoyed imagining the events covered.
April 15, 2026
I enjoyed the history intertwined to the letters the author had from her family. After having just travelled through this area i could picture how it could have looked back in the day.
February 6, 2011
A beautiful story of life – the lives of the migrant and those left behind. Helen Townsend found a collection of letters belonging to her great grandfather, William Irwin – an Irishman who escaped from poverty and made something of himself in his new home. These letters inspired the author to write an imaginative story of how her great grandfather’s life was starting from his migration to Australia.
William Irwin was just eighteen years old when his family sent him away to what they hoped would be a better life. Well educated by his village’s standard but otherwise quite naïve. He found life in the colony fascinating, hard-going, yet better than what it was at home. Of course, he missed home, his parents, and siblings especially his little sister, Eliza.
As life did not go the way he wants, he and a friend decided to risk all and join the goldrush. In time, he became a successful businessman (a ‘hotelier’) in Ballarat. He never returned to Ireland and he rarely wrote – although he still pines for the Ireland that was. I found this quite saddening yet true to the feelings of migrants in general (being one myself).
William Irwin lived through the times of change – having to learnt some changes himself. He was involved in the goldrush, saw the Eureka Stockade, debated on democracy, and was torn between religions (Protestants vs. Catholics). This last bit I found fascinating, being not Irish myself and set in my faith yet being brought up in today’s supposedly tolerant society, here they (Irish migrants) are in a new world away from home yet it was still a very big issued; it was a balancing act for William -torn between family and religion.
The story was told from two perspectives: William Irwin and that of his sister, Eliza Irwin. William led a life full of love, laughter and children yet his cup was also full of trouble, loss, and sadness. Eliza led a life of firstly dissatisfaction and then learnt contentment. All in all, this story is about life, real life.
I felt let down with the ending and again I’ll remind my readers that I’m just an emotional rating but I will just note that it is what it is and that’s life…
William Irwin was just eighteen years old when his family sent him away to what they hoped would be a better life. Well educated by his village’s standard but otherwise quite naïve. He found life in the colony fascinating, hard-going, yet better than what it was at home. Of course, he missed home, his parents, and siblings especially his little sister, Eliza.
As life did not go the way he wants, he and a friend decided to risk all and join the goldrush. In time, he became a successful businessman (a ‘hotelier’) in Ballarat. He never returned to Ireland and he rarely wrote – although he still pines for the Ireland that was. I found this quite saddening yet true to the feelings of migrants in general (being one myself).
William Irwin lived through the times of change – having to learnt some changes himself. He was involved in the goldrush, saw the Eureka Stockade, debated on democracy, and was torn between religions (Protestants vs. Catholics). This last bit I found fascinating, being not Irish myself and set in my faith yet being brought up in today’s supposedly tolerant society, here they (Irish migrants) are in a new world away from home yet it was still a very big issued; it was a balancing act for William -torn between family and religion.
The story was told from two perspectives: William Irwin and that of his sister, Eliza Irwin. William led a life full of love, laughter and children yet his cup was also full of trouble, loss, and sadness. Eliza led a life of firstly dissatisfaction and then learnt contentment. All in all, this story is about life, real life.
I felt let down with the ending and again I’ll remind my readers that I’m just an emotional rating but I will just note that it is what it is and that’s life…
October 23, 2015
Fantastic book! It really brought to life the characters within the history of both Ballarat during the Gold Rush days and the family of William Irwin. The book was written from the of many letters that were written from both Ireland to the Ballarat famly, and return letters to the family in Ireland. It covers the extereme hardship of the time, the deaths of so many people, family life at the time and the building of a society in Ballarat. The real story however was created from Helen Townsend's skill to read between the lines and her ability to bring the characters to life. Through this history of Ballarat, the Gold fields, and Australia during these harsh and changing times we can appreciate just how far we have come in a short time and how the people, politics and society came to be after the hardwork of earlier generations.
August 19, 2018
An interesting book based on the life of William Irwin, an Irish immigrant to Australia. The book traces his life in Ballarat first as a prospector then as a publican. The aspect I found most touching however was the gradual loss of connection with his family (his sister in particular) back in Ireland as his life moved further and further away from theirs. Sad to think of the families that were broken apart by the terrible poverty in Ireland as so many young people emigrated to Australia and America.
November 3, 2012
I did enjoy this, but it is sad. So many deaths and people separated by such long distances.
May 1, 2023
DNF couldn’t get into and bailed at page 135
August 6, 2024
Helen Townsend joined the dots on her family history in a poignant way. It was upsetting to think about families being split, never to see each other again. A beautiful read, highly recommended.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews