Ashton's Hotel - The journal of William Baker Ashton, first governor of the Adelaide Gaol

South Australia was meant to be the perfect colony: free settlers, no crime, and no mental illness. But good intentions go awry. Within three years plans for a permanent gaol were well established, along with a governor to oversee it: William Baker Ashton.



Researcher Rhondda Harris came upon Ashton's long-lost journal by happy accident, and was soon absorbed by 'The Governor's' handwritten pages. They told a hidden story of early Adelaide and its underbelly, of crashes and crises and crims. 'Ashton's Hotel', the colonists called their prison. His kindness of spirit, under nigh-impossible circumstances, shines through in this first published edition of his journal, expertly contextualised and introduced by Rhondda Harris.

Product details

• Authors: Rhondda Harris
• Publisher: Wakefield Press
• Languages: English, Greek
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 08.05.2017
• EAN: 9781743054826
• ISBN: 978-1-74305-482-6
• No. of pages: 392
• Dimensions: 140 mm x 210 mm x 23 mm
• Weight: 536 g
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature > Letters, diaries; Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous