The Freemason's Family

The Freemason's Family, a novel of family adventures set in nineteenth-century Australia, is the sequel to Bill Jackman's The Freemason's Daughter. Beatrice has now married Charles, her childhood sweetheart, and at the beginning of the novel they emigrate to Australia on the SS Great Britain. Charles has started a sheep farm in Australia and soon has problems with rustling on the farm. But there is worse to come when the family become involved in the Boer War and its tragedies. Beatrice's son Norman is press-ganged into a Merchant Navy ship and sails the seven seas, experiencing many adventures. There is attempted murder when a man attempts to push Mary their stepdaughter, overboard whilst sailing to America. The final part of the book is devoted to Harry, Beatrice's grandson, who volunteers for the First World War.