The Irish Sisters

By Lee Boehm

Between 1848 and 1850, 4,114 Irish girls aged between 14 to 19 left Ireland to escape the famine and were sent to Australia under the Earl Grey Scheme. They came from all counties and towns leaving behind starving relatives and the only life they had ever known.

Eliza Roughan was one of these girls, arriving in Sydney on the Thomas Arbuthnot on the 3rd of February 1850.

Being unwanted in Sydney, Eliza and 101 of her shipmates were escorted by their ship's surgeon, Doctor Charles Strutt, to Yass, where Eliza made a life for herself, going through many adventures along the way. The girls from the Thomas Arbuthnot are the ancestors of thousands of Australians alive today.

Eliza's three sisters, Ann, Kate and Maria, also came out to Australia and made their lives in the colony.

This is their story.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0645906344
• ISBN13: 9780645906349
• Release Date: January 2026
• Publisher: Lee Boehm
• Length: 358 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"