Ian Matheson will be in conversation with Louise Shellshear for her book Jack the Hatter.

ABOUT THE BOOK

Where’s the best place to hide, for a young man on the run from the law, in a brand-new country, with a brand-new name and identity?

In plain sight. Maybe the best strategy for a man on the run from the establishment is to join it. Better still, become a politician, become famous, become the establishment. 

If the rules seem stacked against you, why not become the man who makes the rules? Australia’s most famous rule book, our Australian constitution, owes a lot to the escaped convict whose detailed knowledge of constitutions provided the scaffolding for Parkes, Deakin, Griffith and others in the push for Federation.

My great grandfather, John Murtagh Macrossan, described in archives as a “statesman” and “the most popular man In Queensland” was once a household name and famous all over Australia. Yet he is now almost unknown. Why?

John Murtagh Macrossan has to be one of the most fascinating Queenslanders you’ve never heard of.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

After a lifetime of teaching foreign languages and history, writing textbooks and travel, Louise has finally discovered the joys of writing fiction. She enjoys exploring the psychological interaction of her characters and the juxtaposition of the extraordinary with the commonplace. She has now published twenty short psychological stories, spread over three anthologies. She believes her current project, a kind of biography of her enigmatic great grandfather, might open a whole new chapter in her writing career. She has become newly fascinated by the idea that while history is usually written by the winners, there are other perfectly valid viewpoints, posing the question: who controls the narrative? Drawing upon years of family research, archival investigation, historical records and previously overlooked evidence, Louise reconstructs the remarkable life of John Murtagh Macrossan and explores one of the most intriguing mysteries in Australian political history.