Approximately 12,500 women and girls arrived in Van Diemen's Land as convicts in the first half of the 19th century. A Drift of 'Derwent Ducks' tells the stories of 200 of these women - those transported on the Australasia in 1849. These women committed crimes in Ireland at the height of the Great Famine and were transported to the other side of the world to serve sentences of seven years of life, never returning to their homeland. What were their crimes? How did they endure the voyage from Dublin to Hobart Town? How were they treated by their masters and mistresses? What were their lives like in the female factories, hiring depots, hospitals and nurseries? What support networks did they establish? How did they survive? A Drift of 'Derwent Ducks' answers these questions, revealing stories of the women's hardships, their heartaches, families, friendships, relationships, crimes and deaths so far from home.