Between 1848 and 1850 over 4,000 girls were sent from Irish workhouses out to Australia, as part of a British scheme to help populate the colony. They were met with prejudice and hostility, described as ‘ignorant creatures' barely able 'to distinguishing the inside from the outside of a potato’. We trace the story of one, Eliza Fraiser.

Born in Cork, O'Brien was imprisoned in the Tower of London as a child. Fighting for the French in Catalonia, he was captured by Algerian pirates, lost an eye and was taken hostage. Later he served as Governor of two imperial outposts: Tangiers, which he struggled to defend, and Jamaica, where he faced a revolt by enslaved workers.