Family history inspires McCullough novel

By JO-MARIE BROWN

A history project set by an Auckland school 10 years ago has inspired the best-selling author of The Thorn Birds to write another Australian epic.

Colleen McCullough's new book, Morgan's Run, was suggested when her stepdaughter, then aged 16, researched her family tree while studying history at Diocesan School for Girls in 1990.

Melinda Tong discovered she was descended from British convict Richard Morgan, who was sent with the First Fleet to Australia in 1788.

When Colleen McCullough, who lives in Norfolk Island, was asked to write a new novel the Bristol man seemed like an ideal character and she commissioned Melinda Tong to dig up more information on Richard Morgan's life.

What followed was 13 months of trawling through parish registries, trial documents and public records offices in Britain, Australia and the United States.

Melinda Tong eventually discovered that her relative, who was convicted of extortion, had been framed and this provided the perfect plot for McCullough's book.

"We would all like to believe that First Fleet convicts were innocent," said Melinda Tong, "but to find that proof that our's really was, was incredible."

Melinda Tong, who sells real estate, found some of McCullough's "nit-picky" questions difficult to answer.

"Finding out about the small details, like how did they light the street lamps in Bristol and what kind of grass was grown, were the most challenging for me."

McCullough has a sequel to Morgan's Run in the pipeline.