Martins Bank was a London private bank, trading under the symbol of “The Grasshopper”, that could trace its origins back to Thomas Gresham and the London goldsmiths, known as Martin's Bank from 1890.
Gold was discovered in Australia in 1851, and within a year the infant colony was transformed from a sump for convicts to a Land of Opportunity. Robyn Annear's lively history describes in detail life on the diggings: the mud of winter and dust of summer, the pluckiness of the women and children, the grog shanties, the flies, the mania of mining, the despair and the delirium, and the much hated licensing system which was to culminate in the Eureka Stockade. 'Robyn Annear tells the story of the 1852 gold rushes in imaginative detail ... she tells us how it felt to be there. You find yourself worrying about the problems long ago resolved, sharply aware of the gold diggers' hopes and ordeals, diverted by the high comedy of a chaotic life. Like all good narratives, it looks easy because it is so easily read and enjoyed ... She makes a mosaic out of small moments of experience ... The physical realities of the diggings are evoked, with all the ingenious ways of managing tent space, cooking, guarding gold, finding feed for horses, keeping off wind and rain, ants and mice.' Brenda Niall Robyn Annear was born in Melbourne in 1960. She spends her time writing and researching, typing for other people and looking after her family. She is also a part-time bookseller and President of the Friends of the Castlemaine Library. 'History from the inside; wonderfully entertaining.' Age 'A welcome addition to Australian history, pointing to badly needed ways in which history can be made more reader-friendly.' Quadrant
From 1840 Miller was based in Edinburgh, where he was the founding editor of "The Witness" newspaper. This is his account of his summer breaks from journalism, seeking out fossils around Scotland in all weather conditions. It was written for publication in "The Witness". He often adopts a personal and autobiographical strain in his writing, illuminating observations with anecdotes from his own experiences. His style was influenced by his favourite boyhood authors, 18th-century writers such as Addison and Pope. The preface alludes to the tragic circumstances surrounding Miller's untimely death before the first publication of this work.