Doug Limbrick is a graduate of the Australian National University, Canberra. He has for many years worked in the area of social policy and has had many journal articles, monographs and reports published on various social issues. He has a deep personal interest in nineteenth century Australian history, particularly the story of those people who emigrated from the United Kingdom and the vessels they sailed in to reach the Australian colonies. In his writing he has combined his expertise in social issues with his work on exploring the circumstances of people who sought a better life in the colonies in the nineteenth century. As a consequence he has spent much time searching for and examining the stories of those who emigrated, seeking to understand their experiences, the reasons for their decision to emigrate, the difficulties they faced, the outcome of their passage and the vessels that carried them to the Australian colonies.

 

As a result he has written several books exploring nineteenth-century emigration issues, processes, experiences and stories with an emphasis on the stories as told by emigrants. His book (Farewell to Old England Forever) is a comprehensive study of the complete story of nineteenth century emigration. His latest book Death Ships is a sad story about some 5000 emigrants who departed for the colonies in six big ships seeking a better life.

 

Doug is also a keen runner and has been involved in running activities including club administration for many years. He has completed 26 marathons and some 60 half marathons and has also competed in many cross country and mountain running events for the past 30 years. His Guide to Running Your First Marathon draws directly on his personal experience. The book Running the Marathon with Cancer is a personal story that combines his passion for running with dealing with rectal cancer. While not writing or running Doug is a very keen photographer and also an enthusiastic collector of vintage cameras. As a historian vintage cameras offer for him a sense of time.

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