Finding Fanny Finch

When Bill Garner began exploring his family history, a puzzling gap in the family tree led him to discover a most extraordinary ancestor: Fanny Finch. Finch was a well-known and controversial figure during the Victorian gold rushes. A London-born woman of African heritage, she pushed a wheelbarrow from Melbourne to the goldfields in 1852, where she became a sly grogger and restaurateur. She actively resisted police corruption, supported women and children against domestic violence and in 1856, cast a vote in municipal elections, decades before women were granted suffrage. And yet her story was not passed down to her descendants.When Bill met historian Kacey Sinclair, who had been researching Finch’s life, a fascinating and sometimes challenging conversation began.In Finding Fanny Finch, Sinclair joins Finch’s direct descendants, Bill and his daughter Alice, in a theatrical reconstruction and reflection on the life and legacy of an unforgettable woman.CreditsWritten by Bill Garner and Sue GoreBased on research by Kacey SinclairPerformed by Kacey Sinclair, Bill Garner and Alice GarnerMusic by ‘Friends of Wendy Cotton’: Briony Phillips, Stephanie Carson, Nicole Simirenko, Christine Webb, Anthony WebbOriginal music recordings by Casey RiceSound engineering by Angie GrantAdditional music mixing by Brendan O'NeillAdapted for radio by Miyuki Jokiranta

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