Secrets of the Dead
Voyage of the Courtesans (5x3)
Air date: Nov 23, 2005
In the spring of 1789, a ship left port in London bound for the Botany Bay penal colony in Australia. The ship carried precious cargo - women, sent to keep the desperate male colonists from engaging in what their governor called 'gross irregularities.' But these women were hardly quiet homemakers - they were a hardy raucous lot rounded up from London's notorious Newgate prison and other jails around the country, and they did not submit quietly to their forced voyage and the rough life they knew was ahead. Once aboard the Lady Juliana, these destitute convicts -- thieves, prostitutes and con artists -- turned their banishment into opportunity, setting up a business before they arrived in Botany Bay. See how they took control of the situation to create a better life for themselves and the future of Australia.
- Premiered: May 2000
- Episodes: 110
- Followers: 27
- Running
- PBS
- Tuesday at 20