Asleep in the Deep - a new book by Trisha Fielding

Asleep in the Deep: a love lost on the SS Yongala, a new book by Trisha Fielding, has just been published by the Townsville Museum and Historical Society!

A young woman, whose husband of just six weeks disappeared when the steamship Yongala sank near Townsville in 1911, kept a detailed account of her search to learn of his fate. Georgina O’Brien collected, and lovingly preserved, every newspaper clipping she could lay her hands on about the missing ship (which wasn’t properly identified until 1958); every telegram and letter she received in answer to her inquiries about her husband Clifford’s whereabouts; every photo and keepsake of their short life together — and collated it in an album. Perhaps she kept the diary because she held the hope that he was still alive? Perhaps she wanted her daughter, who was born later that year, to have a record of what had happened to the father she would never know? 

The sinking of the SS Yongala resulted in the loss of 121 lives — it was a truly calamitous event. But up until now, very little was known about those people and how their loved ones coped with the loss. Through a detailed examination of Georgina O’Brien’s original diary (now preserved for future generations at the Townsville Museum) Trisha Fielding has revealed a previously untold story that illuminates the true human cost of the disaster. 

But as tragic as the story contained within its pages is, Georgina’s diary also reveals an uplifting story of enduring love and hope — a final ‘love letter’ to her dearly departed.

Publication details:

Title: Asleep in the Deep: a love lost on the SS Yongala
Author: Trisha Fielding
Published by Townsville Museum and Historical Society, 2022
ISBN: 9780646858975
Other: 43 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 297mm x 210mm (portrait)

Where you can get a copy:

Price: $20

Available for purchase from the Townsville Museum and Historical Society after 23rd September 2022.

Address: 1/27 Barbeler Street, Currajong QLD 4812

Telephone: 4775 7838