The perspective of our cousin Doug Hine on this matter is also of interest : “It amuses me that what one's ancestor did can be something to be proud or embarrassed about. It's not something we can be responsible for and the idea that criminality is in the genes has long been debunked. In fact, Australia succeeded somewhat with people convicted of non-capital crimes taken from their deprived environments and put in a new place where many seized the new opportunities (although I accept that some did not and today's descendants are from the success stories). From my reading of history, however, there was prejudice towards convicts and their descendants (and aboriginals and mixed race people) by the ruling Protestant "free" class, so hiding your parentage was understandable in the 19th and early 20th centuries.“
