Carol Baxter

I have been a genealogist for 30 years, having first become interested in family history research while still at school.

My career as a professional genealogist began when I was appointed Project Officer of the Australian Biographical and Genealogical Record (ABGR). In that role I edited six volumes of early New South Wales muster returns (similar to Census returns) and later the Convict Indents for 1788-1812. I am now General Editor of the revamped ABGR - the Biographical Database of Australia (BDA) - which goes on-line in 2010. For my services to Australian genealogy, I was voted a Fellow of the Society of Australian Genealogists in 2002.

In my spare time, I write popular history/true historical crime and, to my delight, my books have received critical acclaim. My first book, An Irresistible Temptation: the true story of Jane New and a Colonial Scandal was published by Allen & Unwin in 2006. My second book, Breaking the Bank: An Extraordinary Colonial Robbery, was published by Allen & Unwin in 2008.

My pathway to becoming a writer has been circuitous. I have a linguistics degree I've never used, became a historian by default, and had my first popular history picked up by a major publishing house without realizing that I was a writer. Despite this astonishing lack of self-perception, I have now accepted that I am indeed a writer although I still feel the need to watch out for the fraud police when asked to talk about my journey to becoming a published author.

I live in Sydney with my husband, two teenagers and a minx of a cat who are all very proud of me, although the woeful expressions on their thin faces suggests that they are tired of “nothing” for dinner. Strangely, they don’t agree that having prepared a meal the previous night, or perhaps the night before, is grounds enough for me to never cook again ... oops, tonight. As for the housework ... best left unsaid. But I LOVE researching and writing.