LOIS CALVERT

MEMOIRS

Explore the family histories and memoirs of
Kathleen Lois Calvert (Lois) and Edith Kathleen Calvert (nee Johnson).

Map of Van Diemen’s Land or Tasmania 1851, John Tallis & Company, London & New York.
Map drawn and engraved by J. Rapkin with vignettes by J. Marchant & J.B. Allen.

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Lutruwita-Tasmania (formerly Van Diemen’s Land) and of country throughout Australia where our ancestors settled and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. We further acknowledge that the family histories and memoirs published on this website are written from the perspectives of white convict and settler histories.

Edith and Lois (1942)

A family legacy in Tasmanian and Norfolk Island history

The purpose of this website is to provide a platform for sharing the Tasmanian and Norfolk Island family history essays and memoirs of our late mother Kathleen Lois Calvert (Lois) and grandmother, Edith Kathleen Calvert (nee Johnson), and thereby contribute to the literature available on Tasmanian and Norfolk Island colonial history. This will be an important part of their legacy. Their extensive knowledge has already been a valuable resource for others working in this field. The intended audiences are Lois and Edith’s extended family and friends and people interested in Tasmanian and Norfolk Island colonial history.

Portrait of Lois Calvert by Olegas Truchanas (1954)

A sixth generation Tasmanian, Lois was born in Nipaluna-Hobart in 1937.

Together with her mother Edith, she had previously published The Johnsons of Castle Hill: The story of a Tasmanian family (1996, reprinted 1997), which is now out of print. The Johnsons of Castle Hill was ‘Highly Commended’ in 2001 by the Tasmanian Family History Society. Due to strong demand, it is now available on this website along with other essays and memoirs about the extended Johnson family. Copies of the original book are in the National Library of Australia, the State Library of Tasmania in Hobart (History and Reading Rooms) and the Launceston and Burnie Libraries.

Lois’s essay, ‘Digging for Yams’, was published in The Griffith Review 36 (https://www.griffithreview.com/articles/digging-for-yams/) in June 2012. The essay tells the stories of her six Norfolk Island convict ancestors who were transported to NSW with the First, Second and Third fleets, then sent to Norfolk Island. They were involuntarily exiled a third time in 1807-08 and sent to Van Diemen’s Land. ‘Digging for Yams’ along with other essays which Lois has written about her Norfolk Island ancestors and her childhood home, Single Hill, are published on this website.

We also include a selection of Lois’s creative writing (a short story and several poems), other essays and a photo gallery. A list of other historical resources which may assist future researchers is also included.

Although Lois and Edith have researched their information as thoroughly as possible, we cannot guarantee the accuracy of all the information presented.

Website created by Getmilk Website Design 2026.

Any questions about the website and/or use of its contents may be sent to:

loiscalvertmemoirs@gmail.com or through the CONTACT page.