Mad or Bad
The Life and Exploits of Amy Bock (1859–1943)
Jenny Coleman
Amy Bock’s life has been the inspiration for plays, books, a television documentary, a photographic exhibition, a musical composition and now a series of events surrounding the re-enactment of her wedding as Percy Redwood at Kaka Point 100 years ago.
Mad or Bad? is the first full-length biography of New Zealand’s most notorious female criminal con artist. Born in
Hobart, Tasmania, Amy had a convict heritage on both sides of the family.
While she gained notoriety in 1909 for her impersonation of a man and marriage with an unsuspecting woman, her whole life had been one of fraud and misrepresentation. After teaching for six years in Victorian schools until she was asked to resign, she migrated to New Zealand in 1884. Assuming a variety of persona and remaining conveniently itinerant, she pursued a consistent course of petty crime for the next twenty-five years. In presenting her colourful and chequered life, this biography leaves the reader to judge whether she was essentially mad or bad.
Author
Jenny Coleman is currently Programme Coordinator for the Women’s Studies Programme at Massey University and Coordinating Editor for the Women’s Studies Journal. Her research interests are in nineteenth-century women’s history, feminist biography and media representations of feminism.
ISBN 978 1 877372 71 1 $45.00 approx
Amy Bock’s life has been the inspiration for plays, books, a television documentary, a photographic exhibition, a musical composition and now a series of events surrounding the re-enactment of her wedding as Percy Redwood at Kaka Point 100 years ago.
Mad or Bad? is the first full-length biography of New Zealand’s most notorious female criminal con artist. Born in
Hobart, Tasmania, Amy had a convict heritage on both sides of the family.
While she gained notoriety in 1909 for her impersonation of a man and marriage with an unsuspecting woman, her whole life had been one of fraud and misrepresentation. After teaching for six years in Victorian schools until she was asked to resign, she migrated to New Zealand in 1884. Assuming a variety of persona and remaining conveniently itinerant, she pursued a consistent course of petty crime for the next twenty-five years. In presenting her colourful and chequered life, this biography leaves the reader to judge whether she was essentially mad or bad.
Author
Jenny Coleman is currently Programme Coordinator for the Women’s Studies Programme at Massey University and Coordinating Editor for the Women’s Studies Journal. Her research interests are in nineteenth-century women’s history, feminist biography and media representations of feminism.
ISBN 978 1 877372 71 1 $45.00 approx
Mad or Bad
The Life and Exploits of Amy Bock (1859–1943)
Jenny Coleman
Mad or Bad
The Life and Exploits of Amy Bock (1859–1943)
Jenny Coleman
Mad or Bad
The Life and Exploits of Amy Bock (1859–1943)
Jenny Coleman
ORDER FORM
In New Zealand Mad or Bad will retail for $45.00 approx
Please order from your local bookseller or return this completed order to:
Otago University Press (no charge for postage within NZ) Yes, please send me copy (copies) of Mad or Bad
Please charge my VISA MASTERCARD Card no.
Expiry (month/year) Signature
Name Address Phone Email
A cheque for is enclosed (payable to University of Otago) Otago University Press
PO Box 56 Dunedin Phone (03) 479 8807 [email protected] www.otago.ac.nz/press
Overseas customers, please email [email protected] for supply information
ORDER FORM
In New Zealand Mad or Bad will retail for $45.00 approx
Please order from your local bookseller or return this completed order to:
Otago University Press (no charge for postage within NZ) Yes, please send me copy (copies) of Mad or Bad
Please charge my VISA MASTERCARD Card no.
Expiry (month/year) Signature
Name Address Phone Email
A cheque for is enclosed (payable to University of Otago) Otago University Press
PO Box 56 Dunedin Phone (03) 479 8807 [email protected] www.otago.ac.nz/press
Overseas customers, please email [email protected] for supply information
