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Writers Dorothy Wordsworth 1771-1855 Dorothy Mae Ann Wordsworth (1771 – 1855) was an English author, poet, and diarist. She was the sister of the Romantic poet William Wordsworth, and the two were close all their adult lives. Wordsworth had no ambitions to be a public author, yet she left behind numerous letters, diary entries, topographical descriptions, poems, and other writings. Dorothy was sent to live with her mother’s cousin, Elizabeth Threlkeld, in Halifax. According to Robert Gittings and Jo Manton, as she laying dying, Ann had begged her 33 year old cousin to take in Dorothy. Dorothy was happy in her new home and became part of a large extended family. Elizabeth Threlkeld was already caring for her older sister’s 5 children and she took over her brother-in-law’s haberdasher’s business when he died. Across the road was little Jane Pollard, the same age as Dorothy, and the two girls became lifelong friends. Dorothy was sent to boarding school just out of Halifax at the age of nine. She was only there for 3 years. Her father died intestate with only a small personal estate at the end of 1783 and to save money, the children’s guardians—paternal uncle Richard Wordsworth and maternal uncle Christopher Cookson—withdrew Dorothy from the school. Dorothy’s uncle William Cookson took the girl under his wing while home from Cambridge and continued with her education. In 1788 when William married another Dorothy, Dorothy Cowper, she moved in with the couple at the Forncett St Peter rectory, a parish in Norfolk. Dorothy lived happily with her uncle and his wife for 6 years. She helped in the household and with the children, but also began imagining how she would set up house with her brothers, especially William. It wasn’t until 1795, by which time Dorothy was in her early 20s, before she and William began living together, first at Racedown Lodge in Dorset and later in Dove Cottage at Grasmere in the Lake District from 1799 to 1808. External Website

Writers Phil Frampton Phil Frampton (b. 1953) Phil has written for a variety of newspapers and journals (including The Guardian and the Daily Mail) and he is the author of several books including travel guides, a history of the Poll Tax Revolt, a memoir (The Golly in the Cupboard 2004) and in 2022 he published Youth and the Mystery Wall, a book calling for attention to be paid to the ageism used against young people, a form of discrimination which detracts from the potential of teenagers. External Website

Writers Doris Kartinyeri Aboriginal Australian writer, Ngarrinderi woman Doris Kartinyeri (1945-2020), was only 28 days old when she was taken by the Aboriginal Protection Board to live in Colebrook Home, a South Australian institution run by the United Aborigines Mission from 1924 to 1981. Doris remembered many happy times playing with the other children—friendships she honoured in her children’s book, Bush Games and Knucklesbones (2003)—but under new ‘management’ later on, she resented the increased emphasis on religious observance. She was also sexually abused. Doris Kartinyeri writes about her time in Colebrook, about the work placements that followed when she was 14 and about the impact of being removed from her family in her memoir, Kick the Tin (2000) and in her later work, Bipolar Express (2017). External Website

Films/Videos Speak Out 1986 2020 It led to the National Assn Young People In Care policies that went before parliament and impacted heavily on the Children's Act 1989. Poduced, Directed by Sean Geoghegan. Sean Geoghegan was a founding member and development Officer National Assn Young People In Care and grew up in the care of Islington Council. A professional care experienced person. External Website

Non Fiction The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper, the Bestselling True Crime Book Hallie Rubenhold 2019 In The Five, Hallie Rubenhold reclaims the humanity of Jack the Ripper’s victims, and from a care perspective, the story of Kate Eddowes highlights the deep impact of poverty, loss, and inadequate social support. Orphaned as a child, Kate was placed in kinship care with her aunt and uncle—an informal yet vital safety net in the absence of state support—demonstrating how extended family often took on caregiving roles in times of crisis. As an adult, Kate faced significant hardship, and due to poverty and unstable living conditions, some of her children were placed in the workhouse, a stark example of how the 19th-century welfare system often punished rather than supported struggling families. External Website

Autobiography/Memoir Stumbling Forwards - Understand Backwards Rob Watts 2015 Rob Watts is an Australian sociologist. In this chapter he talks about his experience finding out he was adopted as an adult, and that until he was adopted, he was in foster care with his adoptive parents. External Website

Fiction featuring Care Experience The Book of Guilt Catherine Chidgey 2025 The Book of Guilt (2025) is the 9th novel by New Zealand writer Caterine Chidgey. The Book of Guilt is speculative historical fiction set in 1979 in an alternative England, one in which WWII ended in 1943 and in which a collaboration across Europe has progressed biological & medical science informed by research that includes experiments in Nazi extermination camps. Identical triplets Vincent, William & Lawrence are the last 3 occupants of a New Forest children’s home, part of the government’s Sycamore Scheme. Part of the boys’ daily routine is to take pills etc to protect themselves from a mysterious illness. The 13-year-old boys are promised that if they do beat “the Bug”, they could end up at the Big House in Margate, a place where all the healthy kids go. As the governments starts to shut down the Sycamore Scheme, the triplets begin to question everything they have been told. External Website

Radio & Podcast What Just Happened? LRB Conversations 2021 A conversation between David Trotter and Joanne OLeary about the novels and stories of Elizabeth Bowen (1899-1973). It was the cleft between heredity and environment that influenced Elizabeth Bowen to become a writer, says David Trotter. Elizabeth Bowen was orphaned at the age of 13, her second dislocation, the first being the move from Ireland to England after her father died when she was 6. Those early dislocations also affected what she wrote about, Trotter insisting there "are more weird households per novel" in Bowen's work than in other comparable writers. External Website

Radio & Podcast Can new scientific evidence prove a convicted child-killer is innocent? | 60 Minutes Australia 60 Minutes Australia 2021 Kathleen Folbigg (b. 1967) was made a Ward of the State when she was 18 months old, after the murder of her mother by her father. At age 3 she was moved from foster care into a children's home and then into a more permanent foster care placement. In 2003, Folbigg was convicted of murdering three infant children, and the manslaughter of the fourth. New scientific evidence suggests she may be innocent, that her daugters died of natural causes. Petitions have gone to the NSW Governor to review the evidence. External Website

Authors M More than our childhoods ➝ All in the Family: Considering Television’s Orphan Plot ➝ Hariet Martineau ➝ Hidden women of history: 'how 'lady swindler' Alexandrina Askew triumphed over the convict stain ➝ Sugarcane London: ‘This is all comfort food’ – restaurant review ➝ Real Life Super Heroes ➝ Literary Hub ➝ Orphans in Fiction - The British Library ➝ How damaging are stories of damage? ➝ MIRRA Project ➝ "Just Annie" ➝ Your Sexuality Is the Least Interesting Thing About You: Rita Mae Brown on RubyFruit Jungle's Rerelease ➝ Tokyo Olympics: 'I just wanted a normal life' - Ireland's McFerran recalls childhood in foster care with BBC Sport NI's Nigel Ringland ➝ DrDee-ThinkingOutLoud ➝ The Orphanage' ('Parwareshgah'): Film Review | Cannes 2019 ➝ I was one of Britain's last foundlings ➝ My name is Kenny and I love animals ➝ Comment: Is ‘lived experience’ a change-maker or ball and chain? ➝ The Train of Happiness ➝ A Reflection on a long career in Social Work ➝ 12 Best Movies About Orphans ➝ A Lesson in Motherhood ➝ Jenni Fagan's Ootlin - book review ➝ "Intentional Neglect." On the Creation of Nationalized Child Protection in Victorian England ➝ In Search of the Rarest Book in American Literature: ➝ In defence of second chances ➝ Character Type: Orphan ➝ Back to Top

Non Fiction Australian Gospel Lech Blaine 2024 Australian Gospel: A Family Saga (2024) by Australian writer Lech Blaine is the story of 2 families. Lech Blaine is the only biological child of Lenore & Tom Blaine. Lenore & Tom were the foster carers of 3 Shelley children, Steve, John & Hannah (amongst others). Michael & Mary Shelley have had all 4 of their children removed by the Queensland state and they have a track record of harassing, trespassing and threatening politicians as well as foster carers – including the Blaines. Lech Blaine has undertaken hours of research to tell this complicated story. He’s interviewed family members, read case files and his mother’s diary, and reviewed court reports as well as newspapers accounts of Shelley exploits. External Website

Television Shows Traces 2019 There is a Care Experienced character in the 2019 British series, Traces. Emma Hedges is a young university graduate who returns to her home town of Dundee to take up a job as a lab technician at the Scottish Institute of Forensice Science (SIFA). Emma has been living in Manchester with her aunt since she was 7, after the murder of her mother. Back in Dundee, Emma feels compelled to ask questions about the unsolved case. External Website

Authors D Malik and Mark ➝ Cher, singer and actor ➝ Dr Johnson's Black Heir ➝ Charles Dickens - Great Expectations ➝ Benjamin Zephaniah (Podcast) ➝ Discovering you are not who you thought you were ➝ The Second Victim: Daisy's Story ➝ A Journey through the Disney Animated Classics ➝ Jackie Kay ➝ Baroness Floella Benjamin, DBE ➝ Inside A Mountain ➝ Back to Top

Authors Z Benjamin Zephaniah (writer) ➝ AUTHORS Z ➝ Back to Top

Fiction featuring Care Experience Little Wing Freya North 2022 In the 1960s, a pregnant 16-year-old is banished to one of the remotest parts of the UK. Years later, Nell and Dougie are both at critical moments in their lives when their paths cross. Between Camden, Colchester and the Outer Hebrides, the three story lines collide when secrets are uncovered and answers sought. This story has both a birth mother's voice and that of her child, who as an adult finds out that her mum is biologically her aunt. Little Wing is a novel about resilience, forgiveness and the true meaning of family, about finding one's place in the world and discovering how we all belong somewhere and to someone. External Website

Academic Articles More Than Our Childhoods: A survivor-led participatory approach to out-of-home care life story research Amy Gill & Dee Michell 2025 More Than Our Childhoods: A survivor-led participatory approach to out-of-home care life story research (2025) by Amy Gill & Dee Michell has now been published. In this article, the authors present findings from an Australian research project, More Than Our Childhoods. Part of the project was to develop a develop a database to highlight the personal, political, & cultural achievements of Care Experienced People (CEP) to Australia. The authors conclude that “CEP in Australia have helped shape public policy and advance social progress. These contributions have been achieved through professional roles in frontline service delivery, research, and policy reform; grassroots activism and community engagement; and the influence of prominent figures in Australian popular culture who have helped shape public opinion.” External Website

Blogs/Web Pages/Articles Trauma, Adverse Childhood Experiences, Determinism and Stigma... Jack Brookes 2019 In this blog, Jack Brookes writes about some of the concerns he has about some of the discussion regarding ACEs and childhood trauma. External Website

Fiction by Care Experienced authors Fairyland Sumner Locke Elliott 1991 This is the final novel written by Sumner Locke. Autobiographical, it is the story of an aspiring writer coming to terms with his sexuality during the repressive 1930s and 1940s in Australia External Website

Blogs/Web Pages/Articles The life-changing power of a street dog named Lucy Ishbel Holmes 2018 Sick of a life facing cruelty and horror Ishbel Holmes - who was in foster care as a teenager - decided to take to her bike and cycle the world. On her trip she came across a lame, abandoned dog who changed everything. External Website

Academic Books & Book Chapters Jacqueline Wilson (New Casebooks) Lucy Pearson 2015 Tracy Beaker has become the most well-known care experienced character in the 21st Century. This collection of newly commissioned essays explores Beaker and Wilson's literature from all angles. The essays cover not only the content and themes of Wilson's writing, but also her success as a publishing phenomenon and the branding of her books. Issues of gender roles and child/carer relationships are examined alongside Wilson's writing style and use of techniques such as the unreliable narrator. The book also features an interview with Jacqueline Wilson herself, where she discusses the challenges of writing social realism for young readers and how her writing has changed over her lengthy career.Over the last twenty years, Jacqueline Wilson has published well over 100 titles and has become firmly established in the landscape of Children's Literature. She has written for all ages, from picture books for young readers to young adult fiction and tackles a wide variety of controversial topics, such as child abuse, mental illness and bereavement. Although she has received some criticism for presenting difficult and seemingly 'adult' topics to children, she remains overwhelmingly popular among her audience and has won numerous prizes selected by children, such as the Smarties Book Prize. External Website