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Patsy Trench has been an actress, scriptwriter, theatre tour organiser and theatre teacher and lecturer. She now writes books about her family history in colonial Australia and novels featuring enterprising women breaking boundaries in Edwardian and 1920s England. She lives in London.

Latest Posts By Patsy Trench

2 years ago

Education Is Wasted on the Young

Although the original thought is “Youth is wasted on the young,” in my case, this was certainly true for education. I went to an all-girls private boarding school in rural Sussex in England, which even then – back in the late 50s/early 60s – was old-fashioned…

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2 years ago

The Art of Turning Trauma into Comedy

My annus horribilis began some time ago, right at the beginning of the year when I told my husband of 28 years that I wanted to separate. It was not a sudden decision on my part, but what surprised me, amazed me, was that it came as a total shock to my…

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2 years ago

How to Write a Book About Your Family History

I can’t and don’t intend to tell anyone how to write a book. Every writer goes about their task in a different way, and while rules do exist – readability is key, for a start – they are also there to be broken. I had never written a book before…

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2 years ago

Getting to Know My Ancestors Took Years

When it came to researching my family history, I was lucky. My aunt had done much of the groundwork for me. She spent her retirement years travelling between Australia and England investigating our ancestry going back to the 16th century…

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2 years ago

Making a Break in Your 60s

Some years ago, at the age of 61, I quit my job, rented out my flat and flew to Australia to research my family history. It was not an easy business. In the days before Airbnb and other similar organisations made letting so much more flexible…

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