SON OF HYDRA by Bestselling Author Shelley Dark uncovers a Greek pirate in colonial Australia

Shelley Dark, author of the acclaimed memoir, Hydra in Winter (2024), is back with a historical novel based on the life of the Greek pirate, Ghikas Voulgaris. Son of Hydra is available now.

 

Greek roots uncovered

The seeds of the story were planted more than two decades ago, when Dark’s husband John learned that his family history extended far beyond what he had known. Until then, he was unaware of his Greek heritage. 

 

“Our son had been working down near the Snowy Mountains,” Dark said. “While he was there, he was told about his Hydriot pirate ancestor, who was also a local pioneer landowner. He came home and asked, ‘Dad, are we Greek?’”

 

That question led Dark to begin tracing the life of Ghikas Voulgaris, a Greek sailor who narrowly escaped execution for piracy during the Greek War of Independence and was instead transported to New South Wales.

 

Searching for Ghikas

Dark began her research in New South Wales, working through records at the State Library of New South Wales in Sydney and the State Archives at Kingswood. From there, she travelled to Hydra, the island where Voulgaris was born, despite having never been to Greece before or speaking the language.

 

“I wanted to understand which branch of the Voulgaris family he came from,” she said, “and how such a harsh, rocky island could have produced so much wealth and such formidable sailors.”

 

She spent two weeks on Hydra researching in local archives and making connections. That first visit became the basis for her memoir Hydra in Winter. As her research deepened, so did her questions.

 

“The more I learned, the more I wanted to know,” she said.

 

From Hydra, Dark travelled to Athens to meet a genealogist, who proved central to the research. In Malta, she examined trial records and visited the jail where the men accused of piracy were held, including the room where sentences were handed down. Further research took her to England, where she spent two weeks working in the Kew Archives in London, tracing the British side of the story. And in Ireland, she found the remains of the orphanage where his wife Mary was raised, along with the intact eighteenth century house likely where her family has lived for centuries.

 

Research challenges

Dark’s research extended over seven years and two international trips. Back in Australia, she familiarised herself with Sydney’s early colonial layout, then travelled south to locate the former Arnprior sheep run where Voulgaris later worked as a shepherd. At the National Library of Australia in Canberra, she consulted the papers of Philhellene and author Hugh Gilchrist, and in the Cooma Library she studied the Robertson Land Act.

 

“I also stood on the stone footings of what may have been Ghikas’ house near Nimmitabel, where he eventually settled,” she said.

 

One of the greatest challenges was the inconsistency of historical records, particularly in relation to names. 

 

“There are almost as many variations of his given name as there were men on his ship,” Dark said. “Ghikas, Gikas, Gika, Ghiera, Jigger, Jekeir—and that’s before you even get to whether the surname begins with a V or a B.” Even the name of Voulgaris’ ship appeared in multiple forms across documents, including Herakles, Eraklis and Iracles.

 

New revelations

Dark encountered conflicting accounts in newspaper reports of the time and in official British records. “The newspapers mentioned nine men on the pirate ship,” she said. “But the captain’s log at Kew listed forty-three crew members, complete with names.”

 

Working through the accumulated evidence, the genealogist in Athens concluded that Dark’s husband’s great-great-grandfather was almost certainly a son of the prominent Greek shipping family.

 

Further discoveries continue to emerge. With the assistance of retired Vice Admiral of the Hellenic Navy Heraklis Kalogerakis, Dark recently learned that the men not charged with piracy were repatriated to Hydra by the British aboard the same vessel that carried Ioannis Kapodistrias back to Greece to assume his role as the first governor.

 

In his foreword to Son of Hydra, Kalogerakis notes that while privateers played a role in the Greek War of Independence, piracy in the Aegean was later actively suppressed and eradicated under Kapodistrias’ government.

 

The untold story

Son of Hydra is told from Ghikas Voulgaris’ point of view—proud and initially unrepentant. The novel traces his early life on Hydra, his involvement in maritime conflict during the War of Independence, his conviction for piracy, and his exile to New South Wales.

 

In Australia, Voulgaris is forced to adapt to life as a transported convict, working as a shepherd in the Braidwood region. The novel also traces his relationship with Mary Lyons, the Irish orphan whose life intersects with his in the colony.

 

Grounded in documented Greek and Australian history, Dark draws on her own experience as a former farmer, alongside extensive research into nineteenth-century agricultural life, to create a detailed portrait of the period. The result is an immersive narrative love story that situates Voulgaris’ personal story within the broader canvas of early colonial Australia.

 

Advance praise for SON OF HYDRA

The book has received early praise. Kalogerakis said, “Son of Hydra is a book that, once you start reading, you cannot put down.” International bestselling Author Yvette Manessis Corporon called it, “A transportive and beautifully written story that needed to be told.” And prominent Australian journalist Dean Kalimniou said, “Dark’s masterly portrayal of companionship and brotherhood is rendered with such intimacy... that Hydra itself seems to pulse through their speech, gestures and glances.” 

 

A sweeping tale of love, loss, and redemption, Son of Hydra is a powerful blend of Greek and Australian historical fiction that explores pride, punishment, and what it truly means to be a man. 

 

Son of Hydra is distributed to bookstores by John Reed Books, and is also available on Amazon. 

 

For more information about Shelley Dark and her books, visit www.shelleydark.com. 

 

---

Read more:

Author Shelley Dark Chased Down a Greek Pirate in a Life-changing Adventure

---