title: The Madeleine Heritage
text: # The Madeleine Heritage
  
  The Madeleine Heritage (1928) (also known as The Montfords) is a novel by Australian author Martin Boyd. It won the ALS Gold Medal in 1928.
  
  ## Plot summary
  
  The novel tells the story of the "Montford" family who settled in Melbourne before the Victorian gold rush of the 1850s. The story commences with the arrival of the Montfords on the brig Chamois in Hobson's Bay near the new settlement of Port Phillip. Henry Montford, a young barrister from Lincolns Inn, has transported his family to the new colony to start a new life. Henry's brother Simon is already living in the colony, and the novel follows the reunion of the two families and their rise through the social ranks during the 1850s, and on to the turn of the century.
  
  