Great Convict Stories: Dramatic and Moving Tales From Australia's Brutal Early Years

by Graham Seal

Graham Seal takes us back to Australia's ignominious beginnings, when a hungry child could be transported to the other side of the globe for the theft of a handkerchief. It was a time when men were flogged till they bled for a minor misdemeanor, or forced to walk the treadmill for hours. Teams in iron chains carved roads through sandstone cliffs with hand picks, and men could select wives from a line up at the Female Factory. From the notorious prison regimes at Norfolk Island, Port Arthur and Macquarie Harbour, came chilling accounts of cruelty, murder and even cannibalism. Despite the often harsh conditions, many convicts served their prison terms and built successful lives for themselves and their families. With a cast of colorful characters from around the the real Artful Dodger, intrepid bushrangers like Martin Cash and Moondyne Joe, and the legendary nurse Margaret Catchpole, Great Convict Stories offers a fascinating insight into life in Australia's first decades.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

Published March 1, 2018

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a series of stories from Australia’s convict history. The title could easily be changed to ‘Brutal convict stories’, rather than ‘Great convict stories’. Some of the stories are pretty awful ... escaped convicts resorting to cannibalism, routine floggings with the cat’o’nine tails, solitary confinement for months or years. Some of the stories are pretty shocking. The British legal system seemed to go to a lot of trouble to punish some pretty minor offences, such as stealing a handkerchief which could get you seven years and transportation to New South Wales. Over the top! Well worth reading.

[Gaye · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must admit, I love early Australian history from the First Fleet forward a 150 years or so, thus I was already predisposed to enjoy this book.

The author, Graham Seal, has certainly done his research and, from this, he has managed to pull together a broad and fascinating account of Australia’s convict past.

The book is not chronological, it’s chapters are groups of similar subject matter. The stories of ‘Unpromising Beginnings’, ‘Perilous Voyages’, ‘The Convict Underworld’, ‘The System’, ‘Pain and Suffering’, ‘Troublemakers’, ‘Places of Condemnation’, Desperate Escapes’ etc.

Graham Seal has already done the hard work - sourcing the information and turning that information into readable stories. I learned so much about the System and the life and times of many convicts. It was gruesome in parts, and certainly very sad in parts as well, but there were also stories of courage and determination and heart warming stories too.

I would highly recommend this book and now intend to read some of Graham Seal’s other books.

[Walter · Rating 1 out of 5]

didn't finish. The stories might be informative, but the writing couldn't keep my attention.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whilst informative, in many ways this was one of the most depressing books I have read recently. It deals with the sheer horror of the transportation of convicts to Australia and the depravity and corruption of many of those in charge at all levels in the system. How anyone survived is a minor miracle and I'm sure it left enormous scares on all of those involved! Comprising many very short histories that jumped about in time quite a bit and which left one feeling a bit confused and certainly short changed though the nature, time a place of the subject material means only very little survives in the records.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

a very interesting informative yet readable account of the horrors our early convict colonists faced. Stories from records, of some of the individuals who survived to finally become free and those who didn't and so many nameless, that died along the way.
The brutality that was deemed acceptable at the time was taken to extremes by the majority of those running the penal system.
It was a terrible time to be desperately poor.