Ten Rogues
Page 17
So the list of people to acknowledge and thank for their help with Ten Rogues is long and disparate. My regular editor Angela Handley deserves special mention, because she has the uncanny knack of knowing what my books ought to be like, and then bending and shaping them until they conform.
I’ve already thanked Professor Hamish Maxwell-Stewart in the Introduction for opening my eyes to the importance of the sheer gutsiness of the convicts. What I didn’t say there, but will say now, is that he was endlessly patient with my niggling emailed queries. These descended to the trivial level of asking him if he could read a bit of handwriting that had eluded me in the early convict conduct records. (He could.)
I owe a special debt to Madeleine Blumer, my Chilean researcher. As I have already said, she was trying to establish the fate of people whose very lives depended on disappearing without trace. The fact that they largely succeeded is a tribute to their ingenuity and persistent cunning. Nevertheless, Madeleine managed to come up with credible Chilean traces of three of the ten rogues: Jimmy Porter, John Barker and James Leslie. In doing so she succeeded where others have singularly failed. Madeleine is the granddaughter of my old Australian friend Kate Metcalfe, and Madeleine and her family have lived in Chile for most of Madeleine’s life. I was lucky to have her as an ally.
There are people to thank whose names I will never know. Electronic scanning of every page of the handwritten Tasmanian convict records must have taken an army of people a long time. Then the techies came along and catalogued these scans and made them available and searchable online. I live in France, and I was able to access these records easily whenever I liked despite the thousands of kilometres of ocean between me and the original. So if you were involved in this scanning operation, or in creating the website, then whoever you are and wherever you are, please accept my grateful thanks.
I should also put in a special word of thanks to Fiona Inglis of Curtis Brown Australia, my agent. I worked as a literary agent for more than a decade, and actually started Curtis Brown Australia where Fiona is now head honcho. Through three books I thought I didn’t need an agent and could sort out contracts myself. And I could. But then I realised I was spending so much time messing about ineffectually on rights sales and mythical film deals that I wasn’t actually writing. Fiona is an agent after my own heart, and she gladly took all these burdens away from me, leaving me free to write. Without her I might never have sat down and written this book. Thank you, Fiona. You’re a star.
Finally, my heartfelt thanks to my publisher Richard Walsh, and to Allen & Unwin’s managing editor Rebecca Kaiser. Apart from being the longest-standing friend I have in the world (we have known each other for 77 years!), Richard Walsh has an acute eye for a good story and has been happy to steer good stories my way, or to recognise them when the idea came from me. Bec combines those rarest of talents flair and good sense. Between us over the years we have managed to settle our differences and come up with last-minute book titles that actually clicked. Merci beaucoup. Thank you both.
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND SOURCES
Jimmy Porter left two accounts of his life. As mentioned in the Introduction, one was written in Hobart in 1837; the second was written on Norfolk Island in 1842. A slightly edited version of the 1837 story was published in the Hobart Town Almanack and Van Diemen’s Land Annual of 1838. Some of Porter’s story was fictionalised in that greatest of all Australian convict novels, For the Term of His Natural Life, written by Marcus Clarke and published in the 1870s. Porter is the inspiration for Clarke’s character John Rex, and some of Rex’s words in the novel are Porter’s own, from his two accounts. And, of course, Porter is a central character in Australia’s longest-running play, The Ship that Never Was.
I have largely stuck to the story as told by Porter himself in his two accounts, rather than copy some of the more colourful versions published elsewhere. If Porter was given to self-aggrandisement and exaggeration, then at least the exaggerations are his own. Insofar as these are the only accounts available anywhere of most of his life, we have no choice but to trust them. However, when other witnesses give independent accounts of some of these same events, Porter’s version does match the witnesses’ fairly closely. So he is not entirely unreliable.
The Norfolk Island version, from which most of Chapter 1 is drawn, is an odd document. The original is held in the Dixson Library in Sydney and is written in three distinct hands. It is impossible to know whose hand wrote what, though it seems likely that Porter himself wrote the last 60 of its 140 pages as the handwriting on these pages matches Porter’s signature. It may well be that the remainder was a tidier transcription of Porter’s original handwritten version, or Porter may have dictated his recollections for others to write down. Whatever the origin, I have largely followed Porter’s version of his life story, much of which is in his own words.
The overwhelming bulk of this book comes from primary sources, some from Jimmy Porter’s two journals and some from G.K.’s enchanting collection of memories, listed below as The Sarah Island Conspiracies. A great deal of primary information is available online. In particular, the handwritten Tasmanian convict records have been digitised and can be freely accessed at the Libraries Tasmania website: https://linctas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_AU/names.
Exploring the convict records was not without its problems. For instance, just about every book listed below includes mention of a convict called William Shires and another called John Fare. I could find no trace of either in the official records; however, there was plenty of material on William Shiers and John Fair. I decided to stick to the spelling in the original records, although I was assured that those records were compiled by barely literate people who wrote down what they heard, never mind what they were told. ‘Shires’ was more likely to be correct, I was assured. I was in the last days of writing the book when I found a reference to the fact that one of Shires’s/Shiers’s descendants had flown with Keith and Ross Smith on their 1919 pioneering flight from London to Australia. A bit more poking around on the internet led me to Wally Shiers, who had flown as one of two engineers on the Smith brothers’ flight. Vindication!
As well as the convict records, early Tasmanian newspapers have also been digitised and can be accessed freely at trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/?q. The convict records website is comparatively easy to navigate, but the Trove site, created by the National Library of Australia, is a bit of a nightmare until you get the hang of it. I wish any reader luck who wants to see the originals.
Jimmy Porter’s Hobart journal is available for purchase online through the New South Wales State Library website at sl.nsw.gov.au/eresources. There is a fairly convoluted process whereby you follow a link into something called Ask A Librarian, and put in a request to see a document. They reply that yes, we’ve got it and yes, you can have it. Then you start filling in forms, giving them credit card numbers and so on. Eventually the document is sent to you as an email attachment. It’s as complicated as it sounds, but worth the trouble!
The various books listed below as published by The Round Earth Company can be bought from bookshops, but also direct from the publisher. They have a website, www.roundearth.com.au/index.html, but no online facility to order the books. However, if you care to email them at enquiries@roundearth.com.au or call them on +61 (0)3 6471 7700, they will help you out.
BOOKS
Butler, Richard, The Men that God Forgot (novel), Hutchinson & Co. Ltd, London, 1975
Davey, Richard Innes, Sarah Island: The people, ships and shipwrights, The Round Earth Company, Strahan, 2002
—— (ed.), The Sarah Island Conspiracies: Being an account of twelve voyages made by one G.K. to Macquarie Harbour on the western coast of Van Diemen’s Land 1822–1838, The Round Earth Company, Strahan, 2002
——, The Ship that Never Was: The comic strip version, The Round Earth Company, Strahan, 2002
Guarda, Father Gabriel, La Sociedad en Chile austral antes de la colonización alemana (‘Southern Chilean Society before t
he German Colonisation’), Extensiôn UC, Santiago, Chile, 2006. (The two references mentioned in the text can be found on p. 674, note 162.)
Hughes, Robert, The Fatal Shore, Collins Harvill, London, 1987
Maxwell-Stewart, Dr Hamish, Closing Hell’s Gates: The death of a convict station, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2008
Maxwell-Stewart, Dr Hamish and Pybus, Cassandra, American Citizens, British Slaves: Yankee political prisoners in an Australian penal colony 1839–1850, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 2002
Moresby, Admiral John, Two Admirals: Admiral of the Fleet Sir Fairfax Moresby and his son, John Moresby, John Murray, London, 1909
Porter, James, The Travails of Jimmy Porter: A memoir (Richard Davey, ed.), The Round Earth Company, Strahan, 2003
Rees, Siân, The Ship Thieves: The true tale of James Porter, colonial pirate, Aurum Press Ltd, London, 2006
PLAY
Davey, Richard Innes, The Ship that Never Was, a Dramatic and Comic Re-enactment of the Capture of the Frederick from Macquarie Harbour by Convict Pirates in 1834, daily performances at 5.30 p.m. at the Richard Davey Amphitheatre, The Esplanade, Strahan, Tasmania, www.roundearth.com.au/ship.html
INDEX
Page numbers in italics refer to illustrations
Aboriginal people 22, 25, 48–9, 56, 111
American War of Independence 10, 17, 22
Anne of London 7
Anti-Transportation League 172–3
Araucano 144–5, 147
Argentina 10–11
Arthur, Governor George 31, 34, 56–7, 73, 82, 98–9, 101, 145, 166, 172, 177; see also Port Arthur
Asia 39, 41–3, 84–5, 199, 201–2
assignment xiii, 26, 31, 36, 44, 51–5
Bailey, Major see Baylee, Major Perry
Barker, John 100–1, 103–4, 111–12, 145–6, 149–50, 158, 190, 192, 216
as captain 124, 129
as navigator 103, 112, 124–5, 129–33, 137
leadership 143
barque 7, 15, 53–4
Bass, George 29, 33
Baylee, Major Perry 157
Bengal Merchant 53–4
Birch, Sarah 37
Birch, T.W. 33, 37
Blanco, Pedro 6
Blonde, HMS 147–8, 151–2
Bolivia 11
Bonaparte, Joseph 10–11
Bonaparte, Napoleon 10–12, 23, 39, 79, 87, 107, 171, 181
Botany Bay 22–4, 30
Bowen, Lieutenant John 30
Brady, Matthew 72–3
brig 5, 86, 92, 103, 163
Briggs, Captain James 90–2, 157
Brisbane, Governor Sir Thomas 41, 194, 199, 202
Bunbury (‘Bumbry’), Major Thomas 180–1
Butler, Captain James 79–84, 88, 90, 98
Callao 9, 13, 151–2
Camden, Calvert & King 40
Cape Horn 7, 124, 192
Chesapeake 87
Cheshire, William 100, 104, 106, 129, 135, 141–2, 145, 150, 152, 155–6, 159, 161, 190–2, 198, 205
Chile xiv, 170, 187–90, 192–3, 198, 216
brief history of 10–12
as destination of the Frederick 124–6, 127, 131, 132–4
Jimmy Porter’s first visit to 8–9, 13, 104
Jimmy Porter’s second visit to 135–8, 140–2, 144–6, 148, 158
Chilean Patriots 11–12, 140
Circular Head 120–1
Clarke, Marcus 219
Cochrane, Admiral Lord Thomas 11, 13
Cole, Thomas 86, 88, 90
Collins, Colonel David 29–30
convicts xiv–xvii, 19–23, 28–30
categorisation of 31–2
freedom of 26–7
labour of 25–6, 28, 73–5
punishment of 25, 32, 34–6, 63, 66–9, 81–2
rations 24, 70
transportation of 39–42; see also transportation
Cook, Captain James 22, 27, 29
Crockett, Henry 68
Cuthbertson, Lieutenant John 65–8, 70–1, 73, 79, 84, 91–2
cutter 16, 57, 86, 122
Cyprus 91–2, 104, 120
Dady, John 100, 130, 149, 192
Derwent 86
Despatch 85–6
Duke of York 91
East India Company, British 50, 103
Elliston, William Gore 173, 176
Fair, John 100–1, 129, 149, 192, 220
Ferdinand VII of Spain 10–11
First Fleet 23, 25, 30, 39
Flinders, Matthew 29, 33
For the Term of His Natural Life see Marcus Clarke
Franklin, Lieutenant Governor Sir John 166, 172, 176–7, 181, 206, 214
Frederick xiii–xiv, xvi, 100–6, 108, 110–15, 119, 121–4, 126, 129–33, 135–6, 145, 152, 155–60, 162–3, 169–73, 175, 177, 189, 198, 205, 211, 223
route of 122–6, 127, 129
free settlers xvi, 25–6, 30–1, 42, 47–8, 50–1, 98
‘G.K.’ 65, 82–3, 85, 89–91, 96–7, 169–76, 220
Gordon River xiii–xiv, 34, 84, 197
Governor Sorell 70, 84, 86
Gray, ‘Austen’ see Gray, Newton
Gray, Newton 84–6, 88–90
Grummet (or ‘Small’) Island 37, 71, 197
Haiti 10
Hobart xiii, 42–4, 65–7, 71–5, 83–8, 91, 96, 99–102, 105, 120–1, 138, 145, 152, 159, 161, 169, 171, 173, 175–6, 181–2, 190–1, 193
convict colony 34, 49, 60, 63
early settlement 30–3, 47–8, 50–1, 53, 55–8
Hobart journal see Porter, James, journals
Hobart Town Almanack 173–4, 219
Hobart Town Courier 101, 119–21, 155–7, 159–61, 175
Hobart Town Gazette 49
Holt, William 96, 98
Hoy, David 86–90, 97, 101, 104, 106, 108–15, 120, 123–4, 129, 156–61, 163, 171–3, 176, 193, 211
hulks 18, 21–2, 39, 86, 152
Huon pine 33–4, 74, 88, 198
James Lucas 84–6
John Bull 7–8
Jones, John 100, 129, 149, 192
Kelly, James 33
Kemp, Anthony Fenn 166, 206, 209
King, Lieutenant Philip Gidley 28, 164, 194
La Pérouse, Comte de (Jean-François de Galaup) 23
Leslie, James 100, 106–8, 129, 145–6, 149–50, 190, 192, 216
Liberta 9
Little, John 96–7
Lyon, Charles 100, 129–31, 150, 152, 155–6, 159–61, 190–1, 205
McFarlane, Joseph 101, 106, 112, 160
Maconochie, Captain Alexander 181–3, 193
Macquarie, Governor Lachlan 33, 166, 207–8
Macquarie Harbour 33–7, 38, 105; see also Sarah Island
Martel (or Martell), Fernando 8–10, 141
Martel (or Martell), Narcissa 8–10, 140, 187–8, 190
Maxwell-Stewart, Professor Hamish xv, 216
Melbourne see Port Phillip Bay
Mermaid 15
Moresby, Admiral Sir Fairfax 195
Nobbs, George Hunn 195–6
Norfolk, HMS 29
Norfolk Island 27–8, 47, 176–7, 179–80, 182–3, 190–6, 219
Norfolk Island journal see Porter, James, journals
Ollery, John 63–5
Opossum 86
Pacific winds and currents 128
Pearce, Alexander 72
Pedder, Chief Justice John 156, 161, 165, 175–6, 206
Peru 7, 9, 13, 124, 126, 151, 198
Phillip, Captain Arthur 22, 24–5, 27–9
Pitcairn Islands 124, 195–6
Port Arthur 99–101, 171, 193
Port Jackson see Sydney Harbour
Port Phillip Bay 30
Porter, James (‘Jimmy’) xiii–xiv, 84, 100, 122, 179–83, 187–90, 192–3, 198–9, 205, 216
early life 3–7
first visit to Chile 8–15
in Hobart 15–16, 39–40, 42–4, 51–60
journals
Hobart journal xiv, 141, 14
3, 174–5, 219, 221
Norfolk Island journal xv, 55, 96–7, 105, 108, 111, 133, 137, 141–2, 146–7, 150, 220
unreliability of 54, 57–60, 98, 105, 174
on Sarah Island 92–3, 95–8, 103–9, 111–12, 114–15
second trip to Chile 129–30, 133–8, 140–3, 145–7, 149–52
trial 152, 155–6, 159, 161, 169–71, 173–7
Portsmouth 22, 42
Prince Leopold 61, 89, 92
rations 24, 27, 39, 42, 51, 70, 83, 89, 97, 114, 131, 133–4
Reeves, James 89
Reliance, HMS 29
‘retransportation’ 32
Rex, Constable George 71
Rose, Thomas 25
Royalists, Chilean 11–12
Russen, Benjamin 100, 106–7, 129, 145, 149–50, 190, 192
Ryan (‘Rian’), Major Thomas 181
Saint Juan 13–14
Sanchez, Governor 141–3, 148–50
Santiago 10, 142–5, 148
Sarah Island xiv–xv, 38, 63–4, 95, 194–5, 197; see also Macquarie Harbour
closure of 98–101
daily routine 69
discipline 65–9, 82, 90, 98
distance from Chile 133–4
escape attempts 71–3, 96–7, 99
food 70, 91
Jimmy Porter’s arrival 92–3, 95
named after 37
remoteness of 75
shipbuilding on xiv–xv, 33, 84–6, 88–90; see also Hoy, David
under Lieutenant John Cuthbertson 65–71
under Lieutenant Samuel Wright 79
under Captain James Butler 79–83
under Captain James Briggs 90–2
under Major Perry Baylee 157
Schofield, William 89–90, 95
schooner 5–7, 9, 58–9, 70, 84–5, 151, 191–2
Second Fleet 39–40, 42
Shannon, HMS 87
Sheedy, James 96, 98
Shiers, William 100, 107–9, 111–13, 129, 145, 150, 155–6, 158, 160–1, 170–1, 190, 192, 205, 220–1
Ship that Never Was, The 192, 198, 219
shipbuilding 27–8, 84–6; see also Hoy, David
slavery and slave trade xvi, 6, 19–21, 40, 164–5, 207–9, 211, 213
sloop 16, 29, 84, 136
Sophia 5–6
Sorell, Governor William 48