TRANSPORTED Tales of Misfortune and Roguery

"TRANSPORTED: Tales of Misfortune and Roguery".

The overcrowding of British prisons in the early 1800s was a problem solved, the ruling classes believed, by the transportation of convicts to the colonies, where labour was in short supply. Men, women and children branded 'felons' were shipped south, often for crimes that in today's world would hardly merit a firm reprimand.

Those transported - some unfrortunate, some it must be admitted, rogues - all had lives before conviction, but we know very little of their lives. The narratives in this book make no pretence of being factual accounts, but rather an attempt, based on research, at shedding some light beyond numbers and statistics and briefly bringing to life a cross-section of a community that suffered and survived transportation.

In telling these stories I looked at the opportunities of covering a lot of ground economically, rather like folk-song lyrics by using poetry and rhyme. The stories sing along at a pace, rather than dragging their feet in resistance. For the illustrations, in an effort to recreate or pay homage to a period in history that was less than brightly coloured, I chose to work in graphite, monochrome.

Brian Harrison-Lever

Launceston

Tasmania