Memorandoms by James Martin: an astonishing escape from early New South Wales (1st)

Among the vast body of manuscripts written and collected bythe philosopher and reformer Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832), held by UCL Library'sSpecial Collections, is one of the most important documents in the histories ofEuropean Australia and of convict transportation. TheMemorandoms of JamesMartin is the only known narrative written by members of the first cohortof prisoners transported to Australia, is the first Australian convictnarrative, and is the only first-hand account of the best-known Australianconvict escape. On the night of 28 March 1791, James Martin, William Bryant,his wife Mary and their two children, and six other male convicts, stole asix-oared cutter, sailed out of Sydney Harbour, up and along the eastern andnorthern coasts of the Australian continent, reaching West Timor on 5 June. Although they successfully (for a while, atleast) posed as the survivors of a shipwreck and enjoyed the hospitality oftheir Dutch hosts, they were eventually ordered to be returned to England andthe survivors were incarcerated in Newgate Gaol.

This newedition of the Memorandomsreproduces the original manuscript alongside an annotated transcript, andfeatures a scholarly introduction and commentary describing the events and keycharacters.