Joseph Mason: Assigned Convict, 1831-1837
Joseph Mason was an agricultural labourer in pre-industrial England. He was convicted for taking part in mass protests against the introduction of threshing machines, which were threatening to destroy the livelihood of English rural workers. His punishment was transportation to New South Wales. Joseph was unusual among labourers in being a fluent writer and a voracious reader. His manuscript, only recently discovered, is published here for the first time. In it, he vividly describes life on...
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Joseph Mason was an agricultural labourer in pre-industrial England. He was convicted for taking part in mass protests against the introduction of threshing machines, which were threatening to destroy the livelihood of English rural workers. His punishment was transportation to New South Wales. Joseph was unusual among labourers in being a fluent writer and a voracious reader. His manuscript, only recently discovered, is published here for the first time. In it, he vividly describes life on the frontier, his encounters with Aboriginal people, and the flora and fauna of the bush. He tells of the living and working conditions of assigned convicts, the character of the early settlements in Sydney, Parramatta and Campbelltown, and early colonial horticultural and farming practices. The description of his explorations along the Nepean River captures the dramatic landscape of the gorge so accurately that it could serve as a guide for the modern bushwalker.
