Joseph Mason

Assigned Convict 1831—1837

David Kent, Norma Townsend
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Joseph Mason

Subjects

History

Published

30 November 1992

ISBN

9780522847468

Pages

196

Subjects

History

Imprint

Melbourne University Press

Joseph Mason

Assigned Convict 1831—1837

David Kent, Norma Townsend
This is a fresh and unique first-person account of the convict experience-a new and invaluable primary source.
Joseph Mason, an English agricultural labourer, was convicted and transported for taking part in mass protests against the introduction of threshing machines, which were threatening to destroy the livelihood of English rural workers. 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, and early 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. This is a fresh and unique first-person account of the convict experience-a new and invaluable addition to the primary sources of Australian colonial history.
Joseph Mason, an English agricultural labourer, was convicted and transported for taking part in mass protests against the introduction of threshing machines, which were threatening to destroy the livelihood of English rural workers. 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, and early 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. This is a fresh and unique first-person account of the convict experience-a new and invaluable addition to the primary sources of Australian colonial history.

David Kent

David Kent

David Kent is a senior lecturer in the Department of History, University of New England. He is the author of many articles and a number of books, including Joseph Mason and Rural Radicalism and the Swing Riots in Hampshire.

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Norma Townsend

Norma Townsend is a senior lecturer in the Department of History, University of New England. She is the author of Valley of the Crooked River: European Settlement on the Nambucca, Joseph Mason and of a number of journal articles.

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Paperback
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