Story of transport of prisoners from Britain to Australia, reconstructs the voyages and administrative system. Complete list of all ships, masters, surgeons, departure and arrival dates and number of prisoners carried. FIRST EDITION. pp. 355 illusts #0221 (Front hinge tender, mottling to cloth, name and bookseller’s label on fpd, no dustjacket, a solid copy.)
A great human document, which must fascinate everyone interested in ships and the sea, it tells for the first time the strange and often macabre story of the transport of prisoners from Britain to Australia between the years 1787 and 1868. From authoritative sources, official and unofficial, Charles Bateson reconstructs not only the voyages themselves, but also the administrative system under which the ships were selected, manned, provisioned and despatched with their miserable human freight to face a 13,000 miles voyage over tempestuous and largely uncharted seas.”