The Ones that Got Away

Murray Radcliffe at the Society on Saturday

COSHA Vice-President, Murray Radcliffe, entertained over 60 Society members at our General Meeting last Saturday with stories of escapes that desperate convicts made from a variety of our early colony's penal institutions.


Murray set the scene for his talk with the dramatic tale of a convict who escaped from a ship in a dinghy only to be recaptured on a beach shortly afterwards. Murray then shared stories of convicts who had used three methods to escape: by sea, overland or as stowaways. Particularly interesting was the story of female convict, Mary Bryant, who made a successful journey from Port Jackson by sea in the company of several other convicts, her husband and two children to Koepang in Timor. 

Thank you, Murray, for a most interesting and informative presentation.