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Virtual Sourcebook for Aboriginal Studies in the Hunter Region Guide: 18th Century

Sourcebook for Aboriginal studies : 18th Century Sources

18th Century Sources for Aboriginal Studies

1791

  • James Martin (fl.1786 - 1792) Memorandoms: Escape from Botany Bay, 1791 : being 'Memorandoms' by James Martin; introduction and notes by Victor Crittenden (Canberra : Mulini Press, c1991 ).
    Transcribed excerpt from p.2-3 relating to natives. [Virtual Coquun-Hunter River Site]


In 1791 a group of nine convicts and two small children escaped from the settlement at Sydney Cove. They successfully managed to avoid capture in a leaky boat before arriving in Timor, where they were arrested and re-imprisoned. Of the three accounts of the voyage known to exist, only one has ever come to light. It was the account attributed to James Martin, entitled 'Memorandoms'. The writer(s) records the journey of the escapees up the coast to Swansea and later to what is possibly either Newcastle or (more likely) Port Stephens.

1795

1796

1797

1799