DARING CONVICT ESCAPES

ON THE RUN: DARING CONVICT ESCAPES

In the early nineteenth century Australia was a strange new land at the edge of the known world. This geographical isolation was a major reason for selecting the colony as a British penal settlement. The formidable barriers of distance, impenetrable bush and wide oceans made escape a daunting proposition - yet hundreds of convicts made the attempt.

Through manuscripts, rare printed books, artworks and relics, this
exhibition reveals the varying fortunes of a number of escaped convicts
and explores prisoner rebellions and mutinies in the colony.



Sketch & description of the settlement at Sydney Cove Port Jackson
in the County of Cumberland taken by a transported convict
on the 16th of April, 1788, which was not quite 3 months after
Commodore Phillips's landing there


Venue: Galleries Mitchell Wing, State Library of New South Wales,
Macquarie Street, Sydney, NSW

Exhibition dates: Until February 25 2007

For further information: Go to
http://www.atmitchell.com/events/exhibitions/2006/ontherun/about.cfm

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Crux - rare maps from the State Library of NSW
http://image.sl.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/ebindshow.pl?doc=crux/a127;toc