James Martin James Martin i(6770585 works by)
Born: Established: ca. 1760 Ballymena,
c
Northern Ireland,
c
c
United Kingdom (UK),
c
Western Europe, Europe, ;
Gender: Male
Arrived in Australia: 20 Jan 1788 Departed from Australia: 28 Mar 1791
Heritage: Irish
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Works By

Preview all
3 2 y separately published work icon Memorandoms by James Martin James Martin , Cambridge : Rampant Lions Press , 1937 12322079 1937 single work autobiography

'Among the vast body of manuscripts composed and collected by the philosopher and reformer Jeremy Bentham (1748–1832), held by UCL Library’s Special Collections, is the earliest Australian convict narrative, Memorandoms by James Martin. This document also happens to be the only extant first-hand account of the most well-known, and most mythologized, escape from Australia by transported convicts.

On the night of 28 March 1791, James Martin, William and Mary Bryant and their two infant children, and six other male convicts, stole the colony’s fishing boat and sailed out of Sydney Harbour. Within ten weeks they had reached Kupang in West Timor, having, in an amazing feat of endurance, travelled over 3,000 miles (c. 5,000) kilometres) in an open boat. There they passed themselves off as the survivors of a shipwreck, a ruse which—initially, at least—fooled their Dutch hosts.' (Publication Summary from the 2017 Edition)
X