To The Outskirts of Habitable Creation
Americans and Canadians Transported to Tasmania in the 1840s
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The court reconvened Wednesday, August 1st, and proceeded with the caseload at the same rapid pace with which it began. In swift succession three Americans, Linus Miller, Norman Mallory, and William Reynolds were tried and sentenced to death. Samuel Chandler's turn came on August 2nd, and Wait's the following day. Benjamin Wait would later remember how he responded to the horrifying words:
I was hurried away to the iron bound stone cell...Here, in the hour of loneliness, the idea of my approaching death came over me. My life I never valued; and to sacrifice it in the cause of liberty, truth, and justice, was the end I most desired. I had calmly, in other times, counted the probabilities of such an event, and deemed the offering a voluntary and perchance a necessary one upon the altar of legitimate right. But, I had never before considered it in connection with the desolation my fate would entail upon my family—or the sad and sorrowful adieus that must be given—the tears and grief of a wife—the bereavement of a dear child—and a separation from the friends of my happy days.
Morreau had chosen to spare his family the immediate shame and bereavement of his darkest hour, but Benjamin Wait was more fortunate in having his wife Maria in constant attendance during the Niagara trials. At first, the young wife and mother felt inescapable grief, terror, and ravaged hope at the reading of the verdict and sentencing, yet even in the agony of anxiety, her uncommon strength of character was emerging. Maria was unprepared to accept neither her husband's life being wretchedly shortened by execution nor the prospect of a lonely and impoverished life for herself. By evening of the first day when sentencing was passed down, Maria had set herself a formidable goal: to prevent her husband from dying a criminal's death...
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About the Book
One of American history’s “lost stories,” To the Outskirts of Habitable Creation is the fascinating account of American and Canadian convicts exiled to an Australian penal colony. In 1837 an armed rebellion at Toronto against the colonial administration of British Canada spilled across the border, and U.S. citizens joined the cause. The so-called “Patriot War” kept the frontier in a climate of fear and uncertainty as a series of battles in Canadian territory continued throughout 1838 in the hope of instigating political change.
With the failure of each attempt to cross into Canada and revive the Rebellion, combatants were taken into custody. Trials resulted in hangings, acquittals, or pardons. One group of ninety-two prisoners, however, was sentenced to penal transportation for life in Australia’s far distant island of Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania).
Drawing on a wide variety of letters, diaries, and personal reminiscences, the author tells the story through the experiences of men and women who lived it. To the Outskirts... is more than the story of the Rebellion of 1837. It is also the story of one woman’s tenacious audacity that saved some of the men facing the gallows for their actions in the conflict.
About the Author
Stuart D. Scott is a retired archaeologist who has written extensively in the fields of prehistory and history. He now lives in Tucson, Arizona. He is also the co-author of Exploring the Unknown, Great Mysteries Reexamined.
Seth Colby has been drawing and painting for hire since the age of seven. He is a writer, sailor, alpinist, and a published architectural photographer.