Joseph Harrison arrived in Van Diemen's Land in 1835. In August 1842 he was
sentenced to 36 lashes and recommended to be immediately sent to Port Arthur
being a most insubordinate character for "misconduct in wilfully breaking his
wooden leg".
Did you ever wonder about some of the offences that were committed by the
convicts that spent their time as prisoners at Van Diemen's Land? Many were
charged with breaches of the regulations such as: absence without leave,
drunkenness, being idle and disorderly, having items in possession, obscene
language ... but occasionally an offence appears in the records that is a little
out of the ordinary.
It may be amusing or an offence one considers was far too trivial to have
been an offence in the first place. "Caught in the Act" is a collection of a
number of these offences gathered during the process of working on the Port
Arthur Convict Research Project.
Contents:
Preface
Acknowledges
Profile of a Conduct Record
Unusual Offences
Bibliography
