DARK CONVICT VOYAGE

Press, 18 November 1978, Page 17

DARK CONVICT VOYAGE

The Affair ot the Wellington Brig. By Cecil and Celia Manson. Millwood Press. 101 pp. $4.95.

(Reviewed by Ted Glasgow)

The sub-title of this little book is "A True and Terrible Story.” To this description it is necessary to add only that it is a story superbly told with the skill expected of Cecil and Celia Manson. It is a story of the brutalities and horror of the penal system of the early nineteenth century and the sentence of transportation. The brig Wellington was chartered fcy the Government of New South Wales to take a load of donvicts, in chains and below decks, from Sydney to the penal settlement of Norfolk Island. Under intelligent and strong leadership the convicts revolted and seized the ship, thereby becoming pirates. Their plan was to sail to South America, where they hoped to be free of the long arm of British law. Before undertaking so long a voyage they had to replenish their water and Supplies, and for this purpose called at the Bay of Islands. The Wellington anchored off Kororareka (Russell) and not far from Paihia. where the redoubtable Henry

Williams and his mission station were already firmly established. The unseamanlike appearance and behaviour of the crew of the Wellington roused the suspicions of the masters of two whaling vessels in the Bay of Islands, and also of the Rev. Mr Williams. The brig was recaptured and eventually returned to Sydney with her cargo of unfortunate convicts, some to be hanged and some to end their days in chains on Norfolk Island.

The Mansons must have done a great deal of research to establish the facts of this story, and with the addition of apposite quotations have pieced together an absorbing account of a sorry episode of early New Zealand history. It is only 150 years ago that the British penal svstem permitted men to be treated in this bestial fashion. The sympathy of most readers of this pungent tale will lie with the prisoners. Footnote: Henry Williams, a former officer in the Royal Navy, is said to have served under Nelson at Copenhagen in 1807, two years after Nelson’s death at Trafalgar. The battle of Copenhagen was fought in 1801. One must suppose that this is a printer’s error.