French Canadian Rebels as Australian Convicts: The Experiences of the Fifty-Eight Lower Canadians Transported to Australia in 1839 by Brian M Petrie

Book Description.

Secondhand. Near fine condition.

After the 1838 Lower Canada Rebellion, 58 French-Canadians are convicted of treason, sentenced to death, and later transported to life at hard labour in New South Wales.

From the day they left Quebec until the last man returned home in 1848, their activities were closely observed in journals, diaries and newspapers, and it seems they were viewed with wariness and fascination and treated with leniency.

Some became servants and tradesmen for their French- speaking superintendent; others were only lightly employed; and with a sympathetic handling of their petition by the Governor, political efforts locally and in Britain and in Canada, and sheer luck, they only serve two years before parole was granted and they were pardoned.