Joseph Mason: Assigned Convict, 1831–1837 (No Stock in Melbourne, No Decision about Future)

Joseph Mason was an English agricultural laborer who was convicted and transported for taking part in mass protests against the introduction of threshing machines. He vividly describes his encounters with Aboriginal people, and the flora and fauna of the bush. He tells of the living and working conditions of assigned convicts, and early horticultural and farming practices. This is a fresh and unique first-person account of the convict experience—a new and invaluable addition to the primary sources of Australian colonial history.