Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

The Ship That Never Was: The Greatest Escape Story Of Australian Colonial History
The Ship That Never Was: The Greatest Escape Story Of Australian Colonial History
The Ship That Never Was: The Greatest Escape Story Of Australian Colonial History
Ebook341 pages8 hours

The Ship That Never Was: The Greatest Escape Story Of Australian Colonial History

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

3/5

()

Read preview

About this ebook

The greatest escape story of Australian colonial history by the son of Australia’s best-loved storyteller


In 1823, cockney sailor and chancer James Porter was convicted of stealing a stack of beaver furs and transported halfway around the world to Van Diemen's Land. After several escape attempts from the notorious penal colony, Porter, who told authorities he was a 'beer-machine maker', was sent to Macquarie Harbour, known in Van Diemen's Land as hell on earth.

Many had tried to escape Macquarie Harbour; few had succeeded. But when Governor George Arthur announced that the place would be closed and its prisoners moved to the new penal station of Port Arthur, Porter, along with a motley crew of other prisoners, pulled off an audacious escape. Wresting control of the ship they'd been building to transport them to their fresh hell, the escapees instead sailed all the way to Chile. What happened next is stranger than fiction, a fitting outcome for this true-life picaresque tale.

The Ship That Never Was is the entertaining and rollicking story of what is surely the greatest escape in Australian colonial history. James Porter, whose memoirs were the inspiration for Marcus Clarke's For the Term of his Natural Life, is an original Australian larrikin whose ingenuity, gift of the gab and refusal to buckle under authority make him an irresistible anti-hero who deserves a place in our history.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateJun 1, 2018
ISBN9780733338571
The Ship That Never Was: The Greatest Escape Story Of Australian Colonial History
Author

Adam Courtenay

Adam Courtenay is a Sydney-based writer and financial journalist. He has had a long career in the UK and Australia, writing for papers such as the Financial Times, the Sunday Times, the SMH/Age and for magazines including Forbes and Company Director. Adam has a love of Australian history and biography and has written six books, including The Ship That Never Was, The Ghost and the Bounty Hunter and Three Sheets to the Wind. He is the son of Australia's best-loved storyteller, Bryce Courtenay. He lives in Sydney with his wife Gina and dog Polly.

Read more from Adam Courtenay

Related to The Ship That Never Was

Related ebooks

Modern History For You

View More

Related articles

Reviews for The Ship That Never Was

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
3/5

2 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    The Ship That Never Was - Adam Courtenay

    /-abook_preview_excerpt.html}˲Gݯdꢍ얩EH 8#0CkiUU|Bq5dD̺`6 Pq/Ο~8 ;}Elb!74??/_ŏ/o^{/c&t3<:Ǫ!U*wՄ_ %6X. tLC ݮ.qaCuakp>QX!t/9U)窝g:)>ޟUקa'%uUNa¨/]|ė1v|va(Ƨ 1oG{wpLy>UƩIYT!_㸫G^ i:1,qLNc0GQ"?B\òoxC>c8ŝIbI#^`i)4!>-\ aJ%!V0.P7W:y7k@~ZΑB^bė'.K㈷f aA&78!;.v59Oc :~+ PX Hb܇:NWJ a'W(6uшZ0Rqm=#?@v0I8ACLJyMz݉a\(WΜPV1`}IX^dpvx.g8/PQ*>Uû)vw\PqZ @4mS't0L1ĚfW>`<VHS?kx˝8;>KRq S|VX54^گFSNɆ~tJ 栱h >0Fl$\k8TH\\c7iu 5I*a1n5Ą_gi^Pq \\8% թyɸPlq#n%~/)6$3n檙ªĖލ4'i%6ClMQm Чy^-cMz1ED]Di#nC;䦖XeДOn`Nƕߏ#|Btu4܂֘=Քy{|bOƴMG.xc4 աf#ߣP1NiI21\uU.ל\Mwx#@\n W0~hMGG,V rŊ@ b,ƒkh= Zߍ3C92QQ6Ntd#Ki ;2[[*K)H{C?.ށ QlV㓆žrnu*0児R vyaw;f~'3,6Lgb0kЪG|(x3#^ݡӿƍ sx yw=_~$Zt66$y"s1g`Xa"XF]3Ki iH[Kw 8MJ0W!w >b箦[Wceߺ{dϖC Ћ{Ùy"& JOzE:[Ηk`yVAzu fT_WQèj&Ì ^pXV!N,NujhKy܊7$"!X:B STI\q͹T8`|1e;N/Yأ?:yJo tp, KlgTbש>KC_P7Wo+>}?P@9IEc񢛘"(C/u]l*YJ L&,$ ,FE:R K4 XRg~Z3 (毑)tݛ[fYƯ+xI/ xq:L, QȌneLt/8}tLi{}a`bO/ih~4gM>Rs9\81qe!'ϥ`cYtiCH-;"v|SF^F K#B̓K!3X0b;{ `ݍ,P%t B]-T-stFXSk~H#~9̓>sm;vϯM-R PGaY#ګM~9Ln&0=HCG0V>5Ғ:)؊,ɝC0 s$ t5AޛO+,9? N\=C ݒ ef#H bq-fEstĈ  w[Fr^Xުb'@UI;\UZl٧MKPk{͡R{}pYqn+5N^+A1M'Tgk B&K98ࠛZ͟F/ݭC4: 0etpP#eFb|~vZzRAyV&U /ŎK>z}}FcHP&r~muƂ_h)E3gsLQF:G576a 7 4#Y󑫗k*UM'oԨMhԒ}<}5e ,Қxܔl3;Tl޸&E8n5D?p_aFǩw|BW &/``8:T"drOfE^%s.Lj-]+oa+/`.u0IxK%:d!#аﳴROڨ`lSfxNO7DQ Ɩ8{⳧@Om ʻ 뜽3e\4 Iig%\̂*1i bӿv'k87Hs;¦$-n(ni> x ל RJd~q;s >,+c "^ Ա6ʹeDzUΣ.uտ 4s=,I*Νakx ~wXĀI]?_>Y~6~aKBL2w:FwA[s+ 7{]Bfޠ@Jq*tisɘҠ5cNy Iarao|pWy<NBdÞޘcT+LGqOn{g|scVeo}5b+Go&_nyu;S'V9uaZxo:m1qlZǬ[odw=&;Wh$uso?+蝼²NSsz}k2̀Ew2_:d 7ZaӳOA/wJ8T]L~FM~61w8/w@lsa\QHAv 7ВjdT5J- ԣC\zwyxD?a1 %v!M/0 FSw87ۇ" <~;F4OIc^Ֆ?(NUi,Z#҆bFi*+(xK'QXkiNj'bKj4OS&^0wXZ6y#Z(<WJCd{ [F\'wBP֕Ncy٬PRiп T`u.pI)5Z5N67BسImEԉ,8WR)珁lJ'/F2 Pՙ.K9T"c;@,ْ덕9zb%`I!:o9ɫ{2/wrVl eHTk ŵLz3M&0%£cs(.XҪb&^!޶\s \v׬]bVՆ ✆ZHgl:Yfty2ߪ Fdw/&vSwT[?>ȉne'z!^+61DX^$g>nuPtTnB&YtRSDz۔܇ w}15zgg7 ]H{SM}Vx̐U P'gB e IOp8i^٦X."_qy Σ8|Edv r6EA`S]:xɟsK| t_rg|u^g4W-uaMSjV?TeS\`R[ y2$߉3ZfQJ)#3C?綰WM0诈ue)ğ+ J.olFT_<G'amhb& ͯ,߶˚XGzWYÏ]',3]$_Wm1z`¯=0q%އ*މEU9 iW;r•%f9Z1D1p3wOH績}vwei gtNYI,R/PE"O]iJYubi-kg;CX5$®qի$Pgo9姺aI]&s%3n<ǣ)rjmj[qcĴZ_Zs5;v&aB266 X_Bn"0E+}e`Y!ŝAUn+ؽ:'ԡzV ZdFKlTLl [*o%Uh;׍ᘉmv+,0뚔p" 5/Ğxab\;IL' 9_`$$S}!>ϊ ;-v:,vzpjHt$UxHX%kɇɃM+z;VJBI :܎jB]"˜iEF=: e67lϪ?}zK7y~~F)Ō%+9)-ާTG.b& d|F $̧EY"{@鵈YO4\nFg*!$c&O,hm{El9^B n*OΉgu,pspjLϹ¢Q~ۮtU=jb> |ŷGZY]EC'Ѽ^+a̒+.'qbf8öiFp>~MLuYu.0ԆTN(y>fG mMda5JjZx46WE`+_Y >t(JQ@M h) pc!!̈́:֏k$4KZ+uI%Tn~괲x=>gV(Fl(%, !r$#mpꜿxR; vyw* 緪i X 9MZҼO_)TW xJ6Ͼ"^{-20(`̴t-ls%bXKG>1WNG _f&]q>6!2m}b½Z^m)d^>7;#SS9E0#4lS`!~gd@gl7Or,14[ _^Kr\ Hpcqko+`Y5MZ*IBZ Ƀ0ӳgdXD}{f9Jr4PS/Y2 X{5#OlS GO$S @jpF[a3.HM+qTKܖ+0nd%Wx=zP*9 €cf t@Aka9^ qyLs#X?ι"٭liM!&|KPk ǢG%X,2 /N`X/evZT+Sƾ(#)K8i߲Qp>&6 5ƣi|}7\7Xo@sV}ö%CDʣR,?m|6ˉm䞾;!*oHSbU˷g.⏝Ӽ$Xdwl ..ޚ. GU!f"3jkXERG.fߐ08R=,^V_׆`0"QRRj,yf2Τ:;Y` cn ݺܹIz&hrr4Kt}>Lh)%cG^ZTK+x1}3bBɐKX+HIꋁf3av ٱeYHI7FpBhܮXa|+kNs??T/o__T@ܞ "/$amw(i6g;47c7h|mXGӂʊ[&5A S+CpzM XO~O>u-ŵq[DPq}n2}Y 9ؖűdW8 rO6 1"V{9Ǒ[ )n!1#Ѕ.e'_-/v$n{ z0?]$.JH۽1MP &AaF}ё [Tl(oҨsX27~X 4h<R+U_C 1R}P.ߘ:6 ^V窖>X*cqYY>b$+=y]oaU 7^th%p 󱳗y(ܒ˩1کvpAQydwZ5u}7=}?5VH̨t(I)Xl1ߣGT<|%`Utƨ?85+$1&ǕV:ReK 8ô?q`+w,ʖB ^mץ~REX(trv?<1z_ Q@ke}uR8}B`Q~2nn&=u{Uay[ P.'\h)WaM﨣ϡ5QFt|LcEXEATAj0,X='~xFD3<_2tay(ѡzWO.KKY^^8~[g˘臘l `!(J|;|R)=61Wm\ %JKBGe]l5>ʱ6q9JPv} p{PhRd,f.1ppe;YmH31 ;uri*SLvX:dP $-5ߢ oNyײ*Q,4i֓策u+y֒NqaoqXʶ* Rp&wIziP+vΏS8mZ)볶y#π!ŀy/'.{җN' O6d* MѸwMLGgXs.z#<geҙ1mvs70R0rg@:KNՒu?2`v., %7rUJzlLK3G$] 5[BVG2FDe4):A%öEb"D9I|o;W:6eGo<mƙGTNo"YNA sşmIARUƗT2bפ6:;ZUr⇀GV9'5X_`&킃c#;9K19M'`G~v=u$)[b7.n<ڴce::M|ʢwIֹmL'oS^ų:cRsO'rU19-?.HB|di;?scs:ɏ0.WxDܰ@T-Ӷ3u ӡdhcl7eǟdK1t1{ȳOKZj5g]@ "úE,duPCb;t,ȦL^ @ە:7,dDkXy3Ihqj[M#v3W8|3OvĴkp{ouz ӡ )vKGKnC9Ãfܞٕ#mse+u-T!n%R֚"K&e~1œͳ7>0HP^9GFa-|rs?F&#rJ6ӺUI!ei2ϣL;'=j E?C՗كIk4hH.{2R8V;3#twR91}*2[*-i{)3,T?ϕĬ,,L($DZmRb@w`hC2H*ґ]Љ O ƫikMV3aVΠsKI$Nb'y}YM2h
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1