A uniquely comprehensive biography of a convict, his fall, retribution and eventual redemption.

Through a momentary lapse that he blames on alcohol, John Wilmot, the watchmaker son of a Quaker family, is sentenced to transportation to New South Wales for life. He is assigned to Lt. Col. Henry Dumaresq, the brother-in-law of Governor Darling, on his property at the frontier of settlement. He is on the way to re-establishing himself as a productive citizen when a series of mischances in Sydney commit him to an ironed-gang, Hyde Park Barracks and Cockatoo Island. After a sentence to hard labour in Darlinghurst Gaol, he is exiled from Sydney to Wollongong where he establishes himself as a businessman and supports action against alcohol consumption. Quakers from England are witness to his progress. He dies with the esteem of his fellow citizens.

Readers with an interest in Australian history will be enlightened by this man's journey through the convict system.