Notes of a Convict of 1838

Translated and introduced by Dr George Mackaness

In 1840, 50 French Canadian "Patriotes" were exiled for their part in the uprising in the Quebec region of Canada. Their presence as convicts in the Longbottom Stockade in Concord, Sydney is recalled by the names of Exile Bay, France Bay and Canada Bay. One of these exiles was Francois Xavier Prieur:

He was captured and tried at Montreal for treason between November 1838 and February 1839. He was first condemned to death, but later was among fifty-eight French Canadians whose sentences were commuted to transportation for life to New South Wales. They arrived in the Buffalo in February 1840. After his arrest and trial he kept a journal, later published as Notes d'un condamne Politique de 1838 (Montreal 1869); it gives a full account of the sufferings of the French Canadians in the Buffalo and their experiences in New South Wales. - Australian Dictionary of Biography