Memoirs of Joseph Mason (114pp.), 1838

Component identifier:

Series D/EWD/Z1

Content Summary:

The memoirs were written in England after Mason returned from his exile of seven years and were addressed to Charles Bastin of Wherwell, Hampshire.

The memoirs refer to the 1830 disturbances, the voyage on the Eleanor, his assignation to Hannibal Macarthur, the difficulties of adjusting to his new life, slab huts, cooking, impressions of Vineyard Cottage, Parramatta and Pennant Hills, journeys to Liverpool, farm work at Westwood, the remoteness of the farm, the productivity of various crops and fruit trees, the geography and history of the colony, the spread of settlement, the Blue Mountains and rivers, a visit to Campbelltown, the clearing of land and forests, bushfires, thunder storms, the culture, beliefs, skills and social organisation of Australian Aborigines, killings and massacres of Aborigines, Australian animals, birds, reptiles and insects, the grant of a pardon to Mason in November 1836, his visit to Newcastle and Maitland to see his brother, food and clothing prices in Sydney, impressions of Sydney, and the remarkable progress of the colony in fifty years.

The memoirs were reproduced in David Kent and Norma Townsend, eds. Joseph Mason, assigned convict 1831-1837 (Melbourne, Melbourne University Press, 1996).

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