1846 Notes of an Exile to Van Dieman's Land Comprising Incidents of the Canadian Rebellion In 1838 Trial of The Author in Canada, and Subsequent Appearance Before her Majesty's Court of Queen's Bench, In London, Imprisonment in England.

Description

First Edition, Leather Binding, Uncommon

This work follows Linus W Miller who was one of many Canadians transported to the Tasmanian colonies following the 1837-8 Canadian Rebellions. Miller was a Law student who joined the rebels, now known as the Canadian Patriots, to rise against the British crown from 1837-1838. He was an American citizen from Stockton, New York. Miller was captured at the Niagara Peninsula and sentenced, at Niagaron-The-Lake to hang. Following his stint on the Hulks in Britain, Miller was a part of the second group transported to Van Diemen's Land and arrived in Hobart on the Canton in 1840. Heavily foxed as usual. Van Diemen's Land was Australia's primary penal colony and over 70,000 convicts were transported there. Miller writes of the 'wrongs and sufferings of the Canadian State Prisoners'. He produces a sketch of the Canadian rebellion and his life in Tasmania prior to his 1846 pardon. Errata to the final leaf. Fascinatingly, this work covers many years and discusses his time in Canada, his transportation to England for trial, his time in Tasmania, his pardon, and then return home. Miller discusses the fate of other political offenders, his own narrow escape from the death penalty, his trial, reflections on arrival, and most importantly his time at Van Dieman's Land which was colloquially called 'Van Demon's Land' by the convicts. Few accounts on the Canadian exiles have been published, and Miller's evocative writing is one of the most uncommon.