Australia’s First Novel

Gets A New Airing

One day in early December, 1825, the 450-ton vessel Med arrived in Hobart from England bearing 69 convicts, among wl was one Henry Savery, who had been sentenced to transportation

SAVERY, whose crime was forgery, was not exactly a celebrity in his time, and nowadays few people have even heard of him.

But in the history of Australian literature, he occupies an important place for he was the author of the first novel dealing largely with Aus tralia written by an inhabitant.

The novel is Quintus Servinton, which, as its subtitle says, is “A Tale founded upon Incidents of Real Occurrence” i.e., incidents in Savery’s own life.

The novel was first published by a Hobart printer in 1830. Copies of the original edition are now so rare that only three are known to exist in Australia—one in the Mitchell Library, one in the Tasmanian Public Library, and one in a private collec tion in Hobart.

However, anyone with a yen to read this famous novel can now do

so without journeying to Sydnej Tasmania because it has now I published as originally printed by Jacaranda Press, with the assists of the Commonwealth Lite: Fund, Asa novel, it is not easy rea< because Savery wrote in a flc long-winded style and larded pages with tiresome observations life. But Savery did have a g narrative sense, and, as the ed of the book, Cecil H. Hadgraft, i in a scholarly introduction, the n< is valuable and interesting for picture of convict life as experiec by an educated convict.

The novel also gives a v picture of the tortuous English b ness dealings of the time, agains provincial background. Some these dealings closely parallel th of Savery’s own life which led his being transported to Tasman In Tasmania, Savery tried to habilitate himself and to have h self recognised as a man of sc consequence in the land. But methods he used to do this w often as reckless and as illegal those he had used in business, s almost to the end of his life he i in trouble.

After being employed in all sc of dubious transactions, Savery \ imprisoned in December, 1828, 15 months. It was apparently dur this term of imprisonment and la when he was working in the N Norfolk district that he wrote novel, Quintus Servinton.

More ups and downs tt followed, until, towards the end 1840, Savery was again arrested a convicted of forgery. This time was sentenced for life to the gr penitentiary at Port Arthur. Fifte months later, he cut his throat.

When the Wesleyan minister Port Arthur buried Savery on Ft ruary 8, 1842, he wrote in his no book: “Today I have committed the grave the remains of Her Savery, a son of one of the fii bankers in Bristol, but his end w

without honour”.-

RL.

(QUINTUS SERVINTON. Published Jacaranda Press. 35/-.)