A poem entitled “A Convict’s Tour to Hell” was composed by Frank McNamara (or Macnamara) in 1839. It has been said that it draws inspiration from Dante’s “Purgatory” and renowned poet Les Murray has described it as a landmark in Australian literature.1
Its author, Frank McNamara, was an Irish convict, transported to Australia for a period of seven years in 1832. His trial is mentioned in the “Kilkenny Journal” where he is portrayed as an educated, self-assured character, disdainful of those in authority. He was convicted of the seeming unlikely crime of smashing a shop window and stealing a length of plaid cloth.2
The disrespect shown to the authorities in Australia earned him many periods of punishment including solitary confinement, working in irons, floggings, time on the treadmill and imprisonment in a hulk on Sydney Harbour.3
During the period 1838-1839 he was assigned to the Australian Agricultural Company4 and it was during this time, whilst occupied as a shepherd at Stroud, that he composed his most iconic poem.5 This poem, together with lines from one of Frank’s songs, “Moreton Bay”, are thought to have influenced the writing in Ned Kelly’s epic “Jerilderie Letter”.6
Following an enforced residency in Van Diemen’s Land, Frank was finally granted a conditional pardon and died at the Pipe Clay Creek diggings near Mudgee in 1861.7
Author: Penny Teerman
References:
1 Frank the Poet: A Convict’s Tour to Hell – ABC Radio National Hindsight – 5 August 2012 https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/archived/hindsight/frank-the-poet/4126734
2 Frank the Poet – Francis MacNamara 1811-1861 a research project by Mark Gregory https://frankthepoet.blogspot.com/
3 Ibid
4 Convicts of the Australian Agricultural Company 1825-1850, Port Stephens Family History Society 2004
5 Australian Dictionary of Biography – MacNamara, Francis (1810-1861)
6 Frank the Poet – Francis MacNamara 1811-1861 a research project by Mark Gregory
https://frankthepoet.blogspot.com/
7 Empire Wednesday 4 September 1861 P3
