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Book Cover
Book
Author Stevens, Peter F., 1955- author

Title The voyage of the Catalpa : a perilous journey and six Irish rebels' escape to freedom / Peter Stevens
Published London : Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003
©2002

Copies

Location Call no. Vol. Availability
 W'PONDS  365.45099411 Ste/Vot  AVAILABLE
Description viii, 328 pages, 8 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 24 cm
regular print
Contents Prologue: On her way ... -- pt. 1. Unrepentant rebels -- Desertion for Ireland's sake -- A floating hell -- In exile and chains -- Defiance -- The establishment -- The companionship of desperate men -- A path to the sea -- pt. 2. The hour of trial -- Guilty freedoms -- A voice from the tomb -- The New Bedford plan -- Just the man -- The vessel -- A test of pluck -- pt. 3. Bound for the establishment -- A member of the syndicate -- In the whaling grounds -- If she goes to hell ... -- Good Father McCabe -- A forgivable failing -- The chart -- We declined their money, but took their revolvers -- Reaching port -- pt. 4. This chance can never occur again -- Let no man's heart fail him -- A quiet beach -- The open boat -- Firing on the flag -- pt. 5. The furore and the fallout -- Rolling home -- Free men
Summary “Setting out from New Bedford, Massachusetts, on April 29 1875, the American whaling barque Catalpa undertook a secret year-long mission to liberate a group of Irishmen known as “The Fremantle Six” from an Australian prison. The six men had been soldiers in the British army when they took the secret Fenian Oath and pledged themselves to fight for Irish independence and armed insurrection against the British military. Arrested in 1866 and tried for treason against the Crown, they were sentenced to imprisonment and slow death in “a hellish foreign land”. After eight years languishing in Fremantle Gaol and aided by a worldwide network of Irish nationalists and undercover agents the Fremantle Six escaped to the Australian coast where the Catalpa was waiting to escort them to freedom. But their trials were only just beginning. The obstacles they overcame, from armed British vessels to the full fury of the sea, made their escape the stuff of international headlines and legend.”--Book jacket
Notes Includes index
Bibliography Includes index
Subject Catalpa (Ship)
Penal colonies -- Australia -- History -- 19th century.
Penal colonies -- Australia -- History.
Escapes -- Australia -- Fremantle (W.A.)
Fenians.
Political prisoners -- Australia -- Fremantle (W.A.)
Ocean travel -- History -- 19th century.
Escapes -- Australia -- History -- 19th century.
Whaling ships -- United States.
Treason -- Great Britain -- History -- 19th century.
SUBJECT Ireland -- History http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85067989 -- Antonomy and independence movements
Australia -- History -- 1788-1900. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85009593
Genre/Form History.
ISBN 9781842126516
1842126512