Analysis
The alleged mutiny and massacre of the Lady Denison was part of the Australasian Anti-Transportation League's campaign against the transportation of convicts to Van Diemens Land, which was largely carried out by means of public rallies and press reports in papers owned by its supporters, all aiming at vilifying the convict population. Similar baseless allegations were made four years later after the ship Madagascar went missing between Melbourne and London.
Weather conditions at the time the Lady Denison approached the Tasmanian coastline were extreme, two other vessels being lost in Bass Strait around the time. There is circumstantial evidence that wreckage including bodies were found by sealers in the vicinity of Arthur River, Tasmania, the bodies plundered of valuables and disposed of, and the circumstances not reported so their actions were hidden. In addition, one or more convicts may have managed to struggle ashore alive. James Coyle, in particular, had himself been a convict escapee from Van Diemens Land, had worked in the Circular Head area, and probably still had friends willing to help him.
Read more about this topic: Lady Denison (ship)
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