For the Term of His Natural Life

For the Term of His Natural Life was written between 1870 and 1872 and was serialised at the time in The Australian Journal that was also edited by the book's author Marcus Clarke. My copy read is the Penguin edition 2009 with an Introduction by George Ian Smith.

The intro is worth a read just to discover Mr Smith writing about modern Australia in that “Airlines cross Australia in one day......” and that “..........Only five days flying brings us back to Europe...” There have been marked improvements in travel to and from this island continent in the last decade!

First let's just say that I am glad that I did not have to read this at school, as has been said elsewhere literature of the Victorian age can be wasted on youthful readers. Certainly, the coincidences and luck in the plot would have driven me to severe criticism back in my youth. Be that as it may, we do tend towards a different outlook into older age as to how we approach and read. This was the first novel of Australian convict literature of note, and also later was described as the first of what has become known as Tasmanian Gothic. At the time of writing, the dark history of convict settlement in Van Diemen's land was still fresh in the memory of the public hence as a reader of colonial history, I now know its place in the cannon and the effect it has had on a reading public.

Clarke wrote in what can be called nowadays a mashup. Combining several known events of brutality into one novel and as a derring-do adventure that combines everything from murder and criminal activity, identity theft and sheer brutality, it makes for a bit of a page turner. It is also a grim reminder of man's inhumanity to man, no matter the circumstances.

The main protagonist is Richard Devine, the only son and heir of a filthy rich ship builder. Richard uses the name Rufous Dawes in a convoluted inheritance debacle, and when a murder happens is sentenced to life imprisonment to the colonies for crime he did not commit. The title is excellent as we get to read the story of what is indeed the term of his natural life, a life of great tragedy and brutality. The end is what all great Victorian era writers of all nations seemed to like, redemption. I was reminded of The Count of Monte Cristo and Les Miserable even though obviously these are entirely different settings.

I enjoyed the descriptions of Port Arthur and Norfolk Island. Having been to these two very beautiful but also tragic places I was able to visualise the writer's descriptions with ease and there is no doubt in my mind that the gruesome and appalling conditions being these colonial prisons it was not hard to reimagine, such were the excellent descriptions written. I have not been to Sarah Island, the other penal station in this book, but will make an effort in the coming years.

This is considered an Australian classic of the colonial era and has been in continuous publication since.


Highly recommended.

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