Dicky White Part 1: Highway robbery and the death ship

Ratbags & Roustabouts

From the American Revolution to the shores of Sydney Cove, this tale follows the highs and lows of the life of Dicky White.
When 24-year-old Dicky was driven to commit highway robbery in London in 1797, he was condemned to execution.
It was the birth of his son John and the death of his wife which saw a legal act of mercy, swapping the noose for a one-way ticket to New South Wales.
After the horrors of Newgate Prison and the conditions of the hulks, Dicky and his infant son found themselves on one of the worst convict journeys ever known — where a third of the prisoners died as a deadly typhus epidemic swept through the ship.
For seven months, the 300 convicts on board suffered at the hands of the cruel captain as storms, subversion, starvation and sickness beset the voyage. Would Dicky and John survive to see Sydney Harbour?

00.00 Introduction
03.36 Crime on the King’s Highway
05.49 At the Old Bailey
12.45 Newgate Prison
14.28 Death sentence commuted
16.40 Lyon hulk
20.12 Hillsborough sets sail
21.55 Talk of mutiny
26.12 The typhus spreads
28.52 The Hillsborough arrives
Credits:
Theme music: ‘Wellerman Epic Shanty’ by EBunny via Jamendo
Sound effects: Pixabay
Microfiction quoted from asmallfiction.com

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