Quintus Servinton

Henry Savery was Australia's first novelist and a convict transported to Port Arthur, Tasmania. It is widely acknowledged that his writing is more significant for its historical value than for its literary merit. Excerpt: The events of Savery's life and the autobiographical novel he has left us to give some insight into the man. He was, so far as can be learned, not striking in appearance. All we gain from the prison record is that he was five feet eight inches in height and that he had brown hair and hazel eyes. But he was not commonplace in temperament…The picture Savery gives in Quintus Servinton is then mostly true in analysis of what he was, less true in description and narration of what he did.