The convict settlement at Moreton Bay, Australia.

JOHN STERRY BAKER, BORN 1798
RUNAWAY CONVICT SAVED BY ABORIGINAL PEOPLE

John Sterry Baker was in 1819 transported to Austraia for life at the age of 22 as after being arrested in Ipswitch for stealing a gray mare pony. He had been born as the illegitimate son of two 17 year olds. After an arduous journey to Queensland in the H.M.S.Malabar he again got into trouble in 1825 for stealing two sheep. For this offence he was condemned to death, with the sentence being commuted to life imprisonment. Facing the prospect of life imprisonment, he escaped the settlement, and took his chance in the bush. He was discovered in a starving state by Aboriginal people, with whom he lived for 14 years. In 1840 he returned to Moreton Bay and surrendered himself. Rather than being lashed, Baker was shaved, dressed and sent to Sydney, where his proficiency with Indigenous languages – particularly those of South East Queensland – led to him being employed as an interpreter for indigenous people before the Courts.

Click below to view his life story: