This story by Price Warung is one of a series dealing with Australia’s early days as a penal colony. Set in the late 1830s, its major theme is the cruel and inhuman treatment of convicts who challenged the system. The story is critical of both the system itself, which in many cases turned petty thieves into hardened criminals, and the brutality of the officers who administered it. A feature of the story is Warung’s extensive use of satire (from the title to terms like “the mild discipline” (of) “a genial and loving motherland”) in highlighting these points.

Set in Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) during Australia’s convict era, this story by Price Warung describes how a devout but greedy parson who refuses the Governor’s request to reduce his exorbitant marriage fee comes to be acknowledged as one of the “fathers of the colony”. Although most couples lived informally at the time, marriage was strongly encouraged and offered several advantages… for convicts, less harsh treatment and a fast track to freedom (a ticket-of-leave), and for farmers, the possibility of an extra grant of land. Themes include greed, infidelity, defiance, conspiracy, institutional corruption and abuse of power.