Convict

The young convict John Doody was an accomplished botanical artist whose fine watercolours, combined with Captain William Paterson’s annotations, were the first attempt to catalogue the flora of Norfolk Island. Though the drawings are unsigned, in a 1794 letter Paterson (plate 1) identified the artist as his young convict servant, ‘Jno Doody’. His were among the earliest botanical paintings produced in Australia. Paterson’s longer-term aim was to record and publish the flora and fauna of Norfolk Island in the hope that this would gain him admission as a Fellow of the Royal Society. He used Doody’s artistic skills to assist in achieving his objective.

Knud Bull was born in Norway. He trained as an artist and painted in Norway, Dresden, Copenhagen and Stockholm before moving to London in 1845, where he was arrested for counterfeiting and sentenced to 14 years transportation in Australia. Arriving at Norfolk Island, after nine months he was transferred to Van Diemen’s Land, where he gradually gained more freedom and was able to paint. Absconding in 1850 brought him only a month of freedom, but he luckily got his ticket- of-leave in 1852, and married another convict soon after. Bull continued to paint Tasmanian portraits and landscapes,and dabbled in photography. In 1856, he left Tasmania. Robert Stevens continues to follow his life, painting portraits and landscapes, and occasionally getting into trouble with the law, through Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Ballarat and finally Sydney, where he died aged 77.