The author John George Lang John George Lang (1816-1864) was born at Parramatta, New South Wales, in 1816. His grandfather, a Jewish convict1, arrived in Australia on board the First Fleet of convicts, which left England on 13 May 1787, and was later emancipated. J.G. Lang was educated at Sydney College and matriculated to Trinity College, Cambridge, but was expelled for writing a blasphemous litany. Lang proceeded to read law at the Middle Temple (a lawyers association) and was called to the bar in 1841. That year Lang returned to Sydney with his wife, Lucy Peterson, whom he had married in 1839, and was admitted as a barrister2 to the Supreme Court. But Lang s convict ancestry made it difficult for him to carry out his profession, so he left Australia and emigrated to India. He published nine novels, a travel book and a volume of short stories; he frequently contributed to important English journals and newspapers, including Charles Dickens Household Words. He died in 1864 in New South Wales, Australia. Convict route to Australia. ENGLAND Portsmouth AFRICA AUSTRALIA Rio de Janeiro Cape Town 1. convict: detenuto, forzato. Botany Bay 2. barrister: avvocato. 69