Joseph Samuel was a petty criminal who broke into homes and stole stuff. There is nothing remarkable about his crimes, or about his life. However, the circumstances surrounding his attempted execution is very peculiar and unparalleled in history.
Joseph Samuel was convicted of larceny at the age of fourteen in 1795. He was sentenced to seven years, and after serving a few years in England, he was transported to the penal colony in Australia. At that time, Britain maintained a penal settlement at Sydney Cove in the Colony of New South Wales. These early penal settlements relied on the isolation of the colony to keep its inmates in. Security was lax because the impression was that any escaping convict would not be able to survive in the harsh environment of the Australian wilderness.
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A View of the Cove and Part of Sydney.
Source: amusingplanet.com