Joseph Samuel lived a very eventful but short life. He
arrived in Sydney in 1801 on the Minorca/Canada after being sentenced to seven
years in England for larceny at the age of fourteen in 1795.
His life in Sydney was one of petty crime and unfortunate associations.
The events leading up to his attempted
hanging included a large cast of characters and involved a complex series of
events that included a robbery and a grisly murder.
