The manuscript of this book first saw the light of day sometime in 1971. At the time, its contents were sensational. A long lost literary treasure had been found and shed a glorious light on early Australian history as well as giving an insight into the men the British government had transported to Australia. Unlike the urban trash and criminals classes of the industrial revolution that had been the mainstay of British transportation, the British had decided to inject a better class of citizen into the infant colony of Western Australia. But like all things convict, the follow-up treatment was appalling and instead of nurturing and encouraging these undoubtedly gifted individuals, it drove them to despair and they escaped as any intelligent person would.

The manuscript, however, remained dormant in the repositories of learning for many a year and the treasure of the literary work of the 62 Fenians brought out on the Hougoumont also remained tucked away in its shroud of secrecy.

I decided to bring the story to light once more for the twofold reasons that GP FitzGerald who wrote the manuscript needed some recognition for his labour but more importantly to highlight the story and contents of The Wild Goose newspaper. Greater attention must be given to this work. It is a literary treasure trove. The Australian embassy in Dublin states that up to 30% of the population claim some degree of Irish ancestry.  Greater academic attention should be given to The Wild Goose.

The celebrity dimension of the book is the Catalpa escape/rescue. Of course this has been claimed by the Americans and in the scheme of things, since they put up the money, I suppose they have a prior claim. But like all things Australian, unless we are dying in the trenches for King and Country, no other Australian event gets a look in, particularly, when it shows up the prevailing administration and its British overlords. The book is worthy of a read and most definitely The Wild Goose newspaper should read and studied.