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.
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.
A View of the Cove and Part of Sydney.
Nearby was a bloodstained wheel of a barrow.
The brutal murder rocked the small community.
It was the first time a policeman was killed on duty in Australia.
Every officer, whether civil or military, was called up to assist in the search of the assassins.
All roads leading out of the town was blocked, and a score of bad characters were rounded up.
The group was hailed at once to the magistrate and charged with murder.
The gang denied the charges.
Some of them even had solid alibies.
But Samuel confessed to the robbery, but denied having murdered the policeman.
He was eventually convicted and sentenced to death by hanging.
The others were acquitted due to lack of evidence.
But as the cart moved away, the rope snapped and Samuel fell on the ground.
Embarrassed, the executioner hastily readied another rope.
The crowd become boisterous, calling for Samuel to be freed.
Again the rope snapped.
Now the crowed was in an uproar, and demanded the prisoner be released.
The Provost Marshal ordered the execution delayed while he galloped away to find the Governor King.
When the governor heard the tale, he gave Samuel a pardon, declaring divine intervention.
Later, the ropes which were used in the execution were inspected and no signs of tampering was found.
They were also tested by suspending weights from them and they appeared to be fine.
Why the ropes broke under the weight of Joseph Samuel, no one can say.
After his brush with death Samuel was sent to Kings Town to work in the mines.
His body was never found.
