Alexander Pearce
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Alexander Pearce (1790 - 1824) (also known as Pierce, see reference cited Mark Jefferies) was a convict and bushranger who escaped from the Macquarie Harbour Penal Settlement and is best known for cannabalising his fellow escapees while travelling through the Tasmanian Wilderness.
Transported to Sarah Island in 1822, he escaped with seven other convicts. Their plan was to return to Hobart.
Pearce was captured over 100 days later near Hobart. When in custody, he made a confession that he and the other men had cannabalised each other over a number of weeks, with Pearce being the last to survive. The Hobart magistrate believed this to be a fabrication and that the other men were still alive and living in the bush. Pearce was sent back to Sarah Island.
Within a year, Pearce again escaped, this time with Thomas Cox. He was found within ten days, but with some of the remains of Cox in his pockets, even though he still had other food available to him. This time he was taken back to Hobart and hanged.
Pearce was the subject of a song by Australian rock/folk band Weddings Parties Anything titled "A Tale They Won't Believe" as well as The Drones song titled "Words From The Executioner To Alexander Pearce". His story has also been dramatised by Melbourne composer Adam Yee in an opera entitled "Cannibal Pearce".
In 2007 Essential Viewing [1] will begin production on a film called The Last Confession of Alexander Pearce rumoured to feature celebrated Irish actor Adrian Dunbar. The film will be shot in North West Tasmania and Ireland.
[edit] Reference
- Collins, Paul. Hell's Gates: the terrible journey of Alexander Pearce, Van Dieman's Land Cannibal. South Yarra, 2002. ISBN 1-74064-083-7
- Sprod, Dan. Alexander Pearce of Macquarie Harbour. Hobart: Cat & Fiddle Press, 1977. ISBN 0-85853-031-7
