Richard Devine, on discovering the secret of his true parentage, finds himself disinherited and driven from his home in England; after changing his name to Rufus Dawes, he gets falsely accused of murdering his father and sent to a penal colony.

After changing his name to Rufus Dawes, he gets falsely accused of murdering his father and transported to the notorious Port Arthur penal colony in Van Diemen's Land for the term of his natural life, suffering under its brutal jailors.

Explores how a young man from a troubled family is wrongly convicted of theft in 1830s England. While he endures Lieutenant Frere's cruelty and falls for the warden's daughter, an imposter claims his inheritance.