Many phases of James Tucker's existence are as unknown as the lives of thousands of other felons who were transported to Australia during the colonial period. His essential dates and activities are uncertain, as is the authorship, commonly attributed to him, of three posthumously published early works of Australian literature: a fine convict novel, The Adventures of Ralph Rashleigh: A Penal Exile in Australia, 1825-1844 (1929), and two plays written for a fledgling colonial theater: Jemmy Green in Australia (1955) and The Grahame's Vengeance (1996). The only extant manuscripts of these works are in Tucker's handwriting, which makes him at least their copyist, and the pseudonym, "Rosenberg," under which they appear was the same used by Tucker in a threatening letter to his cousin that led to his transportation to Australia. In addition, Tucker's known movements in the colonies resemble those of Rashleigh in the novel, and his authorship was vouched...