When Charles Dickens created the character of Fagin in his novel, Oliver Twist, he gave birth to one of the most infamous rogues in English literature. Few people know that Dickens’ portrait of Fagin drew inspiration from the life of Ikey Solomon. Much has been written about Ikey’s exploits: his amazing and daring prison escapes have captured people’s imaginations through the generations.
The First Fagin recreates Ikey’s journey from London’s dens of vice to the new world of America. Ikey then tempted fate by sailing to Tasmania in search of his wife who had been transported as a convict, to begin a long legal battle to defy the authorities of one of Australia’s most severe convict settlements.
