In June 1801, Samuel Terry stepped off Earl Cornwallis in chains. He had come to Sydney to serve out his sentence at the convict’s colony. The previous year, the 24-year-old labourer was convicted of stealing 400 pairs of stockings by a judge in Lancashire and sentenced to seven years transportation. Despite his unfavorable circumstances, Terry's resourcefulness and business acumen enabled him to turn his luck around. Through shrewd investments and an advantageous marriage, he amassed a vast fortune, becoming the wealthiest man in Australia within three decades of his arrival. At the time of his death, his wealth accounted for 3.39% of the entire colony's gross domestic product, which would have placed him among richer men in England.
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