Companions in Chains is a brief story about two convicts transported from England to Australia in days when English jails were overflowing with men and women convicted for stealing nothing more than a loaf of bread. Two of these pathetic souls, Jack Reilly and Patrick Miles, were fortunately able to form a firm friendship. This enabled the two of them, with the help of a friend already in Australia, to eventually make a good life for themselves. Life in Australia was not easy in those times even for an individual emigrant who chose to live in an unknown land. Life was exceedingly hard for both of them and the convicts who had served their time. However, many did, and many convicts chose to remain. Those people helped to build the beautiful Australia we know today.