The book had been translated into German by 1877.[6] The German title was Deportirt auf Lebenszeit (Deported for Life) and it was published in Berlin by the house of Otto Janke.[7] It was a pirated edition for which Clarke received no payment. The translation was reissued in Frankfurt in 1974. For the Term of his Natural Life has also been translated into Dutch, Russian, Swedish and Chinese.[8] Numerous editions were published in Britain and the United States.
Billboard in Melbourne advertising a broadcast of For the Term of His Natural Life on radio station 3AW in the 1940sA stage adaptation, His Natural Life was written by George Leitch in 1886 and opened on 26 April 1886 at the Theatre Royal, Brisbane,[9] played by the MacMahon and Leitch dramatic company. Alfred Dampier subsequently toured the Leitch play, and another writer, Inigo Tyrrell (or Tyrrell Weekes, Frederick Weeks)[10] wrote a play For the Term of His Natural Life which was published and performed six weeks later. He applied, unsuccessfully, for an injunction to prevent Leitch's version from being performed at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne.[11] Of the two authors, Leitch was the only one to seek permission from Clarke's widow, and the only one to enter a royalty agreement.[12] The Majeroni dramatic company toured New Zealand and some states of Australia with the Leitch play in 1903 and 1904, starring George Majeroni as Dawes and Mario Majeroni as Rae.[13] Tyrrell's version subsequently played at the Adelphi Theatre, London, and the Alcazar Theatre, San Francisco.[14]
MacMahon also used the novel as the basis for one of Australia's first full-length motion picture films, produced in 1908 (22 minutes).There was another version in 1911, The Life of Rufus Dawes, based on Alfred Dampier's popular stage adaptation of the novel.
The best-known film version came in 1927, featuring silent screen stars George Fisher and Eva Novak.[15] It also included British actor Edward Howell who went on to be an Australian radio, stage and television actor based in Sydney. Clarke's daughter, actress Marion Marcus Clarke (1876-1958), had a part in the movie.[16]
The novel was adapted for Australian radio in 1935. It was also serialised in 1952, , read out by Walter Pym.[17][18]
An Australian mini-series, For the Term of His Natural Life was written and produced by Patricia Payne and Wilton Schiller in 1983 starring Colin Friels as Dawes and featuring Anthony Perkins and Patrick Macnee. The 21-year-old composer Simon Walker was chosen to produce a lavish orchestral score, released by 1M1 Records. This version is based on the US edition.
