INTRODUCTION
The first 'decade' (1788 to 1800) of British Convict Transportation to New South Wales resulted in
1,505 female felons being sentenced to transportation to the colony.This first 'decade' corresponds with the governorships of Captain Arthur Phillip RN and Captain
John Hunter RN. A Londoner, Capt. Phillip was aged 50 years old when he sailed into Botany Bay
and then Sydney Cove aboard 'HMS Sirius' in January 1788 to establish the new British penal
colony of New South Wales and to become its first governor. Phillip arrived unaccompanied by
his wife Margaret as they had been separated for many years. He requested leave on the grounds of
ill heath and departed the colony almost five years later on the 11th December 1792 aboard
'Atlantic' a sick man although he lived another twelve years before dying in 1814 an Admiral.
Scotsman Capt. Hunter was aged 57 years old and a bachelor when he arrived aboard 'HMS
Reliance' on the 7th September 1794 to become the colony's second governor. He was recalled
by the Colonial Office and departed the colony over six years later on the 21st October 1800 aboard
'HMS Buffalo' and died in 1821 an Admiral.
During this 'decade' the women were transported in twenty four ships, an average of between two
and three per annum, with none arriving in 1789, 1795 & 1799. The greatest number of arrivals per
year being 325 in 1790 and the least, with just 28 in 1791.
Table 1. - Female Convict Ships
26 Jan 1788 Charlotte 88CH
26 Jan 1788 Friendship 88FR
26 Jan 1788 Lady Penrhyn 88LP
26 Jan 1788 Prince of Wales 88PW
3 Jun 1790 Lady Juliana 90LJ
28 Jun 1790 Neptune 90NE
9 Jul 1791 Mary Ann 91MA
26 Sep 1791 Queen 91QN
13 Oct 1791 Albemarle 91AL
14 Feb 1792 Pitt 92PT
7 Oct 1792 Royal Admiral 92RA
18 Nov 1792 Kitty 92KI
15 Jan 1793 Bellona 93BE
7 Aug 1793 Boddingtons 93BO
17 Sep 1793 Sugar Cane 93SC
8 Mar 1794 William 94WI
25 Oct 1794 Surprise 94S2
11 Feb 1796 Marquis Cornwallis 96MC
30 Apr 1796 Indispensible 96IN
25 Jul 1797 Britannia 97B2
1797 Lady Shore 97LS
18 Jul 1798 Britannia 98B3
11 Jan 1800 Minerva 00MI
15 Apr 1800 Speedy 00SP
Of the total dispatched (1,505), 52 women died during the voyage with a further 80 either captured
by mutineers(66), relanded(11) or escaped(3), leaving just 1,374 arriving in the colony.
The First Fleet was unusual in that there was considerable movement between ships during the
course of the voyage, all four female transports had women either transferring to or transferring
from the ship, meaning that often the ship of embarkation was different from the ship of
disembarkation. Likewise one woman was transferred from the "Kitty" 1792 to the "Royal
Admiral" 1792. In this work wowen are recorded under their ship of embarkation and then
appropriate notes added indicating any transfers to another ship.
The first 'Decade' of transportation is plagued with inconsistencies and inaccuracies as to exactly
how many convicts were actually transported on each ship. Charles Bateson is considered the
authority when considering the numbers of convicts transported to Australia, however there are
discrepancies with the findings from personal research conducted into the number of woman
found per ship, with the result that of the 24 ships, agreement on the numbers only occurs in nine
cases. Bateson lists only 78 women for the "Neptune" 1790 whereas personal research has found 81;
Bateson has 150 for the "Mary Ann" 1791 but personal research found only 144; Bateson has only
49 for the "Royal Admiral" 1792 but personal research found 53; Bateson has only 30 for the "Kitty"
1792 but personal research found 33; Bateson has only 20 for the "Boddingtons" 1793 but personal
research found 23; Bateson has only 50 for the "Sugar Cane" 1793 but personal research found 53;
Bateson has 60 for the "Surprise" 1794 but personal research found only 59; Bateson has only 75 for
the "Marquis Cornwallis" 1796 but personal research found 77; Bateson has only 133 for the
"Indispensible" 1796 but personal research found 146; Bateson has only 44 for the "Britannia"
1797 but personal research found 51; Bateson has only 96 for the "Britannia" 1798 but personal
research found 98; Bateson has 26 for the "Minerva" 1800 but personal research found 27.
The "Lady Juliana" 1790 was the most interesting ship historically speaking, not only did it take
the longest time of any ship to arrive, it carried the greatest number of female felons. In fact the
exact number of female convicts on board is disputed. Bateson states there were 226 on the indent,
but eight women are documented as being "last minute" additions as well as two women who
escaped (both to be caught and retransported) and James McClelland in his "Convicts Arriving in
Australia" series claimed an extra four women on the indent, giving a possible high final number of
women transported as 244.
The "William" 1794 was not strictly a convict transport, it was in fact a store ship, so why Maria Smith was taken onboard and not placed on the next available transport is a mystery. It is
possible she was 'employed' as a servant to the family of Rev. Samuel Marsden as she appeared to be once in the colony.
The "Lady Shore" 1797 was the only convict transport to be lost due to the mutiny of the crew in the
whole history of transportation to New South Wales. Her full cargo of 66 female and one male
felons were disposed of at Montevideo and most, if not all, were never heard of again. A full
account of this interesting episode can be found in Elsbeth Hardie's book "The Passage of the
Damned".
The upshot of all these calculations and discrepancies is that Bateson records 1,446 female felons
being transported to the colony of New South Wales whereas this study puts the figure at 1,505, a
difference of 59, and Bateson has 1,315 landing in the colony whereas this study puts that figure at 1,373, a difference of 58.
The remarkable thing about this first 'decade' of female transportation is just how well documented most of the ships are; of the 24 ships 20 have been the subject of detailed analysis and having the
results published in book form, only "Mary Ann" 1791, "Albermarle" 1791, "Britannia" 1798 and
"Speedy" 1800 are yet to be subjected to the same scrutiny (all English ships, Mrs Barbara Hall has made of specialty of studying and publishing 'biographies' of all the Irish ships).Sixteen of the twenty four ships carried both male and female convicts, however "Prince of Wales"
1788 had only one male and "Lady Shore" 1797 only two males whilst the "Albemarle" 1791 carried just six females.
In this work the information on each convict transport is divided into three sections: first the ship's
details, second the convict indent and third a colonial chronology presenting the fate of each
women after landing.
Ship Details
This section details the dates of sailing for, arrival at and departure from Sydney Town as
well as the route sailed, the length of the voyage and the place and date of building the ship. With
regard to the crew, the Ship's Master and Surgeon Superintendent are normally always listed but
apart from a few notable exceptions where the names of the whole crew have been recorded, other
individual crew member's names are usually only listed when they have appeared in colonial
documents for whatever reason. Finally any free voyagers are listed, including cabin passengers, other free arrivals (often the wives and children of male convicts already in the colony) and
finally any children who might have been allowed to accompany their convict mothers
sentenced to transportation.
The Route Sailed
Ports of call along the way included; Teneriffe, Madeira, St Jago, Rio de Janeiro, St Helena and
The Cape. No ship made a direct voyage to Sydney Cove with no ports of call (although the route of "Britannia" 1798 was not recorded) but most transports only had one. The longest voyage (309
days, her crew were obviously in no rush to reach their destination!) was that of the "Lady Juliana"
in 1790 (she made the largest number of port calls of any ship - four) and the shortest (130 days) was
that of the "Royal Admiral" in 1792.
Eighteen ships sailed from English ports and six from Irish ports. The "Kitty" 1792 carried fourteen
Irish women all tried at Dublin, so did she call at Cork harbour to collect them or were they
shipped to England to join the ship there? All ships came from the United Kingdom via the Cape
of Good Hope, none via Cape Horn.
Age and Size
The oldest ship was the "William" built in 1770, meaning by the time she arrived in 1794 she was
twenty four years old. Even though the "Speedy" was built three years later in 1773, by the time she
reached Sydney Cove it was twenty seven years old. The newest ships were the First Fleet
transports "Lady Penrhyn" and "Prince of Wales" both built in 1786, meaning they were only two
years old when they arrived in 1788.
The smallest transport, at 278 tons, was the "Friendship" 1788 and the largest, at 914 tons, was the
"Royal Admiral" 1792. A rough estimation of just how crowded and cramped these poor women
convicts were on the transports can be made by dividing the tonnage by the number of women on
board. Using this calculation the "Lady Juliana" 1790 was the most cramped with just 1.8 tons per
woman (and this is taking Batesons low figure on those one board). Maria Smith on board the store
ship "William" 1794 probably had the most comfortable voyage of any convict but of the true
transports the women on the "Bellona" were particularly lucky with 26.7 tons of space. The "Kitty"
1792 at 9.1 and the "Lady Shore" 1797 at 7.1 were also unusually spacious. This of course does not
take into consideration the crew, free passengers and the convicts' children!
Free Arrivals
The female convict transports appear to have been favoured for free people, women in particular,
wishing to travel to the colony. Almost every ship seems to have carried some wives and
children of male convicts already in the colony (some attempt has been made to identify the
husbands). Nicholson records for some but by no means all transports, the number of free
persons carried and the number of children allowed to accompany their convict mothers. Unlike
in later decades the ships' indents did not list the number of any children on board and those that
are listed only being discovered from other colonial records, most frequently from church registers
for daughters who subsequently married in the colony. In this decade 92 children have been
identified, with the "Lady Penrhyn" 1788 recording the most at 20.It was not only wives who travelled to join their convict husbands in the colony, several husbands
also travelled to join their convict wives, in this 'decade' Joseph Barsden "Speedy" 1800 did so.
The sources for this section were: Charles Bateson "The Convict Ships, 1787-1868" and Ian
Nicholson "Shipping Arrivals and Departures Sydney, 1788-1825". The crew and free
passengers' details derive mainly from the Society of Australian Genealogists' "Free
Passengers to NSW 1788-1825".
Convict Indent
This section presents information from the original ship's indent of the convicts onboard. Details
listed during this first 'decade' only include: Surname and any aliases, Christian Name, Date Tried,
Where Tried and Sentence. In later decades; Indent Number, Age, Native Place, Trade or Calling
and Offence are recorded. And in the final fifteen years of transportation Marital Status, Literacy
and Religion are recorded as well.
All the Irish ships only recorded the month or season (Summer, Spring, Lent etc) of the Date of Trial.The provenance of each indent is mixed. It would appear to have been a multi-staged process. Name
and Conviction details seem to have been collected and recorded by the British authorities before
the ship sailed, whereas all other details seem to have been collected at Sydney Cove by
colonial authorities before the convicts disembarked. For instance those relanded or dieing at
sea or being too sick to remain onboard often only have their names and sentencing details
recorded but no other information.
Indent Number
This number commences at "one" and runs to the total number of convicts embarked. It is of
great assistance in locating any particular convict on the indent because the indents are ordered;
alphabetically, not by name but by county of trial, although Scottish counties always
followed the English ones, then chronologically by date of sentencing. The Old Bailey in
London is listed under the letter "M" for Middlesex.
In this 'decade' indent numbers were not recorded however it was a relatively simply matter to
generate them de novo.
Surname and any Aliases
In this decade there were no women whose surname was not recorded. In later decades these
women tended to be women of colour, convicted outside of the United Kingdom.
Aliases present a real problem for the married convicts, because the "alias" is often obviously the
maiden/married name of the woman but it is never entirely clear which is the former and which
the latter. Sometimes the "remarks" column clarifies the matter by naming the husband but
mostly this is not the case. Additionally there seems to be no consistency in approach; on the one
indent sometimes the first surname listed is the maiden name and at other times vice versa.
Christian Name
Christian names tended to be "Christian" in nature, but a few interesting exceptions occurred, for
example; Dorcas, Euphram & Garter.
Age on Arrival
For this first 'decade' ages on arrival were not routinely recorded but as explained above, most of the
ships have had 'biographies' published about them and often the authors have been able to determine
the ages of the women. Failing that, colonial records, in particular the Census of 1828 and parish
marriage registers, can supply this information.
As a result the ages of most of the women have been found or at least estimated, although no ages are
available for 40 women on the "Marquis Cornwallis" 1796, 18 on the "Indispensible" 1796, 11 on
the "Lady Shore" 1797 and only 15 were found of the 51 women on the "Britannia" 1791.
Even when women have supplied their ages, some doubt must still remain as to the accuracy of the
information because it is noticed that 'groupings' around decades - 30,40,50 etc., suggest that
some approximations are being applied.
Recorded ages ranged from 10 to 83. The vast majority of women were in their twenties. The
youngest were Mary Finnigan and Catherine Keenan (both per "Sugar Cane" 1793) but several
sources differ on their ages. Elizabeth Smith (per "Lady Juliana" 1790) has an estimated age of 11
years but this comes from one colonial source which may well have been wrong. Five girls per
"Mary Ann" 1791 have their ages on arrival calculated at 13; Ann Jarmey, Elizabeth McDougall,
Jane Stevenson, Elizabeth Stewart and Mary Stulbins. The oldest was Dorothy Handland (per
"Lady Penrhyn" 1788) aged 83 (the oldest woman ever transported), who was the first female emancipist to be allowed to return to England (per "Kitty" 1793) as to whether she made it home at
the age of 90 is not recorded!Religion
Unlike in later decades, during this 'decade' Religion was not recorded. However the 1828
Census did record the religion (Protestant, Catholic, Jewish) of its entries, so if a women has an
entry in the Census, her religion most likely can be determined.
Marital Status
Unlike in later decades, during this 'decade' Marital Status was not recorded but some obviously
married women can be identified because the names of their husbands were recorded. The vast majority were single thus fulfilling the hopes of the British government to help populate the new
colony by marrying there and raising a family.Native Place
During this 'decade' Native Place was not recorded, in those rare instances where it is listed it has
been supplied by descendants and other interested researchers. In the absence of this information
for most of the ships an approximation has been made from place of trial. The raw trial percentages
being; English 80%, Welsh 1%, Scottish 1% and Irish 18%. Certainly those women convicted in
Ireland were overwhelmingly Irish, and those convicted in Scotland were certainly Scottish, the
same for the Welsh convictions. When it comes to those convicted in England it is a different matter,
there were a lot of Irish convicted in England. Taking data from the 1830's (a decade in which the
information was much more complete) 15% were Irish and a smaller percentage Welsh. Thus the
nationality breakdown for this decade can be roughly calculated as - English 68%, Welsh 1%,
Scottish 1%, Irish 30%.
Due to lack of information it cannot be said for this decade if any women did not come from one
the four countries of the United Kingdom.Trade or Calling
During this 'decade' the ship's indents did not record Trade or Calling. However descendants and
others have recorded this information for some of the women but the numbers are too small to
make any meaingful observations other than most were servants.When Tried
Most female felons were transported within a few months of being convicted, they did not have
to linger in goal for too long. Even so, if the indent is to be believed, that Frances Callaghan (per
"Britannia" 1797) was tried at Dublin in March 1790 it would mean she had served her sentence by
the time she arrived in the colony in May 1797! (although her 1811 Muster entry puts her trial date at
July 1795 which seems more likely). Mary Cassidy (per "Kitty" 1792) was tried in Dublin in
December 1785 meaning she only had one month to serve by the time the "Kitty' arrived. Similarly Charlotte Stroud of the same ship, tried at Dublin in December 1786 only had a year to serve by the
time she arrived.
Where Tried
The women were tried in all four countries of the Kingdom; England, Wales, Scotland and
Ireland and from virtually every county of those countries as well as the Isle of Man. It has
sometimes been assumed that most convicts were the refuse of the Kingdom's major
metropolises (London, Edinburgh, Dublin) and in this decade with 49% being convicted in those
three cities (just one in Edinburgh) the assumption has a ring of truth to it.Sentence
Sentencing policies followed the established pattern of seven years, fourteen years or life. The vast
majority of sentences were for seven years (86%) followed by life sentences (8%) and
fourteen years (5%). Unusually two women received five year sentences and two women (Eleanor
Gott and Elizabeth Jones both per "Neptune" 1790) received three year sentences, which appears
most cruel as they would be free by servitude almost as soon as they landed.Offence
During this decade Offence was not recorded. Where the crime does appear, it has been supplied
by descendants and others. Mention must be made however of those women convicted at the Old
Bailey in London. These trials have been transcribed and placed online, resulting in many
descendants and other family researches being able to supply a full account of the trial, including a
description of the offence.
The vast majority of the female felons were convicted of what today would be considered "minor"
theft. The biggest categories of stolen items being money, food and clothing. Of the few offences
recorded, one woman at least, Elizabeth Letherby per "Mary Ann" 1791, was sentenced for the
murder of her husband (why wasn't she hung?).
People are often surprised and indeed shocked at the minor nature of the crimes for which the
convicts were transported but it must be remembered that if one committed a "major" crime the
sentence was not transportation but death by hanging! Then again objects can change in value over time. For instance an eighteenth century
handkerchief was often a work of considerable craftsmanship and artistic endeavour, most unlike
the plain piece of cloth of today, perhaps more akin to our modern iphones in value.
The word prostitution is rarely mentioned in the description of a woman's offence however the
pseudonym of vagrancy appears several times.
Relanded
There were 80 women included under this heading during this decade but this number includes the
66 women of the "Lady Shore" 1797 who were captured when the ships crew mutinied, the eleven
women who were relanded (either pardoned or through illness) before sailing and three women who
escaped. This represents 5.3% of all women transported. Fortunately and unusually all 80 have
been identified on their relevant ship's indent.
Mary Burgess and Mary Talbot, both per "Lady Juliana" 1790, escaped before sailing, but both
were recaptured and transported on later ships. Eleanor Collins per "Pitt" 1792 was one of the few
(the only?) women to escape on route to the colony at the Cape. Mary Hughes per "Kitty' 1792 was
the only woman to be identified amongst those being pardoned before sailing. Mary Oliver per
"Lady Juliana" 1790 was retransported per "Mary Ann" 1791.
Died at Sea
During this decade a total of 52 women were recorded as dying at sea. This represents just
3.5% of all women transported but still the highest for any decade. The "Neptune" 1790 lost eleven ,
both the "Mary Ann" 1791 and "Pitt" lost nine but twelve ships recorded none at all.
Only 29 women have been identified as such on the indent. In the case of the "Mary Ann" 1791 the
number of women with 'no record in the colony' exactly matches the nine noted deaths so it has
been assumed that these women all died at sea. Bateson claims that nine women died on board the
'Pitt" 1792 and as there are ten women with 'no record in the colony' found, it is highly likely the
name would be found amongst these ten. Bateson only claims one woman dying on board the "Britannia" 1797 whereas personal research has located two. The indent of the "Speedy' only
identifies two of its recorded three deaths.
Remarks
During this decade the only information recorded in the Remarks column was whether or not the woman received a Ticket of Leave, Conditional or Absolute Pardon (but no dates unfortunately).
The sources for this section were the "Convicts Indents" micro-fiche held in the National Library
Canberra. It has to be admitted that it is sometimes difficult to read the micro-fiche; for one thing the
standard of photocopying leaves a little to be desired and for another deciphering the
penmanship often presents a challenge, especially "3" and "5" and "8", as a consequence
transcription errors have been inevitable.
Colonial Chronology
In this section the life of each women once in the colony is tracked with Muster appearances,
Applications for Permission to Marry, Marriages, Births of Children, Certificates of Freedom,
Conditional & Absolute Pardons and Deaths being recorded. The Chronology mainly focuses on
their time whilst in servitude.
Table 2. - Colonial Chronology Codes ------------------------------------ AP=Absolute Pardon CP=Conditional Pardon CF=Certificate of Freedom TL=Ticket of Leave 1801='Musters and Lists New South Wales 1801' 1802='Musters and Lists Norfolk Island 1802' 1805='Musters of Norfolk Island 1805' 1806='Musters of New South Wales 1806' 1811='General Musters of New South Wales, Norfolk Island and Van Diemens Land 1811' 1814='General Muster of New South Wales 1814' 1822='General Muster & Land and Stock Muster of New South Wales 1822' 1825='General List of New South Wales 1823, 1824, 1825' 1828='Census of New South Wales:November 1828'1837='General Return of Convicts in New South Wales 1837'
c=Birth of a Child d=De Facto Relationship m=Marriage NI=transferred to Norfolk Island NSW=returned to New South Wales PPD=transferred to Port Phillip District PJ=transferred to Port Jackson VDL=transferred to Van Diemens Land R=left the colony CFA=entry in 'Convict Families that Made Australia' PR=entry in 'Pioneer Register' al=alias lw=lives with ux=wife of []=age {}=date of death + =year of deathThe 1801 Muster
The 1801 Muster is sourced from two separate documents; the Settlers' Muster Book of 1800 and
Governor Kings' List of 1801. Each of these in turn is not a single list but separate lists; nine for the
former and ten for the latter, and is by no means a comprehensive survey of the colony in 1801. It
records just 497 or 36% of the convict women landed.
The 1802 Muster of Norfolk Island
The 1802 Muster refers to the Norfolk Island Victualling Book of 1802 and lists only those convicts
receiving rations from the government store but again does not appear to be particularly
comprehensive which seems strange given the confined nature of the settlement on the island. It
records 58 or 4% of the convict women landed.
These two 'musters' (1801 & 1802) should be taken together but even combined only record 556 or
40% of the convict women.
The 1805 Muster of Norfolk Island
The 1805 Muster purports to record all persons living on Norfolk Island at the time but again does not
appear to be particularly comprehensive although more comprehensive than the 1802 Muster. It records 134 or 10% of the convict women landed.
The 1806 Muster
The 1806 Muster refers to two separate lists, the Governor's muster and a personal muster recorded by the Rev Marsden. The two lists are not identical. Often a woman's name will be recorded with
two different spellings on the two lists. This is the notorious muster where the Reverend Samuel
Marsden described most of the women as 'concubines', he identified which women were married and
those who were 'living in sin' whom he recorded as 'concubines'. No doubt one reason for all the
'concubines' was the reluctance of the Irish Catholic women to marry in an Anglican church.
Helpfully the Governor's list often identified the offending male partners of the latter. The muster records 631 or 46% of the convict women landed.
These two musters (1805 & 1806) should be taken together, thus combined they record 765 or 56%
of the convict women, much better than the previous two musters in terms of coverage.
The 1811 Muster
The 1811 Muster would appear to be the most comprehensive of the musters, perhaps reflecting
Governor Macquaire's more disciplined administration. It also has the great advantages of being
both in strict alphabetical order and covering the mainland settlement as well as Norfolk Island and
Van Diemens Land. It records the place and date of conviction, which in a surprising number of
cases does not correspond with the information on the shipping indents. It records 664 or 48% of the
convict women landed.
The 1814 Muster
The 1814 Muster on the other hand would appear to be the least comprehensive of the musters,
perhaps the Governor was loosening his grip. Like the 1806 Muster is shows with whom the woman
was living as the time as well identifying both single and widowed women and the number of
their children. Women moved to Van Diemens Land are not listed and Norfolk Island had been
abandoned by then. It records 450 or 33% of the convict women landed.
The 1822 Muster
The 1822 Muster being further and further away from the arrival period of these convict women
records less and less of their names, but of those who are recorded it helpfully lists their current
partners. It records 325 or 24% of the convict women landed.The 1825 Muster
The 1823/24/25 Muster has for the most part not been used, for the simple reason that there is no
way of identifying which particular year the record refers to. The one instance where this muster is useful is in recording women who had died during the three year period, often identifying women
whose deaths were not otherwise recorded.
Not surprisingly, the proportion of women recorded in each muster decreases as the years
progress.
The 1828 Census
The 1828 Census is the most useful of the early colonial documents in terms of the amount of
detail recorded, including: age, religion, current civil status and both partners & children. All
women arriving on ships before 1829 would be expected to be included and unlike the musters, free
people (by servitude or by arrival) as well as those in servitude are supposedly included. Of course with the passage of time, deaths and departures from the colony would be taking their toll on the numbers left to be included, resulting in just 258 or 19% of the convict women being recorded.
The two ships arriving in 1800, "Minerva" and "Speedy" had surprisingly high rates of
representation, 41% & 42%, even after 28 years in the colony.
The 1837 Muster
During this first 'decade' only women with life sentences, who had neither died nor been pardoned
would be expected to be found in this muster, in fact of the 117 lifers there were none. (As a point
of interest, of all the male lifers, thirteen were still in servitude in 1837, the longest being William
Goodall per "Ganges" 1797 who had been in continuous servitude since 1792, 45 five years, was he
the longest serving convict in history? Edward Flynn, who arrived on the First Fleet, was also in
servitude at this time but his life sentence only began in 1810 after being condemned in the colony).
Keep in mind that those whose surnames commencing with the letter "K" are not listed in
contemporary documents of this muster for some reason.
With all the musters and the census the usual challenge presented itself when trying to identify
particular women with 38 women for example claiming to have arrived aboard ships in which their
name is not listed; sometimes they were listed under their new married name in the colony (and
sometimes not) as well as those who appeared under an alias. Transfers to Norfolk Island
Many of the convict women (318 or 23%) were moved from Port Jackson to Norfolk Island, most of
these (257) arriving aboard the first three fleets, due to near starvation conditions on the mainland
and the plentiful supply of food (mutton birds) on the island. As a result these women were
removed from the Port Jackson records for a period of time at least.Transfers to Van Diemens Land
After nearly twenty years of settlement, the British government made the decision to abandon the
settlement on Norfolk Island due to its perilous landing sites and isolation. It was decided to resettle
most of the inhabitants of the island in Van Diements Land with the first transfers taking place in
1807 and the last by 1813, although a cleanup party worked on the island until 1814 destroying all the buildings to make in uninhabitable for any escapees. Subsequently 129 or 9% were moved again
to Van Diemens Land at either of its two settlements at Hobart Town or Port Dalrymple.
As a small historical aside, many of the 257 women from the first three fleets transferred to Norfolk
Island and then to Van Diemens Land, would only ever have sent a few weeks or so on the mainland
at Sydney Cove during their lives.Marriages
The total number of marriages conducted whilst the woman was still in servitude (ie requiring
government permission) was 656 (48%). Interestingly 251 (18%) of these took place within the
first twelve months of arrival in the colony. Some women have marriages recorded after
emancipation, mainly supplied by descendants.
These figures would undoubtedly been higher but for the reluctance of the Irish Catholic women to
marry in an Anglican church there being no Catholic priests in the colony until 1820 (Fr Dixon
arrived under servitude in 1800 but he was denied permission to perform his clerical duties).
Some women had multiple liaisons; Caroline Laycock (per "Prince of Wales" 1788) had de facto
relationships with four different men before she finally married another, Mary Phillips (per "Charlotte" 1788) also had four de facto relationships and Sarah Bartlam (per "Mary Ann" 1791) married two men followed by three de facto relationships on top of her original? marriage in England before transportation.
Certificates of Freedom, Conditional & Absolute Pardons
Recording the dates of Certificate of Freedom is a symbolic 'bookending' to the women's life in
servitude, starting as it did with the date of conviction and sentencing recorded on their ships indents
and ending with their certification of freedom once more. Additionally when no other mentions of
the convict have been found it indicates she was still in the colony at that date. Similar remarks
apply to Conditional & Absolute Pardons. Sometimes the date of the certificate is several years
beyond the calculated time of release, the reasons for the delay are unclear, perhaps colonial indiscretions have been added to the original sentence. Finally it must be noted that these
certificates are, for many if not most women, the last colonial record found for them.Deaths
The dates of death of the female felons prove to one of the more difficult genealogical facts to
discover. Generally they have been found in the various colonial church burial registers of the time
if occurring before the year 1840 (the last year of personal extensive research). Beyond that year
dates have usually been contributed by descendants and other interested researchers.
To date 777 or (57%) deaths of the female felons of this 'decade' have been found. The "Kitty" 1792
with the most (79%) and "Britannia" 1797 with the least (39%).For this 'decade' around 169 women died whilst in servitude being around 12% of total arrivals (49
or (4%) of women are recorded as dying in their first year). As always the percentages change from
ship to ship with the "Queen" 1791 recording 32% deaths in servitude but the "Indispensible" 1796
recording only 2%. These figures depend on the thoroughness and accuracy of the recordings by the
colonial authorities and chaplains. Combined with the Deaths at Sea numbers this gives a figure of
around 15.5% for total deaths whilst still in servitude (In subsequent decades this figure was
considerably lower reflecting the harsh conditions of the initial settlement years).
As a sad point of interest, seven women met their deaths by murder in the colony, three of whom;
Susannah Mortimer per "Lady Juliana" 1790, Catherine Evans per "Kitty" 1792 and Ann Smith per
"Sugar Cane" 1793 were murdered by their husbands.
An unexpected finding discovered whilst researching the womens' deaths was that many, if not
all, of those who died at the Sydney Hospital or at the Female Factory in Parramatta where not
given a Christian burial. Or if they were, the fact was not recorded in any of the existing parish
burial registers in the colony at the time!Other Details
These details mostly originate in my previous works; "The Pioneer Register" Series and
"Convict Families That Made Australia" Series, indicated by the abbreviations "PR" and
"CFA" respectively.
Departure from the Colony
Readers may be surprised to learn that 101 or 7% of women are known to have returned "home" at
the completion of their sentences or after absolute pardoning and the true figures are undoubtedly
larger for the very good reason, no doubt, that they were free by then and no longer under the all
encompassing colonial convict bureaucracy. The local folklore is that convicts were transported
"for the term of her natural life" however this is just not historically correct. For a start only those
convicts receiving a life sentence would be so condemned and even then an absolute pardon
would allow such a convict to leave the colony. It would be so interesting to know just how many
female convicts did return "home". "Home" apparently was not quite what it was fondly remembered by at least twenty women returnees who subsequently came back to the colony (although Mary Ann
Fielding per "Indispensible" 1796 did not return of her own volition since she had returned illegally
in the first place and committed a second offence for which she was transported a second time
aboard the "Nile" in 1801!The women arriving on the First Fleet, perhaps being the most thoroughly researched, had
surprisingly high rates of return documented: of the 189 landed 40 returned to England (again of
interest eight came back to the colony).
It is surprising when looking at the chronology of the women how many simply "disappear" from
any further colonial records once receiving their Certificate of Freedom suggesting they may well
have left the colony.
No Record Found in the Colony
Finally, it is surprising to remark that 129 women (9%) have no record of them in colonial
documents, surprising given that the penal colony was in most respects highly bureaucratic with all
aspects and details of a convict's existence being meticulously recorded by the colonial authorities.
The sources for this section were: the books 'Musters and Lists New South Wales 1801', 'Musters
and Lists Norfolk Island 1802', 'Musters of Norfolk Island 1805', 'Musters of New South Wales
1806', 'General Musters of New South Wales, Norfolk Island and Van Diemens Land
1811','General Muster of New South Wales 1814', 'General Muster & Land and Stock Muster of
New South Wales 1822', 'General List of New South Wales 1823, 1824, 1825', 'General Return of
Convicts in New South Wales - 1837' all published by the Australian Society of Genealogists &
ABGR, the book 'Census of New South Wales:November 1828', published by the Library of
Australian History, the online database "Convicts Index - 1791 to 1873" available on the NSW
State Archives & Records website.
Composite Index
To facilitate the finding and location of each convict, an alphabetical list, ordered by Surname
then by Christian name, has been created. Once a name has been found, the index indicates upon
which ship she arrived and her indent number for that ship.
The index has just over fifteen hundred names (1,533) (more than the documented number of
arrivals) because 38 names of women are included who were found on colonial records (such as
muster entries, or applications to marry, or burial entries etc) and who nominated a certain ship
of arrival but who could not be allocated to any known woman to arrive upon said ship. This may
have come about as a result of undocumented aliases or marriages, or misunderstanding of how a name was pronounced (there were many regional accents in the colony) or simple transcription error
or just a plain error.
A large number of the unknown women came from burial registers. The deceased of course, in
this instance, was not supplying the information but rather relatives and friends, who may simply
have got the information wrong.Aliases
To further facilitate the finding of particular convicts, a separate list of all known aliases has
been included totalling 239 in number. In the case of married women it is known that many of the
"aliases" were in fact their maiden names, but as discussed above it is often impossible to tell which
name was which, however in 26 cases the maiden name is known for certain and is recorded in each
ship's chronology for the woman.
Statistics
Convict Indent Data
Data collected and analysed from the Convict Indents include:
Code :Ship Code
Smee :Number of Convicts Transported according to C J Smee
Bateson :Number of Convicts Transported according to Charles Bateson
CHL :Number of Children accompanying their convict mothers
AG-RG :Age range of the convicts transported
D'd-Sea :Number of Convicts who died at sea and ship percentage of such
Relanded :relanded and ship percentage of such
English :Number of Convicts who were English and ship percentage of such
Welsh :Number of Convicts who were Welsh and ship percentage of such
Scottish :Number of Convicts who were Scottish and ship percentage of such
Irish :Number of Convicts who were Irish and ship percentage of such
Other :Number of Convicts who came from non UK countries and ship percentage of such
OB-DN :Number of Convicts who convicted in either London or Dublin and ship percentage of such
3Years :Number of Convicts who were sentenced to 3 years transportation and ship percentage of such
5Years :Number of Convicts who were sentenced to 5 years transportation and ship percentage of such
7Years :Number of Convicts who were sentenced to 7 years transportation and ship percentage of such
14Years :Number of Convicts who were sentenced to 14 years transportation and ship percentage of such
Life :Number of Convicts who were sentenced to transportation for life and ship percentage of such
Colonial Chronology Data
Data collected and analysed from the Colonial Chronologies include:
Ship :Ship Code
Lan'd :Number of Convicts Landed in the Colony according to C J Smee
Must'1801 :Number of Convicts who were recorded in the 1801 Muster and ship percentage of such Must'1802 :Number of Convicts who were recorded in the 1802 Muster and ship percentage of such Must'1805 :Number of Convicts who were recorded in the 1805 Muster and ship percentage of such Must'1806 :Number of Convicts who were recorded in the 1806 Muster and ship percentage of such Must'1811 :Number of Convicts who were recorded in the 1811 Muster and ship percentage of such Must'1814 :Number of Convicts who were recorded in the 1814 Muster and ship percentage of such Must'1822 :Number of Convicts who were recorded in the 1822 Muster and ship percentage of such Must'1825 :Number of Convicts who were recorded in the 1825 Muster and ship percentage of such Cens'1828 :Number of Convicts who were recorded in the 1828 Census and ship percentage of such Must'1837 :Number of Convicts who were recorded in the 1837 Muster and ship percentage of suchNI :Number of Convicts who were transferred to Norfolk Island and ship percentage of such
VDL :Number of Convicts who were transferred to Van Diemens Land and ship percentage of such
PD :Number of Convicts who were transferred to Port Dalrymple and ship percentage of such
M-Year1 :Number of Convicts who were married in their first year of transportation and ship percentage of such
M-Total :Number of Convicts who were married and ship percentage of such
D-Year1 :Number of Convicts who died in their first year of transportation
DiS :Number of Convicts who died whilst still in servitude
D-Total :Number of Convicts who died and ship percentage of such
Rt'd :Number of Convicts who left the colony
nrc :Number of Convicts who have no documents recorded in the colony
UNK :Number of Convicts who appeared in colonial records but could not be found on any ship indent
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