INTRODUCTION
The second decade (1801 to 1810) of British Convict Transportation to New
South Wales resulted in a further 1,313 female felons being sentenced to
transportation to the colony, bringing the total transported up to this
point in time to 2,818.
This second decade corresponds with the governorships of Captain Phillip
Gidley King RN and Captain William Bligh RN. Cornishman, Capt. King was aged
42 years old when arrived aboard 'Speedy' on the 15th April 1800 to become
the colony's third governor. King arrived accompanied by his wife Anna
Josepha nee Coombe and one son and two daughters. Thus Mrs King became the
colony's first 'First Lady'. [But there is an interesting historical mystery
preceding this, in the interregnum between the departure of Governor Phillip
and the arrival of Governor Hunter, Major Grose, commander of the New South
Wales Corps became head of government with his wife becoming 'First Lady'
but nowhere in colonial records or elsewhere is her name recorded!] He
departed the colony almost seven years later on the 10th February 1807 aboard
'HMS Buffalo' a sick man and died in 1808. Hailing from Devonshire
Capt. Bligh was aged 52 years old when he arrived aboard 'Lady Sinclair'
on the 5th August 1806 to become the colony's fourth and final naval governor.
Bligh's wife Elizabeth nee Betham did not accompany him but his daughter Mary,
Mrs John Putland, did who acted as his consort. He departed the colony
almost four years later on the 12th May 1810 aboard 'HMS Porpoise' after
being deposed in the 1808 'Rum Rebellion' and died in 1817 a Vice-Admiral.
During this decade the women were transported in seventeen ships, an average
of less than two per annum, with none arriving in 1805 only one in 1804,
1807 and 1810 but three in 1801, 1806 and 1809. The greatest number of arrivals
per year being 215 in 1801 and the least, with just 53, in 1802.
Table 1. - Female Convict Ships
Arrival Date Ship Code
----------------------------------------21 Feb 1801 Anne 01AN
12 Jun 1801 Earl Cornwallis 01EC
11 Dec 1801 Nile 01NI
26 Jun 1802 Hercules 02HE
7 Jul 1802 Atlas I 02AT
11 Mar 1803 HMS Glatton 03HG
12 May 1803 Rolla 03RO
26 Jun 1804 Experiment 04EX
15 Feb 1806 Tellicherry 06TE
11 Apr 1806 William Pitt 06WP
20 Aug 1806 Alexander 06AL
18 Jun 1807 Sydney Cove 07SC
16 Nov 1808 Speke 08SP
26 Jan 1809 Aeolus 09AE
25 Jun 1809 Experiment 09E2
18 Aug 1809 Indispensible 09IN
8 Sep 1810 Canada 10CA
Of the total dispatched (1,313), 30 women died during the voyage and 1 was
relanded before sailing, leaving just 1,282 arriving in the colony. Charles
Bateson is considered the authority when considering the numbers of convicts
transported to Australia, however there are discrepancies with the actual ships
indents held on microfiche at the National Library in Canberra; Bateson records
95 for the "Anne" 1801 but the indent 94, Bateson 96 for the "Earl Cornwallis"
1801 but the indent 97, Bateson 96 for the "Nile" 1801 but the indent 97,
Bateson 136 for the "Experiment" 1804 but the indent 138, Bateson 42 for the
"Alexander" 1806 but the indent 48, Bateson 113 for the "Sydney Cove" 1807
but the indent 114. The end result being this database listing 1,282 names
in total.
Eleven of the seventeen ships carried both male and female convicts, however
"Experiment" 1804 carried only two males and "Sydney Cove "1807" only four.
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, Cape Verde,
Rio de Janeiro, San Salvadore and The Cape. The "Sydney Cove" 1807 was the
first transport to make a direct voyage to Sydney Cove with no ports of call,
most transports only had one with a few making three. The longest voyage (240
days) was that of the "Anne" in 1801 and the shortest (154 days) was that
of the "Experiment" in 1804.
Eleven ships sailed from English ports and six from Irish ports. 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 "Earl Cornwallis" built in 1782, meaning by the time
she arrived in 1801 she was nineteen years old, However the "Aeolus" built
one year later in 1783 was twenty six years old when she arrived in 1809. The
newest ship was "William Pitt" built in 1804, however the "Hercules" being
built in 1801 was only one year old when she arrived in 1802. The year of
construction of the "Anne" 1801 has not been found.
The smallest transport, at 146 tons, was the "Experiment" 1809 and the largest,
at 1,256 tons, was "HMS Glatton" 1803. 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 (and men) on board. Using this
calculation the "Anne" 1801 was the most cramped with just 2.2 tons
per convict and the "Indispensable" 1809 the least cramped with more
than double that number at 5.7 tons per woman. 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 57 children have been
identified, with the "Canada" 1810 recording the most at 10.
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
at least four 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 decade include: Surname and
any aliases, Christian Name, Date Tried, Where Tried, Sentence and Remarks.
Fields added in later decades such as Indent Number, Age on Arrival, Native
Place, Trade or Calling and Offence were not included in any of this decade's
indents.
All the Irish ships only recorded the month or season (Summer, Spring, Lent etc) of the Date of Trial, in many cases not recording the date at all. The
"Anne" of 1801 recorded neither the Date nor the Place of Trial, perhaps
the least informative indent in the whole of transportation.
"HMS Glatton" was one of only a couple of Royal Navy ships which transported
convicts to the colony, and whilst its indent is bereft of many details, like
all ships in this decade, descendants and others have done a great job in
researching the missing information for some of the women.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 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, and in this decade there were not unusual exceptions apart from "Phiadelphia" perhaps.
Age on Arrival
For this second decade ages on arrival were not recorded. Where an age appears
it was calculated from colonial records, in particular the Census of 1828
and parish marriage registers.
Recorded ages ranged from 8 to 59 (from the limited sample with
calculated ages). The vast majority of women were in their twenties. The
youngest was Elizabeth Hurley (per "Earl Cornwallis" 1801) who claimed to
be 22 years old at the time of her marriage in 1815 making her only eight
years old at her time of arrival, which is most unlikely. Undoubtedly the
age of 22 is not correct, she was probably at least a decade older, after
all her groom was aged 50! Sarah Sanders (per "HMS Glatton" 1803) claimed
to be 10 if the age she gave to the 1828 Census is to be believed. Hannah Bentley (per "Speke" 1808) claimed to be 11 if she really was aged 40 at the 1837
Muster. The oldest was Mary Pullen aged 59 if her age at death was correct.
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. 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 66%, Welsh 2%, Scottish 1%, Irish 31%.
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.
Most were servants, but others like Mary Ann Martin per "Canada" 1810 was a
school teacher, Ann Taylor also per "Canada" 1810 described herself as a
housewife even though she was supposedly only thirteen years old and not
married.
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 sothere was one woman who had served eight years by the time of her arrival;
Jane Walsh per "Rolla" 1803 (but she had a Life sentence to serve), Hannah
Maddocks per "William Pitt" 1806 had already served six years of her seven year sentence by the time she arrived.
As noted above "Anne" 1801 did not record date of trial and where it does
appear it comes from the woman's entry in the 1811 Muster.
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) but in this decade only 37% being convicted in those three
cities.
As noted above "Anne" 1801 did not record place of trial and where it does
appear it comes from the woman's entry in the 1811 Muster.
Sentence
Sentencing policies followed the established pattern of seven years, fourteen
years or life. The vast majority of sentences were for seven years
(82%) followed by life sentences (14%) and fourteen years (4%). Unusualy
four women received five year sentences, all were Scottish.
It must be said that there seemed to be very little consistency in sentencing.
Although both known murderesses were given life sentences. The authorities
seemed to take a particularly dim view of counterfeiting money ("bad notes",
"base coin", "coining") with most offenders (but not all) receiving a life sentence for this crime. Also "receiving stolen goods" was considered
worse than actual stealing with most receiving a life sentence.
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. However in this decade there were a surprisingly large number of women convicted of forging bank notes and coins, a crime which was
particularly harshly looked done upon and all received either fourteen year or life sentences.
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.
There were only two females convicted of murder in this decade. But
even here, without the benefit of actually reviewing the trial transcripts,
they may have been for infanticide. (On the other side of the coin as it were, at least one woman was murdered in the colony - by her husband).
The word prostitution is rarely mentioned in the description of a woman's
offence however the pseudonym of vagrancy appears several times.
Relanded
During this decade only one woman on board the "Speke" 1808 was recorded
as being relanded before sailing. She is not identified on the indent, however with only two women having 'no record in the colony' found she would have
to be either Mary Chapman or Elizabeth Clarke (the other would have to be
the woman who 'died at sea' - again not identified on the indent).
Died at Sea
During this decade a total of 30 women were recorded as dying at sea.
This represents just 2.3% of all women transported. The "Earl Cornwallis"
1801 lost eight, the "Experiment" 1804 lost six and "HMS Glatton" 1803 lost five but seven ships recorded none at all.
Unfortunately only one woman has been identified as such on the indents,
Eliza Cooper per "Tellicherry" 1806 and as noted above either Mary Chapman
or Elizabeth Clarke per "Speke" 1808 also died at sea. Sarah Kettle per
"Indispensible" 1809 was the only woman with no record found in the colony
so it has been assumed she was the one recorded death at sea. Likewise Mary
Ann Goldsmith per "Canada" 1810 was the only woman with no record found in
the colony so it has been assumed she too was the one recorded death at sea.
All the others would be amongst those shown as having 'no record in the colony'.
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.
To date only one ship arriving in this decade has been the subject of a
"biography"; "HMS Coromandel" 1803 but she carried no female felons. Otherwise
all the women transferred to Van Diemens Land have a full biography in
"Notorious Strumpets and Dangerous Girls - Convict Women in Van Diemens Land 1803 to 1829" by Phillip Tardif.
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' 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 JacksonVDL=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
Only the three ships arriving in 1801 would have convicts expected to be listed
in this muster but there are surprisingly very few, just 34 or only 15% of those in the colony at the time.
Why the two Dowling sisters (per "Atlas I" 1802) should have an entry in this
muster is a mystery, obviously some entries were made well after 1801.
The 1802 Muster of Norfolk Island
Of the eight women known to have been transferred to Norfolk Island none
appear to have done so before 1803, meaning that there are no entries for
this muster for women arriving in this decade.
The 1805 Muster of Norfolk Island
Of the 552 convict women arriving in the colony before 1806, only eight are known
to have been transferred to Norfolk Island, and only one, Elizabeth Stokes
per "HMS Glatton" 1803, has a known arrival date (1803) on the island.
The 1806 Muster
Of the 705 convict women arriving in the colony before 1807, 579 (82%) appear
in this muster, the highest number recorded for any muster for any decade. Regrettably the performance of the colonial bureaucracy in later musters sadly
deteriorated. This is the notorious muster where the Reverend Samuel Masters
(who conducted part of the muster) described most of the women as
"concubines".
The 1811 Muster
All the women with a fourteen year or Life sentence or arriving after 1804
in this decade and still alive would be expected to be included in this muster
and indeed they were. A commendable 1,032 (81%) are listed, with the later ships
recording particularly high rates of attendance - "Canada" 1810 with 94%. This muster conveniently records place and date of conviction for the covicts.
The 1814 Muster
After the stellar performance of the previous two musters, the 1814 Muster
is particularly disappointing with only 164 (13%) appearances, even the
"Canada" which arrived in 1810 only had 30% of her convicts listed. The reason
for this low number is uncertain.
The 1822 Muster
None of the women with seven year sentences would be expected to be included
in this muster as all such women would be 'free by servitude' and similarly
only those arriving after 1807 with a fourteen year sentence would be expected
to be included yet a surprising number were recorded, 34% in fact (62% of
those on the 'Atlas' 1802). Obviously musters were not restricted to serving
convicts at this time.
The 1825 Muster
This muster is somewhat complicated to analyse because it is a combination
of musters taken in the years 1823,1824 & 1825 with no indication as to
which year is being reported. For this reason only sporadic appearances are
recorded.
The 1828 Census
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 40% being recorded.
The ship with the greatest representation, at 65%, was again the "Atlas I" of
1802.
The 1837 Muster
During this second decade only women with life sentences, who had neither
died nor been pardoned would be expected to be found in this muster, and of
the 177 lifers there were only six still in servitude; Mary Ann Wilson per
"Canada" 1810 (and in goal), Jane Arthur (nee Morris) per "Indispensable"
1809, Maria Bradley per "Speke" 1807, Margaret Rice per "Tellicherry" 1806
(in the lunatic asylum), Mary Styles (nee Wilson) per "William Pitt" 1806
and Margaret Miller per "Nile" 1801, who had been in continuous servitude
since 1800, thirty seven years, was she the longest serving female convict
in history? .
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 29 women for example claiming
to have arrived aboard ships in which their name is not listed in the 1828
Census; 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
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.
Just fourteen women were transferred during this decade to the island before
the closure. Seven were returned to Port Jackson and the other seven were sent to the new settlements in Van Diemens Land. One woman, Elizabeth Murphy (per
"HMS Glaton" 1803), was sentenced to the island after it had been reopened
as a place of secondary exile for 're-convicted incorrigibles' in the 1825.
Transfers to Van Diemens Land
During this decade the colonization of Van Diemens Land began with numerous
female felons being transferred to either of the settlements at Hobart Town
or Port Dalrymple. A total of 82 women (6%) were transferred to the former
and 16 women (1%) to the latter.
Marriages
The total number of marriages conducted whilst the woman was still in
servitude (ie requiring government permission) was 867 (68%). Interestingly
146 (11%) 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.Several women had multiple "marriages"; Lucy Vaughan (per "William Pitt"
1806) had relationships with five men, marrying four of them, Elizabeth Crough
(per "Earl Cornwallis" 1801) also had relationships with five men, marrying
three of them, Sarah Robinson (per "Earl Cornwallis" 1801) had relationships
with four men, marrying two of them,
In the early nineteenth century spousal 'death' was the equivalent
of twentieth century 'divorce' which helps to explain many of the multiple marriages.
Certificates of Freedom, Conditional & Absolute Pardons
Recording the dates of Certificate of Freedom is a symbolic 'bookending'
to the womens' 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. The indents themselves sometimes record
this information, especially if the woman died whilst still under
servitude. Otherwise 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.
The one exception to the general paucity of death details is the "Convict
Deaths Register : 1828 - 1879" available on microfiche at the National Library
in Canberra and other locations. This register purportedly records all
convict deaths whilst still under servitude and is the source of the statistics
under this topic. For this decade around 118 women died whilst in servitude
being around 9% of total arrivals (nine women are recorded as dying in their
first year). As always the percentages change from ship to ship with "Aeolus"
1809 recording 16% deaths in servitude but the "Atlas I" 1802 recording only
4% and the "Anne" 1801 none. These figures depend on the thoroughness and
accuracy of the recordings by the colonial authorities and of course they
do not take into consideration of deaths prior to 1828 which have been gathered
from other sources. Combined with the Deaths at Sea numbers this gives a
figure of around 12% for total deaths whilst still in servitude.
As a point of interest, sadly Mary Stafford (per "Speke" 1808) was murdered
by her husband.
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
The one detail which is missing and only occasionally appears to be recorded
anywhere in colonial records is; which and when former convicts returned
to the UK at the completion of their sentence, 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".
In this decade, 22 women are recorded as having left the colony but there
were no doubt many more. Even the ship of departure is recorded for four women: Maria Tate per "Experiment" 1804 left the colony aboard "Surry" in 1819 after obtaining her absolute pardon; Honora Mollowny per "Tellicherry" 1806 left
aboard "Harriet" in 1817; Catherine Miles per "Alexander" 1806 left aboard "Midas" in 1824 and Sarah Tillett per "Canada" 1810 left aboard "Kangaroo"
in 1817 as soon as her sentence expired.
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.
Interestingly four women appear to have retured to the colony; Sarah Green
(per "Nile" 1801) returned in 1818 before transferring to Port Dalrymple, Mary
Graham (per "Atlas I" 1802) returned in 1817 aboard "Canada", Bridget Denny
(per "HMS Glatton") having left in 1809 retuned some time before the 1814 Muster and Catherine Miles (per "Alexander" 1806) returned sometime before the 1828 Census, although she still gave her ship of arrival as "Alexander".
No Record Found in the Colony
Finally, it is surprising to remark that 58 women (4.5%) 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
Application to Marry - 1825 to 1851" available on the NSW State Archives
& Records website , the online database "Convicts Index - 1791 to 1873"
available from the same website and other personal research.
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 thirteen hundred names (1,362) (more than the documented
number of arrivals) because 49 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.
As an example Jane Arthur nee Morris "Indispensible" 1809 was recorded
as "Indefatigable" 1812.
Aliases
To further facilitate the finding of particular convicts, a separate
list of all known aliases has been included totalling 146 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 32 cases the maiden name is known for certain
and is recorded in each ship's chronology.
Statistics
Convict Indent Data
Data collected and analysed from the Convict Indents include:
Statistics
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
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'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
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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