INTRODUCTION
The third decade (1811 to 1820) of British Convict Transportation
to New South Wales resulted in a further 1,931 female felons being
sentenced to transportation to the colony, bringing the total
transported up to this point in time to 4,749.This third decade corresponds with the governorship of Colonel
Lachlan Macquarie of the 73rd Highland Regiment of Foot. Another
Scotsman, Col. Macquarie was aged 48 years old when arrived
aboard 'HMS Dromedary' on the 31st December 1809 to become the
colony's fifth and first military governor. Macquarie arrived
accompanied by his second wife Elizabeth Henrietta nee Campbell.
He resigned and departed the colony just over twelve years later
on the 12th February 1822 aboard 'Surry' a sick and exhausted man and died in 1824 two years later. During this decade the women were transported in twenty ships,
an average of two per annum, with none arriving in 1819 only one in
1812 and 1813 but three in 1814, 1818 and 1820. Whilst twenty ships
were dispatched only 19 arrived, the "Emu" 1812 being captured by
pirates, the only transport ship to suffer this fate. The women were
off loaded at the Island of St Vincent and nearly all the "Emu"
women were returned to Britain and were subsequently retransported
onboard the "Broxbornebury" 1814 (Mrs Hook tells this interesting story in her book "Journey to a New Life - The Story of the
Ships Emu and Broxbornebury"). The greatest number of arrivals
per year being 347 in 1820 and the least, with just 55, in 1813. Table 1. - Female Convict Ships
Arrival Date Ship Code
----------------------------------------12 Jul 1811 Providence 11PR
10 Oct 1811 Friends 11FR
1812 Emu 12EM
25 Oct 1812 Minstrel 12MS
16 Feb 1813 Archduke Charles 13AC
9 Jan 1814 Wanstead 14WA
5 Apr 1814 Catherine 14CA
28 Jul 1814 Broxbornebury 14BR
19 Jun 1815 Northampton 15NH
8 Aug 1815 Francis & Eliza 15FE
19 Jan 1816 Mary Ann 16MA
4 Apr 1816 Alexander 16AL
24 Feb 1817 Lord Melville 17LM
5 Aug 1817 Canada 17C2
14 Jan 1818 Friendship 18F2
17 Jan 1818 Maria 18MA
19 Nov 1818 Elizabeth 18EL
20 Jan 1820 Lord Wellington 20LW
3 May 1820 Janus 20JA
13 Sep 1820 Morley 20M3
Of the total dispatched (1,931), 28 women died during the voyage
and 5 were relanded before sailing (to which the 40 captured by
pirates must be added) leaving just 1,867 arriving in the colony.
Charles Bateson is considered the leading 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
40 for the "Providence" 1811 but the indent 41, Bateson 100 for
the "Friends" 1811 but the indent 101, Bateson 127 for the
"Minstrel" 1812 but the indent 128, Bateson 54 for the "Archduke
Charles" 1813 but the indent 55, Bateson 120 for the "Wanstead"
1814 but the indent 119, Bateson 120 for the "Broxbornebury" 1814
- Nicholson says 130 but the indent 122, Bateson 103 for the "Mary
Ann" 1816 but the indent 101 (the woman who died at sea and the woman
who was relanded are missing), for the "Maria" 1818 Nicholson 127
but Bateson and the indent 126 (Bateson claims 30 were disembarked
in Hobart but this is not correct). The "Morley' 1820 was the first
ship to disembark a portion of the women (50) at Hobart before
proceeding to Sydney, this practice of split disembarkations was to continue until 1825 after which time transports made directly to
Hobart. The end result being this database listing 1,867 names
in total.
The "Providence" 1811, "Archduke Charles" 1813 and "Francis & Eliza"
1815 carried both male and female convicts but the latter ship was the last to do so.
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 (when these were
recorded on the indent).
The Route Sailed
Eleven ships sailed from English ports, seven from Irish ports with
the "Lord Wellington" 1820 and "Janus" 1820 collecting prisoners from
both England and Ireland (and both were one of the few ships to carry
felons convicted in all four countries of the United Kingdom). All
ships came from the United Kingdom via the Cape of Good Hope,
none via Cape Horn. Ports of call along the way included;
Teneriffe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Rio de Janeiro, St Helena
and The Cape. As well "Friendship" 1818 was the first transport
to visit Hobart Town before reaching Sydney Cove and "Morley" 1820
was the first to actually disembark part of her consignment at
Hobart. The "Lord Melville" 1816, "Maria" 1818 & "Elizabeth" 1818 all made direct voyages to Sydney Cove with no ports of call
(unfortunately the exact routes of "Wanstead" 1814, "Catherine" 1814,
"Broxbornebury" 1814 & "Mary Ann" 1816 are not recorded). "Francis & Eliza" 1815 made the most ports of call at four. The longest voyage
(277 days) was that of the "Archduke Charles" in 1813 and the
shortest (116 days) was that of the "Elizabeth" in 1818 (the sailing
date of the "Friends" 1811 was not recorded).
Age and Size
The oldest ship was the "Francis & Eliza" built in 1782, meaning
by the time she arrived in 1815 she was thirty-three years old. The
newest ship was "Broxbornebury" built in 1812.
The smallest transport, at 227 tons, was the "Alexander" 1816
and the largest, at 720 tons, was "Broxbornebury" 1814 (the size
of the "Emu" has not been discovered). 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 "Wanstead" 1814 was the
most cramped with just 2.1 tons per woman and the "Broxbornebury"
1814 the least cramped with nearly treble that number at 5.9 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 373 children have been identified, with the
"Northampton" 1815 recording the most at 70.
On can hardly imagine the despair of convict Thomas Dodman (per
"Indefatigable" 1815) after having applied to the Colonial Office
to have his family brought to the colony to join him, only to learn
that his wife and two children all died at sea during the voyage
of the "Northampton" 1815. Interestingly Mrs Jemima Long (per
"Morley') arrived in the colony two months before her convict husband.
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 six 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: Indent Number, Surname and any aliases, Christian Name, Age, Native
Place, Trade or Calling, Date Tried, Where Tried, Sentence,
Offence and Remarks. The first five Irish ships to arrive this decade did not record the
age of the women thus in those cases where an age does appear it has
been calculated from other colonial sources, principally the 1828
Census.
The only ships to provide a full list of Native Place were
the "Northampton" 1815 and "Mary Ann" 1816. Where this information appears in other ships, it has been supplied by descendants
and other interested researchers.The Trade or Calling details were not recorded until "Wanstead"
in 1814.
All the Irish ships, and even those convicted in Ireland on board "Lord
Wellington" 1820 and "Janus" 1820, only recorded the month or season
(Summer, Spring, Lent etc) of the Date of Trial, not the day of
the month, and with the case of "Archduke Charles" 1813 only the year
was recorded.
The "Broxbornebury" 1814 was the only ship to include a full list
of the Offences (due entirely to the research of Mrs Hook) but even
here the information is often very rudimentary, for example just 'stealing' or 'felony' or 'larceny'. Where this information appears
in other ships, it has been supplied by descendants and other researchers.
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, but a
few interesting exceptions occurred, for example; Bassano,
Browning & Mellary.Age on Arrival
For this third decade ages on arrival were routinely recorded
on English ships but not always on Irish ships. Where an age was
not recorded sometimes it is possible for it to be calculated from
colonial records, in particular the Census of 1828 and parish
marriage registers.
Recorded ages ranged from 12 to 67. The vast majority of women
were in their twenties. The youngest was Eleanor Flinn (per "Friends"
1811) who was recorded as being 12 years old. There were thirteen year olds on board "Minstrel" 1812, "Midas" 1825 and fourteen year
olds aboard "Northampton" 1815, "Frances & Eliza" 1815 &
"Friendship" 1818. The eldest Eleanor Murray (per "Canada" 1817)
was 67.
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 whole decades - 30,40,50 etc., suggest that some
approximations are being applied.
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 & raising a family.
Native Place
The only ships' indent to provide a full list of Native Place was
the "Northampton" 1815 and "Mary Ann" 1816. The "Francis & Eliza"
1815 provides a partial list. Where this information appears in other
ships, 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, for instance there were 15 Irish on board the "Mary Ann" 1816. 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 is roughly - English 49%, Welsh
1%, Scottish 2%, Irish 48%.
For this decade only one woman has been identified as not coming from
one the four countries of the United Kingdom; Catherine Campbell (per
"Morley" 1820) from the Isle of Man.
Trade or Calling
The Trade of Calling details were not recorded until "Wanstead"
in 1814. A servant of one sort or another, farm (dairymaid)
or domestic (ladysmaid, housemaid, chambermaid, kitchenmaid,
scullarymaid, laundrymaid, nursemaid, monthlymaid?) was the calling of most of the women.
Perhaps Elizabeth Jenkins ("Broxbornebury" 1814) was one of the more "refined" of the convict women, describing herself as a teacher. In
all probability the wealthier families in the colony would have
been keen to engage her services, provided of course they did
not mind having a convicted thief in their homes!
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 there was one woman who had served four years by the time of
her arrival; Margaret Inglis per "Northampton" 1815 (although she
still had ten years to serve of her fourteen year sentence).
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
this was almost true with 42% being convicted in those three cities.
Sentence
Sentencing policies followed the established pattern of seven years,
fourteen years or life. The vast majority of sentences were for
seven years (69%) followed by fourteen years (15%) and life
sentences (16%). The "Morley" 1820 was unusual in that there were
almost as many fourteen year sentences (49) as 7 year sentences (51). The ship with the largest number of Life sentences was the "Minstrel"
1812 having 37(30%).
It must be said that there seemed to be very little consistency
in sentencing. All the 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
In this decade the "Broxbornebury" 1814 was the only ship to include a full list of the Offences (due entirely to the research of Mrs
Hook) but even here it is very rudimentary, for example just
'stealing' or 'felony' or 'larceny' - all unspecified.For all other ships 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, twelve women were murdered in the colony -
most by their husbands).
Only once is the word prostitution mentioned in the description
of their offences (Elizabeth Brown "Friends" 1811) however the
pseudonym of vagrancy appears several times.
Relanded
During this decade 45 women were recorded as relanded before sailing
(if one includes to 40 women captured on board the "Emu" 1812
and returned to England) of the other five only one has been identified on the ship's indent, Rebecca Connelly "Janus" 1820 (Mary Hickey
"Minstrel" 1812 has a cross against her name and no other details
so she mayhave been the women relanded). The others would be amongst
those shown as having 'no record in the colony'.
Of the 40 women on the "Emu" 36 were retransported per "Broxbornebury" 1814.
Died at Sea
A total of 28 women were recorded as dying at sea. This
represents just 1.5% of all women transported. The "Northampton"
1815, "Frances & Eliza" 1815 & "Friendship" 1818 all recorded the most with four deaths each but eight recorded none at all.
Only 23 of the 28 women who died have been identified as such on
the ships indent.The others would be amongst those shown as having
'no record in the colony'.
Poor Jane Brown (per "Friendship" 1818) committed suicide by jumping
overboard,whilsts Ann Simkins (per "Wanstead" 1814) accidently
fell overboard. Jane Digby (per "Mary Ann" 1816) died whilst the ship
was in Sydney Harbour before she could disembark. 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.
During this decade three ships have been the subjects of a
"biography";
'Emu' 1812 and 'Broxbornebury' 1814 in "Journey to a New Life -
The Story of the Ships Emu and Broxbornebury" by Elizabeth Hook and 'Lord Melivlle' 1817 in "In the Wake of the Lord Melville" by Russell Kelly. Added to which 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 FreedomCS=Colonial Sentence
TL=Ticket of Leave 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 p=application for Permission to marry MB=transferred to Moreton Bay PD=transferred to Port Palrymple (VDL) PJ=transferred to New South Wales PPD=transferred to Port Phillip District (Vic) VDL=transferred to Van Diemens Land (Hobart Town) R=left the colony CFA=entry in 'Convict Families that Made Australia' PR=entry in 'Pioneer Register' al=alias ux=wife of []=age {}=date of death + =year of deathThe 1811 Muster
This Muster was conducted from February to March 1811. All
the transports carrying female convicts during this decade arrived
after this time so no women from these ships are included.
The 1814 Muster
This Muster was conducted from October to November 1814. Only women
arriving on the first seven ships of the decade would be expected to
be included in this muster and all such women would still be
under servitude, but for some reason apart from the "Minstrel" 1812
(79%) and "Wanstead" 1814 (83%) very few were recorded, the average
being only 37%. The 1822 Muster
Only women arriving after 1815 with seven year sentences would
be expected to be included in this muster as all such women would still
be under servitude (although some of the highest percentages were
from ships arriving before 1815). All those with 14 year and Life sentences would be expected to be included. Even so on average only
43% are recorded.The ship with the greatest representation, at 64%, was the "Wanstead"
of 1814.
The 1825 Muster
This muster is somewhat complicated to analyse because it is
a combination of musters taken in 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. With an inclusion rate of 47% it is certainly better than any of the
musters. 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.
The ship with the greatest representation, at 63%, was the "Elizabeth" of 1818.
The 1837 Muster
Theoretically none of the women arriving in this decade with seven and fourteen year sentences would be expected to be found in this
muster, only those arriving with a life sentence should be recorded
and even for those with life sentences, pardons and deaths (and
departure from the colony for those with absolute pardons) would
further reduce the numbers recorded.
Even so on average only 11% were recorded with ranges from 25% from
the "Catherine" 1814 and "Elilzabeth" 1818 to none from the
"Archduke Charles" 1813, "Francis & Eliza" 1815, "Alexander" 1816,
"Canada" 1817, "Janus" 1820" (even allowing for the fact that those
whose surnames commencing with the letter "K" are not listed
in contemporary documents for some reason).With all the musters and the census the usual challenge presented
itself when trying to identify particular women with 52 women
in the 1828 Census for example claiming to have arrived aboard ships
in which their name is not listed on the ship's indent; 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 Van Diemens Land
During this decade the colonial authorities were obviously trying
the populate the southern colony of Van Diemens Land by transferring
a sizeable number of female felons to either of the settlements at
Hobart Town and Port Dalrymple. A total of 505 women (27%) were
transferred to the former and 14 women (1%) to the latter. This number
includes the 50 women of the "Morley" 1820, who were actually
disembarked in Hobart Town before the ship proceeded to Sydney
Cove (Judith Myers was no sooner landed in Sydney than she was
transferred south per "Governor Macquarie" bring the total
transferred from this ship to 51).
Marriages
The total number of marriages conducted whilst the woman was still
in servitude (ie requiring government permission) was 1171.
Interestingly 349 (19%) 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.
In the early nineteenth century spousal 'death' was the
equivalent of twentieth century 'divorce'. Many of the women married
more than once with Elizabeth Dewhurst (per "Wanstead" 1814) marrying four times.
Not all deaths were from natural causes. Sadly several of the women
were murdered by their husbands; Bridget Kelly (per "Alexander" 1816), Elizabeth Perkins (per "Friendship" 1818), Ann Pink (per Maria" 1818), Bridget Walsh (per "Alexander" 1816).
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.To date 690 or (77%) deaths of the female felons of this decadehave been found. The "Wanstead" 1814 with the most (67%) and "Canada"
1817 with the least (16%).
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 233 women died whilst in servitude being
around 12% of total arrivals (32 women are recorded as dying in
their first year). As always the percentages change from ship to
ship with "Minstrel" 1812 and "Wanstead" 1814 21% deaths in servitude
but the "Archduke Charles" 1813 recording only 4%. 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 14% for total deaths whilst still in servitude.
As a sad point of interest, twelve women were murdered in the colony
(most 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
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 returned "home".In this decade, eighteen women are recorded as having left the colony
but there were no doubt many more. 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.
No Record Found in the Colony
Finally, it is surprising to remark that 88 women (4.7%) 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 '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 two thousand names (2,025) (more than
the documented number of arrivals) because 96 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 Lewens per "Three Bees"
1813 was recorded as James Lewens in a muster.
Aliases
To further facilitate the finding of particular convicts,
a separate list of all known aliases has been included
totalling 267 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 62 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:
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
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'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 suchVDL :Number of Convicts who were transferred to Hobart Town 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 and ship percentage of such
DiS :Number of Convicts who died whilst still in servitude and ship percentage of such
D-Total :Number of Convicts who died and ship percentage of such
Returned :Number of Convicts who left in 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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