INTRODUCTION
The fifth and final decade (1831 to 1840) of British Convict Transportation
to New South Wales resulted in a further 4,941 female felons being
dispatched to the colony, bringing the total sentenced to transportation for the half
century since settlement to 12,413 by the time the last ship ("Margaret") docked
on the 17th August 1840.
This fifth decade corresponds with the governorships of Sir Richard Bourke
and Sir George Gipps, both military men. Anglo-Irishman, Major-General Bourke,
a veteran of Wellington's Peninsula Campaign, was aged 54 years old when
arrived aboard 'Margaret' on the 3rd December 1831 to become the colony's eighth governor. Bourke arrived accompanied by his wife Elizabeth nee Bourke (who
was to die tragically five months later) with two sons and three daughters.
He resigned and departed the colony six years later on the 5th December 1837
aboard 'Samuel Wynter' a broken man and died in 1855 a Lieutenant-General.
Kentishman, Major Gipps, a veteran who had served under the Duke of
Wellington, was aged 47 years old when he arrived aboard the steamer 'King
William IV' on the 24th February 1838 to become the colony's ninth and last governor to receive convicts into New South Wales as a penal colony. Gipps
arrived accompanied by his second wife Elizabeth nee Ramsay and son. He departed the colony over eight years later on the 11th July 1846 aboard 'Hooghley' a
very sick man and died in 1847.
During this decade the women were transported in 34 ships, an average
of 3.4 per annum, with five ships arriving in 1833 and 1839 but only one
in 1835. The greatest number of arrivals per year being 727 in 1839 and the
least, with just 177, in 1835.
Table 1. - Female Convict Ships
Arrival Date Ship Code
----------------------------------------11 Mar 1831 Kains 31KA
5 Apr 1831 Earl of Liverpool 31EL
31 Jul 1831 Palambam 31PA
27 Sep 1831 Hooghly 31HO
5 Mar 1832 Pyramus 32PY
20 May 1832 Burrell 32BU
14 Jun 1832 Southworth 32SW
2 Feb 1833 Fanny 33FA
9 Mar 1833 Surrey 33SU
25 May 1833 Diana 33DI
6 Aug 1833 Caroline 33CA
18 Nov 1833 HMS Buffalo 33HS
13 Jun 1834 Numa 34NU
17 Sep 1834 Andromeda 34AN
1 Dec 1834 George Hibbert 34GH
6 Sep 1835 Mary 35MY
7 Feb 1836 Henry Wellesley 36HW
25 Feb 1836 Roslyn Castle 36RC
9 Jun 1836 Thomas Harrison 36TH
12 Oct 1836 Elizabeth 36EL
14 Dec 1836 Pyramus 36PS
23 Apr 1837 Sarah & Elizabeth 37SE
30 May 1837 Margaret 37MT
22 Dec 1837 Henry Wellesley 37H2
25 Dec 1837 Sir Charles Forbes 37SC
28 Mar 1838 Diamond 38DD
27 Aug 1838 John Renwick 38JR
5 Jan 1839 Margaret 39M2
9 Mar 1839 Planter 39PL
23 Jun 1839 Whitby 39WH
10 Nov 1839 Mary Ann 39MA
26 Dec 1839 Minerva 39MI
13 Jul 1840 Surrey 40S2
24 Jul 1840 Isabella 40IS
17 Aug 1840 Margaret 40M3
However this is not quite the full story. There were four ships which embarked
five female felons from non United Kingdom ports: namely the "Celia" 1831 which
transported Therezia (no surname given) from Ile de France (Mauritius),
the "Dart" in 1833 which transported Mary Josephine (no surname given) from
Ile de France, the "Dart" again in 1834 which transported Elizabeth and
Constance (no surnames given) from Ile de France, all four being negresses
and the "Kate" in 1839 which transported Zezziah Plough from Port Adelaide
in South Australia.
This brings the total dispatched to 4,941. As will be further elaborated
below however, 45 women died during the voyage and 35 were relanded before
sailing leaving just 4,880 arriving in the colony. The basis for these
figures comes from Charles Bateson's book "The Convict Ships, 1787 to 1868".
However sixteen of the women relanded are not recorded on the colonial
convict indents, whereas the indent for the "Diana" 1831 list 101 names against
Bateson's 100.
Movement within the colony was strictly controlled and monitored by the
colonial authorities and even more so when the movement was between colonies.
Five convicts are recorded as being permitted to travel from Hobart
Town to Sydney: Jane Cefender in 1831 via "Rifleman" petitioned by William
Ogilvie to be returned to Sydney to be assigned to him; Maria Newton in 1831
via "Strathfieldsay" allowed to accompany her master Capt. McPherson 17th Regiment; Margaret Hunam in 1835 permitted to come in the service of Mr Edghill;
Mary Bromley in 1835 via "Spence" suffered to come on the application of Mr
Oakes of Parramatta; Mary Foster in 1838 via "Bee" for reasons unknown. No
doubt there may have been others whose records have not survived. There were
only a couple of recorded movements in the opposite direction: Catherine
Carr (per 'Southworth' 1832) was allowed to travel to Hobart Town on
board the 'Defiance' in 1832 to join her husband Michael, French woman
Eugenie Caroline Lemaire (per 'Sarah & Elizabeth' 1837) was also allowed
to travel to Hobart Town on board the 'Abercrombie' in 1840 to join her husband
there, Mary Ann Davies (per 'George Hibbert' 1834) travelled there via the
'Derwent" in 1836 for reasons unknown but it is record that she married a man
in Hobart in 1839, Bridget Everett (per "Henry Wellesley" 1837) was allowed
to travel to Launceston via "Caroline" in 1839 to join her husband. Two women
from the "Surrey" 1840 are known to have travelled to Van Diemens Land, Sarah
Durden and Maria Jacobs (who sailed in 'Waterlilly' 1844). No doubt there were others whose records have not been discovered.
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. The Ship's Master and Surgeon
Superintendent at listed along with any other crew members identified
in contempory documents. 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
Seventeen ships sailed from English ports (10 from London, 2 each from The
Downs, Woolwich, Portsmouth and 1 from Portland) and eighteen from Irish
ports (12 from Cork, 6 from Dublin). All ships came from the United Kingdom
via the Cape of Good Hope, none via Cape Horn. Ports of call along
the way included Tenereiffe, Rio de Janeiro, and Cape Town (although
"HMS Buffalo" also called at King George's Sound in Western Australia in 1833
to disembark Sir Richard Spencer, his family and entourage, the new
Governor for the colony there), although it must be pointed out that 24
ships made a direct voyage to Sydney Cove with no ports of call. The
longest voyage (246 days) was that of the "Kains" in 1831 and the
shortest (95 days) was that of the "Hooghley" also in 1831.
Age and Size
The oldest ships were the "George Hibbert" and "Henry Wellesley" both built
in 1804, however the former ship arrived in 1834 whereas the latter when
it made its second voyage as a transport in 1837 was three years older. The
newest ship was the "Diamond" built in 1835, but was three years old when
it arrived in the colony in 1838 whereas the "Thomas Harrison" build in
1834 was only two years old when it arrived in 1836. The age of the "Minerva"
1839 was not recorded by Bateson.The smallest transport, at 229 tons, was the "Earl Liverpool" 1831 and the
largest, at 600 tons, was the "HMS Buffalo" 1833. 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 "Mary" 1835 was the most cramped with just 2 tons per
woman and the "Burrell" 1832 the least cramped with double that number at
4 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 convicts
mothers. The "Palambam" 1831 in particular brought an interesting cargo of
fifty poor girl foundlings from Ireland. The names of only thirteen have been
identified, all from Permission to Marry Applications where the prospective
groom was a serving convict. It is to be hoped that they found a better
life in the colony. Regrettably for most of the children accompanying their
convict mothers their Christian names are not recorded (the ship's indent
only listing the number and sex of any children), often only being discovered
from other colonial records, most frequently from church registers for
daughters who subsequently married in the colony.
The sources for this section were: Charles Bateson "The Convict Ships,
1787-1868" and Ian Nicholson "Shipping Arrivals and Departures Sydney,
1826-1840". The crew and free passengers' details derive mainly
from the Society of Australian Genealogists' "Free Passengers to NSW
1826-1837" .
Convict Indent
This section presents information from the original ship's indent of the
convicts onboard. Details listed include: Indent Number, Surname and any
aliases, Christian Name, Age, Literacy, Religion, Marital Status, Native
Place, Trade or Calling, Offence, Date Tried, Where Tried, Sentence and
Remarks. Details found in the originals but not reproduced here include:
Standing Number of Convict, Number of Children, Number of Former
Convictions, Description (height, complexion, hair colour, eye colour)
& Distinguishing Marks or Scars. Readers interested in these details
are referred to the originals held on microfiche at the National Library
in Canberra and elsewhere.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 (more or less), although Scottish counties
always followed the English ones, then chronologically by date of sentencing
(more or less). There always seems to be a couple of "last minute" additions
on the end of the indent indicated by the miscellaneous order of county names.
The Old Bailey in London comes under the letter "M" for Middlesex.Surname and any Aliases
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
Seven women only had their "Christian" name recorded with no surname,
all were women of colour from the West Indies or other islands. This made
tracing their fates in the colony particularly difficult. However three
of these women gave a surname on their "permission to marry application";
Elizabeth (per "Dart" 1834) listed her surname as Nery (although court records
from Mauritius list her surname as Verloppe) and her cousin Constance listed her surname as De La Sablomiere (again court records from Mauritius list her
surname as Couronne) and Priscilla (per "Elizabeth 1836) listed her surname
as Marshall. The indent for Mary Josephine (per "Dart" 1833) states her
husband Louis Marcelin was on board as well so why this was not recorded as
her surname is unclear.
Age on Arrival
Recorded ages ranged from 9 to 78. The vast majority of women were in their
twenties. The youngest was Constance, the little picanini from Ile de
France, who was only nine years old. There was one eleven year old on
the "Southworth" 1832, four twelve year olds: : "Dart" 1834, "George Hibbert"
1834, "Roslyn Castle" 1836 & "Pyramus" 1836 and three thirteen year olds:
"Caroline" 1833, "Margaret" 1837 & "Diamond" 1838. Poor Margaret Connell was
transported at the age of 78 (per "Whitby" 1839) and four other women were
transported in the seventies. What use a seventy year old women would
be to the colony is hard to fathom.
One should not be too sorry for young Constance and her twelve year old cousin
Elizabeth because apparently they were both nasty pieces of work having
attempted to poison their mistress!
Literacy
Surprisingly only 37% (just over one third) of women were illiterate,
42% could read and 21% could both read and write, although it must
be stated that there was a vast difference between the English and Irish
convicts. For instance 69% of the women on the "Thomas Harrison" 1836, 67% on the "Andromeda" 1834, 64% on the "Minerva" 1839, 62% on the "Pyramus" 1836,
all Irish ships, were illiterate. Whereas only 8% of the women on the
"Henry Wellesley" 1836, 11% on the "Mary Ann" 1839, 12% on the "Earl of
Liverpool" 1831, all English ships, were illiterate and many of these
illiterate women were born in Ireland. In the case of the latter ship, six
of the twelve illiterate women were Irish.
Religion
In the earlier years of the decade, Protestant and Catholic, were the only
religions recorded, in total 52% were Catholics and 44% Protestants.
However later in the decade, from 1836 onwards, Protestant was further
refined by recording Presbyterians (99), Wesleyan/Methodists (15), Baptists
(7), Moravian (1), Dissenter (1). There were three women who claimed to
be Jewish, two claimed no religion, Mina Magerman (per "Diana" 1833)
was recorded as a "heathen".
Marital Status
Nearly two thirds (62%) of the women were single, thus fulfilling the hopes
of the government to help populate the new colony by marrying there, 22%
were married and 14% widowed although the percentages on individual ships
of course varied. On the the "Pyramus" 1832, the "Earl of Liverpool" 1831
had 30% married women but the "Isabella" 1840 only 13%, the "Pyramus"
1832 had 23% widowed women but the "Pyramus" 1836 only 6%.
One can't help but wonder if some degree of "coaching" took place on the
ships, since it no doubt became known that a women could be assigned
to her husband in the colony, thus avoiding the vagaries of the assignment
system, making stating that one was "married" on the indent a source of
future difficulties in the colony. Is it not strange that widowed women were
two thirds as common as married women?
Native Place
The origins of the convict women were as follows: English 35%, Welsh 1%,
Scottish 6%, Irish 55%, Non UK native places 1%. There were 63 women in
this last category, mainly from western European countries including; France
(with eight women France was the leading source of non British female
convicts), Prussia, Bavaria, Holland, Spain, Portugal, Gibraltar, then north
American countries including; the United States, Canada, Nova Scotia, then
the West Indies (Barbados, Bermuda, Dominica, Jamaica) then Isle de
France (Mauritius), Madagascar, Cafferland, India and Ceylon as well as
seven who were "born at sea". Most interestingly Jane Kirk (per "Henry
Wellesley" 1836) stated she was born in Sydney about 1813.No doubt Left leaning readers will claim this latter group of non UK natives
to promote their multicultural agenda in interpreting Australian history
in order to diminish the pivotal and primary role of the United Kingdom
in founding and settling Australia. But at just 1% this is a statistical
nonsense. Added to the fact that in all probability the seven born at sea
had British heritage as well as those from north America, India and Ceylon
as their names amply suggest, reducing the percentage even more.
Trade or Calling
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. Quite a few who were
convicted in Lancaster (the industrial midlands) were factorygirls.
But some of the women had interesting callings; Mary Ann Whiteacre
(per "Kains" 1831) was a brothel madam although she recorded herself
as a housemaid, Sophie Souces (per "Earl Liverpool" 1831) was a
distiller, Elizabeth Rogers (per "Earl of Liverpool" 1831) was an upholsterer,
Jane Riley (per "Pyramus" 1832) was a pin maker, Margaret Norris (per "Surrey"
1833) was an huxter, Mary Bennett (per "Numa" 1834) as an attendant
at a lunatic asylum.
Perhaps the more "refined" of the convict women were the six former
governesses; Miss Isabella Arnett & Frenchwoman Mrs Marie Smith (both per "Henry Wellesley" 1837), German Mrs Mary Hartwell (per "John Renwick" 1837), Mrs
Eliza Sparrow (per "HMS Buffalao" 1833), Mrs Harriet Thomson (per "Mary
Ann" 1839), Prussian Miss Elvire Walbargle (per "Burrell" 1832). In all
probability the wealthier families in the colony would have been keen to
engage their services, provided of course they did not mind having convicted
thieves in their homes!
Finally, sadly but honestly and no doubt with some degree of resignation,
704 of the women described their trade simply as "all work".
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. Only three women were found to have been convicted
of the proverbial "stealing a loaf of bread".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! There were seventeen females convicted of murder in this decade
and there were thirteen for manslaughter and fifteen for attempting
or conspiring to murder (in keeping with the female modus operandi in these
matters, nine were poisonings). But even here, without the benefit of actually
reviewing the trial transcripts, most of these would have been for infanticide.
However Mary Dawson (per "Kains" 1831) and Peggy (per "Henry Wellesley"
1836) are recorded as murdering their husbands - why they were not hung
is a mystery. As mentioned above Elizabeth and little Constance from Ile
de France were convicted for attempting to poison their mistress.
Then again objects can change in value over time. For instance an eighteenth
century a handkerchief was often a work of considerable craftmanship and
artistic endevour, most unlike the plain piece of cloth of today, perhaps
more akin to our modern iphones in value.
Nineteen women were convicted of "false pretences", it would be lovely
to know exactly what the "pretences" were. Three women for "breach of trust".
Nowhere is the word prostitution mentioned in the description of their offences
however the pseudonym of vagrant appears 128 times. The City of Waterford
did a "job lot" by transporting 13 vagrants in 1831 and 5 in 1834, Londonderry
did the same in 1833 with 11, 5 in 1837 and 5 again in 1838. However
Mary Ann Whiteacre (per "Kains" 1831) was convicted for keeping a house of ill fame.
Other interesting offences included: Ann Knox (per "Earl of Liverpool"
1831) for incest, Eliza Sparrow (per "HMS Buffalo" 1833) for bigamy; Martha
Moores (per "Pyramus" 1832) for procuring an abortion, Margaret Dunn
(per "Surrey" 1833), Betty Ann Kelly (per "Earl of Liverpool" 1831) and
Catherine Roxburgh (per "Pyramus" 1832) for sacrilege. Sarah Armstrong
(per "Planter" 1839) was convicted of "stripping a child", Elizabeth Gurnett
(per "Burrill" 1832) for stealing a child, Honora McCarthy (per "Whitby"
1839) for offering a child for sale. There were seventeen arsonists (the
"Fanny" 1833 indent referred to her two as incendiarists).
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 Mary Foley (per
"Palambam" 1831) was convicted four years before transportation leaving her
with a little over just two and a half years to serve on her seven year sentence
when she finally arrived in the colony.
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 Mann and th Isle of Wight. It has sometimes
been assumed that most convicts were the refuse of the Kingdom's major
metropolises (London, Edinburgh, Dublin) but in fact a minority (24%
only) were convicted in those three cities.
Apart from the five embarked at non UK ports, there were eight women who
were tried in the West Indies who must have then been shipped to England before
being embarked on transports for Sydney Cove: "Earl Liverpool" 1831
Dutchwoman Sophie Souces at Demerara in Guyana (Guyana was originally
a Dutch colony until ceded to Britain in 1814); "Henry Wellesley" 1836 Matty
Beck at Barbados, Sue at Bermuda, Peggy at Dominica; "Elizabeth" 1836 Rose
Harvey at Bermuda, Johanna Esman at Demerara, Priscilla at Jamaica; "Sarah
& Elizabeth" 1837 Celia Williams at Jamaica. Negress Mina Magerman who was
tried at the Cape of Good Hope may have been picked up by "Diana" 1833 when
she called there on route (her name was the last on the indent and may explain
the discrepancy with Bateson's numbers for this ship). Maria Tinne, whose name appears last after that of Sophia Souces on the
convict indent, may also have been tried in the West Indies, but she
died at sea and no further information was recorded for her.
Sentence
Initially sentencing policies followed the established pattern of seven years, fourteen years or life but in the year 1837 suddenly this pattern changed
with fourteen year sentences being replaced to some extent by ten and fifteen
year sentences.
The vast majority of sentences were for seven years (79%) followed
by fourteen years (9%) and even fewer life sentences (7%). The "Pyramus"
of 1832 had the highest number of life sentences (34) but most ships
had less than ten. There were 30 ten year sentences and six fifteen year
sentences.
It must be said that there seemed to be very little consistency in sentencing.
All the murderesses were given life sentences, with the exception of Catherine
Coghlan (per "Caroline" 1833) who only received seven years for some reason.
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.Relanded
For a 'lucky' 35 women, they were relanded before the transport sailed
(to be strictly accurate two were not embarked in the first place). This
represents 0.7% of women slated for transportation. Unfortunately
only 16 of these women had their names recorded as such on the indents delivered
to the colony and apart from their names very little else was recorded except for occasionally their conviction details. At least seven were known to be
'unlucky' in that they were transported on the next available ship; Mary
Kelly from the "Palambam" to the "Hooghley" in 1831, Mary Scanlan from
the "Hoghley" in 1831 to the "Southworth" of 1832, Sarah Spicer from the "Mary"
1835 to the "Henry Wellesley" of 1836, Rachell Shannon from the "Sir Charles
Forbes" in 1837 to the "Diana" of 1838, Sarah Spicer from the "Mary"
in 1835 to the "Henry Wellesley" of 1836, Catherine Bourke from the
"Margaret" to the "Whitby" in 1839, Ann Waterson from the "Minerva" in 1839
to the "Isabella" of 1840. The indent details from the second ship have
been added to the first (where they were absent) for these seven women.
The indent for the "Southworth" 1832 states that Elizabeth Quinn was relanded
but she appears to have married in the colony in 1833 and does not appear
on the indents of any other ship.
The "Margaret" of 1837 had the most women relanded with nine and 17 other
ships relanded between one and three women between them. Bateson states that the "Margaret" 1839 relanded 22 women but the indent itself only identifies two
women being relanded of the 169 listed and in any case this would not correlate
with the number of 166 arriving in Sydney Cove (there was one death at sea)
as confirmed by Nicholson.
Died at Sea
A total of 45 women were recorded as dying at sea. This represents
just 0.9% of all women transported. The 'Fanny' of 1833 recorded the most
deaths with eight (there was an outbreak of cholera on board and six women
died even befor the ship left harbour). Poor Bridget Costello, "Andromeda"
1834, died whilst the ship was in Sydney Harbour before she could disembark
and Celia Williams, "Sarah & Elizabeth" 1837 died just three days from
arrival. But eleven ships (nearly a third) recorded no deaths at all.
Remarks
The remarks mainly consisted of listing any family members who were already
in the colony (as convicts mostly) and it is surprising just how many
of the women had these family connections, especially among the Irish.
But other notable remarks included that: Christiana Scott & Catherine
Caffree (per "HMS Buffalo" 1833) and Sarah Lynchey (per "Mary" 1835) were
all feeble, Mary Hurley (per "Surrey" 1833) was a lunatic, Catherine Brady
(per "Palambam" 1831) and Catherine Blackshaw (per "Fanny" 1833) were
infirm, Susannah Emmerson (per "Diana" 1833) had imperfect sight,
Margaret McEvoy (per "Palambam" 1831) lost use of right arm, Mary
Healy (per "Hooghley" 1831) was lame in left leg, Margaret Doyle
(per "Surrey" 1833) was a cripple, Mary Ann Hargraves (per "Surrey" 1840)
was a dwarf, Portaveny Beard (per "Elizabeth" 1836) was a gypsy, Eugenie
Lemaire (per "Sarah & Elizabeth" 1837) reads French, Elizabeth Flaherty
(per "Minerva" 1839) speaks only Gaelic, Mary Ann Thompson (per "Fanny"
1833) was good looking (her looks obviously enabled her to be one of the few
to marry a free arrival), Catherine Curran (per "Margaret" 1840) possessed
a good countenance (her looks obviously enable her to one of the even fewer
to marry a colonial born lad), Matilda Aterton (per "Fanny" 1833) was genteel
looking (too genteel perhaps for the rough colony because she did not marry),
Mary Ann Parker (per "Sarah & Elizabeth" 1837) was here free before with
her husband in the 40th Reg't.The sources for this section were the "Convicts Indents" micro-fiche held
in the National Library Canberra. Mercifully for this final decade the
indents were typed making transcription so much easier and more accurate.
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,
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 das=died at seaM1837='General Return of Convicts in New South Wales 1837'
c=Birth of Child d=De Facto Relationshhip m=Marriage p=application for Permission to marry MB=transferred to Moreton Bay PJ=transferred to New South Wales VDL=transferred to Van Diemens Land R=departed the colony CFA='Convict Families that Made Australia' PR='Pioneer Register' al=alias ux=wife of []=age {}=date of death+=year of death
The 1837 Muster
As noted elsewhere, the colonial authorities were not particularly efficient
nor thorough nor conscientious when it came to compiling the
various musters and censae in the colony. Theoretically every convict
who arrived in this decade, with the exception of a few arriving in
1831, would still have been in servitude by the time of the muster on
the 31st December 1837, but as can be seen in Statistics Section this was
certainly not the case, with less than 48% of eligible convict names being
recorded for the decade (even allowing for the fact that those whose names
commencing with the letter "K" are not listed in contemporary documents
for some reason).
The "Southworth" 1832 has just 23% of women recorded whereas not surprisingly
the "Henry Wellesley" 1837 has 93%. The wonder is that not one woman is recorded
from the "Sir Charles Forbes" 1837 which was in the harbour on the 25th December (just three days after the "Henry Wellesley" arrived).
One interesting fact came to light with regard to the "Pyramus" of 1836
and the 1837 Muster. Fifteen of the women are recorded as being in Newcastle goal, which seems unlikely, it was more likely a holding barracks perhaps
for new arrivals to the settlement. But the unusual thing is that they were
all women whose surnames commenced with the letters "A" though "D". After
the letter "D" all the women were in Sydney and no more in Newcastle.
Supposedly selecting places of disposal for felons by alphabetical surname
was just as good a method as any other ?The usual challenge presented itself when trying to identify particular
women; sometimes they were listed under their new married name in
the colony (and sometimes not) as well as those who appeared under an alias.
Applications for Permission to Marry
The total number of convict women who applied to marry was 3,286 (67%)
and when this is compared to the number of "eligible" women (i.e. single
or widowed)(76%) this is a very large proportion although certainly
some married women did manage to marry bigamously. It seems the
one area where the colonial authorities do appear to have been particularly
diligent was in recording which convicts were married at the time of their
arrival in the colony. As can be seen in the Statistics Section below,
731 (18%) of applications were disallowed because either one or
both applicants were already married. There is room to speculate that some
degree of "schooling" may have taken place when women were providing this
information on arrival, as it was advantageous to be recorded as "single" or
"widow" to avoid the elimination of any chance of remarriage in the
colony and all the "advantages" which any marriage might bestow.
The total number of applications was 4,135 meaning that on average
every woman who applied, applied 1.3 times or to put it another way, every
third applicant applied more than once. Some women were very persistent in their applications.
When 27 year old (definitely "old maid" material in the mother country)
Jane Langridge (per "Mary" 1835) stepped ashore in Sydney Cove she
must have thought herself in 'marriage heaven'. Over the next eleven years
she managed to betroth herself to no less than five separate men! Fourteen
year old Mary Lynch (per "Henry Wellesley" 1836) did the same but
she could not bring herself to marry any of them.
Women who managed to rack up four proposals included:
Ann Dunne (per "Hooghley" 1831) Bridget Sheehy (per "Hooghley" 1831) Mary Reagan (per "Pyramus" 1832) Jane Christian (per "Numa" 1834)Jane Gale (per "Numa" 1834)
Celia Lowde (per "Roslyn Castle" 1836) Sarah John (per "Elizabeth" 1836) Margaret Meenan (per "Margaret" 1837) Jane Russell (per "Margaret" 1837) Mary Keane (per "Sir Charles Forbes" 1837)Alice Foy (per "Diamond" 1838)
Mary Brien (per "Margaret" 1839) Anne Curley (per "Margaret" 1839)No doubt the cold dead hand of colonial bureaucracy played a part in blocking
the path of true love for several women, when they found themselves cruelly
transferred from one district to another just when they thought they had found 'mister right'. Ann Andrews (per "Pyramus" 1832) had her dreams of marital
bliss shattered four times when she was shunted from Newcastle to Sydney
back to Newcastle then to Bathurst, leaving her unable to marry any of
her suitors. Similarly Mary Heffernan (per "Thomas Hibbert" 1836) suffered
the same disappointment when transferred from Sydney to Mulgoa to Wollongong.
Likewise Mary Davis (per "Elizabeth" 1836) from Parramatta to Lower Hawkesbury
to Castlereagh or Ann Hurry (per "Elizabeth" 1836) from Sutton Forest to
Goulburn to Hunters Hill to Windsor or Bridget Shea (per "Margaret" 1837) from
Sydney to Cooks River to Appin.
On average only 61% of permissions to marry actually lead to a marriage taking place. Colonial convict women were obviously a very fickle and indecisive lot! No doubt leaving a trail of broken hearts in their wake.
Marriages
The total number of marriages conducted whilst the woman was still in
servitude (ie requiring government permission) was 2,515. Interestingly
491 (10%) of these took place within the first twelve months of
arrival in the colony. Only 82 (2%) women married a native born colonial
lad and only 327 (8%) married a free arrival to the colony (often a sailor
they met on the ship out) but this is hardly surprising given the demographics
of the colony at this time with convict and former convict men being in the
vast majority. Of course this data only refers to marriages undertaken whilst
the woman was still in servitude. 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'. Catherine Campbell (per "Caroline" 1833)
married three times in 1838, 1845, 1850 and 'lost' all of them. Eliza Kelly
(per "George Hibbert" 1834) 'lost' her three husbands from marriages in
1836, 1839 & 1845. It was the same fate for Elizabeth Dan (per "Planter"
1839) with her three marriages of 1840, 1848 & 1865.
Not all deaths were from natural causes. John Thornton may have thought
himself a very lucky man when he managed to court and marry 18 year old
Mary Baker (per "Surrey" 1840) in 1841. Little did he realize that in
less than three years he would be dead and his lovely bride hung for his
murder! Poor Mary Mahoney (per "Surrey" 1833) was beaten to death by her husband Matthew Attwood but the crime was never proven in court. Mary Ann Sullivan
(per "HMS Buffalop" 1833) was also murdered by her husband Thomas Holden but
again he was not hung but transported instead for life to Norfolk Island.
Table 3. - Codes for Church Names ----------------------------------------ASSF : All Saints Sutton Forrest
CCC : Christ Church Castlereagh
CCN : Christ Church Newcastle
EKPH : Ebenezer Kirk Portland Head
HTK : Holy Trinity Kelso
SAKP : St Annes Kissing Point
SAKS : Presbyterian St Andrews Sydney
SJB : St Johns Morton Bay
SJM : St James Melbourne
SJP : St Johns Parramatta
SJPT : St James Pitt Town
SJS : St James Sydney
SJW : St Johns Wilberforce
SJWM : Catholic St Josephs West Maitland
SKS : Scots Kirk Sydney
SKW : Scots Kirk Windsor
SLL : St Lukes Liverpool
SMS : Catholic St Marys Sydney
SMW : St Matthews Windsor
SPC : St Peters Campbelltown
SPCO : St Pauls Cobbitty
SPEM : St Peters East Maitland
SPP : Cathole St Patricks Parramtta
SPR : St Peters Richmond
SPS : St Phillips Sydney
SSG : St Saviours Goulburn
STM : St Thomas Mulgoa
STPM : St Thomas Port Macquarie
STSR : St Thomas Sackville Reach
W-M : Wesleyan Methodist Records
Certificates of Freedom, Conditional & Absolute Pardons
Recording the dates of Certificate of Freedom is not particularly interesting
because it can be easily calculated by adding the sentence to the
date of conviction. However when no other mentions of the convict
have been found it has been included to indicate she was still in the
colony at that date, similarly for Conditional & Absolute Pardons.
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. When Elizabeth Allsop (per "Surrey"
1840) died in 1915 she was possibly the last female convict to die in New South Wales.
To date 630 or (13%) deaths of the female felons of this decadehave been found. The "Earl Liverpool" 1831 with the most (28%) and "Minerva"
1839 with the least (3%).
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 at least 248 women died whilst in servitude
being around 5% of total arrivals. As always the percentages change from
ship to ship with "Minerva" 1839 recording no deaths but the "Hooghley" 1832
recording 13. These figures depend of course on the thoroughness and accuracy of the recordings by the colonial authorities. Combined with the Deaths at Sea numbers (45) this gives a figure of around 6% for total deaths whilst still
in servitude.
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 does not appear 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".
Harriet Baxter (per "Fanny" 1833) escaped from the colony to the Cape of Good
Hope in 1835 but was apparently caught and returned to the colony per "Henry
Wellesley" in 1837. Eleanor Scully (per "Andromeda" 1834) left the colony
in 1849 aboard "Elizabeth Archer" for the Californian gold fields. The
descendants of Sarah Holt (per "Henry Wellesley" 1837) claim she returned
to England (to continue her life in crime) where she died in 1851 but give
no date. Ellen Costello (per "Isabella" 1840) left aboard "Lavinia" in 1852
with her husband bound for California.The sources for this section were: the book "General Return of Convicts
in New South Wales - 1837" published by the Australian Society of
Genealogists & ABGR, the online database "Convicts Application to Marry
- 1825 to 1851" available on the NSW State Archives & Records website
(although no records for 1825 have been sighted), 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 under five thousand names (4,984)(more than the documented
number of arrivals) because 50 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 arriving 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.
For instance in the 1837 Muster, Mary Ann Kelly (per "Earl Liverpool")
was misheard as Mary Ann Carly, Martha Ware (per "HMS Buffalo" 1833) was
incorrectly transcribed as Wise and Sarah Anderson (per "Caroline" 1833)
was recorded as arriving aboard the "Fairlie" and being aged 36 rather than
56.
Aliases
To further facilitate the finding of particular convicts, a separate
list of all known aliases has been included totalling 505 in number.
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
Read&Write:Number of Convicts who could both read and write and ship percentage of suchRead :Number of Convicts who could only read and ship percentage of such
None :Number of Convicts who could neither read nor write and ship percentage of such
Protest' :Number of Convicts who were Protestants and ship percentage of such
Catholi' :Number of Convicts who were Catholics and ship percentage of such
Single :Number of Convicts who were single and ship percentage of such
Married :Number of Convicts who were married and ship percentage of such
Widowed :Number of Convicts who were widowed 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
10Years :Number of Convicts who were sentenced to 10 years transportation and ship percentage of such
15Years :Number of Convicts who were sentenced to 15 years transportation 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'1837 :Number of Convicts who were recorded in the 1837 Muster and ship percentage of suchP/M-I :Number of Individual Convicts who applied for permission to marry and ship percentage of such
P/M-T :Total Number of Applications for permission to marry
P/M-R :Ratio of Individuals to Total Number of Convicts who applied for permission to marry
P/M-D :Number of Convicts whose application for permission to marry was disallowed 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
M/P% :Percentage of Applications to Marry who actually married
P/M-BC :Number of Convicts who either applied to or actually married a colonial born lad and ship percentage of such
P/M-CF :Number of Convicts who either applied to or actually married a free arrival to the colony and ship percentage of such
DY1 :Number of Convicts who died in their first year of transportation
Dis :Number of Convicts who died whilst in servitude and ship percentage of such
D-T :Number of Convicts who died and ship percentage of such
UNK :Number of Convicts who appeared in colonial records but could not be found on any ship indent
Return to 1831- 1840
Return to Home Page
This work is copyright. Apart from any fair
dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as
permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process
without written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.