The history of how Australia obtained Sheilas; the story of The Lady Juliana, The 18th-Century Prison Ship Filled With Women

This is the story of the Lady Juliana. This was a special ship designed to convey female convicts from England to Australia. The idea was that a boat load of female convicts would happily link up with a colony of convicts in Australia. Thus making everyone very, very happy, and reform the colony in New South Wales.

They were right.

And this motley crew of British women ultimately had a lasting impact on the history of Australia.

A little background information.

Great Britain began colonizing Australia in 1787 with the departure of the so-called “First Fleet” of ships. Aboard these ships were male and female prisoners, as well as officials whose goal was to establish a penal colony around modern-day Sydney. The Lady Juliana was part of the Second Fleet of ships meant to bring another round of convicts along with food and supplies for the young colony.

Seventeen years after Cook discovered Botany Bay, on May 13th, 1787, a fleet of eleven ships left England – the First Fleet which would begin the colonization of Australia. Under the command of Commodore Arthur Phillip, these ships carried 1530 people – 736 of whom were convicts.
Seventeen years after Cook discovered Botany Bay, on May 13th, 1787, a fleet of eleven ships left England – the First Fleet which would begin the colonization of Australia. Under the command of Commodore Arthur Phillip, these ships carried 1530 people – 736 of whom were convicts.

The British government specifically commissioned the Lady Juliana to transport a group of no fewer than 200 female convicts to Australia.

Pulled from British prisons, these convicts were torn from their families and communities to undertake a lengthy sea voyage to the other side of the world. Though conditions aboard the Lady Juliana were better than they were on most male-convict ships, it was still a long, hard journey – the ship left England in July 1789 and didn’t reach its final destination until June 1790. That’s almost an entire year.

As the first exclusively female convict transport to Australia, the voyage of Lady Juliana is of great historical significance. Lady Juliana was also the first convict transport to arrive in Australia after the First Fleet and the only transport of the Second Fleet not to have been chartered by slave traders Camden, Calvert & King.
As the first exclusively female convict transport to Australia, the voyage of Lady Juliana is of great historical significance. Lady Juliana was also the first convict transport to arrive in Australia after the First Fleet and the only transport of the Second Fleet not to have been chartered by slave traders Camden, Calvert & King.

About the convicts…

Though they were prisoners being transported against their will, many of the women of the Lady Juliana ultimately made the most of their circumstances. This was both during and after the voyage. They were quite busy with side hustles in ports of call and their romantic bartering aboard the ship. Indeed, their journey has gone down in history books as one of the most legendary.

Some Of The Passengers Sold Themselves At Ports En Route To Australia
Some Of The Passengers Sold Themselves At Ports En Route To Australia. This was a common enough activity, and enabled the sailors to be happy and productive throughout the long year-long trip. During ports of call, the convicts were also permitted to perform some side-activity to enable them to come up with some side money.

The voyage to Australia lasted about 10 months, as the Lady Juliana voyaged from port to port in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. The ship’s stays in places like Rio de Janeiro and Cape Town could last several weeks. The convicts made the most of their global tour by selling their services in these ports.

As John Nicol, the ship’s steward, euphemistically remembered, “We did not restrain the people on shore from coming on board through the day. The captains and seamen, who were in port at the time, paid us many visits.” The women were very busy being in high demand at the ports of call.

British Home Under-Secretary Evan Nepean. Nepean decided that, in order for the new colony to prosper, it would need more than just increased provisions and supplies — it would need the stability created by more women, children, and families. To this end, Nepean ordered a shipment of female convicts to immediately be sent to Sydney Cove and “upon landing, promote a matrimonial connection to improve morals and secure settlement.”
British Home Under-Secretary Evan Nepean. Nepean decided that, in order for the new colony to prosper, it would need more than just increased provisions and supplies — it would need the stability created by more women, children, and families. To this end, Nepean ordered a shipment of female convicts to immediately be sent to Sydney Cove and “upon landing, promote a matrimonial connection to improve morals and secure settlement.”

The ladies kept at least part of their earnings. Some of the ship’s officers and sailors allegedly even got in on the business, and their involvement raises serious questions about the degree to which these captive women were coerced into their activities.

 One, a Scottish girl, broke her heart and died in the river; she was  buried at Dartford. Four were pardoned on account of his Majesty's  recovery. The poor young Scottish girl I have never yet got out of my  mind; she was young and beautiful, even in the convict dress, but pale  as death, and her eyes red with weeping. She never spoke to any of the  other women or came on deck. She was constantly seen sitting in the same  corner from morning to night; even the time of meals roused her not. My  heart bled for her, - she was a countrywoman in misfortune. I offered  her consolation, but her hopes and heart had sunk. When I spoke she  heeded me not, or only answered with sighs and tears; if I spoke of  Scotland she would ring her hands an sob, until I thought her heart  would burst. I endeavoured to get her sad story from her lips, but she  was silent as the grave to which she hastened. I lent her my bible to  comfort her, but she read it not; she laid it on her lap after kissing  it, and only bedewed it with her tears. At length she sunk into the  grave, of no disease, but a broken heart. After her death we had only  two Scottish women on board, one of them a Shetlander. 

-John Nicol
In response to Nepean’s command, 225 female thieves, prostitutes, con artists, and some five infants were rounded up from prisons in London and the English countryside to be shipped off to the failing Sydney Cove colony aboard the Lady Juliana. For the English government, the female convicts were to serve two purposes: to prevent the starving and isolated male colonists from engaging in “gross irregularities” and to act as a breeding stock for the troubled settlement.
In response to Nepean’s command, 225 female thieves, prostitutes, con artists, and some five infants were rounded up from prisons in London and the English countryside to be shipped off to the failing Sydney Cove colony aboard the Lady Juliana. For the English government, the female convicts were to serve two purposes: to prevent the starving and isolated male colonists from engaging in “gross irregularities” and to act as a breeding stock for the troubled settlement.

Many Of The Ship’s Sailors Took The Convict Women As ‘Wives’.

Whether out of love, lust, coercion, or necessity, many of the women on board the ship became the “wives” of the ship’s officers and crew members. As the ship’s steward John Nicol recalled in his memoir of the voyage: “When we were fairly out at sea, every man on board took a wife from among the convicts, they nothing loath.”

 'I went every day to the town to buy fresh provisions and other  necessaries for them. As their friends were allowed to come on board to  see them, they brought money, and numbers had it of their own,  particularly a Mrs. Barnsley, a noted sharper and shoplifter. She  herself told me her family for one hundred years back, had been  swindlers and highwaymen. She had a brother a highwayman, who often came  to see her, as well dressed and genteel in his appearance as any  gentleman.
 
 'Those from the country came all on board in irons; and I was paid half a  crown a head by the country jailors, in many cases, for striking them  off upon my anvil, as they were not locked but rivetted. There was a  Mrs. Davis a noted swindler, who had obtained great quantities of goods  under false names and other equally base means. We had one Mary Williams  transported for receiving stolen goods. She and another eight had been a  long time in Newgate where Lord George Gordon had supported them. I  went once a week to him and got their allowance from his own hand all  the time we lay in the river. 

 -John Nicol 

While these marriages were not legal, they nonetheless served a practical purpose: taking a lover onboard the ship often meant better sleeping arrangements for the women.

The women slept in the orlop deck, just above the ship’s bilge, which contained the ship’s holding water, human waste, and remnants of food. Despite such hardships, the ship’s conditions may have seemed preferable to many of the women compared with those they had left behind in London’s prisons. For some of these women, the journey to Sydney Cove itself offered an opportunity for them to better their positions. Women who became “wives” of crewmembers aboard the ship could get access to better provisions and sleeping arrangements. Some women, like Elizabeth Barnsley — a wealthy and successful shoplifter convicted of theft — used their money and influence to procure better lodging and even to create business opportunities on the ship. Prostitution was not unusual in Georgian England or within the shipping industry, and the Lady Juliana soon became something of a “floating brothel.” Crewmembers and, possibly, some of the ship’s female cargo profited from the sex trade in various ports of call, and money earned from prostitution could in turn be used to gain influence on the ship or upon arrival at Sydney Cove.
The women slept in the orlop deck, just above the ship’s bilge, which contained the ship’s holding water, human waste, and remnants of food. Despite such hardships, the ship’s conditions may have seemed preferable to many of the women compared with those they had left behind in London’s prisons. For some of these women, the journey to Sydney Cove itself offered an opportunity for them to better their positions. Women who became “wives” of crewmembers aboard the ship could get access to better provisions and sleeping arrangements.

But at least one partnership was rooted in genuine feeling: Nicol seemed to have fallen in love with prisoner Sarah Whitlam. Though he intended to marry her once her term ended, the two never wed. Nicol had to go back to Britain, leaving Whitlam and their child behind in Australia. He attempted to reunite with her, but they never saw each other again.

 We had on board a girl pretty well behaved, who was called, by her  acquaintances a daughter of Pitt. She herself never contradicted it. She  bore a most striking likeness to him in every feature, and could scarce  be known from him as to looks. We left her at Port Jackson. Some of our  convicts I have heard even to boast of the crimes and murders committed  by them and their accomplices; but the far greater number were harmless  unfortunate creatures, the victims of the basest seduction.
 
 When we were fairly out at sea, every man on board took a wife from  among the convicts, they nothing loath. The girl with whom I lived, for I  was as bad in this point as the others, was named Sarah Whitelam. She  was a native of Lincoln, a girl of modest reserved turn, as kind and  true a creature as ever lived. I courted her for a week and upwards, and  would have married her upon the spot, had there been a clergy man on  board. She had been banished for a mantle she had borrowed from an  acquaintance. Her friend prosecuted her for stealing it, and she was  transported for seven years. I had fixed my fancy upon her from the  moment I knocked the rivet out of her irons upon my anvil, and as firmly  resolved to bring her back to England, when her time was out, my lawful  wife, as ever I did intend anything in my life. She bore me a son in  our voyage out. What is become of her, whether she is dead or alive, I  know not. That I do not, is no fault of mine, as my narrative will show. 

- Excerpt from The Life and Adventures of John Nicol, Mariner printed in the Spirit of the English Magazines 

Not all partnerships were as affectionate as Nicol and Whitlam’s appears to have been. The lack of privacy for prisoners on convict ships meant that crew members had access to them, and their relations and interactions could be coercive. The age of consent in 18th-century Britain was 10 years old, so some crew members took teenage wives during the voyage.

Some women, like Elizabeth Barnsley — a wealthy and successful shoplifter convicted of theft — used their money and influence to procure better lodging and even to create business opportunities on the ship. Prostitution was not unusual in Georgian England or within the shipping industry, and the Lady Juliana soon became something of a “floating brothel.” Crewmembers and, possibly, some of the ship’s female cargo profited from the sex trade in various ports of call, and money earned from prostitution could in turn be used to gain influence on the ship or upon arrival at Sydney Cove.
Some women, like Elizabeth Barnsley — a wealthy and successful shoplifter convicted of theft — used their money and influence to procure better lodging and even to create business opportunities on the ship. Prostitution was not unusual in Georgian England or within the shipping industry, and the Lady Juliana soon became something of a “floating brothel.” Crewmembers and, possibly, some of the ship’s female cargo profited from the sex trade in various ports of call, and money earned from prostitution could in turn be used to gain influence on the ship or upon arrival at Sydney Cove.

Historian Pamela Horn identified 14-year-old Jane Forbes as one such young wife – she had a baby before reaching Australia.

Colonial Officials Wanted The Women To Prevent Men From Sleeping With Each Other.

 Mary Wade and Jane Whiting were transported on the Lady  Juliana......This day the sessions at the Old Bailey, which began on  Wednesday last, ended, when 18 convicts received sentence of  death......... Of all the criminals who received lenience, those most to  be regretted were two young girls, the eldest only fourteen, the  youngest eleven, in whom the seeds of wickedness had taken such deep  root, as to have rendered them callous to all sense of shame or feeling.  These two artful hussies, Jane Whiting, and Mary Wade, seeing a child  between six and seven years old in the street alone, easily decoyed it  into a privy, under the Treasury wall, where they stripped and then left  it to perish, with cold. Fortunately its cries attracted the notice of  people nearby by, who humanely conducted the child to its friends.. 

(Gentleman's Magazine) 

There was not an even distribution of men and women among the convict-colonists in early British Australia. Of the 759 convicts sent to Australia aboard the First Fleet, 568 were men while only 191 were women. As a result, officials worried about how all those men would find partners – some were concerned that they would turn to one another.

For their part, many of the women convicts experienced a newfound sense of freedom at Sydney Cove. Freed from the strictures of traditional society and class, these women saw their new home as a chance to create a new life for themselves — a life filled with unprecedented opportunities.
For their part, many of the women convicts experienced a newfound sense of freedom at Sydney Cove. Freed from the strictures of traditional society and class, these women saw their new home as a chance to create a new life for themselves — a life filled with unprecedented opportunities.

To correct what 18th-century Britain perceived to be “gross irregularities” in romantic partnerships in Australia, officials begged for more women. The Female Prisoners Were Expected To Civilize The Colony

The women of the Lady Juliana had a particular purpose: Colonial officials hoped that a shipload of women would help civilize the budding convict colony. According to one British official, the increased presence of women would “promote a matrimonial connection to improve morals and secure settlement.”

Mary Talbot was one of the women who was embarked on the Lady Juliana. Mary, with other female prisoners, managed with assistance of their families, to escape from the Lady Juliana while still in port. Mary Talbot was re-captured and eventually transported on the Mary Ann. Another of the escapees Mary Burgess managed to remain at large for 3 years. She had been found guilty of stealing in a dwelling house in October 1787 and received a sentence of death which was afterwards through the Royal mercy pardoned on condition of being transported for 7 years. She was put on board the Lady Juliana and after escaping was spotted by a police runner and apprehended at Christ Church. In her defence she claimed to have been very ill, fell over board, and was taken up by a fisherman. She was recommended to mercy because of her good conduct since and because no wilful escape was proved.
Mary Talbot was one of the women who was embarked on the Lady Juliana. Mary, with other female prisoners, managed with assistance of their families, to escape from the Lady Juliana while still in port. Mary Talbot was re-captured and eventually transported on the Mary Ann. Another of the escapees Mary Burgess managed to remain at large for 3 years. She had been found guilty of stealing in a dwelling house in October 1787 and received a sentence of death which was afterwards through the Royal mercy pardoned on condition of being transported for 7 years. She was put on board the Lady Juliana and after escaping was spotted by a police runner and apprehended at Christ Church. In her defense she claimed to have been very ill, fell over board, and was taken up by a fisherman. She was recommended to mercy because of her good conduct since and because no wilful escape was proved.

They were to marry male colonists, which would supposedly create and maintain respectable family life in the new colony. The women’s prison sentences aimed to transform them into moral vessels that would enable the re-creation of the British family unit abroad.

Most Of The Women Onboard The Ship Had Committed Petty Offenses

The women being transported to New South Wales on the Lady Juliana were prisoners, but their lives were upended for infractions that appear minor in the 21st century. Though some of the women aboard the Lady Juliana might have been ladies of the night, that’s not why they were sent to Australia – harlotry was not a transportable offense. Most of the women on the ship had been arrested and sentenced for various degrees of theft.

Their offenses ranged from highway robbery to shoplifting and pickpocketing. Mary Hook, for example, was around 20 years old when the British court commuted her punishment for stealing her employer’s money and goods from capital punishment to a seven-year sentence in New South Wales.

On the ships to Australia, the prettiest were rumoured to have been shared amongst the military officers. Upon arrival in Australia, the women were lined up like cattle to be selected as servants or wives. If they were not selected, a life of prostitution was their only real hope for survival.
On the ships to Australia, the prettiest were rumored to have been shared amongst the military officers. Upon arrival in Australia, the women were lined up like cattle to be selected as servants or wives. If they were not selected, a life of prostitution was their only real hope for survival.

As the ship prepared to depart, a small group managed to escape. Being sent to the other side of the world may have been preferable to more severe penalties, but it was nonetheless a terrifying experience for many women; some left England with heavy hearts as they were ripped away from friends and family. They worried about their uncertain future on a new continent.

Elizabeth Barnsley Became An Enterprising Madam Aboard The Ship

One of the most notable convicts on the ship was Elizabeth Barnsley. Her offense: stealing some cloth. She quickly became a leader during the voyage. As John Nicol, steward of the Lady Juliana, recalled, “She was very kind to her fellow convicts, who were poor. They were all anxious to serve her. She was as a queen among them.”

Female convicts were a varied bunch. They ranged in age from children to women in old age, but most were in their twenties or thirties. Many were single, but some were married and some were widowed.  A small proportion brought children with them on their journey of transportation.  Most left family behind in their homeland. Some were transported with family members, or family members had come before them, or came after them.
Female convicts were a varied bunch. They ranged in age from children to women in old age, but most were in their twenties or thirties. Many were single, but some were married and some were widowed. A small proportion brought children with them on their journey of transportation. Most left family behind in their homeland. Some were transported with family members, or family members had come before them, or came after them.

Barnsley made the most of her circumstances and turned her position into profits – she was instrumental in overseeing her fellow convicts’ economic activities at every port along the way.

Some Of The Women Might Have Been Sex Workers In England

Though they were not being transported to New South Wales for prostitution, many of the women aboard the Lady Juliana may have been ladies of the night. A robust harlotry economy existed in 18th-century Britain, so it’s reasonable to assume that some of the 200-plus convicts took part.

Many of the crimes for which they were transported are considered minor offences by today's standards. The most common crime was stealing—food, clothing, money, household items—nothing worth more than £5.   Relatively few of the women were transported for a first offence.  A few of the women even courted transportation—deliberately committing crimes such as arson in order to be transported.  Perhaps a few were wrongly accused, but the majority, according to the laws of the day, deserved to be transported to the other side of the world, away from kith and kin.
Many of the crimes for which they were transported are considered minor offenses by today’s standards. The most common crime was stealing—food, clothing, money, household items—nothing worth more than £5. Relatively few of the women were transported for a first offense. A few of the women even courted transportation—deliberately committing crimes such as arson in order to be transported. Perhaps a few were wrongly accused, but the majority, according to the laws of the day, deserved to be transported to the other side of the world, away from kith and kin.

Moreover, many of the passengers’ stories fell into the “fallen woman” trope that had become popular in novels and plays. John Nicol believed many of the women had been seduced at some point in their lives. He wrote about how Sarah Dorset, for example, had “fallen” into a life of alleged folly and sin:

She had not been protected by the villain that ruined her above six  weeks; then she was forced by want upon the streets, and taken up as a  disorderly girl; then sent onboard to be transported.

The Lady Juliana Provided Better Living Conditions Than Other Convict Ships And British Prisons.

The women aboard the Lady Juliana came from British prisons. Though a prison reform movement began to grow in the late 18th century, the prison conditions they escaped were deplorable. Prisons were overcrowded, and diseases spread swiftly.

It was still a prison ship, and most of the passenger-convicts slept just above the ship’s garbage and sewage deck. But the women of the Lady Juliana had something that their land-imprisoned counterparts didn’t: consistent access to medical care. The ship had a surgeon and was kept relatively clean.

The meagre number of convict women brought with the First Fleet were ravaged by the men on their first night on land, Aboriginal women were sexually assaulted and soon one of the youngest colonists, an eight year old girl was raped by a marine. To save it from moral collapse, the settlement was in dire need of rescue.  Help would come from the most unlikely quarter. Welcome to the startling, shocking and stinking world of Georgian London! Meet some of the motley collection of street-girls, bagsnatchers and con-women who are plying their trade and turning their tricks… Rachel Hoddy is a mischievous prostitute who drags men back to her home not just to relieve them of their money ...but also their clothes. Little Mary Wade, an eleven-year-old street urchin, is hardly the picture of innocence either. Ann Mash has been convicted for stealing just a bushel of wheat. And finally, there's the doyenne of the London crime scene, Mrs. Elizabeth Barnsley.
The meagre number of convict women brought with the First Fleet were ravaged by the men on their first night on land, Aboriginal women were sexually assaulted and soon one of the youngest colonists, an eight year old girl was raped by a marine. To save it from moral collapse, the settlement was in dire need of rescue. Help would come from the most unlikely quarter. Welcome to the startling, shocking and stinking world of Georgian London! Meet some of the motley collection of street-girls, bagsnatchers and con-women who are plying their trade and turning their tricks… Rachel Hoddy is a mischievous prostitute who drags men back to her home not just to relieve them of their money …but also their clothes. Little Mary Wade, an eleven-year-old street urchin, is hardly the picture of innocence either. Ann Mash has been convicted for stealing just a bushel of wheat. And finally, there’s the doyenne of the London crime scene, Mrs. Elizabeth Barnsley.

Also, the women weren’t chained up like prisoners on other convict ships, and they could barter for improved conditions through various favors. John Nicol credited the ship’s captain with being “a humane man” who “did all in his power to make the convicts as comfortable as their circumstances would allow.”

Part of the reason the passengers on the Lady Juliana enjoyed better conditions was because the British government oversaw it, unlike the other ships in the Second Fleet. All the other vessels were operated by Camden, Calvert, and King, a notorious and prolific slave trading company. Only five women perished aboard the Lady Juliana, compared to the 267 deaths reported by the other ships.

About 1 In 5 Of The Passengers Was A Teenager

The vast majority of the women who embarked on the Lady Juliana were in their 20s and 30s. But no fewer than 51 of them – or around 22% – were teenagers. Mary Wade was one of these. Though scholars debate her exact age – recent research says she was 13, while earlier records show she was only 11 – she was the youngest convict on the ship.

Incarcerated for their ‘crimes’ and reprieved from death sentences these women are swept up in a government plot to rescue the starving colony at Sydney Cove. But these women will never be at the mercy of the bigwigs of the British Empire.  Aboard The Lady Juliana, they criss-cross the oceans and at each port of call the women show they have quite a head for enterprise. Turning the boardwalks into catwalks they convert the ship into a floating brothel, the sure means to feeding themselves and staying alive. These women are survivors and doing business is in their blood. Sydney Cove will get more than it bargained for when this lot arrive.  This is the rip-roaring tale of a boat-load of women who sailed to the ends of the earth to breath life into a dying colony. But together they would give Sydney and the nation of Australia something much more – a future.  As their descendents discover the story by unearthing diaries, court records and documents they begin to draw parallels with their own twenty-first century lives, and discover they have inherited more than just their genes - but also the incredible entrepreneurial spirit of their forebears.
Incarcerated for their ‘crimes’ and reprieved from death sentences these women are swept up in a government plot to rescue the starving colony at Sydney Cove. But these women will never be at the mercy of the bigwigs of the British Empire. Aboard The Lady Juliana, they criss-cross the oceans and at each port of call the women show they have quite a head for enterprise. Turning the boardwalks into catwalks they convert the ship into a floating brothel, the sure means to feeding themselves and staying alive. These women are survivors and doing business is in their blood. Sydney Cove will get more than it bargained for when this lot arrive. This is the rip-roaring tale of a boat-load of women who sailed to the ends of the earth to breath life into a dying colony. But together they would give Sydney and the nation of Australia something much more – a future. As their descendents discover the story by unearthing diaries, court records and documents they begin to draw parallels with their own twenty-first century lives, and discover they have inherited more than just their genes – but also the incredible entrepreneurial spirit of their forebears.

Like many of her shipmates, Wade ultimately married and had a large number of children in Australia.

Drunkenness Was The Biggest Disciplinary Problem On The Ship

Though it took the Lady Juliana nearly 11 months to reach Australia, there were relatively few disciplinary problems among the convicts on the ship. One notable issue did arise involving drunkenness leading to disorderly behavior.

To curb her so-called “rowdiness,” crew members made passenger Nance Ferrel wear a repurposed wooden barrel “jacket.” When that didn’t work, they resorted to flogging her 12 times.

On arrival, female convicts were sent directly to the Female Factory. Many only remained a day or so before they were assigned to settlers to work as domestic servants, and many were married soon after arrival. Any man wanting to marry one of the women could apply to the authorities for permission to do so. The women were then lined up at the Factory and the man would drop a scarf or handkerchief at the feet of the woman of his choice. If she picked it up, the marriage was virtually immediate.
On arrival, female convicts were sent directly to the Female Factory. Many only remained a day or so before they were assigned to settlers to work as domestic servants, and many were married soon after arrival. Any man wanting to marry one of the women could apply to the authorities for permission to do so. The women were then lined up at the Factory and the man would drop a scarf or handkerchief at the feet of the woman of his choice. If she picked it up, the marriage was virtually immediate.

Many Colonists Were Annoyed When The Ship Arrived Carrying Women Instead Of Provisions

The First Fleet of convict-colonists arrived in 1788. So by the time the Lady Juliana sailed into Sydney in June 1790, the people already there were desperate to replenish their severely dwindled supplies. Many of them were disappointed to learn the Lady Juliana was a ship carrying people, not goods. One government official grumbled that the Lady Juliana carried “a cargo so unnecessary and so unprofitable as 222 females, instead of a cargo of provisions.”

Although some convict women were classed as depraved and prostitutes, others had been in domestic service in England and were transported for stealing from their employers or shops. After arrival, though, many had to take up prostitution to survive; and the system of selection of servants often meant that the gentry and officers would choose the young and the pretty amongst the women convicts.
Although some convict women were classed as depraved and prostitutes, others had been in domestic service in England and were transported for stealing from their employers or shops. After arrival, though, many had to take up prostitution to survive; and the system of selection of servants often meant that the gentry and officers would choose the young and the pretty amongst the women convicts.

Though the ship didn’t bring much in the way of food and goods, it did bring long-awaited news from home, such as dispatches that first alerted the colonists in Australia to the French Revolution that had erupted in 1789.

The Women On The Ship Had To Wear Convict Dresses

As prisoners, the women going to Australia on the Lady Juliana were expected to wear convict dresses. At least one fashionable prisoner protested this. According to the ship’s steward, Elizabeth Barnsley actually “petitioned the government agent and captain to be allowed to wear her own clothes” while the ship prepared to sail. Her request was denied, but the crew allowed her to wear whatever she wanted once the boat went to sea.

"Whore" and "prostitute", in England during the Georgian era, were bandied about to serve the moral views of middle-class ideology. However, in the lower classes neither the male nor the female convicts thought it disgraceful, or even wrong, to live together out of wedlock. The sexism of English society was brought to Australia and then amplified by penal conditions. A convict woman needed unusual strength of character not to be crushed by its assumptions. Language itself confirmed her degradation, and some sense of this may be gleaned from the slang and cant words applied to women in those times—a brusque, stinging argot of appropriation and dismissal.
“Whore” and “prostitute”, in England during the Georgian era, were bandied about to serve the moral views of middle-class ideology. However, in the lower classes neither the male nor the female convicts thought it disgraceful, or even wrong, to live together out of wedlock. The sexism of English society was brought to Australia and then amplified by penal conditions. A convict woman needed unusual strength of character not to be crushed by its assumptions. Language itself confirmed her degradation, and some sense of this may be gleaned from the slang and cant words applied to women in those times—a brusque, stinging argot of appropriation and dismissal.

Since the convicts all wore issued dresses, the ship’s captain had the right to dispose of all the passengers’ clothing – but he didn’t, and instead held it for them. He reasoned that the garments “would be of use to the poor creatures when they arrived at Port Jackson.

Some Of The Women Brought Their Children, And Others Gave Birth On The Way

Some of the women aboard the Lady Juliana were already mothers before the ship departed England, and so they brought their children with them. Many of the convict-passengers became pregnant and even gave birth during the long voyage.

A woman was a bat, a crack, a buntel, a case for cattle, a mort, a burick, or a convenient. If she had a regular man, she was his natural or peculiar. If married, she was an autem mott; if blonde, a bleached mott; if a very young prostitute, almost a child, a kinchin mott; if beautiful, a rum blowen, a ewe, a flash piece of mutton. If she had gonorrhea, she was a queer mott. This language was the lower millstone; the upper was the pompous moral phraseology of the establishment, the good flogging Christians. The double-bind to which they were condemned was piercingly illustrated by the remark of one Scottish settler, Peter Murdoch—who had more than 6,000 acres in Van Diemen's Land and had helped set up the penal station on Maria Island—to the 1838 Select Committee in London: "They are generally so bad," he said, "that the settlers have no heart to treat them well."
A woman was a bat, a crack, a buntel, a case for cattle, a mort, a burick, or a convenient. If she had a regular man, she was his natural or peculiar. If married, she was an autem mott; if blonde, a bleached mott; if a very young prostitute, almost a child, a kinchin mott; if beautiful, a rum blowen, a ewe, a flash piece of mutton. If she had gonorrhea, she was a queer mott. This language was the lower millstone; the upper was the pompous moral phraseology of the establishment, the good flogging Christians. The double-bind to which they were condemned was piercingly illustrated by the remark of one Scottish settler, Peter Murdoch—who had more than 6,000 acres in Van Diemen’s Land and had helped set up the penal station on Maria Island—to the 1838 Select Committee in London: “They are generally so bad,” he said, “that the settlers have no heart to treat them well.”

Historians generally believe five to seven babies were born on the ship, but steward John Nicol suggested no less than 20 had been born while the ship was in port at Rio. They were prepared for the births – the ship had received a small donation of baby linens before leaving England.

Life In Australia Brought New Freedoms And Opportunities For Some Of The Passengers

Unlike other convicts on prison ships, the women aboard the Lady Juliana were not chained together. They were even allowed to move freely around the boat.

And once they arrived in New South Wales, they quickly discovered they could enjoy new freedoms there that they couldn’t in England, even though they were prisoners with few rights who were put in difficult and often dangerous positions.

Instead of iron gangs, troublesome and hardened female prisoners were retained at the female factory. The first such factory was built at Parramatta in 1804 and initially consisted of a single long room with a fireplace at one end for the women to cook. Women and girls made rope and spun and carded wool. At night they slept on the piles of unspun wool.
Instead of iron gangs, troublesome and hardened female prisoners were retained at the female factory. The first such factory was built at Parramatta in 1804 and initially consisted of a single long room with a fireplace at one end for the women to cook. Women and girls made rope and spun and carded wool. At night they slept on the piles of unspun wool.

Women arriving in Australia were free from certain British moral codes, even while colonial officials expected them to be vessels of morality. English laws that marked children of unwed mothers as illegitimate, for example, were not enforced.

 The rituals of  courtship on Norfolk Island  were, to put it mildly, brusque. We see the  "bright intelligent" Kimberley pursuing a  married convict woman named  Mary Ginders with an axe, shouting that "if she did not come  and live  with him he would report her to the Major and have her placed in the   cells." Major Foveaux got the woman of his choice, Ann Sherwin, away  from  one of his subordinate officers by throwing him in jail on a  trumped-up charge  "so that," claimed the Irish rebel leader Joseph  Holt, a Norfolk  prisoner at the time, "the poor fellow, seeing the  danger he was in,  thought it better to save his life, and lose his  wife, than to lose both". At least their union lasted: Foveaux married  Ann Sherwin in England in 1815.
                 
In  such a moral environment, although male convicts had some rights,  however  attenuated, the women had none except the right to be fed; they  had to fend for  themselves against both guards and male prisoners.  "England for white slaves, why were they sent  here," Jones scribbled in  one of his outbursts of delayed guilt, while  reflecting on the fate of  three women sent to Norfolk   Island for the "crime" of abortion, for  crimes that required pity more than punishment. "Heaven  forbid England   if that is her way of populating her hellholes. What would our noble  persons  think of our virgin settlements and their white slaves. In  every case the women  treated as slaves, good stock to trade with and a  convict having the good chance to possess one  did not want much  encouragement to do so." 

-Convict Women

The women of the Lady Juliana were also fortunate in that they avoided the fate that awaited future generations of convict women bound for Australia – the notoriously brutal Parramatta Female Factory didn’t open until 1821, well after their sentences ended.

Life was quite difficult for convict women. Most were sentenced in England for minor crimes such as pickpocketing or theft. As punishment, not only were they exported from their country, many were forced to endure of a life of sexual exploitation. On the ships to Australia, the prettiest were rumoured to have been shared amongst the military officers. Upon arrival in Australia, the women were lined up like cattle to be selected as servants or wives. If they were not selected, a life of prostitution was their only real hope for survival.
Life was quite difficult for convict women. Most were sentenced in England for minor crimes such as pickpocketing or theft. As punishment, not only were they exported from their country, many were forced to endure of a life of sexual exploitation. On the ships to Australia, the prettiest were rumoured to have been shared amongst the military officers. Upon arrival in Australia, the women were lined up like cattle to be selected as servants or wives. If they were not selected, a life of prostitution was their only real hope for survival.

Though being transported to a new colony to get married and propagate British family life was no doubt daunting, many women made the most of their circumstances in Australia.

 Because the women  carried a very negative stigma, morals crusaders often tried to educate  them regarding the folly of their ways. Women who simply stood in an  "immoral pose" risked having their heads shaved and being forced to wear  a collar around their neck as a mark of disgrace. The most difficult  women were sent to female factories, which were essentially forced  labour camps. Here they continued to be educated about the virtues of  morality.
                 
At  the Cascades Female Factory in 1838, the moralising became too much for  the women and they decided to make a point. The governor of Van  Diemen's Land visited the factory and attended a service in the chapel.  Entertaining the governor was the Reverend William Bedford, a morals  campaigner whose hypocrisy had elicited the ladies' scorn. Keen to  impress the governor with a fine speech, Bedford addressed the women  from an elevated dais and then: "The three hundred women turned right  around and at one impulse pulled up their clothes showing their naked  posteriors which they simultaneously smacked with their hands making a  loud and not very musical noise. This was the work of a moment, and  although constables, warders etc. were there in plenty, yet 300 women  could not well be all arrested and tried for such an offence and when  all did the same act the ringleaders could not be picked out."
                 
This  cheeky behaviour "horrified and astounded" the governor and the male  members of the party. As for the ladies in the governor's party, it was  said, in a rare moment of collusion with the convict women, "could not  control their laughter". 

 
-Convict Women 

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the Australian colonies were societies on the rise – and they created new opportunities. Some Lady Juliana passengers became upwardly mobile once their prison terms ended.

The Lady Juliana was the first convict ship to carry women. It had been "opened" on the ports on the way to Australia and had thus become known as "the floating brothel." It arrived in Port Jackson in 1790. As the women were disembarked, a drunken orgy broke out. Sailors and convicts were in and around the women's tents, some queuing for sex, others making love with women they had forged attachments with on the voyage. Perhaps the women were willing parties in the orgy, but if they weren’t, they probably didn’t have much choice other than to go along. Either way, the convict women became regarded as depraved and immoral. One witness to the orgy wrote, "The women, cooped up on the voyage and for another 10 hot and intolerable days outside Sydney Cove, had not too many chaste figures among them."
The Lady Juliana was the first convict ship to carry women. It had been “opened” on the ports on the way to Australia and had thus become known as “the floating brothel.” It arrived in Port Jackson in 1790. As the women were disembarked, a drunken orgy broke out. Sailors and convicts were in and around the women’s tents, some queuing for sex, others making love with women they had forged attachments with on the voyage. Perhaps the women were willing parties in the orgy, but if they weren’t, they probably didn’t have much choice other than to go along. Either way, the convict women became regarded as depraved and immoral. One witness to the orgy wrote, “The women, cooped up on the voyage and for another 10 hot and intolerable days outside Sydney Cove, had not too many chaste figures among them.”

While some returned to England, others remained in Australia to make their fortune. Ann Marsh, for one, found success after being abandoned by her ship husband. She started and ran a variety of businesses, including a liquor shop and a ferry company. These women had a lasting impact on the land, becoming the so-called “founding mothers of Australia.”

 On another  occasion, Reverend Bedford was crossing the courtyard of the Female  House of Correction, when "some dozen or twenty women seized upon him,  took off his trousers and deliberately endeavoured to deprive him of his  manhood. They were, however, unable to effect their purpose in  consequence of the opportune arrival of a few constables who seized the  fair ladies and placed them in durance vile."
                 
The  brutalization of women in the colony had gone on so long that it was   virtually a social reflex by the end of the 1830s. The first full  account of it was given by Robert Jones, Major Foveaux's chief jailer on  Norfolk Island in the early 1800's, who thought the lot  of the women  prisoners there "must surely have been greater than the male   convicts.... Several have not recovered yet from their treatment at the  hands  of the Major." Passages in Jones's memoir show how absolute the  chattel  status of women was. "Ted Kimberley chief constable considered  the  convicts of Norfolk Island no better than  heathens unfit to grace  the earth. Women were in his estimation born for the  convenience of  men. He was a bright intelligent Irishman." Jones's  sentiments are  echoed in a fragmentary letter from a free settler on Norfolk Island, an  ex-missionary turned trader named  James Mitchell. "Surely no common  mortal could demand treatment so  brutal," he wrote around 1815. "Heaven  give their weary footsteps  their aching hearts to a better place of  rest for here there is none. During  governorship of Major Foveaux  convicts both male and female were held as  slaves. Poor female convicts  were treated shamefully. Governor King being  mainly responsible." 

 -Convict Women  

A new start

The hardships endured by the women appeared to build a strong sense of female solidarity. The women sang songs, which were often labelled “very disgusting”. When matrons tried to separate agitators from the group, the entire group would sometimes chant “we are all alike, we are all alike.”

Not only did the actions protect individual women, they also made convict life a bit more bearable.

The True Colonist reported in 1837 that while the “horrors of the crime class” had shocked the inhabitants of Van Diemen’s Land, what was more disagreeable to evangelical moral sensibilities was the fact that many women prefer this class to the others, because it is more lively!

There is more fun there than in the others; and we have been informed, that some of the most sprightly of the ladies divert their companions by acting plays!”

As is often the case, out of something bad came something good.

The hardships endured by the convict women seemed to build an ethic to alleviate the hardships in others. Successful convict women such as Molly Morgan never forgot their own hardships earlier in life, and donated freely to establish schools, hospitals and even churches.

Free immigrants like Caroline Chisholm also decided to do something about the suffering they saw around them. She took some women into her house and traveled the colony to find employment for others.

Within two years she had found employment and accommodation for over a thousand women and girls. She then went on to found the Family Colonization Loan Society to help break the cycle of dependence and poverty.

Chisolm’s compassion always came with strings attached.

In her hostels, she employed a tough love approach in which she made it clear that guests should never get too comfortable because they should be out looking for a job.

Mother Mary McKillop was another whose compassion probably flowed from seeing the horrors of the day. Mary took a vow of personal poverty and always shared the hardships of the people she was trying to help.

She was able to personally survive largely because people helped her as well. A society that started off as one in which everyone looked out for themselves, evolved into one in which people started looking out for others.

A society that started off as one in which everyone looked out for themselves, evolved into one in which people started looking out for others.

America, take note.

Posts Regarding Life and Contentment

Here are some other similar posts on this venue. If you enjoyed this post, you might like these posts as well. These posts tend to discuss growing up in America. Often, I like to compare my life in America with the society within communist China. As there are some really stark differences between the two.

Mongolian Women under Genghis Khan
What is going on in Hollywood?
Why no High-Speed rail in the USA?
Link
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End of the Day Potato
Dog Shit
Tomatos
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Mad scientist
The Navy is scrapping the F/A-18 Hornet.
Gorilla Cage in the basement
The two family types and how they work.
How to manage a family household.
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The most popular American foods.
Soups, Sandwiches and ice cold beer.
Pleasures
Work in the 1960's
School in the 1970s
Cat Heaven
Corporate life
Corporate life - part 2
Build up your life
Grow and play - 1
Grow and play - 2
Baby's got back
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A womanly vanity
Army and Navy Store
Playground Comparisons
Excuses that we use that keep us enslaved.

More Posts about Life

I have broken apart some other posts. They can best be classified about ones actions as they contribute to happiness and life. They are a little different, in subtle ways.

Being older
Things I wish I knew.
Asian Nazi Chic
Link
Travel
PT-141
Bronco Billy
How they get away with it
Paper Airplanes
Snopes
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1960's and 1970's link
The Confederados
Democracy Lessons
The Rule of Eight

Funny Pictures

Picture Dump 1

Be the Rufus – Tales of Everyday Heroism.

Be the Rufus - 1
Be the Rufus, part II. More tales of heroism.

Articles & Links

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