Female convict labour and absconding rates in colonial Australia

Abstract

In early 1837 Mr Jones residing in Erskine Street, Sydney, discovered that two of his female convicts were missing. As he later related in court, Jones suspected that Mary Ann Mansfield and Mary Smith had gone, or intended to go, to the nearby settlement of Parramatta—a short trip away by water. Anxious to intercept his absconding servants Jones hastened down to the quay where he boarded the <i>Experiment</i> steamer — a vessel that made regular trips to Parramatta as well as occasional pleasure cruises on Middle Harbour. There he discovered the two women 'comfortably seated' and 'fashionably attired' in the cabin. Having clapped eyes on his absconding felon servants, Jones placed them in the custody of a constable. They were subsequently charged and each sentenced to two-months hard labour in the female House of Correction (an institution that was, ironically, located in Parramatta).