Free Wives of Convicts and Land Ownership in Early Colonial New South Wales

Abstract

<p>This article the free wives of convicts occupied a unique position in New South Wales who were able to become landholders because their husbands' legal standing as felons suspended their wives' legal disabilities. This article focusses on the period 1790 to 1814, exploring how this particular group of women was able to exercise their legal agency to acquire and retain land. The article concludes by considering how free women's access to land ownership declined from the mid-1810s and how this served to further differentiate free wives of convicts from those married to free men. In exploring the relationship between free wives of convicts and land possession, this article sheds light on a historically marginalised group of women.</p>