Elizabeth Allen - Transported for Ten Years - The Price of a Shawl
Elizabeth Allen was transported to Van Diemen’s Land aboard the Margaret in 1843
On 12 October 1842, at the age of 20 years, Elizabeth was found guilty of housebreaking at the Warwickshire, Birmingham Borough Quarter Sessions. She was sentenced to 10 years and transportation. Elizabeth had, on 6 October 1842, broken into the house of Michael Kelly in Great Hampton Street, Birmingham and stolen a shawl and other articles. In deciding on this sentence of 10 years, Elizabeth’s previous offence of Larceny was taken into account.
Six months earlier, on 22 April 18421, Elizabeth had stolen a brooch and some earrings from Ann Rock and a shawl belonging to Ann Luckman. She had been convicted of this offence, in Birmingham, on 20 May 1842 and had been sentenced to three months hard labour.
Both events were reported in the local newspapers2. Some of the newspaper reports can be found in my family history archive.
So it was that, on 24 December 1842, Elizabeth was sent to London to await transportation to the Australian Colony of Van Diemen’s Land (now Tasmania3).
Elizabeth left London on the prison ship, the Margaret, on 5 February 1843, arriving in Hobart on 19 July 1843. The ship left London with 156 female prisoners, 4 of whom died during the voyage4.
About Elizabeth Allen
Elizabeth was baptised on 29 September 1822 at St Peter, Harborne, Birmingham, Warwickshire (then Staffordshire), England, the daughter of Isaac Allen and Ann. Her father Isaac is listed on her baptism as a Labourer5:
Elizabeth was probably born in 1822 not long before she was baptised. In early convict records in 1843, she is variously described as 206 and 197 years old; 20 being the more realistic age given her date of baptism.
It is likely that her parents, Isaac and Ann, were Isaac Allen (1792 - 1858) and Ann Phillis [Gealey] Allen (1791 - 1842). This fits with the information Elizabeth provided aboard the Margaret, as recorded in the Indent records8. She said that her father, Isaac was at Churchill (Worcestershire) and that she had two brothers Josiah and William and a sister Mary Ann who were with her father. No mother was mentioned which suggests that her mother was deceased. Ann Phillis [Gealey] Allen had died in Churchill in 18429:
'F [Father]Isaac at Churchill 2B [2 Brothers] Josiah and W'm 1 S [Sister] Mary Ann with my father. 9 Mo [months] on the town'
Isaac and Ann Phillis [Gealey] Allen had a number of children including Josiah and Mary Ann. It isn’t entirely clear how William fits in though. Given the timeline of Ann’s death in 1842 and Elizabeth’s reporting of information in 1843, it is likely that William was born in 1842 or before, but I have yet to find him.
In the convict records, Elizabeth’s native place is described as Birmingham10 11 where she was born and baptised. She may have later moved with her family to Churchill in Worcestershire where her mother died. She was living in Birmingham at the time of her offences. It appears that she had been living there for 9 months prior to her arrest12. Churchill is about 30 miles (48km) from Birmingham.
There are a number of other things we can learn about Elizabeth from the Convict Indent records (made on the ship’s voyage) and the Convict Description List (made on arrival)13 14. Together, these records tell us that Elizabeth was a house servant and needlewoman. Her religion was Church of England and, at the time of her arrival in Tasmania, she was unmarried with no children and could read but could not write. She was five foot, two and one quarter inches tall with a fair complexion, round head, light brown hair, long visage, medium high forehead, light brown eyebrows, hazel eyes, medium large nose, medium wide mouth and long chin. She had E.A. on her left arm, presumably tatooed.
Aboard the Margaret
Aboard the ship, the female convicts were under the charge of the Ship’s Surgeon. How he reported their behaviour aboard the ship made a difference to how they were classified on arrival. This in turn influenced what sort of work they were required to do (see below). Elizabeth’s behaviour was classified as ‘Fair’[24] [25].
Elizabeth’s voyage aboard the Margaret was not a pleasant one. According to the report of Surgeon B. McAvoy:
‘The passage to the Cape of Good Hope was long & protracted the wind unfavourable added to the wet & leaky state of the Ship made it anything but comfortable’15.
He himself was not well on the voyage. In the Surgeon’s Journal kept by him, he reported that his own indisposition prevented him from fully filling in his journal although he had included the most prominent diseases that occurred. He further added that, in those cases in which people died, he regretted that he was not able to pay them the attention required:
‘They were aggravated if not called into action by the wet and leaky state of the Ship’ …16
Of the four women who died during the first part of the voyage, one died of ‘Rheumatismus’ which Surgeon McAvoy, believed was a metastasis to the heart and three died of ‘Phthisis cosfirmata’ which was, in his view, already fully developed before they left England17.
Elizabeth is mentioned once on the Margaret's Sick List within Surgeon McAvoy’s Journal:
Put on Sick List 12 March (1843) Eliza. Allen age 20 Catarrh. Put off Sick List 14 March (1843) Sent out of Hospital18 19.
From Simons Bay (South Africa) onwards, John Arnold Mould took over as Ship’s Surgeon aboard the Margaret. On arrival in Hobart, Surgeon Mould reported that of the 152 convicts on board when he took charge, 'all had been landed at Hobart'. The only death he talked about in his Surgeon’s Report was that of a child who had been born on board20.
There were a number of children on board the ship. It was not unusual for female convicts to take their children with them; for some there was no other option. Nor was it uncommon for children to be born aboard a female convict ship. On arrival, convicts’ children who had been weaned were generally sent to the orphanage once convict passengers were allowed to disembark. Several of the children on the Margaret are known to have arrived at the orphanage on 27 July 184321.
Cascades Female Factory
Upon arrival in Tasmania in July 1843, Elizabeth (police number 171), was relocated from the Margaret to the Cascades Female Factory22 in South Hobart23.
Much of what follows, unless otherwise referenced, has been drawn from: 'Life in the Cascades Female Factory' via the Cascades Female Factory Historic Site24
From 1828 to 1856, approximately 7,000 female convicts spent time at the Cascade’s Female Factory. At the time, women were classified into 3 distinct classes on the basis of their behaviour; each class being segregated from the others. In this way, those who were well-behaved and capable of reform could be kept separate from those who were considered the worst of offenders. The female convicts were moved up and down classes depending on their behaviour. The class assigned to a woman determined the sort of work she was required to do and where she would be required to do it.
Women classified as 1st class (the ‘Assignable’ class) were the best-behaved convicts who were considered to be more trustworthy than the rest. Prior to 1844, 1st class convicts were able to be assigned outside the institution for work with a settler master or mistress. From 1844 onwards, they could be hired by a settler master or mistress as a probation pass holder25. These women were employed in positions such as cooks, task overseers and hospital attendants.
Women recently arrived from England were deemed to be 1st class on arrival if they had shown good behaviour on their journey, as reported by the surgeon on-board. Also in 1st class were those women returning from service with good character and those who had successfully completed a period of probation in 2nd class. Only 1st class female convicts were allowed to go out of the institution to work.
Women classified as 2nd class (the ‘Probation’ Class) were those who had been guilty of minor offences and those who had been in 3rd class and whose conduct had improved enough to enable their move up to 2nd class. They were required to spend an appropriate time in probation to prove themselves worthy of moving up a class before they could move to 1st class. Their work was less arduous than that apportioned to 3rd class convicts. They were employed in making clothes for the establishment and preparing and mending linen.
Women classified as 3rd class (the ‘Crime’ class) were considered to be the most incorrigible and least trustworthy of all the female convicts. Some were guilty of misconduct on their journey to the Colony or, after their arrival. Some were convicts who had been sentenced to 3rd class by a magistrate or by the Supreme Court. Some were women who had been transported for a second time. These women spent long hours working. Punishments could include a period on bread and water in solitary confinement or hard labour.
Women in solitary confinement, did plain needlework or were required to pick oakum. Picking oakum involved working with old tarred and oiled ropes, which were cut into two foot lengths, and beaten with a mallet to remove the tar.
Those sentenced to hard labour were 'sentenced to the wash tub'. They did all the heavy duty washing for the Female Factory and other institutions such as the orphan school26, military barracks and hospital.
Sometimes 3rd class women also carded and spun wool27. These women would be punished for the smallest of transgressions. However, if they stayed out of trouble and demonstrated good behaviour, they could move up to 2nd class after serving a portion of their sentence.
It appears that Elizabeth may initially have been assigned to 1st class. However, this did not last long. Elizabeth’s Conduct record shows that, on 7 November 1843, about 4 months after arriving, she was returned to the Female Factory by Magistrate Moses for misconduct and assigned to 3rd class28.
Images of convict records associated with Elizabeth can be found in my family history archive29.
The ’Betsey Douglas’ Mystery
There is an entry on Elizabeth’s Conduct record after she arrived in Australia that is a bit of a mystery. It has led some researchers to conclude that Elizabeth used an alias ‘Betsey Douglas’. However, the timing of the event described suggests that it is likely referring to a different person and, therefore, has been added to Elizabeth’s record in error. The statement reads:
'Longford 28/9/82 (or 62?) as Betsey Douglas Idle and Disorderly 1 month H L (Hard Labour)'30
This could not be a reference to our Elizabeth. The mention of 'Longford' is probably a reference to the northern Tasmanian town of Longford. There is no record of Elizabeth ever going there and, as you will find out in part three of this series, Elizabeth had left Tasmania by about 1850/1851. She would not have been in Tasmania at the time mentioned.
There was at least one other Elizabeth Allen transported to Van Diemen’s Land during the 1800’s. She was Elizabeth Allen transported in 1836 aboard the Arab II. That Elizabeth was known to use the alias’ Brown and Carter31
Elizabeth Meets George
Elizabeth must have worked her way up the classes again after being assigned to 3rd class in November 1843 because she was presumably in 1st class and working outside the institution when she met George White.
George was also a convict and, like Elizabeth, he came from Birmingham in Warwickshire. Their request for official permission to marry was approved by the Colonial Secretary on 22 March 184532.
It appears that Elizabeth still had not fully settled down because on 10 December 1847, she was admonished by Magistrate Rice for being drunk33.
You can read about George White here:
You can read about George and Elizabeth’s life together here:
The post draws on information from my family history archive on the weare.xyz platform.
Date from Birmingham Quarter Session Records via 'Woman of My Convictions' by Geneageek, posted 24 February 2009. Accessed 23 January 2023 - https://geneageek.com/woman-of-my-convictions/
Newspaper articles relating to Elizabeth Allen - all accessed on 23 January 2023 via FindMyPast [Website], include:
Birmingham Journal' 14 May 1842, p.7, column 1
‘Aris’s Birmingham Gazette' 23 May 1842, p.2
'Birmingham Journal' 28 May 1842, p.5
‘Aris’s Birmingham Gazette' 24 October 1842, p.3
‘Birmingham Journal' 29 October 1842, p.3
Van Diemen's Land was the original name of the island of Tasmania. In 1803, the island was settled by the British as a penal colony and became part of the British colony of New South Wales. In 1824, Van Diemen's Land became an independent colony and in 1856 was renamed by the British as Tasmania. See: Van Diemen’s Land via Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11 Jan. 2022 [Website]. Accessed 28 February 2022 - https://www.britannica.com/place/Van-Diemens-Land
'Convict Records' - 'Indents' CON15-1-2 - Image 139 via Libraries Tasmania [Website]. Accessed 23 January 2023 - https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON15-1-2$init=CON15-1-2P139
Library of Birmingham; Birmingham, England; 'Birmingham Church of England Parish Registers'; Reference Number: DRO 61; Archive Roll: 550 via Ancestry.com. 'Birmingham, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1919' [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2013. Accessed 24 January 2023
'Convict Records' - 'Indents' CON15-1-2 Image 140 via Libraries Tasmania [Website]. Accessed 23 January 2023 - https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON15-1-2$init=CON15-1-2P140
'Convict Records' - 'Description List' CON19-1-2 Image 98 via Libraries Tasmania [Website]. Accessed 23 January 2023 - https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON19-1-2$init=CON19-1-2P98
'Convict Records' - 'Indents' CON15-1-2 - Image 141 via Libraries Tasmania [Website]. Accessed 23 January 2023 - https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON15-1-2$init=CON15-1-2P141
Ann’s death was registered in the 2nd quarter of 1842 in the district of Kidderminster - Volume: 18 Page: 291 - General Register Office. England and Wales 'Civil Registration Indexes'. London, England: General Register Office via FreeBMD. 'England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837-1915' [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2006. Accessed 19 March 2022
'Convict Records' - 'Description List' CON19-1-2 Image 98 via Libraries Tasmania [Website]. Accessed 23 January 2023 - https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON19-1-2$init=CON19-1-2P98
'Convict Records' - 'Indents' CON15-1-2 Image 140 via Libraries Tasmania [Website]. Accessed 23 January 2023 - https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON15-1-2$init=CON15-1-2P140
As referred to earlier in the article, convict records say she had been ‘9 months on the town’. This suggests she had been in Birmingham for 9 months prior to her arrest - 'Convict Records' - 'Indents' CON15-1-2 - Image 141 via Libraries Tasmania [Website]. Accessed 23 January 2023 - https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON15-1-2$init=CON15-1-2P141
'Convict Records' - 'Description List' CON19-1-2 Image 98 via Libraries Tasmania [Website]. Accessed 23 January 2023 - https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON19-1-2$init=CON19-1-2P98
'Convict Records' - 'Indents' CON15-1-2 -
Image 140 via Libraries Tasmania [Website]. Accessed 23 January 2023 - https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON15-1-2$init=CON15-1-2P140
Image 141 via Libraries Tasmania [Website]. Accessed 23 January 2023 - https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON15-1-2$init=CON15-1-2P141
'Convict Ships' – 'Margaret' - Transcript of Surgeon McAvoy's Surgeon's Journal – via Female Convicts Research Centre, Inc [Website]. Accessed 22 March 2022 - https://www.femaleconvicts.org.au/index.php/convict-ships/convict-ship-records#ListOfShips
'Convict Ships' – 'Margaret' - Transcript of Surgeon McAvoy's Surgeon's Journal - See footnote 15.
'Convict Ships' – 'Margaret' - Transcript of Surgeon McAvoy's Surgeon's Journal - See footnote 15.
'Convict Ships' – 'Margaret' - Transcript of Surgeon McAvoy's Surgeon's Journal. See footnote 15.
See also: ADM 101/48/7/2 – National Archives, Kew – Catalogue Description. Accessed 23 January 2023 - https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/record?catid=-6015831&catln=7
]'Convict Ships' – 'Margaret' - Transcript of Surgeon Mould’s Surgeon's Journal – via Female Convicts Research Centre, Inc [Website]. Accessed 23 January 2023 - https://www.femaleconvicts.org.au/index.php/convict-ships/convict-ship-records#ListOfShips
Westernick, Jan (2019) 'The Women who had Children on the Margaret 1842-1843' via Female Convicts Research Centre, Inc [Website]. Accessed 23 January 2023 - https://www.femaleconvicts.org.au/docs2/ships/Children_on_the_Margaret_1842-1843.pdf
'Female Convicts in VDL Database' via Female Convicts Research Centre Inc. [Website]. Accessed 21 March 2022 - https://www.femaleconvicts.org.au/database/database-research
'Female Convict Places' via Female Convicts Research Centre Inc. [Website] Accessed 23 March 2022 - https://www.femaleconvicts.org.au/about-convict-lives/female-convict-places
As accessed on 24 January 2023
From the beginning of transportation to Van Diemen’s Land until 1843, the administration of female convicts was under an ‘Assignment’ system. Under this system, 1st class convicts were sent out to work when appropriate employment was available. However, the ‘Assignment’ system was open to abuse by some people. In view of this, Convict Administration changed to a ‘Probation’ system from 1844. Instead of being assigned work, a female convict served a period of probation (the length depending on her sentence), during which time she was given moral and religious instruction, and taught domestic skills as required for cooks, laundresses, and servants. At the end of her term of probation, a female convict worked for a master or mistress as a passholder. See: 'Convict System' via Female Convicts Research Centre Inc. [Website]. Accessed 26 January 2023 -https://www.femaleconvicts.org.au/administration/convict-system-administration
Orphan schools were orphanages that housed destitute and orphaned children, including the children of convicts. See: 'Convict Institutions'- 'Children'- 'The Orphan Schools' via Female Convicts Research Centre Inc. [Website]. Accessed 26 January 2023 - https://www.femaleconvicts.org.au/convict-institutions/children/the-orphan-schools
'Convict Institution' - 'Punishments' via Female Convicts Research Centre Inc. [Website]. Accessed 26 January 2023 - https://www.femaleconvicts.org.au/convict-institutions/punishments
'Convict Records' - 'Conduct Record' CON40-1-2 - Image 29 via Libraries Tasmania [Website]. Accessed 23 January 2023 - https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON40-1-2$init=CON40-1-2P29
All accessed from the Libraries Tasmania Online Collection.
'Convict Records' - 'Conduct Record' CON40-1-2 - Image 29 via Libraries Tasmania [Website] Accessed 23 January 2023 - https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON40-1-2$init=CON40-1-2P29
'Elizabeth Allen' alias Brown, Carter Arab II 1836 via Claim-a-Convict [Website]. Accessed 26 January 2023 - https://www.hawkesbury.net.au/claimaconvict/convictDetails.php?convictId=92731
'Permission to Marry' – CON 52/1/2 page 389; RGD37/4:1845/1710 Request sent to Secretary 22 March 1845. Approved. Permission date: 28 March 1845 via Libraries Tasmania [Website] : No. 1903: WHITE Geo. of the Ship The Geo. the 3rd and No. 171 Elizth ALLEN of the Ship Margaret. Accessed 23 January 2023 - https://librariestas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_AU/names/search/detailnonmodal/ent:$002f$002fNAME_INDEXES$002f0$002fNAME_INDEXES:1242025/one
'Convict Records' - 'Conduct Record' CON40-1-2 - Image 29 via Libraries Tasmania [Website]. Accessed 23 January 2023 - https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON40-1-2$init=CON40-1-2P29F
Thanks Helene. I am quite attached to George and Elizabeth. It has been interesting to get to know them a little ... Well to the extent one can through old records. They have a lot of descendants in Australia and New Zealand many of whom have popped up in my husband's DNA matches.
Thanks Lori. I have been fascinated by Elizabeth for a while. It's a pleasure to share her story and circumstances.