Welcome!
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The Female Convicts Research Centre promotes interest in the female convicts of Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania), by encouraging and facilitating research. From 1803 to 1853, 12,500 female convicts were transported to Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania), as punishment for crimes, mainly theft. After serving their sentences they were released into the community. Their transportation left a lasting legacy. The Female Convicts Research Centre encourages research into these female convicts, mainly through its database, website and seminars. When you register with the FCRC, you gain access to our database where you will find information entered by our volunteers as we attempt to reconstruct the life course of each female convict. We update this website and our database regularly and sometimes daily, as our volunteer transcribers continue to provide new information. Please bookmark this page and return soon.
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FCRC Seminar 2020: Sunday, 5th April.
Topic: THE EARLY YEARS 1803-1828
Venue: Hobart Town Hall
Registrations are open and available here.
Two hundred years ago, the Morley sailed from London to Hobart Town. This was the first time that convict women were sent to Van Diemen’s Land directly from England. The convict women on the Morley arrived at a time before the Hobart Town Female Factory was established, raising the question of how they were managed. The Morley disembarked 50 of its cargo of 121 women; the reminder sailed to Sydney. This pattern of shared voyages continued for some time and it was not until the Providence in 1826 that a female convict ship disembarked its entire shipment of convict women in Hobart.
Our Seminar for 2020 will explore the experience of those convict women who came directly to Hobart Town and compare it with those who came via Sydney. Why was the system changed? What impact did it have on the lives of the convict women?
COMA Tasmania March Seminar ''The Witches' Cauldron': medical histories of the Hobart Rivulet and South Hobart'
Save The Dates:
| 2020 | 5th April | FCRC's 2020 Seminar: The Early Years. |
Recent Updates
Convict Stories:
- CORFIELD, Susan per Mary III 1823. By Don Bradmore (21/02/2020)
- GREEN, Ann (2) per America 1831 by Don Bradmore (6/01/2020)
- DONOVAN, Ellen per Martin Luther 1852 ('Campbell Town Nell'), by Diane Honan (12/01/2020)
- HUTCHINGS, Sarah per Providence II, 1826. By Don Bradmore (12/01/2020).
- DUESNAP, Elizabeth per Maria to NSW, 1818; Elizabeth Henrietta to VDL, 1818. By Don Bradmore (23/01/2020).
- PICKETT, Ann per Cadet 1849. By Don Bradmore (31/01/2020).
- GOULD, Jane per Baretto Junior 1850. By Don Bradmore (4/02/2020).
- WOMACK, Jane per Aeolus 1809 & WOMOCK, Jane per Maria 1818 ('a twist of fate'). By Rhonda Arthur (07/02/20).
- DYER, Elizabeth per Royal Admiral 1842. By Don Bradmore (13/02/2020).
Convict Ships:
- Ships - Cadet 1849 Surgeon Superintendent's Journal (by Colleen Arulappu 15/02/2020). There was Cholera on board the Cadet before it left England and three deaths occurred which kept the ship a couple of weeks in Plymouth Sound. One of the dying women gave birth to a seven month-old infant and the labour was a surprise to the surgeon and the doctor from the Royal Naval Hospital. Another death, Jean Armour, Case 20, was sudden and unusual, as was the reason for not performing an autopsy.
- Ships - Cadet 1848 Surgeon Superintendent's Journal (by Colleen Arulappu 24/01/2020). C.R. Kinnera’s brief journal perhaps reflects the few serious illnesses aboard. The General Remarks states that preparations for marking the clothes and grouping into messes was organized before the surgeon’s late arrival on board the ship. It also gives a little information about the voyage and the organization of the women while on board.
Other Updates:
- Research Seminars - Convict Women at the New Norfolk Asylum - papers by Leonie Mickelborough and Margaret Schmidt (12/01/2020).