'Why my great great-grandmother is my heroine I wondered what it meant when in The Preston and Lancashire Chronicle Advertiser, dated Saturday July 1, 1837, they wrote, “Jane Huntington, age 21, an interesting looking girl, pleaded guilty to stealing. To be transported for seven years”. Was there something about her looks or the way she dressed? Or just an attitude she had? Seven years, and transportation? Was this forced migration? The prosecutors were determined to punish her, even if the cost of doing so amounted to being ridiculously higher than the value of the item she had stolen. Why did she steal a cloak? Was it to sell or did she just want it because she liked it? In any case, I have a feeling she was a proud person, and being guilty of having committed the crime, she would rather be transported than stay in the horrible prison in Preston. Seven years, and she would come home again! Coming from a large farming family, and having pleaded guilty, her family must have been devastated, but could do nothing to help her.'
Read more: Jane Huntingdon, Why my great great-grandmother is my heroine
