Arguably, Sarah FENTON was one of the most notorious of the 13,500+ female convicts transported to Van Diemen’s Land (VDL) between 1812 and 1853. She arrived at Hobart aboard Mary Ann, 1 (2) on 2 May 1822.[1]
The voyage had been relatively uneventful. However, the ship’s surgeon, James HALL had not enjoyed it.[2] While this was not his first voyage as surgeon-superintendent on a convict vessel, it was the first time he had had responsibility for female prisoners and he had found the task extremely taxing.[3]
[1] Convict ships to Tasmania: http://members.iinet.net.au/~perthdps/convicts/shipsTAS.html; Hobart Town Gazette (HTG), 4 May 1822, p.2.
[2] Hall was surgeon-superintendent aboard Agememnon which landed 178 male prisoners at Sydney in September 1820: http://members.iinet.net.au/~perthdps/convicts/shipNSW2.html
[3] James Hall: Medical and surgical journal of the female convict ship Mary Ann for 27 October 1821 to 25 May 1822. The National Archives (U.K.) Reference: ADM 101/52/1.
