Convicts and their Legacy Assignment

This essay was written for the "Convicts and their Legacy" Unit. I had to write about how my convicts life fitted into the broader Convict genre, based on a survey of convicts being researched by students in this course.  I had to argue  whether they were typical or atypical to convicts from the survey. This was my least favourite of all the Units but somehow I managed a good mark of 72/100 with the following Feedback:
Well done Marcia, this is great work. You've combined information from your convict research, the survey and wider research to build a story about Elizabeth.
Your structure is a little confused, there is fantastic information in there, but it jumps around a little. You also repeat some information, such as about the will. Structuring essays can be tricky, but if you set out your argument in your introduction it can help a great deal - I will discuss A, B and C, and it will lead me to this conclusion. This then also gives you a structure to follow.
Remember that your footnote references need to go at the end of sentences, after the punctuation.
Overall, great work!

 CONVICTS AND THEIR LEGACY - ELIZABETH SELWYN

My convict Elizabeth Selwyn looks typical of the majority of the female convicts, in the Convict Survey. I would like to ague that on paper she falls in the most common percentile of the results, but her life was far from typical. The records held from her early arrival in Sydney in 1792 were not as detailed as later records, especially those of Van Diemen’s Land, where records could list, ship of arrival, convicts Police Number and details of appearance. The information I have found on her from other articles leads me to think that she was atypical.

Elizabeth was 18-19 when she arrived in Sydney in February 1792. The Prison Calendar shows at the time of sentencing in March 1791 she was 18 and charged on suspicion of stealing clothing. After completing the Convict Survey I received a NSW Burial Transcription Record, showing that Elizabeth died in 1843 and was 78, putting her age at approximately 27 years old on arrival. As these two records are at variance with each other it could be argued that Elizabeth falsified her age at her trial in the hope of attaining a lighter sentence. But unfortunately this didn’t happen as she was sentenced, “to be transported beyond the seas for seven years”.

These records although giving conflicting information to the Family Historian, highlight the fact that Elizabeth was neither typical or atypical in regards age on arrival in Australia. She was in the 20% range for 18-19 and in the 15% range for 27. These ages were a long way from the most typical range of 20-24 which was in the 40% range of those surveyed. This discrepancy in the recorded age of Elizabeth may also be an indication of her illiteracy.

I filled in the survey with Elizabeth’s literacy level as unknown, which puts her into the largest percentile on the Survey graph. It is difficult not to make the assumption that her differing age records indicate that she actually fell into the third largest percentile of the Survey of being “Neither read nor write”. She may not have known her age at the time of her conviction or indeed in later life.

Many Historians have written about the illiteracy of convicts being transported to Australia, with the general consensus being around 75% literacy levels. This is maybe where Elizabeth differed from the majority on the Survey. On the graph approximately 14% showed as illiterate, with the rest having some literacy and the largest being unknown. It is possible that after living in the Colony for approximately 51 years, she acquired some education enabling her to state her age at a later date with some degree of certainty. In the 1828 NSW Census, she is listed as Betsey Rowley living with her son-in-law and daughter, Henry and Eliza Briggs with age as 60, which falls into the age range of plus or minus 3 years as shown on the Death Transcription. One could argue that she was in the habit of writing her age near the end of her life. Interestingly these literacy records tie back to the previous argument about Elizabeth’s age.

Elizabeth never married. She lived with Captain Thomas Rowley whom she was assigned to at the time of her arrival in the Colony in February 1792 as a Housekeeper. Approximately nine months later she gave birth to her and Thomas’s first child Isabella.

This was atypical compared to the other convicts in the Survey as most were married at least once. The fact that she also went on to have another four children to him before his death in 1806, could be argued to be atypical as she was considered to be in a Common Law Marriage. 

A lot of the female convicts that arrived in the early days of the Colony were forced into prostitution to survive, they were not transported for prostitution, which was not a crime . It was a crime to live with or have relationships with men at this time. Children were taken from their mothers once weaned. Research shows Elizabeth, was not convicted of any of theses crimes after transportation and her children were still with her at the time of Captain Rowley’s death in 1806. 

It is interesting to note that she was mention as joint beneficiary along with her five “Natural” children in Captain Rowley’s Will. This could be argued that there was mutual respect in her life with Captain Rowley, as he would not have been under any obligation to provide for her, even if he felt the need to provide for his children. At the time of his death, Elizabeth was an emancipist. She was free to marry, if she so desired. But the terms of Captain Rowley’s Will may have influenced her to remain single to provide for her future and to remain with her children. 

Elizabeth served approximately 3 years of her 7 year sentence. She was granted an Absolute Pardon in May 1794. This was typical of the survey results, as it was the second most common answer. But it could be argued that once again this was atypical to the survey results. Elizabeth was in a Common Law marriage, raising one child and pregnant with her second to Captain Rowley. Was her pardon granted on recommendation from him? She went on to have another three children, with Captain Rowley after her pardon, with the last being born in 1803/4. 

We know that Elizabeth had five “Natural” children to Captain Rowley, and raised them on her own after his death. She was named in his Will along with the children, Isabella, Thomas, John, Mary and Eliza. A condition of the Will being that she did not co-habitate with anyone else. She remained unmarried until her death in 1843. Her children in most instances, went on to being landholders and were all acknowledged as being ‘born free’ in the Colony.

In conclusion Elizabeth’s life as a convict has many similarities with others in the Survey. She was assigned to the father of her children and never legally married him, causing one to question the differences that her life must have been from others on the Survey. The fact that she raised five children on her own, after his death and was named in his Will indicates that he trusted her, with the care of his children. 

It also indicates that the underlying similarity of Elizabeth with other Convict women was that she was another strong woman in a long line of strong women in the founding of our country.

BIBLIOGRAHPY

Anderson, Clare and Maxwell-Stewart, Hamish, ‘Convict Labour and Western Empires, 1415-1954’, in Robert Aldrich and Kirsten McKenzie (eds), Routledge History of Western Empires, Routledge Taylor & Francis Ltd, Untied States, 2014, pp. 102-117

Binney Keith Robert, Horsemen of the First Frontier (1788-1900) and the Serpent’s Legacy, Volcanic Productions, 1933. Accessed 3 September 2016, books.google.com.au

Birth Record for Isabella Selwin, Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922, Accessed 15 May 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.au

Bradley, James, Kippen, Rebecca, Maxwell-Stewart, Hamish, McCalman, Janet and Silcot, Sandra. ‘Research Note: The Founders and Survivors Project’, History of the Family, Volume 15, 2010, 467-477.

Convict Survey, HAA105 Convicts & Their Legacy, University of Tasmania.

Gloucestershire Archives; Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England; Gloucestershire Prison Collections; Reference: Q/SG2/1789-1814, Accessed 13 September 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.au

Hendriksen Gay; Cowley Trudy; Liston Carol; Parramatta Heritage Centre;University of Western Sydney, Women transported : life in Australia's convict female factories,. Accessed 1 October 2016, http://tradecoastcentralheritagepark.com.au/_dbase_upl/women_transported.pdf

London Metropolitan Archives and Guildhall Library Manuscripts Section, Clerkenwell, London, England; Reference Number: DL/C/455; Will Number: 176. Accessed 15 May 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.au

Maxell-Stewart, Hamish, 'The State, Convicts, and Longitudinal Analysis', Australian Historical Studies, Volume 47, Issue 3, 2016, pp. 414-429.

Maxwell-Stewart, Hamish, ‘Convict Transportation from Britain and Ireland 1615-1870’, History Compass, Volume 8, Issue 11, 2010. pp.1221-1242

New South Wales, Australia, Convict Registers of Conditional and Absolute Pardons, 1788-1870. Accessed 6 June 2016, www.ancestry.com.au

New South Wales Burial Transcription (Early Church Records)

New South Wales and Tasmania, Australia Convict Musters, 1806-1849. Accessed 20 May 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.au

Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages NSW, Reg No 1/1806V18061349/4. bdm.nsw.gov.au Accessed 30 September 2016

Starr, Marion, “Unhappy Exiles, Convicts of the Pitt sand Kitty 1792”. Australia 2016

White, Charles, ‘Early Australia History’, Convict Life in New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land. Bathurst:C. & G.S. White. “Free Press” Office, George St. 1889. http://gutenberg.net.au

1828 New South Wales, Australia Census (Australian Copy), Accessed 10 June 2016, http://www.ancestry.com.au