Why am I shivering so? What is happening to me?
The words kept going round and round in her head, “to be transported beyond the seas for seven years.” [1]
This couldn’t be happening, could it? Lizzy only got one month in prison. Why? We both did the same thing. What did she say that was different to me? Lord above what is going to happen to me?
Elizabeth never saw Lizzy again and she never did find the answers to her questions.
It was a bedraggled group that shuffled back to the gaol in the incessant drizzling rain. Oh what I would give for some warmth and sunshine.
It remains a mystery as to what became of Elizabeth in the months following her trial. There doesn’t appear to be any records of her where abouts or existence until she is found on the ship the Pitt, in July 1791 bound for Australia.
The days were long and tedious in her prison cell. If only there weren't so many of us in this little space. I wish them leery eyed men wouldn't stare so hard at me. Surely me new life has to be better than this? I wish I could get away.
It is conjecture as to what Elizabeth felt in this time. But I do wonder whether she would have looked forward to the chance to start a new life ‘oer the seas.
It was during this time that there was a push to have the gaols overhauled. Prison reformer John Howard had published his findings in “The State of the Prisons in England and Wales." [2] The gaols of this time were housing both men and women together, with no separation of classes or crimes, the untried or those awaiting trial.
1 Gloucestershire Archives; Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England; Gloucestershire Prison Collections; Reference: Q/SG2/1789-1814
2 John Howard, The State of the Prisons in England and Wales: With Preliminary Observations, and an Account of Some Foreign Prisons, Edition 3. Cadell, 1777.
It was during this time that there was a push to have the gaols overhauled. Prison reformer John Howard had published his findings in “The State of the Prisons in England and Wales." [2] The gaols of this time were housing both men and women together, with no separation of classes or crimes, the untried or those awaiting trial.
I wonder what the boat will be like? I hope it doesn’t take too long and I hope I don’t get sick. I wonder what the new country will look like? Will there be houses bigger than here?
There would have been many conflicting emotions and questions in her time before she embarked on the Pitt. With the harsh conditions in the gaols it is amazing that she survived to board the Pitt at all!
There would have been many conflicting emotions and questions in her time before she embarked on the Pitt. With the harsh conditions in the gaols it is amazing that she survived to board the Pitt at all!
There is a lot of conjecture for the Family Historian, but it is also nice to have the chance to put forward these theories!
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1 Gloucestershire Archives; Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England; Gloucestershire Prison Collections; Reference: Q/SG2/1789-1814
2 John Howard, The State of the Prisons in England and Wales: With Preliminary Observations, and an Account of Some Foreign Prisons, Edition 3. Cadell, 1777.
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