#52 ANCESTORS WEEK 11 - LUCKY

This week’s prompt is “lucky”. We were asked…

Do you have an ancestor who was lucky at something? Lucky to be alive? Lucky at cards? Lucky in love? Maybe you have an ancestor with a name that reminds you of luck or fortune. There's always "luck of the Irish." Maybe you have a story of how luck played a role in finding an ancestor. Write about that this week.


Once again I was struggling about what to write. I was trying to sort out all the things on one ancestor that I could pursue as lucky and I was having trouble with working out a story. 

Then it hit me! Just write about one thing!!!! Of course, now the words can flow without cluttering too much, into it. 

Bath Newspaper- Report of Elizabeth Selwyn's Trial 

Sentence to seven years transportation over the seas for stealing some apparel. 

Lucky? Maybe!

Elizabeth Selwyn was convicted of her crime in 14 December 1790 and promptly locked up.⁠[1] Her court case wasn’t until 3 May 1791.[⁠2] 

Where she was housed from the time of her conviction is yet to be conclusively established. But she would have probably spent this time in an over crowded English Prison, with little luxury or hope.

Elizabeth may have viewed the prospect of getting out of a stinking English prison as lucky. After nearly seven months she was probably keen to start a new life no matter what the conditions.

Elizabeth sailed on the Pitt in July 1791, arriving in Australia on 14 February 1792 and was assigned as a housekeeper to Lieutenant Thomas Rowley.⁠[3] 

Although this narrative may seem dismal, it was indeed a story of hope and opportunity. One which Elizabeth appears to have grabbed with both hands and turned her “Rags” story to a “Riches” story.


To read further posts on Elizabeth's story, please see sidebar to the right.
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1 Ancestry.com. Gloucestershire, England, Prison Records, 1728-1914 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Gloucestershire Archives; Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England; Reference: Q/SG2/1789-1814

2 Ancestry.com. Gloucestershire, England, Prison Records, 1728-1914 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016. Gloucestershire Archives; Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England; Reference: Q/SG2/1789-1814

3 STARR, MARION, Unhappy Exiles Convicts of the Pitt and Kitty 1792, Australia 2016