History : English
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The Convict Shirt gives a glimpse of life for male convicts during the first half of the nineteenth century.
But what about female convicts? What can we discover about their lives?
Click on this selection of evidence about the lives of female convicts in a ‘female factory' (the name given to female prisons) in Hobart and answer the questions for each document to see what women convicts' lives were like.
Then take the 'quiz' at the end to see what you have learned about their life.
Source: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] - Drawing Conclusions
Source 1
The daily routine
- 5.30 a.m. awake
- Muster [gather together] and breakfast
- 9.00 a.m. to chapel
- 9.30 a.m. to workroom or wash house
- 5.30 p.m. stop work
- Back to chapel for an hour of prayers
- Muster 6.30 p.m.
- Evening meal
- Encouraged to attend literacy classes in the dormitory
- 8.00 p.m. silence bell
(Museum display at Ross Female Factory Historic Site)
Source: Museum display at Ross Female Factory Historic Site |
Source 1
Compare this to a typical day in your life. What are the main similarities and differences?
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Source 2
Rules of Female Factory
- All possessions were to be provided to the inmates — they were to have nothing of their own, including clothing and jewellery.
- There was to be no money, alcohol, tobacco or extra food.
- There was to be no contact between prisoners and the outside world (except for those in the Hiring Class who would be selected by settlers to be their servants).
(Museum display at Ross Female Factory Historic Site)
Source: Museum display at Ross Female Factory Historic Site |
Source 2
Does a female factory seem to be a harsh place?
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Source 3
Letter from inmate MA Clark to her husband, Fred Tring, a tailor of Hobart Town
(This letter was intercepted by the Matron of the Cascades Female Factory. Spelling and punctuation are as in the original.)
My Dear Fred,
Go to [our] child in the Orphanage in town she is in town now Dear Fred . . . I shall expect an answer by next friday Dea Fred I am suprised to think you should spend you hard earned Money with that [other] woman old enough to be you Mother but I hope Dear fred you know better for the future do not forget to write to me and send me some money I now conclude with my love to you yours M. A. Clark.
Extract source: Mitchell Library Tasmanian Papers, No. 90, 8770, October 1847 |
Source 3
What do we learn from this letter about the prisoner Mary Ann Clark?
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Source 4
Some brief biographies of prisoners
A. Helen Leslie
- Arrived 1852, with a long record of thefts.
- At 48, she was much older than the average inmate.
- After serving her sentence she was sent to work for various masters, from several of whom she ran away, and she was therefore frequently returned to the Ross Female Factory.
- She was finally set free in 1859, 31 years after her original conviction.
B. Elizabeth Capel
- Sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for ‘stabbing, cutting and wounding'. This was her first offence.
- She was married with four children, and described herself as a needlewoman.
- In July 1850 she gave birth to a son in Ross prison hospital – who died 20 months later of ‘severe sun stroke'.
- While imprisoned at Ross she received several extra sentences for insolence and disobedience.
- When her sentence expired she was appointed as paid nurse at the Factory.
- She was released from prison in June 1853.
B.
Mary Ann Kelly
- An 18 year old Irishwoman, transported for seven years from England in 1843 for theft of a dress.
- She received additional sentences during her time at Ross for being absent without leave from her master's place, and using indecent language in a public house.
- She was freed in April 1851, but was destitute and in ill-health.
- She was sent back to the Ross Female Factory for her own benefit, but died before being transferred to the Hobart Town Hospital for treatment.
B.
Elizabeth Clark
- A 25 year old from Manchester, England, transported in 1846 for 14 years for receiving stolen property.
- She received an additional sentence for being drunk and absent from her master's house.
- She was released from prison in 1852, but was back in prison two years later for prostitution.
- She received extra punishment for smoking and drinking in the laundry while in prison.
- She died at age 51.
Source: Museum display at Ross Female Factory Historic Site |
Source 4
What do these prisoner biographies help you to understand about being a female convict in Tasmania?
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Source 5
Extracts from the account of Mary Haigh (written in 1842)
(Included in the Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Female Convict Prison Discipline . Mary Haigh was transported to Van Diemen's Land for 14 years in 1836.)
I was searched on my arrival at the Factory, but not strictly. I could have brought in anything I liked. I was dressed at once in the Factory clothing and placed in the Crime Class yard where I found two or three of my shipmates who asked me for money and tobacco. I had money and with it I purchased tea, sugar, meat and bread. The meat and bread was brought by the prisoner from the Cook-House.
The work here was carding and spinning [wool]. This took about an hour and a half and then we had the rest of the day to ourselves. The time passed in singing, dancing, playing cards and talking over the different services in the Colony . . . Women learn in the Factory
at what houses they can obtain liquor on the sly and those houses at which shelter is to be obtained when they abscond.
Smoking is common in the Factory and I have known Rum introduced into the prison. I found some of the women well-conducted, but they were bullied by the rest. They were sworn at and struck if they found fault with the other women for their misconduct. In the Factory are found several women known by the name of the "Flash Mob" who have always money, wear worked caps, silk handkerchiefs, earrings and other rings. They are the greatest blackguards in the building. The other women are afraid of them. They lead the young girls away by ill advice. I did not think the Factory too good a place as it is. Before I went there I had a bad opinion of it. I was afraid of being sent there, but once I was there I did not look on it as a place of punishment. The Factory is a great deal less severe than the English gaols.
I have been in the dark cells [the Solitary cells]. That is a bad punishment, but even there tea and sugar can be obtained. It is the worst punishment except a long sentence in the light cells which would be a severe punishment if the women were kept strictly
Extract source: Based on AOT CSO 22/50 Report of the Committee of Inquiry into Female Convict Prison Discipline |
Source 5
Prisoners were not supposed to have any food, clothing or other possessions of their own. They could only have what they were given when they entered prison. Was this rule being broken by the prisoners?
Life in prison was supposed to be hard for the prisoners. Do you think it was?
How did the prisoners treat each other?
Would Ross prison have been a good place to live
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Drawing Conclusions
Look at these statements and decide from the evidence you have looked at if you would now say that a statement was probably true (PT), probably false (PF), or cannot be known from the evidence (?).
SHOWING EMPATHY
Imagine that you were a female convict in a prison factory. Write a letter to your family telling them about your experiences, based on the evidence you have seen.
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