Mary Ann
Timony was born in County Tyrone, Ireland about 1825.
On 12 Jan 1843, she stood trial for stealing a coat in Tyrone.
After being sentenced she was moved to the Grangegorman Depot, a
women’s prison on the outskirts of Dublin. She was transported to Van Diemen’s
land on the Ship ‘East London which sailed on 1 May 1843 and arrived in
Tasmania on 21 September 1843.
Mary Anne’s Tasmanian convict records have various spellings of her
surname [Timoney- Timony – Timonoy - Timmonoy – Timmary -Timmy – Timmey -
Tumney]. She could not read or write and her Irish accent was probably a reason
for the discrepancies.
IRELAND1843:
Family:
At the time of her
sentence her criminal record lists relations in Ireland as:
Mother: Catherine
5 Brothers: Patrick, John, James, Edward and Francis [She subsequently
named some of her sons after her brothers]
1 Sister: not named on indent
All live in native place [Tyrone]
No father’s name is mentioned.
We have much to learn about Mary Ann but the uncertainty of
her surname, the lack of her native Parish in Tyrone, the loss of and access to
many Irish records, hinders the search. However, in uncovering articles
relating to conditions in Ireland, the voyage to Tasmania and conditions in
Tasmania at the time of her arrival, the scene can be set.
Social Background
At the time of her offence during the early – mid
1800’s, Ireland was amid one it’s many famines. As a result, many stole food or money to stay
alive and many women became prostitutes.
To have shelter and food, some deliberately
committed crimes which were punishable by gaol terms or transportation.
Imprisonment:
Prison Registers - National Archives of
Ireland
The registers of local
prisons, convict depots and convict prisons contain details of convicts,
varying in level of detail, and can be consulted by referring to the Department
of Justice, Prison Registers Series. For instance, the register of female
convicts for Grangegorman female convict depot covering the period 11 July 1840
to 22 December 1853 (Prisons 1/9/7), contains 3,500 entries. (Grangegorman
depot had opened in 1836 as the first exclusively female prison in the British
Isles. It housed females with imprisonment sentences as well as those sentenced
to transportation. The prison's main function with respect to convicts was to
provide employment training for them so that they might satisfy the ever-increasing
demands of the Australian authorities that they be fit to earn their living on
arrival.) The register, an excellent source for statistical analysis, contains
details of name, age, crime, sentence, location of conviction, marital status,
literacy level, trade or occupation and number of previous convictions.
Transportation:
Convict Indent:
Vessel: East London AOT. CON 15/2 pp 206-207
Master: James Parley
Surgeon: Edward Caldwell
Police No. 218;
Name - Mary A Tumney;
Height 5'1"
Age 18;
Trade or calling - Housemaid;
Where Tried - Tyrone
When tried - 12 January 1843
Sentence - 7 years;
Married or Single - Single;
Religion - Roman Catholic
Read or write – No
Relations - Mother - Catherine at Tyrone; 5 brothers Patrick, John, James,
Edward, Francis; 1 sister - all at native place.
On the Town - 2 years
Offences - Stealing a coat;
Prosecutor Jane Totlow
Previous offences - Once, for (stealing) potatoes - 1 month
The Voyage of the East London
by Colleen Arralapu (Female Convicts Research Centre, Hobart)
Wednesday May 10th, 1843.
The ship sailed from Kingstown Harbour at 6 a.m. The weather was cloudy
and hazy.
Pride in their ship, duty to their service,
spirit of adventure, expectations of a new life, despair and heartbreak, all
must have been there as that handsome little barque weighed anchor and left
Kingstown Harbour to sail out into the Irish Sea and through the St George’s
Channel. Sight of the Irish and English Coasts during the first few days
provided a lingering farewell for those on board. What was in the hearts and
minds of the women and children, especially those from the inland counties of
Ireland and what fear faced the ones who had never seen the sea before? The
noise and shaking of a ship pitching and rolling with huge waves breaking and
wind buffeting, combined with the isolation far out at sea, must have made the
first few days terrifying.
On board
the East London were 133 women prisoners from the Penitentiary at Grange
Gorman in Dublin, many of whom were transferred there weeks or months earlier
from county jails while some arrived just a few days before embarkation. Also
on board were 50 children, 21 of whom were less than of two years of age. All
were under the control of the Surgeon Superintendent, Edward Caldwell, and the
ship was mastered by James Parley.
At
the beginning of the voyage, the weather was stormy and winds buffeted the ship
and caused much sea sickness. On the first day Edward Caldwell treated fifteen
patients and again, three days later, when the ship was off St David’s Head, he
said the women and children were suffering from sea sickness. The distress of this
nauseating illness, where food could not be kept down, was debilitating and
would have kept the sick women prostrate and insensible to much of what was
happening. But if such illness anaesthetized hysteria, it added to the loss of
hope, the loss of health, and to despair. The weather with the heavy sea
remained unsettled, with high winds and heavy rain, until the ship reached
Madeira. Because of sea sickness and loss of appetite Edward Caldwell gave the
women a supply of boiled oatmeal instead of tea or cocoa. It was only four days
after sailing and as a response to the illness and the refusal of food offered
to them. He said that all the women manifested a dislike to the tea and cocoa
but perhaps severe sea sickness rather than deliberate revolt was the cause of
their distaste.
Many
ships transported convicts from Ireland to Van Diemen’s Land and some carried
female convicts. They too had prisoners from rural areas and small children,
although, perhaps not so many very young children. Yet the voyage of the East
London was different and the most significant difference was the number of
women and children who died during the journey from Dublin to Hobart Town.
Nineteen women died at sea and one woman about ten days after arrival in
Hobart. Another woman, sent to the hospital, was listed as dead on the 1846
muster without any record of when she died. Twelve children died on the voyage
and ten, probably eleven, young children, died in the weeks after reaching
Hobart. Fourteen women were sent to hospital on arrival as well as seventeen of
the children, some with their mothers. These are startling figures compared to
other ships which carried women from Dublin about the same time. The Waverley,
which arrived in December 1842, had no recorded deaths and the Garland Grove,
January 1843, recorded eight deaths. In fact, in the decade between 1841 and
1850, the total number of female convicts dying on the way to Australia was 102
so nineteen deaths on the East London set that journey apart as a
tragic voyage.
There was an Inquiry into
the terrible voyage
In: THE COURIER HOBART 22 September 1843
The East London, convict
ship, sailed from Dublin on the 10th May, having 116 [actual 133] female
prisoners on board, with l8 male and 23 female children, under the care of
Edward Caldwell, Esq., Surgeon Superintendent. Although from the report there
does not appear to have been any infectious disease on board, there has,
nevertheless, been an unusual number of deaths, nineteen adult women and twelve
children having died on the passage. There are six cases of scurvy and
diarrhoea in the hospital, and eight cases of diarrhoea and debility in their
own berths.
It was such a
shocking occurrence that the Principal Medical Officer, John M. Clark M.D., who
received the sick from the East London after its arrival in September,
wrote to the Colonial Secretary to ask His Excellency, the Governor, for
authority to set up a Medical Board to inquire into and report on the causes of
the unprecedented mortality. John Clark saw the state of health of those on
board and arranged for the sick women and the sick and weak children to be
taken to the hospital. He was moved to write his letter to the
Colonial Secretary the next day.
The board was set up within two weeks and consisted of Andrew Sinclair,
Esq, Surgeon R.N., President of the Board, William Sercombe Esq, the Colonial
Assistant Surgeon and Brook T. Townsend Esq, Staff Assistant Surgeon. The Board
assembled for three days in the first week of October to examine the necessary
documents and hear such testimony as was deemed relevant. The Colonial
Assistant Surgeon, W. Dermer Esq. M.D. who was in charge of the Nursery Hobart
Town, was one of the people whose opinion was sought. He mentioned his six
years of experience in that position and what he saw of the sickly state of
children under the age of five who accompanied their mothers to the colony. His
account was of the children admitted to his care in the nursery and he said
that, generally, half of them died. He attributed it to the mothers having salt
provisions during the long voyage and the resultant lack of nutrition in their
milk as well as the women becoming ‘reckless in their minds’ which
caused them to be careless in everything connected with their children.
The Board returned their report to the Deputy Inspector General of
Hospitals, John Clark M.D. Its findings put the mortality on board the East
London to being 133 days at sea on salt provisions and that, as the first
deaths occurred after 66 days, it was scurvy which was the common cause. The
want of nourishment was worsened by the women obstinately refusing pea soup,
cocoa, tea, pudding and lime juice, particularly during the early part of the
voyage. The women were blamed for contributing to the cause of the deaths by
depositing faeces and urine on their decks at night in spite of every attempt
made to prevent it, and to stop them from spilling water over the decks when
they were locked up. The berths and decks were always wet. The report stated
that deaths during the last part of the voyage had become less as the prisoners
reconciled to the diet. The high number of deaths was also given as a reason for
not putting in at the Cape of Good Hope.
‘It has been seen that 19 female
adults perished among 133. I find that no less than 12 of them were mothers and
four lost their children. Eight left 16 orphans, of them 5 were infants under 2
years, admitted into the nursery at Hobart Town. One has since died and there
is every appearance that other deaths will follow’.
When Dr Clark forwarded the report of The Proceedings of the Medical
Board to the Colonial Secretary, he remarked that scurvy was an unusual disease
on female convict ships which he attributed to greater cleanliness, more
liberty of exercise and less anxiety about their future than those on male
ships. He stated that a diet of salt pork and ship biscuit were the chief cause
of scurvy. He pointed out that other ships sailed from Ireland after equally
tedious voyages without suffering from scurvy and without the prisoners
refusing tea, cocoa, pea soup and lime. He also believed that, because many of
the women came from rural areas, they had no knowledge of the foods and
rejected them when offered. He suggested oatmeal with a little salt butter,
potatoes and perhaps a bit of boiled rice would better suit prisoners. He
thought an English diet did not suit females who had not been exposed to it.
He
commented on the filthy habits of the prisoners and, although he said it was
difficult to preserve cleanliness on board an Irish convict ship, felt that a
strict and stern discipline should have been established on the first instance
of such a violation of decency. If it had, such practises as dirtying the decks
would not have prevailed throughout the voyage. However, the bad weather and
sea sickness which caused so many women to be ill would have made it difficult
to keep the prison decks clean. The water closets were very few in number, as
low as two on some ships. With many infants to care for, the women had little
choice but to use the decks and, if discipline lapsed and no extra means were
provided for the care of the sick and the babies, then hygiene would have
failed.
Contrary to the report of the Board of Enquiry, Dr Clark found that there were
three deaths in July, eight in August and eight in September; the last four in
the final week of the voyage. In his comments he wrote, ‘If the women really
took more nourishment in the last part of the voyage it was then that the
mortality occurred’. He said the ship ought to have put in at the Cape of
Good Hope. It was an error which had fatal consequences. The reasons given for
not putting into port varied, from the prisoners’ state of health as they came
within sight of the Cape and the deaths of three women and three children, to
the time taken in turning back into the port. It was felt advisable not to put
in for refreshments and what Edward Calwell himself wrote in his General Remarks:
- ‘I thought it advisable to proceed on our destination without delay as
several days would be lost in bearing into the Cape as the Wind is N.W. Made
all sail for Hobart Town’.
It seemed as if expediency was the reason for not putting into the Cape
rather than the wellbeing of the people on board the ship. Edward Caldwell and
James Parley must have agreed upon that decision.
John
Clark’s final recommendation was to do with the terrible mortality amongst the
children. He said that scanty and unhealthy food, foul air, cold, wet and
maternal neglect was the source of diseases against which infant life could not
struggle.
‘Of the 12 deaths among the children all were under 2 years. These are
melancholy but most important medical statistics. They all died of Atrophy with
its attendant bowel complaints. Scanty and unhealthy food, foul air, cold, wet
and maternal neglect are sources of disease which infant life cannot long
struggle against. That a mother, could have maintained an infant on the breast
and brought it alive to this Colony, whose own nourishment, derived solely from
a small portion of salt pork and ship biscuit daily appears indeed
extraordinary. I am sure His Excellency will agree with me that infants of this
tender age ought not be victims of transportation to this Colony and that it is
imperative the Government at Home should learn the fact, I presume not yet
known, that if this system be preserved, it will be one of infanticide at the ratio
of at least 75 per cent’.
A
letter, dated three weeks later, from Dr Dermer, Colonial Assistant Surgeon at
the Nursery, Dynnyrne House, said seventeen children were landed from the East
London and received into the nursery in a very sickly state and that five
had since died. He expected other deaths would follow.
The
surgeon, Edward Caldwell, wrote extensive notes about the illness and deaths of
the women. The notes gave the symptoms and the treatment each received and
showed that some of the prisoners were not in a fit state of health to
undertake the voyage. When Edward Caldwell inspected the women at Grange Gorman
in Dublin he was told that some were feigning illness and he passed them as
able to be embarked. He also conferred with the doctors on the benefits of a
sea voyage for the health of some of the women.
You can access the Transcript of Surgeons Journal here.
Yet, on the
voyage there was a love story between a young woman convict and a mariner that
resulted in marriage. Rules and regulations must have been swept aside and,
perhaps, not just in one instance. Edward Caldwell had shrugged his shoulders
and allowed the women to refuse lemon juice and probably other foods and there
was loss of control of the cleanliness on the prison deck and at least one
liaison between a woman and a mariner. The women were perhaps choosing their
own rules and, without a strong hand to enforce discipline, the outcome was a
disaster for so many. The prison deck was filthy, often wet, with soiled
bedding, and very sick women who were lethargic and irritable. Those who had
the opportunity to spend time elsewhere would certainly have taken the chance
to have some comforts.
The
women on the East London had many stories to tell about their lives and
the events which brought them together on board a convict ship bound for Van
Diemen’s Land.
AUSTRALIA:
Tasmanian Female Convict Probation:
The Probation System was
introduced in Van Diemen's Land for female convicts in 1843–1844.
Convicts spent 6 months on
probation upon arrival in the colony—for female convicts this was
in the Anson Probation Station, and, after its
disbandment, New Town Farm.
After serving their 6 months’ probation, convicts were classified as
probation passholders and hired out, for an annual wage, to employers
REGULATIONS for hiring Probation Pass holders in
Van Diemen's Land.
Convict Department, 1st July 1844.
1. Pass-holders are divided into three Classes.
In respect to Pass-holders of the 1st Class, the
consent of the Lieutenant-Governor must be obtained by the master previously to
the completion of any engagement or contract with such Pass-holder. In the case
of Pass-holders of the 2nd and 3rd Classes, there will be no interference
previously to the contract being entered into, except that such persons as have
not already had Convicts in their employment must obtain permission from this
office to that effect.
2. All contracts must be according to the accompanying
form, and must be written or printed on foolscap paper. Blank forms, if
required, may be obtained at the Depots, Gangs, and Factories, on payment of
sixpence for each form.
3. Every engagement will be for a fixed term of not
less than a month, but may be terminated before the expiration of that period
by ten days previous notice in writing of an intention so to do, given either
by the master to the Comptroller-General, or by the Comptroller-General on
behalf of the Pass-holder to the master; which notice must specify the Depot,
Barrack, or Factory to which such Pass-holder will, in accordance with the 6th
Section of these regulations, be sent. It may be here observed, that the
contract being made with the Comptroller-General, the Pass-holder has no power
to break the engagement thus entered into by giving or receiving notice
personally. The master may, if he prefers it, pay a sum equal to ten days'
wages to the Registrar of the Convict Department, in lieu of giving such
notice. An engagement will also be annulled by any higher indulgence than a
Probation Pass being granted to the convict for whose services it may have been
made. A summary power, moreover, rests with the Lieutenant-Governor to cancel
any such contract or engagement at His Excellency's pleasure. Should a
Pass-holder agree to remain in any service after the expiration of the term
specified in the con-tract, a fresh contract must previously to that period be
transmitted to this office for approval.
4. No engagement to be annulled, as a matter of
course, by any misconduct on the part of the Pass-holder; but in all cases
where the master is desirous of cancelling the engagement, on account of
misconduct, the circumstances must be reported to the Comptroller-General, who
will lay the case before the Lieutenant-Governor, and communicate His
Excellency's decision to the master.
5. No engagement is to be voidable, at the pleasure
of the employer, on account of the inability of the Pass-holder for whose
service it is entered into to perform any particular description of work, of
which such Pass-holder may have at the time of hiring professed to be capable:
such cases must be reported, if the master be desirous of cancelling the
contract, in the manner directed as to misconduct. Pass-holders will, however,
be liable to be punished by a Magistrate for misconduct in so misrepresenting
their capacities.
6. Whenever such engagements are terminated, in the
manner specified in the three preceding Sections, the male Pass-holders, if
Probationers, are immediately to be sent by the masters under a pass to the
nearest hiring Probation Depot, as the case maybe, —if old Convicts, to the
Prisoners' Barracks at Oatlands, Hobart Town, or Launceston, which-ever may be
most convenient to their residences. Female Pass-holders are to be returned,
under proper charge, to the Factory at Hobart Town or Launceston, whichever may
be nearest.
7. Passholders of the 3rd, or highest, Class will
receive from their masters the whole amount of their wages; those of the 2nd
Class two-thirds of that amount; and those of the 1st, or lowest, Class
one-half the amount.
8. The proportion of wages thus kept back from
Pass-holders of the 1st and 2nd Classes must be paid quarterly by their
employers to the Registrar of the Convict Department, to be paid by him into
the Savings' Bank at the Derwent Bank, Hobart Town, on account of such
Pass-holders respectively. If the service be terminated before the end of a
quarter, then whatever amount of such proportion may be due must be paid at the
time of the Pass-holder's discharge.
9. The wages payable to Pass holders themselves may
be paid either weekly, monthly, or quarterly, as agreed on; and the whole
amount due must be paid to them at the time of their being discharged, or to
the Registrar when the engagement is terminated whilst the Pass-holder is under
magisterial sentence. In the event of this not being done, or of the regulated
portion of wages as before mentioned not being paid to the Registrar, the
employers will render themselves liable to be proceeded against legally for the
same.
No wages will, however, be demandable for any
portion of the term of hiring during which the Pass-holder may have been under
punishment.
10. Masters
paying Pass-holders of the 1st and 2nd Classes the proportion of wages required
by Section 8 to be paid to the Registrar will, not-withstanding such payment to
the Pass-holders themselves, be called upon to fulfil the regulations, by
paying to the Registrar whatever proportion of wages should, according to their
classes, be placed in the Savings' Bank, notwithstanding the amount so overpaid
to them. But when a Passholder shall be indebted to any master for money so
overpaid, or for articles supplied by him at the Pass-holder's request, such
master may pay himself, by deducting the amount from the proportion of wages
which, in accordance with the regulations, may be payable to the Pass-holder.
11. It is to be understood that the sums so paid to
the Registrar will be liable to deduction for any claims substantiated by the
masters to the satisfaction of the Comptroller-General at the period of the
Pass-holders respectively becoming entitled to their savings.
12. Masters will in every case be required to
provide suitable lodging and bedding tor their servants, without making any deduction
from their wages on that account. They will also be required to supply their
servants with a sufficient quantity of wholesome provisions and soap, according
to the following scale of daily Rations:
1 lb. Meat.
| 1 oz. Sugar.
1 1/2 lbs. Bread, or
| 1 oz. Roasted Wheat.
1 lb. Bread and 2 lbs.
| 1/2 oz. Soap.
Vegetables.
| 1/s oz. Salt.
Pass-holders having received wages will be liable
to be tried for misconduct should they neglect to provide themselves with
proper clothing.
13. Medicine and Medical attendance when requisite
must also be provided by the master: but when proper attention has been paid by
the master to any Pass-holder who may fall sick in his service, the
Comptroller-General will, in cases of protracted illness, recommend that such
servant may be received into hospital, and the agreement cancelled.
14. Pass-holders are to be sent by their masters to
the District Master of Pass-holders on the first Sunday of each month, unless
exempted by the Comptroller-General.
15. Whenever there is a place of Worship within two
miles of the usual place of work or residence of Pass-holders, they must attend
Divine Service at least once every Sunday.
1
6. Masters are required to send a written notice
to the Comptroller-General of the date of arrival of Pass-holders at their
residences to enter upon service, and also the date of departure from their
services, immediately on either of such occurrences taking place; and a similar
notice to the Police Magistrate of their several Districts.
17. Pass-holders in private service are amenable to
Convict Law only.
18. It is to be expressly understood, that the
Comptroller-General is not to be considered responsible for any loss or damage
occasioned by acts either of omission or commission on the part of the
Pass-holders; the remedy of their employers for the same being confined to the
mode prescribed in Section 11.
19. Until an engagement expires, or is terminated
in one of the modes hereinbefore specified, the employer will be liable for
wages according to the terms of the contract, notwithstanding he may have
dismissed the Pass-holder from his service contrary to regulation.
20. No contract will be invalid on account of any
mistake which may be made in inserting the name, ship, number, or class of the
Pass-holder for whose services it is entered into, or in omitting any of the
three latter particulars, as any errors or omissions of this nature may be
corrected by the Comptroller-General, or other proper Officer: provided that in
case of any alteration in the class, notice in writing of the class to which
the Pass-holder actually belongs be sent to the employer.
21. Should a Pass-holder be no longer required by
any master in whose service he may at the time be employed, and another master
be willing to engage him, on the prescribed contract being previously
transmitted to the Comptroller-General by the new master, accompanied by a
written memorandum from the first employer expressing his consent to the
transfer, the Pass-holder maybe allowed to enter into such service pending His
Excellency's approval.
22. In like manner when any engagements are terminated
by the prescribed notice, or payment in lieu thereof, the Pass-holders may be
hired on their road to the Depot, Barrack, or Factory, as the case may be;
provided the prescribed contract be transmitted by the hirer within one week to
the Comptroller-General, as directed in the preceding section, for His
Excellency's approval.
M. Forster,
Comptroller-General
