"If you build the guts to do something, anything, then you better save enough to face the consequences." ― Criss Jami, Killosophy.
W.E Lawrence Name his grant of land Formosa and the homestead "Billop". The homestead was isolated and often attacked by bushrangers. When Mary absconded from the Lawrence's, it is hard to imagine where she thought she was running. She was on the other side of the world in Van Diemen's Land. Arriving in Hobart, she travelled North to Port Dalrymple. The countryside would have been entirely foreign to her. There was no refuge in the bush around her, no friendly inhabitants. Stories of murderous blacks, snakes, bushrangers, and starvation would have cowed her for a time.
Port Dalrymple. George Town - Launceston 1830
Port Dalrymple was at the opening of the Tamar River, facing north into the Bass Strait. Lawrence had established himself there in 1821. However, once his land allocations were finalised, he moved his family to the isolated property 14 km south of Cressy. It is 2 Km off the Poatina Road on the north-eastern slope of Little Billop (509m), at the edge of the Great Western Tiers.
Mary arrived in 1826. By that time, the first house, a log cabin, had been burnt down by bushrangers. The bushranger Matthew Brady and Lawrence were bitter enemies.
The second violent attack by Brady and his gang led to the hanging of Brady. Brady was hanged in May 1826, coinciding with Mary's arrival in Tasmania. A new house was under construction.
The third and final construction is still the home of Lawrence's descendants.
"Billop" 5000 Poatina Road, Cressy, Tas 7302
When Mary absconded from Lawrence's, it is hard to imagine where she thought she was running. Van Diemen's Land was on the other side of the world. She landed in Hobart and then travelled to Launceston, a town on the island's north. The countryside would have been entirely foreign to her. There was no refuge in the bush around her, no friendly inhabitants. Word on the grapevine hinted the Factory at George Town was a comfortable punishment. Perhaps she thought no further than the nearest grog shop. Her first departure was not planned; it was an angry spur of the moment reaction.
The Assignment system was poorly organised and received a good many complaints in the press. Newly arrived convicts were being corrupted by "old Lags". A letter to the editor and the reply which appeared in the Colonial Times on March 23, 1827 (p.4 c.3–4) mentions the many ways corruption ruined the newly arrived. The following excerpt foreshadows Mary's start in the Colony.
A young female by Sir Charles Forbes was assigned to a good place, where she was well fed and received good wages. By some means, she got into bad company, who poisoned her mind against her master and mistress and induced her by every means to leave her place. She grew insolent, lazy, and obstinate, and at length, ran away.
Unlike the men, female convicts were not flogged. Instead, they were subject to harsh treatment for being drunk in public, falling pregnant, prostitution or theft. Thus, for example, a fellow prisoner on the Providence, Jane Brickhill, was sentenced to two hours in the stocks for drunkenness. This was harsh punishment at any time. Poor Jane was placed in the open in winter. On a cold day, with a sharp wind blowing from the river or the mountain, through the confined space in Murray-street, the punishment of sitting in the stocks must be torture.
The Factory at George Town was one of the earlier establishments. Initially, it was a makeshift affair as a coastal port Georgetown was the centre of government administration for Northern Tasmania. Women who were convicted and sent for punishment cohabited with male prisoners. An old lumber yard had been set aside for the men and women. However, the shared accommodation was unsuitable. This led to the acquisition of the Parsonage and its refurbishment as the George Town Female Factory. The former Parsonage was seven roomed houses with an outside kitchen and laundry. The warder, Robert Graves, a former policeman, his young wife Sophia(employed as Matron) and their growing family occupied two rooms. One room was the lying-in hospital and the others dormitories for women and children. The place was overcrowded and in serious need of repair. The sleeping quarters were a series of hammocks—the bedding stored during the day and the space used for work. George Town factory was one of thirteen factories established. These Houses of Correction were designed for women who were due to give birth, ill, awaiting assignment or punishment.
A model version of the George Town Female Factory (Both the early lumber yard and the two-storey former Parsonage) are part of the beautiful Model Village of 19th Century George Town recreated to scale by volunteers and can be viewed at the George Town Watch House.
Government regulations mandated all women are classified on arrival. First Class, those newly arrived from England awaiting assignment or reassignment. Second Class - those who committed minor offences and had improved behaviour. They were not to with the 3rd class criminal—the hardened criminal and recidivist. Mary was 3rd Class, and Government regulations clearly stated that each class was strictly kept separate. The rules were one thing, the reality another. In George Town, the Factory was so overcrowded separation was impossible. Not only crowded, but the building was in a dilapidated state, windows were broken, with women coming and going as they pleased.
Six months after her arrival, Mary was sentenced to George Town. However, it would not be her last visit to a house of correction. Assigned on arrival to W.E. Lawrence, she absconded. Once caught, she went before Magistrate Peter Mulgrave, who sentenced her to a month of confinement in a cell and two weeks of that month on a diet of bread and water. On completion of her sentence, Mulgrave instructed her to return "to her master's service".
Getting to George Town was not an easy matter. Women were either taken by wagon or walked 27 miles (43.5km) from Launceston. Some sailed down the Tamar River. Her first offence was in November. Whatever method took her to George Town, it would have been a long hot journey.
Figure 13 The Independent (Launceston, Tas. : 1831 - 1835) May 25 1831: 3. Web. July 22 2021 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-page25156022>.
George Town was one of six factories where spinning, weaving cloth, and shoes were made. According to reports of the yarn, woollen garments, and shoes, they were of good quality. Unfortunately, the production of fabric was more exaggerated and hopeful than fact. The supply of raw material, wool, was in short supply. It was often the case that there was not enough work for women. "C" Class prisoners were allocated heavy laundry work for hospitals, prisons, and orphanages. This work was infrequent and not much volume. Consequently, there was little work or punishment.
Mary's two weeks of solitary confinement and a diet of bread and water was both a punishment and a space for reflection. Prison reform placed great value on the power of inward contemplation.
Colonial Times and Tasmanian Advertiser, Friday, August 11, 1826, pg. 2.
On arrival, Mary, per the regulations, stood before the Matron and heard a clerk read out the Factory rules and the resultant punishment for any breach. The clerk, another convict, would then record her name and her sentence. She was examined by a surgeon and ordered to bathe. The clerk registered her clothes and possessions and stored them until release. If filthy, the clothes are burned. Prison clothing was issued. Her hair is cut short. As a 3rd Class prisoner, her garments were emblazoned with C.
1st Class convicts wore the uniform without any distinguishing mark.
2nd Class convicts wore the uniform with a large yellow C on the left sleeve of the jacket.
3rd Class convicts wore the uniform with a large yellow C in the centre of the back of the jacket, one on the right sleeve, and another on the back part of the petticoat.
Mary goes into a pitch-black cell where she would spend the next two weeks in isolation. Her cell is small 1.8x1.2 metres—the size of a toilet cubicle.
Solitary Goal Richmond Tasmania
Imagine being placed in complete blackness. Imagine your only food is bread and water. Contact with others is limited to the silent figure, who brings food. A bucket in the corner is your toilet. The room soon stinks. Your bed is a narrow pallet, and it is hard. In winter, a blanket. You are alone. Time drags. The door opens, and you are allowed out into the solitary yard to walk in the blinding sunlight. By the time your eyes adjust, you are herded back into your dank cell.
Mary returns to her master, W.E. Lawrence. Everything is quiet for the next two years. Perhaps she had decided to keep her head down and get on with her life.
All is going well until December 30, 1828. Once again, she is before Magistrate Mulgrave. This time intoxicated and angry, she assaulted Mrs Lawrence and her baby. She then turns her fury towards Mr Lawrence, violently striking and screaming abuse at him. Her employment with the Lawrence household now ends, and her downward spiral continues. Ever the recidivist, Mary is marched off to George Town. Here she begins her 12-month sentence. Her first month is in solitary confinement and a diet of bread and water for the first two weeks. Her head is shaved. Her head shaved again at the end of her sentence. This would mark her as a troublemaker to any future master.
At the time of her sentencing, George Town Factory was in the process of closing. The place was in a severe state of disrepair, with every window broken. The place was filthy. Mary absconded again on February 1, 1829, and she is returned. She begins her 14 days of solitary confinement.
On February 8 1829, Mary and eight other women rioted in the female sleeping quarters. Julia Mullins, Jane Lewis, Mary Roberts, Ann Thomas, Mary Scales, Sarah Beckley, Charlotte Phillips, and Elizabeth Davis had arrived in Tasmania around the same time. Like Mary, they were all young women aged between seventeen and twenty when convicted of theft. All of the eight were known, prostitutes.
Julia Mullins had sailed with Mary on the Providence while Elizabeth, Jane, Ann and Mary Scales on the Borneo. Sarah and Charlotte came on Sir Charles Forbes. The women were charged with riotous and disorderly conduct following the riot, using violent and infamous language. They also disobeyed orders and started a riot in the crime class sleeping quarters. At the height of the melee, Mary escapes her cell and tries to set fire to the building. She is returned to her cell to complete the final seven days of solitary.
February 14, 1829, House of Correction Rioting Dist conduct in the C Class Ward in the House of Correction and endeavoured to set fire to the building at the height of the 8th Inst – sol cell 7 days (P.S)
May 20, 1829, P. Graham/ Absent herself from her masters house without permission and being intoxicated yesterday. Cell on B&W 7 days and C Class House of Correction. P.S./6/
Feb 1830 Rev W Bedford/ Abscond from her service in company with Robt Cowburn 6 week back Remaining absent until she was delivered […] morning to Constable Hickman by Robt Cowburn to be placed in the H of Correction until the pleasure of his Excellency is known.
The other women receive a few days of solitary each. Mary continues to escape and go drinking. Finally, after taking off with Robert Cowburn for a week, she was sentenced to remain in the "H of Correction until the pleasure of his Excellency is known."
It is not a great leap of intuition to imagine Mary's company aligning with her personality. The rioters were part of the dominant prison culture, given to violence and destruction. By now, Mary has preferred to spend her time in prison rather than work. Understandably, women from similar backgrounds would club together and raise hell at every opportunity.
Her interlude with Robert Cowburn takes her from the frying pan into the fire.
[i] Graves was a former constable promoted to superintendent of the George Town Female Factory.
[ii] Sophia was a child of convicts from Norfolk Island.
Convict Pictures copied from Simon Barnard A-Z of Convicts.
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