Female convicts were sent directly to the Female Factory although some did not actually live in the factory, but nearby and came in every day to work. Many also remained only for a day or so as they were sent to work for free settlers, or even convict settlers, and many also married very quickly. The idea was that any man wanting to marry one of the girls would apply. The girls were lined up at the Factory and the man would drop a scarf or handkerchief at the feet of the woman of his choice. If she picked it up, the marriage was virtually immediate. Divorce was not available to the common person until the late 1800s and was expensive and scandalous. Previously married convicts were permitted to remarry after seven years separation as long as their spouse was abroad, even if they were still living. The Government encouraged marriage between convicts as it was seen as a means of rehabilitation and more desirable than de facto relationships. Children of convict women either stayed with their mothers or were moved to an orphanage. Young convict girls were also employed in the Femal Factory and young convict boys were housed in the Carters Barracks in Sydney. Well behaved convicts could apply to have their families brought out from England and in some cases they could be assigned to work for their free settler families. In 1836 Nancy Ryan was brought to New South Wales to be reunited with her convict husband. Together with many other women and children, she arrived on the Thomas Harrison and waited on board for three weeks while the ship lay at anchor in the harbour. She was then moved to Hyde Park Barracks with her three young daughters to await further arrangements for meeting with her convict husband. Another example of a female convict with a tough life ahead was Eleanor Gott. Born in 1775 Eleanor Gott, at the age of 14, was sentenced to transportation for a short period of 3 years in August 1789 (an unusual short sentence for the times), for the theft of clothing from her empoyer. She served some 3 months of her sentence before being embarked on the Neptune for transportation to Sydney Cove. Arriving in June 1790, she met and married first Fleeter Joseph Wright on December 13th 1790. Joseph Wright was sentenced to 7 years transportation in 1784 at the old Old Bailey. He was born in London abt 1767. He was apprehended in Sloan Square Chelsea coming from the direction of a building owned by William Rothwell. He was in possession of about one hundredweight of lead (50kg) which had been removed from Rothwells roof. Sentenced and Transported for seven years, life goes on. His subsequent efforts and apparent good behaviour saw him as a farmer settler and married to Eleanor Gott. They founded a family of which eight generations have spread to around 13000 descendants from all over Australia. Joseph and Eleanor Gott moved to the Hawkesbury district and occupied one of the earliest land grants in the area at Pitt Town. Where they produced a healthy second generation. Eleanor Gott outlived Joseph and they had 7 children together in a marriage of 21 years. Following Josephs death in 1811, at 47 years old, Eleanor Gott remarried to Joseph Buckeridge at Windsor in 1812. Eleanor Gott outlived her second husband also and remained in Pitt Town until her death on 28th April 1843 at 68 years of age. Joseph Wright was buried in the Sydney Burial Ground, the site where the Sydney Town Hall now stands. (In early 1988, the First Fleeters Association had a plaque erected on the south side of the Town Hall building to commemorate those who sleep there.) Joseph and Eleanor Wright (nee Gott) children:- (1) Joseph Wright born 1792 Parramatta, married Sarah Griggs 1811 Sydney (2) Robert Wright born 1794 Parramatta, married Mary Ann Holland 1816 Windsor (3) Mary Wright born 1797 Windsor, married Robert Allen 1812 Windsor (4) John Wright born 1800 Windsor, married Sarah Higgins 1827 Pitt Town (5) Sarah Wright born 1802 Windsor, married Robert Hobbs 1817 Windsor (6) Samuel Wright born 1805 Windsor, married Elizabeth Carr (The family Research says Elizabeth Pierce) (7) Thomas Wright born 1809 Windsor, married Mary Ann Harcourt 1832 Pitt Town ---------------------------------------------------- (1) Joseph Wright and Sarah Griggs children:- (i) Sarah Wright born 1812, married William Feraday 1840 Windsor (2) Robert Wright and Mary Ann Holland children:- (i) Eleanor Wright born 1818 Windsor, married George Buckridge 1834 Pitt Town (ii) Elizabeth Wright born 1820 Liverpool, married John E. Thomson 1838 Sydney (iii) Joseph Wright born 1822 Windsor, married Ann Daley 1841 Windsor (iv) Sarah Wright born 1825 Windsor, married Richard Weaver 1843 Pitt Town (v) Mary A. Wright A. born 1827 Pitt Town, married Walter Jones 1854 Windsor (vi) Robert Wright born 1830 Pitt Town, married Elizabeth Anderson 1866 Macdonald River (vii) Phebe Wright born 1840 Sydney, married David Laird 1863 Sydney (viii) John Wright born 1842 Sydney, married Mary J. Fogwell 1866 Clarence Town (ix) Catherine Wright born 1844 Sydney, married Joseph More 1870 Patricks Plain (3) Mary Wright and Robert Allen children:- (i) Bartholomew Allen born 1817 Sydney (4) John Wright and Sarah Higgins children:- (i) Sarah Wright born 1828 Pitt Town, married John Hacket 1857 Maitland (ii) John Wright born 1831 Pitt Town, married Rhonda Presland 1854 Maitland (iii) Jane Wright born 1833 Pitt Town, married George Sanderson 1954 Maitland (iv) Joseph Wright born 1836 Maitland, married Bridget Martin 1860 Raymond Terrace (v) Thomas Wright born 1839 Maitland, married Marianne Maher 1864 Maitland (vi) William Wright born 1846 Maitland, married Sarah Callaghan 1873 Maitland (vii) George Wright born 1849 Maitland, married Mary A. Corney 1872 Sofala (viii) Robert Wright born 1852 Maitland, married Ellan M. A. Styman 1872 Morpeth (ix) Elizabeth Wright born 1855 Maitland, married John H. Newton 1876 Morpeth (5) Sarah Wright and Robert Hobbs children:- Joseph Hobbs born 1817 Windsor, married Elizabeth Douglass 1832 Pitt Town Sarah Hobbs born 1820 Windsor, married James Wilbow 1844 Pitt Town Robert Hobbs born 1824 Windsor, married Ellen Longmoor 1851 Portland Head Susan Hobbs born 1828 Pitt Town, married William Killpatrick 1845 Pitt Town Elizabeth Hobbs born 1830 Pitt Town Catherine Hobbs born 1832 Pitt Town, married Thomas Hartley 1852 Pitt Town Mary Hobbs born 1836 Pitt Town, married Charles Dowden 1859 Windsor John Hobbs born 1838 Pitt Town, married elizabeth Sheans 1857 Windsor Harriett Hobbs born 1840 Wilberforce, married Thos Gainford 1874 Sydney Jane Hobbs born 1843 Pitt Town Edward Hobbs born 1846 Pitt Town, married Rebecca Hurst 1878 Richmond (6) Samuel Wright and Elizabeth Carr children:- (i) Robert Wright born 1836 Clarence Town, married Matilda Vaughan 1861 Maitland (ii) John H. Wright born 1841 Clarence Town, married Catherine Gill 1864 Port Stephens (iii) Samuel Wright born 1841 Clarence Town, married Ann Flinn 1858 Maitland (iv) Ellen Wright born 1844 Clarence Town, married William Allwood 1865 Cassilis (v) Daniel Wright born 1845 Clarence Town, married Sarah A. Ross 1863 Maitland (vi) Joseph Wright born 1847 Clarence Town, married Sarah A. White 1865 Morpeth (vii) Esther Wright born 1849 Clarence Town, married William Parker 1885 Newcastle (viii) Mary A. Wright born 1854 Maitland, married Henry William Green 1876 Morpeth (7) Thomas Wright and Mary Ann Harcourt children:- (i) Jane Wright born 1839 Clarence Town, married Mathew Sheiles 1859 Maitland (ii) Ellen Wright born 1841 Clarence Town, married John Ward 1866 Maitland (iii) Mary A. Wright born 1843 Clarence Town, married John Fernance 1866 Wollombi (iv) Thomas Wright born 1844 Clarence Town, married Martha W. Pethick 1869 Maitland (v) Joseph Wright born 1847 Clarence Town, married Amelia L. Baker 1880 Maitland (vi) Sarah Wright born 1849 Clarence To, married James Rufus 1877 Newcastle
Posted on: Sun, 08 Jun 2014 22:59:43 +0000
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