Index

Frances Johnson and her Australian Family

THE JACKLINS' COMPLAINT

On June 12, 1815, Mr Richard Jacklin of Scotton in Lincolnshire appeared before a Justice of the Peace, Henry John Wollaston, to lay a complaint. He alleged that one Frances Johnson had feloniously stolen goods that were his property. Wollaston recorded the bill of indictment and extracted a recognizance, or bond, for Forty Pounds. Richard Jacklin gave surety over his goods and chattels and lands and tenements that he would personally appear before the court in Kirton at the next Quarter Sessions to give evidence against Frances Johnson, or forfeit his Forty Pounds.

He also undertook a second recognizance for Forty Pounds on behalf of his wife Ann to appear and give evidence, and Isaac Barren of Scotton undertook a Twenty Pound recognizance to bear witness against Frances Johnson. These accusers were solidly established villagers: Ann Jacklin is known to have been keeping a Dame School in 1842 and 1856 - she was aged 70 by the time of the latter record - and her husband Richard was a cottager with five acres of land. Isaac Barren or Baron served in several parochial capacities, and was described as a 'pedagogue' (?schoolteacher) at his burial in 1838 (1).

Scotton, where the Jacklins lived and where the alleged offences took place, is a small village about 10 kilometres north-east of the town of Gainsborough, which is itself about 20 kilometres north-west of the city of Lincoln. Scotton village lies east of the Trent by some four and a half miles, and rather less to the west of the limestone ridge of the Lincoln Cliff, from which it is separated by the valley of the River Eau or Ea. The ancient parish extended from Kirton Lindsey to the Trent-side settlement of East Ferry.....To the north is the much larger settlement of Scotter - formerly meriting its own fair for horses and goods in early July - and to the south the decayed medieval settlement of Northorpe. These two villages are within a mile and a half of Scotton church. (2)

Kirton, or Kirton-in-Lindsey, where the court was to be held, was a larger market town a few kilometres east of Scotton, on the London and North Eastern Railway line from Gainsborough through to the Humberside region. Lincolnshire was divided into three separate areas. In descending order of size, these were Lindsey, Kesteven and Holland. Each had its own Quarter Sessions and its own body of Magistrates. As the name implies, Quarter Sessions were held four times a year, often in a number of towns. Quarter Sessions for Lindsey were held in Caistor, Gainsborough, Louth, Kirton in Lindsey, and Spilsby, according to Anderson (3).

Upon her arrest, Frances Johnson was immediately removed to the Kirton bridewell. A bridewell is a gaol, so named after (St.) Bride's Well in London, near which stood a royal lodging, given by Edward V1 for a hospital and converted later into a house of correction. The Kirton bridewell was described in 1802 as being newly erected and well regulated. Eighty years later it was disused, and in 1897 it supplied the building materials for the Diamond Jubilee Town Hall, which still stands in the market place.

Frances languished for four weeks and five days in the gaol, at a cost to the Crown of four shillings and eight pence per week, while awaiting the Midsummer Quarter Sessions. By the time the court was due to convene there were 72 prisoners in the bridewell. The gaoler, Samuel Lee, appears to have lost one of his inmates since his accounts reveal payment of four shillings and sixpence to Richard Fletcher for a funeral, not to mention Bread cheese & ale for the people sitting up before death 2/0, 4 Bearers 1/0 each totalling six shillings. The weekly cost per prisoner was not the only expense. The bread account for three months came to Thirty-one pounds nineteen and eight pence halfpenny, and there were various other operating expenses including clothes for some prisoners, such as 1 shirt for Thos. Metfield 6/6. 1 Gown for Phoebe Mac carty 5/6 and 1 Shirt for the young Dumb Man 6/6 and one for the Idiot 6/6.

Among Frances Johnson's fellow prisoners we find John Sampson charged with stealing three rabbit traps, David Jones with having uttered and paid four pieces of Base and Counterfeit Coin termed Shilling knowing the same to be Counterfeit, Eleanor Vickers who did wander abroad and lodge in an outhouse and not being able to give a good account of herself, plus a variety of other theft and vagrancy charges. The Dumb Man, the Dumb Woman, the Idiot Man and the Young Dumb Man had all been recommitted from the previous quarter sessions. They fared no better in the midsummer sessions, being recommitted to the said Bridewell till next Sefsions.

TRIAL AND CONVICTION

As time drew near for the Quarter Sessions, a panel of 36 jurors was selected to provide the juries to hear various cases, and they were all men of some apparent substance from a wide scatter of locations through north Lincolnshire -- Gainsborough, Crowle, Haxey, Barrow, Barton, Humberston, Laceby, Barnoldby Le Beck, Hatcliffe, Marsh Chappel and so on. We find on the panel one shopkeeper, 21 farmers (recorded variously as Farmer or ffarmer), two merchants, two drapers, three grocers, a fellmonger, two gentlemen, a corn factor (grain dealer) and three without recorded occupations.

To appear before a selection from these good men and true, one Frances Johnson, with somewhat variable allegations. The charge list states:

• Frances Johnson Committed by Henry John Wollaston Clk June 12

  Charged by the Oath of Richard Jacklin on suspicion of Felony in stealing a womans Cap of the Value of ten pence the property of Richard Jacklin of Scotton in the said parts.

VERDICT: GUILTY

The Jury found, however:

• THE JURORS for our Lord the King upon their Oath present that Frances Johnson late of the Parish of Scotton in the Parts of Lindsey in the County of Lincoln widow on the Twelfth Day of June in the Fifty fifth Year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord George the Third, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, and Ireland, King &c with Force and Arms at the Parish of Scotton aforesaid in the Parts and County aforesaid. One womans cap, of the value of Two Pence one cap of the value of Two Pence one womans Apron of the value of One Penny one apron of the Value of One Penny and one Ten Pound Bank of England Note . . . . . . of the Value of Two Pence of the Goods and Chattels of one Richard Jacklin then and there being found feloniously did steal take and carry away against the Peace of our said Lord the King, his Crown and Dignity.

The Court minutes are slightly more succinct:

• ffrances Johnson late of Scotton Widow ffor petty Larceny plea Not Guilty Jury say Guilty. The like.

"The like" was the sentence passed on Frances on Friday the 14th of July 1815 by Justices Richard Ellison Esquire chairman, Thomas Goulton Esquire and others: To be transported to some place beyond the Seas for the Term of Seven years.

Richard Jacklin, having done his duty, had the Forty Pound recognizances for himself and his wife discharged, as was Isaac Barren of Scotton discharged of his Twenty Pound bond. It appears that an Ann Eastland might also have given evidence. The trial cost eight pounds fourteen shillings and sixpence.

Frances, along with John Sampson (the rabbit trap thief) and George Wilkinson (who had stolen a truss worth five shillings) were the three unfortunates at the midsummer quarter sessions to receive transportation sentences. The alleged utterer of counterfeit shillings was found not guilty and freed. We can assume that on conviction, Frances was transferred to the prison at Lincoln Castle, where she would remain for almost a year. Life in this prison is described by Anderson (4) thus:

• In the early days of transportation to Australia all prisoners sentenced to that fate were held in the prison at Lincoln Castle. James Nield has left us a good description of the Castle Gaol which was rebuilt about 1790. Nield made a survey of all prisons in the early 19th century; he visited Lincoln in 1802 and looked at both the Castle and the City gaols. He stated that the Castle Gaol was built about 14 years ago.

LINCOLN PRISON

• 'The front contains the Gaoler's and Debtors apartments. The Debtors have nearly two acres in front in which they can walk, sexes completely separated. Three night cells for 2 prisoners each 10 feet by 8 feet 6 inches and 11 feet high with wood bedsteads fastened to the floor. Four day rooms with fireplaces. No. 1 20 feet by 11 feet by 11 feet high for male prisoners awaiting trial. No. 2 11 feet by 10 feet by 11 feet high for female prisoners for trial. No. 3 17 feet by 9 feet by 11 feet high for male transportees. No. 4 12 feet by 10 feet by 11 feet high for minor offence convicts. Each room has a court communicating to them 13 yards by 10 yards. All are private with respect to each other, being separated by walls 24 feet high.

  The courtyard of No. 2 (females) has hard and soft water pumps accessible to the prisoners at all times. Wash house in centre with a copper, washing tubs etc. Next 6 night cells for single men, 9 feet by 5 feet 9 inches by 11 feet high with bedsteads as before. Strong oak boarding on walls and floors, windows onto courtyard are double-barred and have wood shutters which make them warm and close at night. Prison perfectly dry. Adjoining are 4 solitary cells, 2 on each side of the passage, with fireplaces and glass windows 13 feet 8 inches by 8 feet 9 inches by 11 feet high, each communicating to a courtyard 23 feet by 12 feet. Over these four cells is the chapel 31 feet by 28 feet and 15 feet 3 inches high, neatly pewed and has high framing to prevent debtors and felons seeing each other. Females cannot be seen by males during divine service. No employment by the county but such as are of handicraft trades are allowed to work on their own account and generally get work outside the town. Male convicts wear a county clothing of drab and blue-coloured cloth. All prisoners have to attend chapel. Prison whitewashed once a year or more often where necessary. Out of 175 felons committed in 7 years not one has died in gaol, a great proportion of those were almost eaten up with filth and disease and this provides a striking proof not only of the salubrity of its situation and the healthiness of the prison but of the great care and attention of the excellent magistrates who superintend the prison concerns. Each felon has a rug, 3 blankets and straw for bedding. The surgeon attends all prisoners. Gaoler allowed one shilling per mile for the removal of transports. No. of felons 12 August, 1802, 9. Assize convicts have the King's allowance of 2/6 instead of the usual county allowance. No. of felons in last 7 years 175 of whom 38 were capitally convicted and 11 executed, including the two who are to suffer this morning, and whom I was pleased to see yesterday intent on their devotions and diligently preparing for the awful change they were so soon to undergo. Cell in which they were confined was spacious and airy and opened into a courtyard. I can form a tolerably good judgement of a gaoler from the countenance of the prisoners. Complacency, submission and good order were visible in every part of this well-regulated prison; a sure proof that the keeper is intelligent, active and humane. Debtors who can afford to pay may go into rooms furnished by the gaoler, if two together 1/3 each, a debtor who has a room to himself 2/6 per week. Number committed to Lincoln Castle in last 7 years was 365, of which 122 were for sums between 10 pounds and 20 pounds. Out of 365, 119 were discharged without the plaintiffs obtaining one farthing of debt or costs - what folly to go to law.'

Our next record of Frances is almost a year later when an instruction from Whitehall dated 22nd June 1816 is transmitted to the High Sheriff of the County of Lincoln. Sir, it says:

• THE Ship Lord Melville which is appointed to convey Female Convicts to New South Wales, is lying at Deptford in readinefs to receive the Prifoners named in the Margin; (being Frances Johnson, Caroline Co. Lusby and Ann Moulds) I am therefore to fignify to you His Royal Highnefs The Prince Regent's Pleafure, in the Name and on the Behalf of His Majefty, that you do, on or before the 13 day of July caufe fuch Convicts to be removed from the Gaol at Lincoln on board that Ship, if their Health fhould be fuch as to allow of their Sentences being carried into Execution; and that each Convict be cleanly and properly cloathed, as alfo provided with the additional Articles of Wearing Apparel under mentioned, and accompanied with a Surgeon's Certificate of their being free from any infectious Diftemper, and in other Refpects in a good State of Health, otherwife they will not be received on board.

  You will alfo tranfmit to my Office forthwith the Order of Court before which fuch Offenders were tried, containing the Sentence of Tranfportation of each fuch Offender refpectively.

GOVERNMENT ISSUE

The additional clothes to be provided for each female convict were:

• One fpare Jacket or Gown.
  One fpare Petticoat.
  Two fpare Shifts.
  Two fpare Handkerchiefs.
  Two fpare Pair of Stockings.
  One fpare Pair of Shoes.
  

Nevile King Esquire, Sheriff, took note of his duty and set out the particulars of the three female convicts in Lincoln Castle to be removed on board the Lord Melville at Deptford the 3rd day of July 1816. They were: Frances Johnson aged 37 convicted of felony at the Kirton Sessions July 1815 by Richard Ellison Esq. and sentenced to seven years transportation; Caroline Coulbeck Lusby aged 22 convicted of highway robbery (she had stopped a 12 year old girl and taken from her a basket containing a work-bag, 3 muslin flounces, 5 balls of cotton, a printed cotton frock, a lead-coloured shirt or skirt, a pair of scissors and a prayer book (5), for all of which she was transported for seven years); and Ann Moulds aged 24, convicted of being an incorrigible vagrant (seven years).

Francis Edward Franklyn, Surgeon in the Castle of Lincoln, stated on Sheriff King's list: I do hereby certify that the above named Convicts are free from any putrid or infectious Distemper and in other respects in a good state of Health.

TRANSPORTATION

And so Frances was cleared to become one of about 110,618 convicts landed in Australia from 1788 to 1840 inclusive, shipped from England and Ireland. Of these, more than 1200 came from Lincolnshire, but only two others are recorded as having come from Scotton: John Dixon, who was convicted on 15 January, 1790 and transported to NSW the following year on the Brittania for seven years; and Robert Lynon, who at age 29 was convicted after Frances on 16 January 1816, but transported in the same year to NSW, for seven years, on the Sir William Bensley (6). Six weeks after being cleared medically, the official wheels were still grinding for Frances:

• Downing Street
  16th August, 1816.
  

  Sir, I am directed by Lord Bathurst to enclose to you an Assignment of One Hundred and Two Female Convicts, shipped on board the Lord Melville for the Colony under Your Government.

  I am, &c.,
  Henry Goulburn. (7)
  

THE 'LORD MELVILLE'

The Lord Melville was a 412 ton ship, built at Shields in 1805, according to Bateson (8). She sailed from England on 15th September, 1816, under the command of Thackray Wetherell, with Daniel McNamara as Surgeon- Superintendent. It was the Lord Melville's first voyage to the colony, and the trip took 162 days.

There is some discrepancy in the records of the number of female convicts (no male convicts on board) who were transported. Goulburn's assignment note says 102, while Bateson states 103 were embarked, two relanded and two died. Macquarie states only one died. The arrival of the Lord Melville was acknowledged by Governor Macquarie in Despatch No. 18 of 1817 in the following terms:

• Government House, Sydney,
  New South Wales,
  4th April 1817.
  My Lord,
  .........
  5. I do myself the Honor to report to Your Lordship the Arrival of the following Male and female Convict Ships at this Port from England and Ireland, Subsequent to the date of My Dispatch of the 8th of June last, viz:-
  .........
  5th. On the 24th of February, the Ship Lord Melville, Commanded by Captn. Wetherell, arrived from England, having 100 Female Convicts on board, Mr Daniel MacNamara being Surgeon and Superintendent of the said Ship; the Whole of the Female Convicts arrived in good Health, one only having died on the passage, 11 Free Women, Wives of Convicts, and 44 children having arrived in this ship. (9)

Early in 1818, about a year after she arrived in the Colony, Frances Johnson became pregnant. This was the inevitable outcome of an administration that brought prisoners to Australia, but was unable to accommodate them on arrival. In 1812 a select committee on transportation made the following report on the experiences of female convicts:

ABUSES OF FEMALES

• In the distribution of female convicts great abuses have formerly prevailed; they were indis-criminantly given to the inhabitants as demanded them, and were in general received as prostitutes rather than as servants; and so far from being induced to reform themselves, the disgraceful manner in which they were disposed of, operated as an encouragement to general depravity of manners.

  Upon arrival of Governor Bligh, two-thirds of children annually born within the colony were illegitimate.

  Marriages have latterly become more frequent, consequently prostitution is stated to have been less prevalent; and Governor Macquarie is directing his endeavours, under order from the Government here, 'to keep the female convicts separate till they can properly be distributed among the inhabitants, in such a manner as they may best derive the advantages of industry and good character.'

  ...Your Committee feel...that the women sent out are of the most abandoned description, and that in many instances they are likely to whet and encourage the vices of men, whilst but a small proportion will make any step towards reformation; but yet, with all their vices, such women as these were the mothers of a great part of the inhabitants now existing in the colony, and from this stock only can reasonable hope be held out of rapid increases to the population; upon which increase, here as in all infant colonies, its growing prosperity in great measure depends.

  Let it be remembered too, how much misery and vice are likely to prevail in a society in which the women bear no proportion to the men; in the colony at present, the number of men compared to that of women is as 2 to 1; to this, in great measure, the prevalence of prostitution is reasonably to be attributed; but increase that proportion, and the temptation to abandoned vices will also be increased, and the hopes of establishing feelings of decency and morality amongst the lower classes will be still farther removed. (10)

The reference to prostitution is, in today's terms, somewhat extreme. Perrott (11) comments: Any woman who lived within a de facto relationship or common-law marriage, even if it was of long standing, was considered a concubine or prostitute. Hence the committee's comment that marriages have latterly become more frequent, consequently prostitution is stated to have been less prevalent refers to the change of status effected by the ceremony, rather than fewer men being in need of the services of professionals.

The public debate over "prostitution" among female convicts continued, and in fact one of the despatches from Earl Bathurst to Governor Macquarie (dated 24/1/1817) results in an insight into the voyage of the Lord Melville and the conditions faced by Frances Johnson at the time of her arrival.

A letter from the colony, written by one of the settlers (12) in March, 1816, had complained to Lord Bathurst of a number of practices. In part it said:

ON THE STREETS

• The Women, bad as they are, are really to be pitied; the principal place for their reception is at Parramatta; there such as are not sent to Service go to the Factory to work, and after they have done what is required of them by Government, with the exception of such as are punished by Fine, are let loose upon the Inhabitants to find lodging where they can, there not being any Public Building to lodge them in; then it is that they pick up those Men whom I have before alluded to as procuring lodgings where and how they can; robberies are the result, the Inhabitants are continually upon the alarm, and every vicious propensity is gratified by these disgraceful means.

  It is customary when the Female Convicts embark for this Country that every Sailor be allowed to live with a Woman during the Passage, and many are suffered or contrive to remain on Board whilst the Ship remains in Harbour after the Prisoners are landed; were that to be prevented, instead of living in a state of Debauchery, they would on their Passage have time to reflect on their past Conduct, and it is to be hoped many by that means might be reformed. (13)

Bathurst demanded an inquiry into these allegations:

• Downing Street,
  24th Jany., 1817.
  

  Sir,
  I herewith transmit to you an Extract from a Representation, which has been made to me with respect to the present state of the Colony under your Government.

  You will, I am confident, be most anxious to afford me the most explicit information as to all the circumstances therein stated; but there are two points, affecting as they do to a great degree your character and conduct in the Administration of the Colony, to which I am more particularly anxious to call your attention. The first is that which relates to the state of Prostitution, in which it is stated that the Female Convicts during their voyage to the Colony are permitted to live with the Officers and Seamen of the Ships, in which they are embarked. As such a practice is in direct contradiction to all the information, which has hitherto reached His Majesty's Government, and as it is utterly destructive of every principle upon which such persons have been transported, it is most necessary that it should be accurately, and early investigated. I have therefore to desire that you would immediately examine, as to this point, in the most formal and explicit manner all the Passengers, who may have recently come to the Colony in Female Convict Ships, and transmit for my information the result of such examination. (14)

Macquarie was outraged by this letter, and as his reply to Earl Bathurst on 4th December 1817 shows, could scarcely contain his anger:

• My Lord,

  1. I have the Honor to acknowledge the Receipt of Your Lordship's Dispatch, dated the 24th January last, Enclosing an Extract of a Representation, which had been made to You, with Respect to the present State of the Colony under My Government.

  2. I feel thankful to Your Lordship for sending me the Anonymous Extract Alluded to, in order to give me an Opportunity of refuting the false and Malicious Accusations therein Contained, or Explaining Such parts thereof as are founded in Facts in any degree relating to My Administration of this Colony.

  3. It would however have been Still more gratifying to me if Your Lordship had condescended to favor Me with the Name of the person who sent Your Lordship this Representation, so as to have enabled me to Call on him to Substantiate the Accusations Contained in his Report. But Altho' the Name of the Author of these gross Calumnies is witheld, I have good Reason to suppose it proceeded from the Pen of the Revd. Samuel Marsden, as I firmly believe he is the only person, in the Character of a Gentleman in the Whole Colony, Capable of writing and making such unfounded and Malicious Representations with a View to Injure Me in the Opinion of His Majesty's Ministers.

  .......

  6. In respect to the Prostitution of the Female Convicts on the Voyage out to this Country, the Reporter may possibly be Correct in his Statement, but no Remonstrance, Complaint or Charge of this Sort has ever been made or reported to me either by the Women themselves, or the Officers or Passengers of the Ships they Came out in, or by any person in the Country. Under such Circumstances I have not deemed it Necessary to Institute Enquiries on the Subject, 'till now that I have received Your Lordship's Instructions to that Effect. When the female Convicts Arrive, they are regularly Mustered by My Secretary on board Ship, and the Usual Questions are put to them in regard to their good or bad Treatment during the Voyage; and, if they appear Healthy and do not complain of Ill Usage, they are either Assigned to such Married persons as require them for Servants, or Sent to work at the Government Factory at Parramatta. It is very true that there are no Suitable Buildings for them to lodge and reside in, provided by Government, excepting the Factory at Parramatta, which is only Sufficient to Contain about Sixty Women, whilst there are Sometimes Not Fewer than Two Hundred employed there. These are therefore, in Common with the Male Convicts, obliged to find Lodgings for themselves; but in Order to better enable them to do so, they are Allowed half of the Day to work for Themselves; it therefore Often happens that they are exposed to form bad Connections, which lead to Vicious and profligate Conduct. This Evil is as old as the original Establishment of the Colony, and certainly should be obviated or Totally removed on every ground of Moral or political Expediency; and, Viewing it thus, it has long been my Most Sincere wish to remedy the Evil, as far as practicable, by Erecting a large Factory and Commodious House at Parramatta, within a high Enclosure, for the Employment and Residence of the Female Convicts, and within a large Space of Ground for Recreation, so as to keep them always within it and prevent them having any Intercourse with the People of the Town, until such time as they should either be Married or Assigned as domestic servants to Married persons. The Variety of other Public Buildings required in the Colony, and the Inadequacy of the Colonial Funds to defray the Expences of Erecting them all at once, have hitherto precluded the possibility of My realising my wishes to have a Factory and Dwelling House on a large Scale Erected at Parramatta for the above purpose. I expect, however, to be now very soon enabled to have those very necessary works Commenced upon, and to defray the entire Expence from the Colonial Funds. I take the Liberty of here Calling to Your Lordship's Recollection that I suggested in One of My Dispatches some Years ago the Expediency of Erecting a Factory and Dwelling House for the female Convicts at Parramatta.

'SLANDEROUS'

• Whilst I cannot but regret that so foul and Slanderous an Imputation should have been deemed worthy of Enquiry, I can Assure Your Lordship that the Assertion, in respect to female Convicts being left on board After the Arrival of the Ships here, either for the purpose of Prostitution or for any other is totally unfounded, and Consequently a premeditated and Malicious Falsehood.

  It is by no Means improbable that Some of these women, who are Assigned as Servants to Families living in the Town of Sydney, may have Intercourse with the Officers and Seamen of the Ships they Come out in, while those ships remain in the Harbour; but these are Evils, which Your Lordship will admit are quite out of my Power to prevent.

  And I have no Hesitation in asserting that I have uniformly since the Commencement of my Government done every thing in my power to prevent the Evil Complained of in regard to the Female Convicts. In Obedience to Your Lordship's Commands, I shall however not fail in future, on the Arrival of Female Convict Ships, to Institute a More strict Enquiry into the Circumstances of the Conduct and Characters of the Women during the Voyage, and whether they have been permitted to hold Improper Intercourse with the Officers and Seamen, and I submit to Your Lordship that the most effectual Mode to be adopted for preventing these indecent Connections would be to make the Surgeon-Superintendent answerable for Suffering the Female Convicts to be so Prostituted during the Voyage.

  In Consequence of Your Lordship's Desire, I have made particular Enquiry relative to the Conduct of the Female Convicts, who Arrived in the two last Ships, namely The Lord Melville and Canada, and have now the Honor to transmit to Your Lordship the Replies made to my Queries on the Subject by Mr. Justice Field, who Came a Passenger in the Lord Melville, and by Surgeon Superintendant Allan, who came in Charge of the female Convicts on board the Canada. The former will shew how extremely difficult it is to prevent the Female Convicts from having Intercourse with the Officers and Sailors during Such a Voyage. (15)

The 4th December despatch contained the following letter from Mr. Justice Field to Governor Macquarie.

• Sydney, 1st Decr., 1817.
  Sir,
  In answer to the letter, with which your Excellency has honoured me, desiring me to state the conduct of the female Convicts on Board the Lord Melville Transport, Thackray Wetherell, Master, in which I came hither as a Passenger, and whether they were permitted to live with the Officers and Seamen during the voyage, I have to say that the women were treated very well and behaved as well as could be expected from their habits and character; they were certainly permitted to cohabit with the Officers and Seamen; but it is but justice to Mr. McNamara, the Surgeon Superintendent of the Ship, to say that this practice was permitted before he joined the Ship, which he did not do, till some time after the women had all embarked, upon the Supersession of another Surgeon. He certainly might have reformed this practice; but to prevent connexion between the women and the seamen would (I am convinced) be quite impossible, even if the hatches had been battened down every night. I cannot speak of what passed on board in harbour, as immediately upon the vessel's coming to Anchor, both at Rio de Janeiro and here, I quitted the Ship.

  Upon the whole, however, I believe there was as little immorality on board the Lord Melville, as it is possible should prevail among such a Ship's company of different sexes, so brought into contact. Of this I am sure, that a decent exterior was preserved; and, though I bore the relation of only a fellow passenger towards the convicts, yet I flatter myself that the high Office I was destined to fill here operated as some moral check upon them; and I read prayers to them on every Sunday, when the weather permitted, after which I always took occasion to give them some Moral or religious exhortation adapted to their circumstances and the occasion as it arose.
  I have, &c.,
  Baron Field,
  Judge of the Supreme Court.
  True Copy: - J.T. Campbell, Secy. (16)
  

WILLIAM JOHNSON

William Johnson was probably born in October 1818, evidenced by his death certificate of June 1900 describing him as 81 years and 8 months old, and his wedding certificate of February 1841 consistent in describing him as 22. Though it is only deduction that the genealogical line is from Frances to William, the evidence is strong.

The one entry in the 1828 census (or rather, the hand-written copy in the Mitchell Library) which fits at all is J478, for a William Johnson, aged 10, born in the Colony, son of Francis (sic) Johnson, Protestant. The population of Australia was at that time something less than 30,000, so it is not at all surprising that the only other possible entries which could apply are three for boys named William Johnstone, all three being born in the Colony, and having ages between five and seven years.

Entry J477 reads Johnson, Francis (sic), transported in the Lord Melville in 1817 and freed by servitude having been sentenced to seven years; Protestant, wife of Capper Pafs, tallowchandler, George Street, Sydney. Capper Pass was not the father of William Johnson, since he did not arrive in the Colony until 1819, on the Canada.

William's natural father has not been discovered. Frances might have been an assigned servant early in 1818, or she might have been working - and perhaps lodging - at the Parramatta Factory. We do know from the 1821 list of female convicts in New South Wales (17) that towards the end of her sentence she was at least working in the factory - as was another Frances Johnson who had arrived in January 1815 on board the Northampton.

ELEANOR FOSTER

We also know that William Johnson had a half-sister, born in the Colony, as a result of a liaison between Frances and John Foster. From the evidence it appears that this liaison might have been thought permanent, with William at one stage taking his stepfather's name.

On 4th March, 1819, the Surry arrived in Sydney. The records (18) include the Medical Journal and Diary of the proceedings on board the Surry Convict Ship between the 10th day of August 1818 and the 30th April 1819 - during which time the said Ship had been employed in a pafsage to New South Wales and Van Diemans land Matthew Anderson Surgeon and Superintendent.

This diary records that on August 19th Richd Partrige and his Wife and John Foster came on board by an order from Capt. Young for a pafsage to New South Wales. They are ordered to be victualled at two thirds allowance.

In the 1822 Muster (19) we find entry AO7492: Foster John, came free, arrived on the Surry, employed as an ordinary constable, living in Sydney. (The Surry made two previous voyages to Sydney, arriving in July 1814 and December 1816: neither voyage's records lists a John Foster.)

Entries AO7493 and AO7494 follow entry AO7492, for John Foster the "ordinary constable." The first is for a four year-old boy called William, born in the colony, the child of J. Foster. The second is for Eleanor Foster, aged 1-1/2, born in the colony, child of J Foster. Both children are listed as living in Sydney.

"William Foster's" age indicates an 1818 birth (i.e. John Foster was not William's natural father). But where is Frances? Not with the Fosters, but in amongst the other Johnsons at A11328:

• NAME Johnson, Fanny AGE Not shown ARRIVAL STATUS Not shown PRESENT STATUS Freed by servitude SHIP OF ARRIVAL Lord Melville SENTENCE 7 OCCUPATION Wife of J Foster WHERE Sydney.

Depending on when in 1822 the Muster reached the Foster household, Eleanor was conceived by John Foster and Frances Johnson between July 1820 and July 1821. No baptism is recorded in the NSW Registrar General's indexes for Eleanor Johnson, but from the information listed it becomes extraordinarily difficult to argue other than that John Foster, an Ordinary Constable who came free to the Colony on board the Surry, was in 1822 living with his common law wife Frances Johnson, her son William and their daughter Eleanor.

Frances Johnson and John Foster went their separate ways, some time between 1822 and 1828. The 1828 census shows at No. 47 that Eleanor Johnson, aged 7, who was born in the colony, was living with Wm Foster at Hunters Hill on 10 acres of land (of which all 10 acres had been cleared, with 5 acres cultivated and three horned cattle.) Further down the list are No. 77 and No. 78, Frances Johnson the wife of Capper Pafs, and William, aged 10, born in the colony, son.

Why "Wm Foster" rather than John Foster? The family unit might have fallen apart not long after the 1822 Muster. Though not proven, the index of burials shows that a John Foster died in the colony, aged 48, in 1823. And much later on, in 1839, the court records list the hearing of a dispute between William Foster and Capper Pass's widow Ann over 50 acres of land at Lane Cove - an argument that seems to have begun before Capper Pass' death.

In 1823, probably following John Foster's death, Frances had a convict assigned to her. Scahill (20) has researched this period intensively, and found that one year after Frances was "freed by servitude" (served out her sentence) she had assigned to her Capper Pass, a male convict who is believed to have been born in Staffordshire about 1774. He was sentenced to 14 years transportation at the Bristol Quarter Sessions in January 1819, and arrived on the Canada on 1 September that year.

COLONIAL MARRIAGE

Frances Johnson and Capper Pass seem eventually to have found their needs answered by one another, since they were married at Scots Church, Sydney, on 23rd September 1828. The officiating Chaplain was Rev. John Dunmore Lang, and the service was conducted according to the rites of the Presbyterian Church.

Frances is recorded on both occasions on her wedding certificate as Frances Johnston, but the corruption is less surprising in the light of this certificate demonstrating her illiteracy. She signed her name with an X, as did the two witnesses, Robert and Mary Stewart. Frances also described herself as a widow. Capper Pass, who did sign his own name, described himself as a widower aged 47, while Frances gave her age as 48.

FRANCES THE PUBLICAN

Nine years later, on her death certificate, Frances was described as a Publican. Certainly she had some early association with this trade, since the Sydney Gazette police reports for 16th September 1826 state: Frances Johnson of George St appeared to answer a summons on an information for having sold spirits without a licence. The evidence went to establish the fact, and Frances Johnson was convicted in 25 pounds and costs, under the Act of Council No 2, Feb 20 1826.

By 1830, if not earlier, Frances was a recognised publican. The Internal Revenue Office's licence No. 178 dated 6th July 1830 states: License to Retail Wines and Malt and Spirituous Liquors, issued in Favour of Francis (sic) Johnson for the House known by the Sign of the York Hotel at York Street, Sydney. She paid 25 Pounds for this license, which at least described her (pro forma) as being a fit Person to keep a Public House. She was also granted license 31/168 of 5th July 1831. Perrott (21) notes: In New South Wales ex-convict and free women were able to become businesswomen as shopkeepers, hoteliers, or tradeswomen, particu-larly in service trades. The women established their businesses on their own merits and skills or in some cases by inheriting their husband's business. Liquor licences were issued in Sydney over the period 1799 to 1822 to a small number of free and ex-convict women. These were occupations which required little besides a pleasant manner, a sound business sense and some business acumen, ambition, determination and the ability to work hard.

No further record of Frances appears in the Internal Revenue records (22), but licence No. 100 of 30th June 1837 was issued to Capper Pafs for the Royal Oak at George Street, as was No. 66 for 28th June 1838; and No. 284 of 25th June 1839 was issued to Ann Pafs for the same establishment. (Capper Pass remarried after Frances died, probably in 1838, to an Anne Rose.)

FRANCES' DEATH

Frances Pass died in Sydney in 1837 and was buried by Rev. Robert Cartwright on 26th December at the Parish of St. James, County of Cumberland, according to particulars from the register of Church of England burials. Her age was listed as 56 years, and her abode as George Street, which presumably was the Royal Oak. The certificate does not state the date of death, nor - though it was common at the time - the Ship's name.

William, the elder of her two known Colonial children, would have been 19 at the time.

Frances was buried in the "Sandhills Cemetery" or "Old Devonshire Street Ground" - an area of about 11 acres that was used as Sydney's second cemetery from 1819 to 1868, and which is now the site of the Sydney Central Railway Station. Johnson & Sainty (23) record that in 1901 the NSW Government invited descendants of those interred at the Sandhills Cemetery to relocate the monuments and remains. About 3300 of the 5000 stones went to a 25-acre site next to the Botany Cemetery, bounded by Bunnerong Road and La Perouse. It appears that Frances' headstone, and perhaps her mortal remains also, were transferred.

MEMORIAL INSCRIPTION

Entry 562 in Gravestone Inscriptions records that the stone is standing, and in poor condition. It reads:

• Frances PASS died 23rd December 1837 aged 57 years. Erected by her children. also to Christina Victoria JOHNSON, died 11th November 1848 aged 2 years & 3 months.

This gives us a date of death for Frances. It also appears that one of her grandchildren was buried with her (see William Johnson's biography).

Capper Pass' death is not registered. However, Probate Division exemplification No. 1019 states:

• Be it known that upon search being made in the registry of the Court it appears that on 14 August 1839 administration of the estate of Capper Pafs late of Sydney in the State of New South Wales Licensed Victualler who died intestate on 23 April, 1839 was granted to Ann Pafs the widow of the deceased.

This was the known life of Frances Johnson, the transported convict mother of William Johnson. We know her end, but what of her beginnings? Once again, it was her poverty that brought her to the attention of the courts, and ensured the creation of a record that reveals her birth at Morpeth in Northumberland, and her marriage to Mark Johnson.

ON THE PARISH

In 1801 a Frances Johnson of Kirton was examined (under the requirements of the Poor Law) so that her place of legal settlement could be determined. A settlement examination was usually taken when a family or single person became chargeable to a parish and they were in need of parish relief, according to Cole (24). The intention was to find out which parish was liable to pay the Poor Law support, and to remove the person to that parish. In the same year an order was issued to remove a Frances Johnson, and a Mark Johnson aged 1 year, to Kirton.

Cole tells us that many of the people who found themselves labelled "rogues and vagabonds" were legitimate travellers who ran out of money and were unfortunate enough to be discovered by the parish constable. These might include the wives and families of serving seamen and soldiers, businessmen whose transactions had not ended satisfactorily or people who had simply fallen ill whilst travelling. To these can be added soldiers and sailors returning to their homes, gypsies, travelling entertainers, runaway apprentices and those who seem to be continually roaming the countryside with no specific purpose in mind. In fact any stranger arriving in a parish with no visible means of support was a target for the constable, who conveyed his captives to the nearest House of Correction where they stayed until the next Quarter Sessions took place.

After being examined by the Magistrates, most rogues and vagabonds were removed to their place of legal settlement, some being issued with vagrancy passes so that they would be provided with food and lodging by the overseers of parishes which they passed through on their way.

FRANCES' EXAMINATION

The examination of Frances brings to light her birthplace and her marriage date. The court record reads:

• The Examination of Frances Johnson now resident in the parish of Kirton in the said Parts touching the place of her last legal Settlement taken before us two of his Majesty's Justices of the peace in and for the said Parts this 27th Day of January in the Year of our Lord 1801.

  This Examinant on her Oath saith that she was born at Morpath in the County of Northumberland and that at May-day 1790 (sic, but probably 1799) she was Married to Mark Johnson a Substitute in the North Lincolnshire Militia; And that she hath heard her said Husband say, that his last legal Settlement is in the Parish of Scotton in the said Parts; And that she hath Done no Act or thing to gain a legal Settlement except what is contained in the above Written Examination. Taken Signed and Sworn before us in the Day and Year first above written, Thos. Goulton, W.R. Wilson. The Mark of X Frances Johnson.

The order to remove Frances and her son back to Scotton was issued on the same day by the Justices, using the repetitive phrases beloved of lawyers everywhere:

• To the Churchwardens and Overfeers of the Poor of the Parifh of Kirton in the Parts of Lindfey, and County of Lincoln. And to the Churchwardens and Overfeers of the Poor of the Parifh of Scotton in the said parts and to each and every one of them.

  Upon the Complaint of the Churchwardens and Overfeers of the Poor of the Parifh of Kirton aforefaid, in the parts aforesaid made unto us whofe Names are hereunto fet and Seals affixed, being two of his Majefty's Juftices of the Peace in and for the faid Parts, and one of us of the Quorum, That Frances Johnson and Mark her Son Aged one Year and four Months have come to inhabit in the faid Parish of Kirton not having gained a legal Settlement there, nor produced any Certificate owning them to be fettled elfewhere, and that the faid Frances Johnson and Mark her Son are actually chargeable to the faid Parish of Kirton

  We the faid Juftices upon due Proof made thereof, as well upon the Examination of the faid Frances Johnson upon Oath as otherwife, and likewife upon due confideration had of the Premifes, do adjudge the fame to be true; and we do likewife adjudge that the lawful Settlement of them the faid Frances Johnson and Mark her Son is in the faid Parish of Scotton

  We do therefore require you the faid Churchwardens and Overfeers of the Poor of the faid Parish of Kirton or fome or one of you to convey the faid Frances Johnson and Mark her Son from and out of your faid Parish of Kirton to the faid Parish of Scotton and them deliver to the Churchwardens and Overfeers of the Poor there, or to fome or one of them, together with this our Warrant or Order, or a true Copy thereof, at the fame time fhewing to them the Original:

  And we do alfo hereby require you the faid Churchwardens and Overfeers of the Poor of the faid Parish of Scotton forthwith to receive and provide for them as your own Parifhioner Given under our Hands and Seals this 27th Day of January in the Year of our Lord, 1801.

MILITIA SERVICE

The reference to Mark Johnson being a Substitute in the North Lincolnshire Militia indicates that he was a reservist rather than a professional soldier. Fear of French invasion had prompted the passing of the Militia Bill in 1757 to provide for the defence of the country. This instituted a system whereby a defence force made up of and paid for by local men could be called upon in each county in times of threatened invasion.

These forces could not be asked to serve outside their own counties. Training and equipment were paid for by a county rate, and the men were paid only when called to serve away from home, such as on a training expedition. The period of service was three years. A ballot held in each parish decided who should serve in the Militia; the number of men required depended on the size of the village.

Only able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 45 could serve, and exemptions from service were made for professional men, such as doctors, for parish and local officials, and for men with large families. If the man balloted did not want to serve, a substitute was paid to serve on behalf of the parish.

A professional search at the Lincoln County Records Office has failed to discover any record to show that Mark Johnson served in the North Lincolnshire Regiment of Militia, though the records are incomplete. By 1809 another man, George Crossland, was serving in the regiment for the parish of Scotton. Nor are there any records of payments to support Frances Johnson by the militia authorities, though these records also are incomplete.

SCOTTON VILLAGE

So Frances and her young son were returned to her husband's backwater English village, perhaps - considering the apparent gap between the birth of her children - to await the return of the soldier husband from foreign parts. Lyons demonstrates (25) that the population of Scotton remained fairly stable throughout its recorded history. Although Domesday Book does not give an exact population the figure can be calculated at 325 to 350 from some 75 families. There were minor known fluctuations over the following five centuries, but in 1851 for example, the census records 66 families with a total population of 316.

With no large manor house, bigger farms or cottage industry in the village, younger females during the 19th century probably found employment in tradesmen's and professional homes in nearby towns. The evidence of listed employments shows the village's dependence upon agriculture -- most males worked as agricultural labourers or small farmers -- and tradesmen and craftsmen provided almost all the needs of the inhabitants. And the population was largely parochial, with the 1851 census listing 182 people born in the village, 100 born in other Lincolnshire villages, and only 12 from outside the County.

The village, even by the mid-19th century, was still remarkably archaic (26). A village bull was maintained to serve the common herd; the common lanes were let annually for grazing; the Parish Constable remained an important figure; and there was probably not a single proper house drain in the village. To celebrate the Jubilee in 1887 the church clock was restored, and a minute hand added for the first time. The problems of a predominantly labouring population remained largely untouched, with low standards of living and low expectations caused by poverty, and frequent visitations of diseases such as fevers, measles, and a threat of epidemic pneumonia.

Five-sixths of the village were of the labouring class. Although as far as can be ascertained from oral testimony and sale catalogues, labourers' houses were made of brick or stone with tile roofs, cottages in general had open sewers with untrapped drains, leading into ditches which in turn led to an open main sewer. Bedroom accom-modation was such that an adult might not stand upright in rooms which housed several people at night. Open sewers perceptibly contaminated wells, whilst those lucky enough to draw their water with pumps from deeper levels found that for apparent convenience the pump might be placed directly over the open, untrapped drain, to take off surplus water.

FRANCES AND MARK

Despite a search of the International Genealogical Index for all 41 Counties, and though "Mark" and "Frances" are relatively unusual Christian names, no record has been found yet of a marriage between a Mark Johnson and a Frances. But clearly, at the turn of the century, Frances and Mark Johnson were struggling to look after their growing family in the Scotton region -- just as generations of villagers had for centuries before them.

Our next record shows that on 1st January 1803, Mary Johnson was christened in Scotton. She was recorded by the parish as the daughter of Mark Johnson and Frances. Her baptism was followed by those of Ann on December 5, 1805; Joseph on August 14, 1808, John on October 1, 1809, and Edward on April 8, 1812 (27).

The Scotton Poor Law records show variations in the list of the Johnsons' children, but both sources make it clear that about the time of Edward's birth there was a catastrophic event in the household.

By deduction it appears that Frances Johnson of Scotton was widowed when her husband Mark died sometime after mid-1811. She seems then to have been forced into a reckless life, presumably to shelter and support her young family, and in rapid succession had two illegitimate children. Six months after the birth of what was possibly her eighth child, she was caught stealing from the Jacklins, clapped into the nearest gaol, sentenced and transported, and endured years of privation before being reunited with two of her sons.

This course of events is supported by Lyons (28): Although the majority of individual names occur only once or twice in the surviving Poor Law records for Scotton, a few individuals, and even a handful of families, appear often enough for some picture of their lives to be reconstructed. These are presented here in tabular form, to indicate how far the lives of the poor may be examined, despite their humble status.

...

The historical irony of this story is that, like so many others whose endemic poverty led them to the courts and the transportation ships, Frances Johnson escaped her rural despair and ended her life as a person of property in a country full of promise. The modern re-examination of the stereotype female convict as a drunken, brawling prostitute is beginning to overturn many preconceptions. As Prof. Portia Robinson (The Women of Botany Bay) points out:

WEALTHY WOMEN

• Among the ex-convicts you had some of the wealthiest women in the colony; women who wore dresses imported from Paris, women who ran bakeries, women who ran hotels, and the wives of landholders. Female society was as complex as male society. As for the assumption related to the lower orders (that colonial females were all from the lower orders of British society, which carried with it all the connotations of poverty and criminality) they were a result of the prejudices of those Government officials and chaplains who were concerned with the trouble-makers of the colony. They prejudged women before they arrived. Captain Phillip, even before meeting one shipload of women, wrote that 'neither virtue nor honesty may be expected from them.' (29)

Whether Frances can be judged innately virtuous and honest, and no more guilty than any other victim of accident and circumstance, is at least open to consideration.

REFERENCES

Lincolnshire County Records Office at