The Lady Juliana convict women
who came to VDL from Norfolk
Island 1807-1813
The
Lady Juliana lay six months in the
River Thames while the goals were emptied and the women placed on board. She
finally sailed from Portsmouth England on the 29th July 1789 and
arrived at Port Jackson on 3rd of June 1790. The Lady Juliana was the first female
convict ship to sail to the Colony of NSW and the first sailing of any convict
ship since the first fleet sailed in 1788.
When
the ship was out to sea every man on board took a convict women for his wife.
The number of female convicts on board the Lady Juliana varied, but it seems
that 244-5 was the number that arrived in NSW. The voyage took twelve months
less one day, calling into many ports. While in these ports it was an open
ship, and was later to become known, as the 'Floating Brothel'.
Before
leaving England the good ladies of London donated fifty suits of child linen.
This linen was to be used by the mid-wife in the event of there being children
born on the voyage. There were seven
births and five deaths. At least eight children accompanied their mothers, four
of these later came to VDL.
On
arrival at Port Jackson 114 women were sent to Norfolk Island, others were sent
later (194 in all) Many were to marry or live with men who were on the island,
or would arrive later, convicts, ex-convicts and soldiers. In November 1791 a
group of about 100 couples were married on the island by the Rev. Richard
Johnson, no records of these ceremonies survived. Many couples claimed they
were married on the island after they arrived in VDL.
Sixty
women from the Lady Juliana came to
VDL either with their husbands or alone between 1805-1815, of these 27 were
first fleeters.
You
will notice that many on the women on the Lady
Juliana were what could be regarded a fairly old. There were overall:
51 between the age of 10-19
116
between the age of 20-29
40 between the age of 30-39
15 between the age of 40-49
8 over the age of 50
These
women who had survived the terrible conditions in England and a unspeakable
voyage first to Port Jackson and then to Norfolk Island, found themselves
having to yet again pull up roots after nearly twenty years, and start again in
the new settlement of VDL. The records
reveal that most of them were wives, mothers, and in some cases grandmothers
who went on to make a place for themselves and their families. Their
descendants are proud to claim them as their ancestors, despite how they
arrived in the Colony.