Part 7 (2/2)

POLICE OFFICE, OATLANDS.

District of Oatlands Tickets-of-Leave.

ALL male prisoners holding the above indulgence, and residing within two miles from the Court-house, are ordered to attend church muster in future every Sunday.

Also those residing upwards of two miles, and not exceeding five miles, are ordered to attend church muster, the first Sunday in every month.4.

Benefiting from its location midway between the island's chief ports because of its growing wool trade, Oatlands in 1835 had a free population of 598, plus 695 convicts. It had expanded from twenty dwellings to more than two hundred over the past eight years.5 Still, Oatlands remained an outpost marked by contradictory components. The construction of convict-crafted Georgian homes and tree-lined avenues conveyed the superficial appearance of a civilized society. Yet the fringes of town defined its true outlaw flavor. Wide-open country offered fertile ground for marauding bandits who rustled cattle, robbed travelers on the lonely roads between Hobart Town and Launceston, and battled one another in the brutal fas.h.i.+on from which many legends were born.

Notorious bushranger Richard Lemon defined the settlement's early history before its link to other towns, encouraged after a visit by the governor of New South Wales in 1811. Exploring the northern jungles of Van Diemen's Land on horseback, Governor Macquarie proposed a road linking Hobart Town to the settlement he named Oatlands because it looked similar to an area that grew oat crops in his native Scotland.6 Until then, Richard Lemon, the leader of the first well-known bushranger gang, had terrorized the area. Between 1806 and 1808, Lemon ran wild and was the namesake for Oatlands' Lemon Springs and Lemon Hill. Living his mocking creed ”a short life and a merry one,” the ferocious murderer hid in a bark hut along the sh.o.r.es of Lake Tiberias until another ex-convict delivered his head in a sack and collected a bounty from the island's Governor Collins.7 Following Lemon's marauding lead, escaped convicts held hostage large tracts of the island's interior, still largely untamed and teeming with indigenous wildlife. Local herdsmen battled with carnivorous marsupials stealing from their flock, including the nocturnal Tasmanian devil and the thylacine (Tasmanian tiger), nicknamed for its stripes.8 A different form of wildlife congregated on the fringes of the settlement, outside the order and control of the wardens and the church. Sly-grog shops, ”notorious haunts of vice and immorality,” opened in secluded shacks and barns in the bush.9 Inside these treasured haunts, convict women and men re-created the working-cla.s.s entertainment of their homeland, as they swapped tall tales, smoked tobacco, drank rum, played cards, gambled, and danced with reckless abandon. A lifeline to personal ident.i.ty and good old-fas.h.i.+oned fun defined the after-dusk subculture from which convict solidarity prospered and dissidence brewed. In remote, predominantly male outposts like Oatlands, bare-knuckle boxing matches and c.o.c.kfighting also filled the dark recesses of popular underground entertainment, which may have also filled the dark holes in many a lonely heart. Inside these treasured haunts, convict women and men re-created the working-cla.s.s entertainment of their homeland, as they swapped tall tales, smoked tobacco, drank rum, played cards, gambled, and danced with reckless abandon. A lifeline to personal ident.i.ty and good old-fas.h.i.+oned fun defined the after-dusk subculture from which convict solidarity prospered and dissidence brewed. In remote, predominantly male outposts like Oatlands, bare-knuckle boxing matches and c.o.c.kfighting also filled the dark recesses of popular underground entertainment, which may have also filled the dark holes in many a lonely heart.10 The pet.i.te renegade named Agnes McMillan had no trouble adapting to this rustic lifestyle, though she never forgave Superintendent Hutchinson for a.s.signing her to the middle of nowhere. Despite the occasional gunshots and bushranger sightings, it was a rather boring town, with more sheep than settlers. The former street urchin, accustomed to big-city bustle and excitement, found little amus.e.m.e.nt in this dreary outpost until a certain William Roberts crossed her path.

Twelve years into his sentence, at age thirty-six, after a long day laboring in the summer heat, #510 celebrated his probationary Ticket of Leave in a secret Oatlands grog shop. As he waved the parchment marked January 22, 1840, in front of his mates, beer after beer was pa.s.sed through his gleeful hands. Perhaps on a dare or merely a celebratory whim, William jumped atop a horse, hooting and hollering his way through the midlands town for all to see. The sleepy citizens who lived securely inside the village's neat orange-brick homes were not in the least amused.

An Oatlands constable pulled the completely inebriated Englishman from his horse and dragged him down Barrack Street through the arched entrance to the old stone gaol. Staggering up the stairs, William stared down at the porous stone steps stained deeply red from blood running down the legs of men who'd been whipped earlier that day.11 Now that he'd been released from convict status, his sentence was lighter this time, a mere fourteen days in a solitary cell and a fine of five s.h.i.+llings. And the news was about to get better. Now that he'd been released from convict status, his sentence was lighter this time, a mere fourteen days in a solitary cell and a fine of five s.h.i.+llings. And the news was about to get better.

On this very night, a spirited Scottish la.s.s must have had a good laugh as she peeked through her master's curtained window and took notice of a dark prince riding wildly through the streets in the bright moonlight. His behavior was comical when compared to the antics of the bushrangers and fugitives who lived in the surrounding woods, where outlaw justice ruled. In this midlands community, a rather clumsy and unexpected courts.h.i.+p ignited between the spirited Agnes and a Ticket of Leave holder with a roguish smile and a wink cast her way.

Fifteen years her senior, William was not the handsome prince of fairy tales. His face featured high, square temples and prominent lips. His unruly black eyebrows nearly met in the center, and he bore the heavy blue mark of the ”king's evil” (tuberculosis) on his neck.12 He had endured the gauntlet of imprisonment, and it was time to settle down and start a family. Nearing the end of his sentence, the lucky expatriate found work as a timber cutter and builder. He had endured the gauntlet of imprisonment, and it was time to settle down and start a family. Nearing the end of his sentence, the lucky expatriate found work as a timber cutter and builder.

William's bra.s.sy humor and working-cla.s.s roots made him a fine match for the bonnie beauty with the Scottish brogue. He taught Agnes to read, to shoot a gun, and to use his well-worn ax. He was skilled, ambitious, and full of adventure and vitality. Like Agnes, he cast off limitations, living with abandon and buoyant good hope. She'd found her wild colonial boy and knew he'd be her mate for life.

Descendants of this well-timed union describe their meeting as fated. William had grown up with a mother and father and lived with them as a young adult, an apprentice at his father's side. For Agnes, his compa.s.sion ”was her first experience of any love and care in her whole twenty years.”13 Transported beyond the seas for the temptation of a few coins, the strong and rugged woodsman had survived some of the worst h.e.l.lholes in the empire. As he worked free in the forest, s.h.i.+rt tied around his waist, Agnes found her eyes drawn to the heavy scar tissue crisscrossing William's back, the signature of the cat-o'-nine-tails. ”Old residents speak today of having seen these convicts, in the days of their youth, peel off their s.h.i.+rts to wash, and their backs were cut and marked so that there was not a piece of skin unscarred and scarcely a ridge of the flesh left free of marks of the scourge.”14 Speaking not a word, the typically gregarious Scot conveyed what she felt for William with a simple touch. She understood his journey and shared his resiliency, yet tears still welled up in her eyes when she placed a gentle palm against the thirty-seven lash scars crossing his back.

With her best intentions now focused on romance and pa.s.sion, a love-struck Agnes soon found herself climbing the cold stone steps into the Oatlands gaol. She'd been insolent to her master and was to be confined to two weeks in solitary confinement, but her only regret was time away from dear William. Probably aware of the reason for her distraction, Magistrate John Whitefoord put Agnes on the first police cart headed back to Hobart Town. Though a Scotsman himself, he could not be charmed by a familiar brogue.

Over the next three years, the incorrigible Scot stayed in contact with William, twice absconding for the comfort of his arms. Surrendering any opportunity for early release with a Ticket of Leave, Agnes served her entire sentence. Seven years to the day of being found guilty by Ayr's Court of Judiciary, she held Certificate of Freedom #388, dated May 3, 1843. True-blue mate Janet Houston was freed the same day, which was the last time they would see each other.

Head held high, Agnes left Cascades behind her and headed north. Hitching a ride on an Oatlands-bound cart and humming her favorite tunes once again, she felt as though she were looking at the world for the first time. Traveling as a free woman, Agnes breathed in the island's mysterious beauty. Gum trees, their bark stripped stark-white bare in the annual molt, danced over the hills like human skeletons. Decaying eucalyptus appeared like gnarled and twisted fingers trying to scratch their way out of a grave. The wildness of the landscape only excited the wildness of her heart. As she traveled through the interior and approached the outpost, Agnes pa.s.sed huge groves of bushy honeysuckle shrub, their gigantic yellow cones in full autumn bloom and a welcoming sight that marked the entrance to Oatlands.

William had diverted himself with hard work while he waited for the woman he intended to marry. Convict #253 had finally reclaimed her name and now willingly added William's to hers, though no records indicate an official union. For the next several months, the Robertses saved every penny and plotted their future together. Anxious to make a fresh start and put the past behind them, the determined couple headed south to the Hobart Town docks in the spring of 1843. William's work on Mr. Calder's chain gang ten years earlier had introduced him to the prosperous possibilities for settlement along the Huon River.

These same prospects had not gone unnoticed by the ambitious and entrepreneurial Lady Jane Franklin. Seeing potential in attracting free immigrants with an interest in farming, the governor's wife made an investment she thought wise for the colony's future and her own. In 1838, she purchased 640 acres of fertile land in the Huon Valley, twenty-eight miles southwest of Hobart Town.15 She subdivided the large tract and sold parcels to G.o.d-fearing immigrants who denounced liquor and sin, pa.s.sed her interview, and met with her approval. Eager tenants, many of the Methodist faith, agreed to her lease-to-buy arrangement, requiring full payment within seven years. In 1843, Her Ladys.h.i.+p left Van Diemen's Land with a tidy profit for land sold at fair value and returned to England following her husband's removal as the colony's governor. She subdivided the large tract and sold parcels to G.o.d-fearing immigrants who denounced liquor and sin, pa.s.sed her interview, and met with her approval. Eager tenants, many of the Methodist faith, agreed to her lease-to-buy arrangement, requiring full payment within seven years. In 1843, Her Ladys.h.i.+p left Van Diemen's Land with a tidy profit for land sold at fair value and returned to England following her husband's removal as the colony's governor.

The governor's wife had conducted her business more honestly than certain wealthy landowners who employed a lease-to-buy scheme as a way to avoid the backbreaking work of clearing swamps and felling giant trees. Setting rents that few could afford, these greedy land barons held back eviction notices until after the land was cleared.16 Instead of paying to have the forests leveled, they collected rent money from hopeful settlers until it ran out. When the owners reclaimed the land, it was more valuable and often resold or used as pasture for sheep or cattle. Instead of paying to have the forests leveled, they collected rent money from hopeful settlers until it ran out. When the owners reclaimed the land, it was more valuable and often resold or used as pasture for sheep or cattle.

During his sixteen years on the island, William Roberts had grown wise to corruption and graft. Carrying coveted skills as a pit-sawyer and carpenter, he'd find honest work crafting durable, seaworm-proof Huon pine into fine sailing vessels for the colony's trade. The water-resistant wood was used on the decks of the empire's finest sailing vessels and was in huge demand. Bringing only what was essential, William and Agnes left Oatlands and headed for the Huon Valley. They may have walked to Hobart Town, then boarded a cart. The former city lad wrapped his ax and sharpening file in canvas sail that would double as a tent. He had a rifle to hunt for food, ammunition, and everything he needed to make a good living. Seated by his side, his smiling common-law bride wore a wool hat and scarf, and a blanket layered over her shawl. Two small possum rugs rested over her lap. They used the fur sides for cool seasons and the reverse for summer.17 A cloudless sky looked clearer than ever on this windy September morning. They'd need the lengthening daylight to set up camp and build a permanent shelter before summer's end. Agnes held tight to a tin cup and a cooking pot with some spoons jingling inside. William confidently fingered the coins he'd stashed away for rent and pa.s.sage up the river. Waterways offered easier travel than overland routes where no roads existed. To reach the Huon River settlement, the freed couple probably took a lighter, a barge headed upriver for a load of timber. Or they might have boarded the forty-ton vessel Lady Franklin had commissioned to service the community now named in her honor.18 The growing town of Franklin lay twenty-eight miles southwest of Hobart Town, and traveling overland was reserved for only the heartiest of explorers willing to navigate on foot the slippery mountain slopes and confusingly dangerous tangle of forests. The growing town of Franklin lay twenty-eight miles southwest of Hobart Town, and traveling overland was reserved for only the heartiest of explorers willing to navigate on foot the slippery mountain slopes and confusingly dangerous tangle of forests.

Only the sorrowful ghosts of Aborigines knew the secret paths through sacred ground now on the edge of modern civilization. Once part of Australia's continent, Van Diemen's Land separated from the mainland when sea levels rose during the last major ice age and formed the Ba.s.s Strait. Starting in 1803, British rule set in motion a systematic eradication of those deemed to be ”savages,” the earliest settlers who had inhabited the island for some forty thousand years. Fifty indigenous tribes with a total population estimated between five thousand and ten thousand were scattered across Van Diemen's Land when the English first landed. By the time Agnes arrived, that number had been reduced to less than two hundred, who lived in exile on Flinders Island off the northeast coast. Isolated from the rest of the world for about ten thousand years-the longest known isolation in human history-the Aboriginal people of Van Diemen's Land were completely exterminated in less than seventy-five years.

The dense forests of the Huon Valley, first inhabited by the indigenous Nuenonne tribe, was where Agnes and William began to erase their shared history in Van Diemen's Land. Immigrants who arrived of their own free will voiced an ominously rising prejudice against an expanding population they needed and despised at the same time. Comparing the island's beauty to the hideousness of those transported to its sh.o.r.es against their will, a male settler wrote that ”the inhabitants are like a set of vultures . . . defacing one of the finest countries in the world.”19 And a female settler similarly observed that the convict, ”like an ugly nose, spoils the face of the country.” And a female settler similarly observed that the convict, ”like an ugly nose, spoils the face of the country.”20 As he began to write On the Origin of Species On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin visited Van Diemen's Land and termed the colony ”a festival amongst the lowest barbarians,” writing: ”. . . I was disappointed in the state of society. . . . There are many serious drawbacks to the comforts of a family, the chief of which perhaps is being surrounded by convict servants. How thoroughly odious to every feeling, to be waited on by a man who the day before, perhaps, was flogged, from your representation. The female servants are, of course, much worse: hence children learn the vilest expressions, and it is fortunate, if not equally vile ideas.”21 Offering less understanding still for Aborigines, he echoed a sentiment shared by many: that ”Van Diemen's Land enjoys the great advantage of being free from a native population.” Offering less understanding still for Aborigines, he echoed a sentiment shared by many: that ”Van Diemen's Land enjoys the great advantage of being free from a native population.”22 An attempt to gloss over the penal colony's past was yet another cause adopted by Lady Jane Franklin. About the time she purchased the Huon Valley land, she spearheaded a campaign to change the island's name to Tasmania, a name first printed in an 1808 atlas and then bandied about in newspapers beginning in 1823.23 Following the coast down the River Derwent and pa.s.sing Bruny Island, William and Agnes sought a fresh start. Though they were legally free under the terms of the Transportation Act, the heavy chains of their convict past still rattled ominously against the promise of their future. Much of the far southeast remained untamed in 1844, though the island's total population had grown to about fifty-eight thousand. It was a region greener and wetter than Oatlands and Hobart Town, fertile for living off the land and water, and for blending into a quiet wilderness, where the couple could together shed their convict stain and start afresh.

Agnes found herself in high spirits as they sailed through the magical valley. Enchanted forests carpeted in velvety moss and giant leafy ferns revealed layers upon layers of deep green density. In the runoff of spring, streams rushed toward the river, and waterfalls cascaded over jagged cliffs. Ancient trees of gigantic proportions, some measuring ninety feet in circ.u.mference, pushed their lofty crowns toward a perfectly pristine blue sky.24 The river rippled with silver ribbons of light as the bloodred sun slipped below an endlessly green horizon. Looking north, Agnes spied a gently muted mountain range aptly named Sleeping Beauty. Remains of a harsh winter lingered in the snow, atop graceful slopes mirroring the silhouette of a princess who reclines peacefully on her bed, hair flowing along her side.

Crossing the Tasman Sea, heading upriver, and fighting the current required at least a day and a half from Hobart Town, depending on the winds and the tides. Buoyant with excitement as they hoisted their worldly possessions onto their shoulders, the couple was rowed ash.o.r.e to a timber camp on the outskirts of Franklin. Traveling with only what they could carry and the clothes on their backs, William steadied his wife's arm as they waded through the marshy mudflats and up the steep hillside banks. The st.u.r.dy thirty-nine-year-old knew hundreds of other free men on the island: acquaintances from the hulk in England, the sea voyage, the prison tread wheels, and his sentence to the chain gangs. Even in this remote place, William found familiar faces happy to offer the couple a place at the fire, along with a little rum and cooked eel to welcome their old mate.

Women were still rare in the male-dominated backcountry, so news of the grey-eyed Agnes accompanying her rugged husband ensured plenty of help stringing a canvas awning between trees and settling in that first night. Within the week, William purchased a good saw and paddled upstream to a small riverside plot they'd clear for their future. He gathered kindling wood for a fire and set traps for fish while Agnes prepared supper from the provisions they'd packed from Oatlands. For the time being, they'd sleep in a tent. Using a whetstone, William honed his ax's blade and set to work removing dense tea tree scrub and felling Huon pine.

A simple hut at the river's edge, built from ”split timber and clay reinforced with wattle twigs,”25 seemed a fine spot to raise their brood. The small bulge in Agnes's belly carried a child conceived soon after their reunion in Oatlands. Fresh fish from the river and potatoes from nearby farms offered thetwenty-three-year-old and her developing child many a bountiful feast. Crayfish and eels were roasted on an open fire and seasoned with spicy berries from wild pepper plants. Rus.h.i.+ng streams provided an abundant supply of crystal-clear water. The water's edge was eerily quiet save for croaking frogs, buzzing mosquitoes, an occasional owl's call, and the sound of the river lapping against the sh.o.r.e. Their new home s.h.i.+elded the couple from the harshness they'd always known and offered a safe place to drift off to a deeply sound sleep. A fine mist embraced this ethereal landscape, as vibrant rain-forest spirits prepared to spring into life. seemed a fine spot to raise their brood. The small bulge in Agnes's belly carried a child conceived soon after their reunion in Oatlands. Fresh fish from the river and potatoes from nearby farms offered thetwenty-three-year-old and her developing child many a bountiful feast. Crayfish and eels were roasted on an open fire and seasoned with spicy berries from wild pepper plants. Rus.h.i.+ng streams provided an abundant supply of crystal-clear water. The water's edge was eerily quiet save for croaking frogs, buzzing mosquitoes, an occasional owl's call, and the sound of the river lapping against the sh.o.r.e. Their new home s.h.i.+elded the couple from the harshness they'd always known and offered a safe place to drift off to a deeply sound sleep. A fine mist embraced this ethereal landscape, as vibrant rain-forest spirits prepared to spring into life.

Sunrise burned off dawn's heavy fog as noisy black currawongs sporting bright yellow eyes swooped clumsily along the river's edge and looked for insects. Fairy wrens and white-bellied sea eagles joined in the chorus. Dragonflies danced on ferns, among the oldest known on earth, many unique to the island. b.u.t.terflies displayed brightly colored wings, painted with golden eyes and violet pupils. Large moths, most colored in camouflaging browns and greys and some with surprising additions of soft rosy pink, populated the forests and streams.

While William sawed timber downstream, Agnes explored the woods at their rear boundary. A nearly impenetrable treetop canopy cast a brooding stillness over the spongy rain-forest floor, touched by nary a hint of sunlight. Surrounded by the Huon pine, her closest neighbors were the majestic myrtles and September-flowering sa.s.safras covered in lichen. Smells from the hearth and the smokehouse attracted the occasional curious wallaby or echidna, but Agnes rejoiced in a life simple and free.

Heavy with child and blessedly content, thinking back to Glasgow's stinking streets, the mother-to-be delighted in the fragrance of black peppermint trees. Adding a touch of comfort to the cabin, the couple put up shelves, and William fas.h.i.+oned a table and stools. A rope bed and small crib, crafted with basic tools, added a homey touch to their isolated shack. On a chilly autumn morning in April 1844, Agnes gave birth to a daughter they named Lavinia Louisa; she was joined in 1846 by a brother named after his father. The two were baptized together by a missionary chaplain, who held services inside a modest wooden church built by Lady Jane Franklin. Over the next eight years, Agnes delivered George Henry, Agnes Lavinia, and John Edward. Lavinia and William enrolled in a school that opened in 1848 and helped teach their younger siblings how to read and write.

As the family expanded, the island's economy sank into a depression. Three-quarters of the men in Van Diemen's Land were convicts or ex-convicts, and many could not find work on any part of the island.26 By 1851, a rising tide of hatred directed toward transports and their offspring swept over the colony, further dividing a society already rife with prejudice. Looking toward the Southern Cross so clear above the Huon Valley, Agnes and William whispered excitedly about news they'd heard about golden opportunities in the nearby colonies of Victoria and New South Wales on Australia's mainland. By 1851, a rising tide of hatred directed toward transports and their offspring swept over the colony, further dividing a society already rife with prejudice. Looking toward the Southern Cross so clear above the Huon Valley, Agnes and William whispered excitedly about news they'd heard about golden opportunities in the nearby colonies of Victoria and New South Wales on Australia's mainland.

Blessings of Abundance.

By the time Agnes and William moved from the Huon Forest and set sail for Melbourne, Agnes's old friend Janet Houston had married a highly successful horse breeder and given birth to nine of her eventual twelve children, including two sets of twins. The couple settled in the lovely towns.h.i.+p of Richmond, first called Sweet Water Hills and located just fifteen miles from Hobart Town.

At first, Janet's union with Robert Bailey was fraught with drama following on the heels of tragedy. Robert, a former convict, was probably the father of the ill-fated baby, William. Despite that relations.h.i.+p, he was not free to wed Janet for more than a decade. When he first set eyes on the redheaded Scot, he was married to another convict maid, a volatile gypsy horse thief who deserted him as soon as she was granted a Ticket of Leave. Divorce not being an option, he did the next best thing, posting a desertion notice in the Colonial Times Colonial Times in an attempt to absolve himself of responsibility for his wife's unpredictable behavior: in an attempt to absolve himself of responsibility for his wife's unpredictable behavior: CAUTION.

MARY BOSWELL, Ticket-of-Leave, wife of Robert Bailey, of Richmond, having left her home without cause, he hereby Cautions the Public from giving her credit in his name, as he will not be answerable for any debt she may contract from this date. Ticket-of-Leave, wife of Robert Bailey, of Richmond, having left her home without cause, he hereby Cautions the Public from giving her credit in his name, as he will not be answerable for any debt she may contract from this date. ROBERT BAILEY, ROBERT BAILEY, April 19, 1839 April 19, 183927 When Janet secured her Certificate of Freedom in 1843, she ran straight into the arms of the tall Englishman with dark grey eyes and thick chestnut hair. At five feet, eight inches tall, he towered above the pet.i.te woman, whom he'd met three years earlier. Thirty-six, a full twelve years her senior, Mr. Bailey certainly had his hands full. In a land where there was only one woman for every nine men, Robert found himself with one too many.

Transported in 1820 aboard the Guildford Guildford after being sentenced to seven years for petty theft, Robert arrived in Van Diemen's Land at the tender age of thirteen. He received his Certificate of Freedom on July 23, 1827, and celebrated by getting roaring drunk and incurring a stiff fine. During his twenties, Robert managed to stay out of trouble except for being accused of stealing a sheep-that is, until he met the fiery Mary Boswell. She arrived aboard the after being sentenced to seven years for petty theft, Robert arrived in Van Diemen's Land at the tender age of thirteen. He received his Certificate of Freedom on July 23, 1827, and celebrated by getting roaring drunk and incurring a stiff fine. During his twenties, Robert managed to stay out of trouble except for being accused of stealing a sheep-that is, until he met the fiery Mary Boswell. She arrived aboard the Harmony Harmony on January 14, 1829. The nineteen-year-old from Birmingham was connected to a gang of gypsy thieves and faced a life sentence for ”horse stealing.” on January 14, 1829. The nineteen-year-old from Birmingham was connected to a gang of gypsy thieves and faced a life sentence for ”horse stealing.”28 As Mary strutted through Hobart Town, the dark-complexioned, dimpled gypsy with deep brown eyes would certainly have turned heads, especially at five feet, four inches, which was tall for that time.29 She'd endured four miserable months at sea and eight days more anch.o.r.ed in Sullivans Cove, because of the time it took to process the first women who were to be incarcerated at Cascades. In appointing staff for the new prison in 1828, Superintendent of Convicts John Lakeland recommended a staunch Methodist couple, stating: She'd endured four miserable months at sea and eight days more anch.o.r.ed in Sullivans Cove, because of the time it took to process the first women who were to be incarcerated at Cascades. In appointing staff for the new prison in 1828, Superintendent of Convicts John Lakeland recommended a staunch Methodist couple, stating: The immoral habits and general bad conduct of the female convicts will require all the energy and nerve that any individual may possess to keep them in a proper state of subordination and discipline.30 The newly issued rules and regulations for the Female Factory reinforced a strict regime under Esh and Ann Lovell, both former Sunday school teachers. Within a month of Mary Boswell's arrival, the first of many riots erupted at Cascades. It started after a group of sympathetic soldiers tossed cheese, bread, and b.u.t.ter over the stone wall into Yard One. When a prisoner tried to share the bread in the mess hall, an overseer took it away. The women went wild, stomping and clapping until locked down in their cells, where one lit cloth and pine, setting the yard ablaze. Superintendent Lovell shortly erected a fence around the perimeters of Cascades.31 Mary, the independent firebrand, had no intention of spending a lifetime under the Crown's stifling rules and regulations. She opted out of her sentence via the fastest escape route from the Female Factory. She got married. Arriving in a wild frontier, the exotic vixen had little trouble finding a spouse, wedding an infatuated Robert Bailey six months after she arrived in Van Diemen's Land. Released to Robert's care to serve out her life sentence, Mary found the loophole to early emanc.i.p.ation less than ideal, bristling at the intent to foster ”respectable” women.

After eight years of marriage, Mary earned her Ticket of Leave in 1837, shortening her sentence and reducing government expenses. A year later, her union with Robert turned rocky, and on February 21, 1838, she was recorded ”Absent from her husband's premises. Severely reprimanded.”32 By 1840, Mary's Ticket of Leave was revoked, following her arrest for larceny. She faced twelve months' hard labor back at Cascades. By 1840, Mary's Ticket of Leave was revoked, following her arrest for larceny. She faced twelve months' hard labor back at Cascades.

Abandoned by his wife for the past three years, Robert fell in love with Janet Houston. They met on the streets of Hobart Town, and she somehow managed to live on his farm in Richmond for nearly a year. Returned to the Female Factory and carrying a child, she was separated from the das.h.i.+ng Mr. Bailey until the warm autumn day she held Certificate of Freedom #339. Unfortunately, her grand reunion did not go quite as planned.

In 1842, Mary Boswell had absconded from her a.s.signment in a tiny village called Green Ponds (later Kempton), more than twenty miles from Hobart Town. She was returned to her husband, but by March 1843 she left him once again. Two months later, Janet arrived at Robert Bailey's home and by the following year was pregnant with twins. John and James Bailey were born in their parents' cozy stone cottage on May 20, 1845.

Robert prospered breeding horses and developed an upstanding reputation. The Colonial Times Colonial Times recommended his farm as one where ”good gra.s.s and well watered paddocks are provided for mares sent to him.” recommended his farm as one where ”good gra.s.s and well watered paddocks are provided for mares sent to him.”33 He also invested in land to support their expanding brood. William Houston Bailey was born in May 1847 and named after the little boy Janet had lost five years earlier. Twin girls Rebecca and Betsy arrived in 1848, followed by siblings Robert, Arthur, Mary, Kate, Randolph, Wallace, and Samuel, born last in 1860. Janet finally married Robert on March 3, 1852, at Richmond's United Church of England and Ireland, surrounded by their children and carrying a simple bouquet of wildflowers tied in a ribbon. He also invested in land to support their expanding brood. William Houston Bailey was born in May 1847 and named after the little boy Janet had lost five years earlier. Twin girls Rebecca and Betsy arrived in 1848, followed by siblings Robert, Arthur, Mary, Kate, Randolph, Wallace, and Samuel, born last in 1860. Janet finally married Robert on March 3, 1852, at Richmond's United Church of England and Ireland, surrounded by their children and carrying a simple bouquet of wildflowers tied in a ribbon.

A year later, in August 1853, Janet and her family witnessed the official abolition of transportation to Van Diemen's Land. Since 1803, sixty-seven thousand convicts had been s.h.i.+pped to this isolated outpost. Now they made up half its population. The older Bailey children attended the Richmond Primary School, built by prisoners in 1834.34 Convict labor had built most of the munic.i.p.al buildings in Hobart Town, and chain gangs had cleared the land for roads that now bustled with settlers and commerce. Convict labor had built most of the munic.i.p.al buildings in Hobart Town, and chain gangs had cleared the land for roads that now bustled with settlers and commerce.

Each school-age child was issued a medallion, coined by the Royal Mint in London, commemorating fifty years of European settlement and the close of a penal colony.35 In both Hobart Town and Launceston, jubilee festivals were orchestrated to erase the lingering stigma a.s.sociated with freed convicts like Janet Houston and William Bailey. The couple probably avoided the celebration, beca

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