In the early 1800s ten female convicts in Bristol Newgate Gaol (now the site of The Galleries shopping centre) were sentenced to ‘transportation beyond the seas’—Australia. While much is known about these women after they were transported, almost nothing was known of their lives, and crimes, here. In 2022-3, with funding from Historic England and UWE, we explored these forgotten stories through a series of workshops with women in HMP Eastwood Park. Sessions included creative writing with group […]
In the early 1800s ten female convicts in Bristol Newgate Gaol (now the site of The Galleries shopping centre) were sentenced to ‘transportation beyond the seas’ – Australia. While much is known about these women after they were transported, almost nothing is known of their lives, and crimes, here. We’re exploring their Bristol stories through a series of workshops with women who have experienced the criminal justice system today. Two of the ten women transported lived in Bedminster and […]
Anyone interested in the history of Australia during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries would do well to read Robert Hughes’s book. He describes in detail the development of the convict system and the colonisation of Australia from the first convict ship arriving at Sydney Cove in 1787 to the last convict voyage to Fremantle in 1868. With intensive research he has given the convicts a voice describing their own experiences of suffering, survival and resistance during that period. Robert […]
