Partners in crime

I could not resist doing a bit more research into Catherine Mitchell's co-accused at her trial in the Stirling Courts in 1833. The trial was reported in The Scotsman on 14 Sep 1833:

Mary Martin and Ann Stean did not appear, but the other three were all sentenced to transportation for 7 years. They were aboard the convict ship George Hibbert when it sailed from the Downs (an anchorage near London) on 27 July 1834. There were no male convicts aboard. There were 144 female convicts, 11 free women and 64 children aboard. It was a longer than average voyage but all arrived safely in Sydney on 1 December. It was the last convict ship of the year to arrive in Sydney.

The three young women are on consecutive lines in the detailed indent of convicts who arrived on the George Hibbert. 

• No 139, Christian Cock (alias Cook), was 20 and was the oldest of the three. Her trade was 'needlewoman', she was 166 cm  tall, had a fair ruddy complexion, brown hair and hazel eyes. Robina could read and write. She married John Purdy at Cobbity in 1835. I have not discovered any children of this marriage and Christian died at Paramatta in 1842 aged about 29. John Purdy remarried and had a large family with his second wife.
• No 140, Robina Lochie, was 18 and originally from Ayrshire (she also gives her native place as Edinburgh in other records).  She was 146 cm tall (4 foot 10 inches - very small), had a freckled complexion, sandy hair and grey eyes. She was the only one of the three that had a prior conviction. Her calling is listed as 'nursemaid and housemaid' and she could read. She married Edward Alders at Port Macquarie in 1836. She was 19 and still on bond (serving sentence). Edward was 33 and a former convict who arrived in 1819. They had 12 children at Port Macquarie and later Kempsey. Robina died in Kempsey in 1898 (aged about 83 by my calculations).
• No 141, Cathrine Mitchell, was 17. She was 160 cm tall, had a ruddy complexion, dark brown hair and dark eyes. Her calling was 'housemaid' and she could read. As we know, Catherine married William Ward (37) in 1837 when she was 20. They had 10 children. Catherine died in Sydney in 1897 aged 81.

I was struck by the similarities between Robina and Catherine's lives. They both lived to a ripe old age. I wonder if they stayed in contact? Neither could write according to the convict records, but they both lived in coastal areas that were largely served by shipping, so they may have remained aware of each other.

I sometimes wonder of these sidetracks divert me from the main goal - to document the story of our family. But every now and then going down these 'rabbit holes' pays dividends. In looking into Robina Lochie, I discovered that she was mentioned in the log of the ship's surgeon, having been treated during the voyage to Australia. Our ancestor, Catherine Mitchel is not mentioned anywhere in the journal, indicating she had a healthy voyage. But the discovery of the journal is a little gem in itself. The Surgeon concludes with some general remarks that give us a far better picture of the voyage aboard the George Hibbert. It will take me time to digest, but I am sure some snippets will find their way into Catherine's story as I write it up.

I said last post that I had ordered a copy of the trial papers from Scotland. The researchers have been in touch to say that have a huge backlog due to the closure of the Archives Office during Covid, but things are open again and they are working through their backlog. I can't wait to find out exactly what this group of young women did, but will have to contain my impatience until the researchers can get to my request.