Of the approximately 24,000 women transported to Australia as convicts, about 12,500 were sent to Van Diemen’s Land, as Tasmania was then known. These government records provide a glimpse into the harsh lives and survival skills of women caught up in the convict system. 

They are laundresses from Leitrim, housemaids from Manchester, Wigan and London, and women who worked in skilled trades such as weaving and shoe-making. Most were first offenders, tried and sentenced for crimes relating to poverty.  

Their papers identify them as pock-marked or ‘much freckled’, as having a high forehead, pugged nose or fresh complexion. Their tattoos included heart symbols, ‘forget-me-nots’ and names of lost loves such as ‘W. Discon, I love’.