Media: BOOK - paperback, 400 pages
Author: J. Kavanagh & D. Snowden
Year: 2015
ISBN: 9781845888855
Other: sketches, appendixes, bibliog, index
Publisher: The History Press

On 2 September 1845, the convict ship 'Tasmania' left Kingstown Habour for Van Diemen's Land with 138 convicts, and their 35 children.

On 3 December, the ship arrived into Hobart Town. While this book looks at the lives at the lives of all the women aboard, it focuses on two women in particular: Eliza Davis, who was transported from Wicklow Gaol for life for infanticide, having had her sentence commuted from death, and Margaret Butler, sentenced to seven years' transportation for stealing potatoes in Carlow.

Using original records, this study reveals the reality of transportation, together with the legacy left by these women in Tasmania and beyond, and shows that perhaps, for some, this Draconian punishment was, in fact, a life-saving measure.

Contents:
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Abbreviations
Conversions
Glossary
Authors' Note
Introduction: More Sinned Against Than Sinning?
1. Poverty Alone Drove Her to do What She Has Done
2. The Law Must Take its Course
3. 'These Unfortunate Females': The Women of the 'Tasmania' (2)
4. Banished Beyond the Seas
5. The Floating Dungeon
6. A New Life in a Strange Land
7. Behind Stone Walls
8. A Sad Spectacle of Humanity
9. All Are Certain of Marrying, if They Please
10. A Mere Accident at Birth
11. New Families in a New Land
12. Journey's End
Conclusion: The Legacy of Eliza Davis and Margaret Butler
Appendix 1. Trial Statistics
Appendix 2.The Women of the 'Tasmania' (2)
Appendix 3. The Children of the 'Tasmania' (2)
Appendix 4. The Sick List of the 'Tasmania' (2)
Select Bibliography
Notes
Index