Margaret Dawson
Encyclopedia
Margaret Dawson was a convict
on the First Fleet
sent from Britain
to New South Wales
in 1787. She had a long-term relationship with the surgeon
, William Balmain
, and was one of Australia
's 'founding mothers' whose descendants still live in Australia and Britain.
She came from Liverpool
and in 1786 was employed in London
as a servant in the house of Joseph and Frances Shetley. On the afternoon of Sunday 12 February 1786, while her employers were out of the house, Margaret collected a large quantity of clothing, jewellery, and money, and left the house. Mrs Shetley returned home and found the house in disorder and the young servant girl missing. She sent for Mr Shetley who set out to follow Margaret that evening. Knowing she came from the Liverpool area, he asked after her at the Golden Cross at Charing Cross
and was told that a girl of her description had boarded the coach for Chester
in the north at 7.00 p.m. Mr Shetley took a postchaise
with a Mr Lowe, and overtook the coach at St Albans
. Margaret was found on the roof of the coach, apprehended, and taken into a local Inn where she handed over the stolen goods from her pockets and two boxes. The goods were recognised by Mr Shetley, the only item missing being a guinea coin which she had used to pay for the coach. When asked if she had acted with an accomplice or was travelling with anyone, she said no. Margaret was then taken back to London and Mrs Shetley identified the items of clothing.
Her trial record, like that of most of her fellow convicts, remains completely silent as to motive. We can only speculate as to whether her rash action resulted from cruel or indecent treatment at the hands of her employer, a family crisis pulling her back home, a threat from an unknown person, or a simple failure to resist the temptation of an empty house.
At her trial at The Old Bailey on 22 February for "feloniously stealing" goods to the value of £12 4s 1d, Mr Lowe stated that she was so changed in appearance that he would not have recognised her. In her defence, Margaret said "I have nothing to say, I have no witnesses." She was found guilty and sentenced to the mandatory sentence of death. The prosecutor and jury recommended mercy on account of her youth, being only fifteen, and it being her first offence.
After ten months in Newgate Prison
, in conditions where malnutrition, filth and violence were common, Margaret was returned to court. Here, on 4 January 1787, her death sentence was commuted "on condition of being transported for [a term of seven years], to the Eastern coast of New South Wales, or some one or other of the islands adjacent".
On the 26th January, she was delivered from Newgate to the Lady Penrhyn, then moored in the River Thames
. Conditions here were no better than in prison, with the women on board described as "almost naked and so very filthy' and "where there are very many venereal complaints". She sailed with the Fleet for New South Wales from Portsmouth
on 13 May 1787, arriving after a cramped and insanitary voyage of seven months at Sydney Cove
in Port Jackson
on 26 January 1788.
After allowing time for land to be cleared and huts erected, Margaret, along with the 189 other female convicts, went ashore on 6 February. Here, it was reported by one onlooker "the convicts got to them very soon after they landed, and it is beyond my abilities to give a just description of the scenes of debauchery and riot that ensued during the night."
In August 1789 the convict John Hayes received 50 lashes in a flogging
ordered for his "infamous Behaviour" towards Margaret. Perhaps it was this event that brought her to the attention of the assistant surgeon, William Balmain. And perhaps she assisted Balmain in tending to the large number of sick convicts who arrived in mid 1790 in the Second Fleet
.
In November 1791, Margaret and Balmain travelled together to Norfolk Island
on Atlantic, along with Philip Gidley King
, travelling to take up the post of Lieutenant Governor. Her penal sentence expired in January 1793, and soon after she signed a receipt for payment for some grain sold to the government stores, indicating she was literate, free, and farming some land. Their first child, a daughter, was born here in May 1794. The family returned to Sydney in August 1795.
Back in Sydney, Margaret bore two more children, a girl and a boy, with Balmain. The older daughter died on 4 September 1797.
The family left Sydney in August 1801, and arrived in London in March 1802, an absence of just under 15 years. In May 1803 Margaret, now pregnant with their fourth child, and the children, were sent to Ormskirk
, near Liverpool.
On 17 November 1803 William Balmain died. In his will, dated four days before, he left a yearly sum of £50 to “my dear friend Margaret Dawson, otherwise Henderson ... whose tenderness to me, while in ill health , claims my warmest gratitude and by whom I have had two natural children … and who is now ensient”. On Margaret's death his executors were to provide £12 10s for her “last sickness and funeral expenses”.
No doubt due to her convict status, in contrast to Balmain's professional position, she was unable to marry him, and she and the children had taken the surname 'Henderson”, which was Balmain's mother's maiden name.
Margaret left Ormskirk and gave birth to the fourth child in London. Little is known of this baby, except that it was a girl, and still living with the family at Clements Inn in January 1807.
Although she was receiving some rent from properties in New South Wales, it is likely that Margaret would have had to earn a living, perhaps as housekeeper. With the help of Balmain's friends she continued to encourage her son John William's education, and he was to return to New South Wales in January 1829 as a surgeon (like his father).
On 16 February 1816, while living at St James's, Westminster, Margaret died, and was buried in the churchyard of St-Giles-in-the-Fields, where Balmain was buried.
Convict
A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison", sometimes referred to in slang as simply a "con". Convicts are often called prisoners or inmates. Persons convicted and sentenced to non-custodial sentences often are not termed...
on the First Fleet
First Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
sent from Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
to New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
in 1787. She had a long-term relationship with the surgeon
Surgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
, William Balmain
William Balmain
William Balmain was a British naval surgeon who sailed as an assistant surgeon with the First Fleet to establish the first European settlement in Australia, and later became its principal surgeon.-Early life and career:...
, and was one of Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
's 'founding mothers' whose descendants still live in Australia and Britain.
She came from Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
and in 1786 was employed in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
as a servant in the house of Joseph and Frances Shetley. On the afternoon of Sunday 12 February 1786, while her employers were out of the house, Margaret collected a large quantity of clothing, jewellery, and money, and left the house. Mrs Shetley returned home and found the house in disorder and the young servant girl missing. She sent for Mr Shetley who set out to follow Margaret that evening. Knowing she came from the Liverpool area, he asked after her at the Golden Cross at Charing Cross
Charing Cross
Charing Cross denotes the junction of Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in central London, England. It is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood there, in what was once the hamlet of Charing. The site of the cross is now occupied by an equestrian...
and was told that a girl of her description had boarded the coach for Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
in the north at 7.00 p.m. Mr Shetley took a postchaise
Chaise
A chaise, sometimes called chay or shay, is a light two - or four-wheeled traveling or pleasure carriage, with a folding hood or calash top for one or two people....
with a Mr Lowe, and overtook the coach at St Albans
St Albans
St Albans is a city in southern Hertfordshire, England, around north of central London, which forms the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans. It is a historic market town, and is now a sought-after dormitory town within the London commuter belt...
. Margaret was found on the roof of the coach, apprehended, and taken into a local Inn where she handed over the stolen goods from her pockets and two boxes. The goods were recognised by Mr Shetley, the only item missing being a guinea coin which she had used to pay for the coach. When asked if she had acted with an accomplice or was travelling with anyone, she said no. Margaret was then taken back to London and Mrs Shetley identified the items of clothing.
Her trial record, like that of most of her fellow convicts, remains completely silent as to motive. We can only speculate as to whether her rash action resulted from cruel or indecent treatment at the hands of her employer, a family crisis pulling her back home, a threat from an unknown person, or a simple failure to resist the temptation of an empty house.
At her trial at The Old Bailey on 22 February for "feloniously stealing" goods to the value of £12 4s 1d, Mr Lowe stated that she was so changed in appearance that he would not have recognised her. In her defence, Margaret said "I have nothing to say, I have no witnesses." She was found guilty and sentenced to the mandatory sentence of death. The prosecutor and jury recommended mercy on account of her youth, being only fifteen, and it being her first offence.
After ten months in Newgate Prison
Newgate Prison
Newgate Prison was a prison in London, at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey just inside the City of London. It was originally located at the site of a gate in the Roman London Wall. The gate/prison was rebuilt in the 12th century, and demolished in 1777...
, in conditions where malnutrition, filth and violence were common, Margaret was returned to court. Here, on 4 January 1787, her death sentence was commuted "on condition of being transported for [a term of seven years], to the Eastern coast of New South Wales, or some one or other of the islands adjacent".
On the 26th January, she was delivered from Newgate to the Lady Penrhyn, then moored in the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
. Conditions here were no better than in prison, with the women on board described as "almost naked and so very filthy' and "where there are very many venereal complaints". She sailed with the Fleet for New South Wales from Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
on 13 May 1787, arriving after a cramped and insanitary voyage of seven months at Sydney Cove
Sydney Cove
Sydney Cove is a small bay on the southern shore of Port Jackson , on the coast of the state of New South Wales, Australia....
in Port Jackson
Port Jackson
Port Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
on 26 January 1788.
After allowing time for land to be cleared and huts erected, Margaret, along with the 189 other female convicts, went ashore on 6 February. Here, it was reported by one onlooker "the convicts got to them very soon after they landed, and it is beyond my abilities to give a just description of the scenes of debauchery and riot that ensued during the night."
In August 1789 the convict John Hayes received 50 lashes in a flogging
Flagellation
Flagellation or flogging is the act of methodically beating or whipping the human body. Specialised implements for it include rods, switches, the cat o' nine tails and the sjambok...
ordered for his "infamous Behaviour" towards Margaret. Perhaps it was this event that brought her to the attention of the assistant surgeon, William Balmain. And perhaps she assisted Balmain in tending to the large number of sick convicts who arrived in mid 1790 in the Second Fleet
Second Fleet (Australia)
The Second Fleet is the name of the second fleet of ships sent with settlers, convicts and supplies to colony at Sydney Cove in Port Jackson, Australia. The fleet comprised six ships: one Royal Navy escort, four convict ships, and a supply ship....
.
In November 1791, Margaret and Balmain travelled together to Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...
on Atlantic, along with Philip Gidley King
Philip Gidley King
Captain Philip Gidley King RN was a British naval officer and colonial administrator. He is best known as the official founder of the first European settlement on Norfolk Island and as the third Governor of New South Wales.-Early years and establishment of Norfolk Island settlement:King was born...
, travelling to take up the post of Lieutenant Governor. Her penal sentence expired in January 1793, and soon after she signed a receipt for payment for some grain sold to the government stores, indicating she was literate, free, and farming some land. Their first child, a daughter, was born here in May 1794. The family returned to Sydney in August 1795.
Back in Sydney, Margaret bore two more children, a girl and a boy, with Balmain. The older daughter died on 4 September 1797.
The family left Sydney in August 1801, and arrived in London in March 1802, an absence of just under 15 years. In May 1803 Margaret, now pregnant with their fourth child, and the children, were sent to Ormskirk
Ormskirk
Ormskirk is a market town in West Lancashire, England. It is situated north of Liverpool city centre, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston.-Geography and administration:...
, near Liverpool.
On 17 November 1803 William Balmain died. In his will, dated four days before, he left a yearly sum of £50 to “my dear friend Margaret Dawson, otherwise Henderson ... whose tenderness to me, while in ill health , claims my warmest gratitude and by whom I have had two natural children … and who is now ensient”. On Margaret's death his executors were to provide £12 10s for her “last sickness and funeral expenses”.
No doubt due to her convict status, in contrast to Balmain's professional position, she was unable to marry him, and she and the children had taken the surname 'Henderson”, which was Balmain's mother's maiden name.
Margaret left Ormskirk and gave birth to the fourth child in London. Little is known of this baby, except that it was a girl, and still living with the family at Clements Inn in January 1807.
Although she was receiving some rent from properties in New South Wales, it is likely that Margaret would have had to earn a living, perhaps as housekeeper. With the help of Balmain's friends she continued to encourage her son John William's education, and he was to return to New South Wales in January 1829 as a surgeon (like his father).
On 16 February 1816, while living at St James's, Westminster, Margaret died, and was buried in the churchyard of St-Giles-in-the-Fields, where Balmain was buried.
Further reading
- Reynolds, Peter, William Balmain and John Gilchrist: family and property, Balmain Historical Monograph No. 5, Sydney, Leichhardt Historical Journal Inc., 2003.
- Gillen, Mollie, The Founders of Australia: a biographical dictionary of the First Fleet, Sydney, Library of Australian History, 1989, ISBN 0-908120-69-9