Newport Branch Meeting, 2024 June 25

Sarah Phillips 1801-1864, Transportation to Van Diemen’s Land and later by Richard Lockett

Our speaker this month was a Newport member, Richard Lockett. He had given us a previous talk tracing his family members by means of his DNA results. This time his search used more traditional methods and resulted in finding an interesting relative of his wife, one Sarah Phillips.

Sarah was born in Bristol about 1802 and, as employment was difficult for women at this time, they often would use their attributes to obtain money. One day in 1823 Sarah and another woman met some rather drunk men and took them to suitable rooms to entertain them. Soon the men were both in a drunken stupor and the women took advantage by going through their clothes to find cash. In the morning they were still somewhat inebriated and confused by the robbery. Eventually they left but one of them was later found dead, floating in the river Frome. The police arrested the two women and, although murder was considered a possible charge, they were eventually charged with robbery and sent for trial. Sarah was found guilty and sentenced to transportation to Van Diemen’s Land (now known as Tasmania) for seven years but the other women was acquitted.

Sarah was boarded onto the ship ‘Lord Sidmouth’ with an all female collection of 98 convicts- together with 23 of their children. They sailed in September 1823 and needed 173 days to complete the voyage to Hobart. During the passage discipline was tight and miscreants were sentenced to time in the ‘coal hole’ or a diet of just bread and water. On arrival the women were sent into servitude.

Sarah soon met and fell in love with a freed convict James Ratcliffe and they were married in 1824. James had obtained a farm, where they lived and produced six children before James died in 1837. At that stage three of the children had to be put into an orphan asylum for their welfare. Sarah then remarried to Thomas Blake in 1840 and four more children were born. Finally after Blake’s death Sarah entered into an unmarried relationship with Richard English and had one further child. Sarah finally passed in 1864, aged 63.

Richard has clearly thoroughly researched this topic and, as a result, is in contact with relatives in Australia and research is ongoing.