Researchers who have claimed this convict
There are currently 3 researchers who have claimed Judith Myers
- Researcher (John Meyers)
- Researcher (Darren Davies)
- Researcher (Leigh Mason)
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Biographies
Judith, his wife, was born in 1788 in London, England. They were married in England in 1811 or 1812 and together they appear to have had three children.
On 23 March 1820, Judith Meyers was convicted of larceny at the Surrey “Lent” Assizes and sentenced to transportation to New South Wales for seven years. {It is interesting to note that one Jane Wilson was convicted in the same court on the same day – The same Jane Wilson was later bracketed with Judith on the Muster list for the ‘Morley’ on their arrival in Sydney. Was she a relative?} Judith arrived in Sydney as a convict with three children on the “Morley (3)” on 12 September 1820. The children were listed as follows; 1 boy aged 8, one boy aged 6 and 1 girl aged 3. The records of the Church of the Latter Day Saints list the children as follows: Frederick b.1812, Charles b.1814 and an unnamed female b.1817. Upon arrival, she and the children were dispatched with 28 other women to the infamous Female Factory at Parramatta.
At the time that she arrived, the Female Factory consisted of one long room on the second floor above the Parramatta Gaol, which had a fireplace at one end for the women to cook on. Their work at the Factory usually involved ropemaking and scanning and carding wool. This building was replaced by Governor Macquarie during Judith’s time there by a three storey barracks factory which was first occupied by the inmates on 1
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February 1821. The first floor was set up for cooking and meals while the second and third floors were taken up with sleeping quarters.
It is unsure whether or not Judith’s three children resided with her at the Factory or were admitted to local orphanages. Mothers were usually allowed to keep children under the age of four, after which time they were sent to orphanages with little further conact with their mother until her release from the Factory.
There was no doubt that Frederick Meyers was anxious to have his wife and children join him in Hobart. In a letter from the Colonial Secretary to Henry Grattan Douglass, in relation to charges for postage of letters from Sydney to Parramatta, unfairly inflicted upon female convicts with no means, Judith Meyers is mentioned as having received nine letters in the previous six months from her husband at the ‘Derwent’.
Submitted by Researcher (John Meyers) on 21 December 2014
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Disclaimer: The information has not been verified by Claim a Convict. As this information is contributed, it is the responsibility of those who use the data to verify its accuracy. Research notes
There are currently no research notes attached to this convict. Sources
- The National Archives (TNA) : HO 11/3, p.330
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