People Australia

Elizabeth Mayne (1831–1895) was born in 1831 at the Almshouse at St Agnes, Cornwall, the illegitimate fourth child of Jane Mayne and William Chynoweth, who were married two years after her birth.[1] By the time she was fourteen, Elizabeth—who was illiterate, delinquent, and homeless—was a convicted felon. Before her criminal convictions she was sentenced to twenty-one days hard labour on five separate occasions for disorderly conduct in the workhouse at Truro. She was convicted twice as Elizabeth Chynoweth; she served a month’s imprisonment for stealing a pan in December 1846, then a further three months with hard labour for stealing a cloak from an inmate of the workhouse in which she resided in August 1846.[2] 

On her third conviction in 1847 Mayne reverted to her birth name, most likely in an effort to stave off transportation.[3] Yet she was sentenced to ten years transportation after being found guilty of robbing a twelve-year-old girl of eight shillings and one penny—money her mother sent with her to market.[4] The Tory departed London on 30 April 1848 with 170 female convicts from Millbank Prison on board, including Mayne, and took ninety-eight days to arrive in Van Diemen’s Land (lutruwita).[5] The voyage was documented by the surgeon superintendent as relatively normal, with only a few serious health issues amongst the transportees and no loss of life.[6] The surgeon’s entry of ‘well behaved’ against Mayne’s name on the ship’s arrival belies the volatility of her life as recorded prior and subsequent to her transportation.[7] On arrival the women were marched to the Anson Prison Hulk where they served six months incarceration before being assigned to masters to work off the remainder of their sentences.[8] Meticulous descriptions of Elizabeth’s appearance and identity were recorded, matching details documented in England under the names of both Chynoweth and Mayne.[9]

Transportation to Van Diemen’s Land, and prison with hard labour, did nothing to curb Mayne’s lawbreaking. Over the following ten years she was assigned to ten different masters as a housemaid and was charged as many times with various offences, consequently serving another two years and one month imprisonment. Her misdemeanours included insolence, using profane language, disobeying orders, absence out of hours, absconding, refusing to work, making a false charge against her master, and refusing to live with her husband. She served her sentences at the female convict factories in Hobart and Launceston and was banned from working in Hobart.[10]

Mayne was granted permission to marry twice.[11] Her first marriage to John Withers, whom she wed on 14 May 1851, was disastrous—within a month she refused to live with him.[12] As a result she was imprisoned for three months with hard labour.[13] Withers, a shopkeeper twenty-five years her senior, died within four years of the marriage, leaving verbal instructions for his debts to be paid, with the remainder of his estate donated to the Wesleyan Church for charitable purposes, stating his wife, ‘a woman of drunken and bad habits’, had left him many years ago.[14] 

On 13 June 1854, a year after Withers died, Mayne was granted a ticket of leave.[15] On 1 January 1856 she was given permission to marry James Smith, a baker who had previously been a convict.[16] They were wed two months later.[17]Trouble followed her again, and ten months into her second marriage she was convicted of assault, receiving another six-month sentence with hard labour.[18]However, the sentence was remitted by the colonial office after just six weeks, and twenty-two days later she received a certificate of freedom.[19] Her liberation and marriage to James Smith appear to be the catalysts for a more settled life thereafter. The marriage was a success. Freed from authoritarian colonial discipline, the couple settled in Port Sorrell and produced eight children over the ensuing sixteen years.[20]

Transportation, incarceration, and punishment may well have saved Elizabeth Smith from a life of crime in England, perhaps even saving her life. At the sitting of the court the day she was first convicted, her father was sentenced to six months imprisonment for larceny, the judge commenting he had been lenient on her as there was no doubt both parents ‘encouraged their daughter in stealing.’[21] The family—who were from a labouring and tin mining background—were all illiterate and often in trouble with the law.[22] A year after her arrival in Hobart Town, her father died of liver disease in Bodmin Gaol awaiting transportation after receiving a seven-year sentence for larceny.[23] One brother was convicted of larceny, and another followed her into exile after being transported for bestiality (this was not the first time he had been seen committing the same offence, and he had originally been sentenced to death).[24]In later years, her sister Jane had a death sentence commuted after being found guilty of murdering another person’s baby by drowning.[25] Her mother also spent several terms of imprisonment for larceny and offences relating to her behaviour in Parish Workhouses.[26]

By Smith’s later years, the report of ‘well behaved’ entered by the surgeon on the Tory was perhaps appropriate. She had managed to hold together her large family and a marriage spanning almost forty years, and was a member of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Movement, an organisation dedicated to the total abstinence of alcohol and adherence to Christian principles. She was described as a pioneer of the district of Hamilton on Forth in North Western Tasmania at her death from paralysis at Ulverstone in September 1895. She was survived by her husband, three daughters, and five sons. She was laid to rest in the Anglican Pioneer Cemetery at Forth.[27]

[1] Baptism record for Elizabeth Mayne, baptised 2 August 1831, Cornwall Parish Registers, England, St Agnes, Baptisms, 1538–2010, image 80, Family Search.org, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3, accessed 6 June 2024; Marriage certificate of Jane Main (Main) and William Chenoweth, married 14 January 1833, Marriage registration district of Cornwall, Parish Registers, England, 1538–2010, St Agnes Marriages 1813–1833, image 149, Family Search.org, accessed 10 June 2024, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3.

[2] Elizabeth Mayne, Tory, 1848, Conduct record, Conduct Registers of Female Convicts arriving in the Period of the Probation System, Tasmanian Archives, CON41/1/18; Cornwall Midsummer Sessions, Cornwall Royal Gazette (Truro), 9 July 1847, 4, British Library Newspapers; Cornwall, Bodmin Gaol Records, 1821-1899, Elizabeth Chenoweth, Registration No, 8091, Volume Number AD1676/4/3, Ancestry.com, accessed 15 June 2024; Cornwall, Bodmin Gaol Record 1821-1899, for Elizabeth Chenoweth, Registration No, 8242, Volume Number AD1676/4/3, Ancestry.com, accessed 16 June 2024; Elizabeth Chenoweth, Institutional Inmates and Criminal Registers, 1846–1847, Elizabeth Chenoweth, Bodmin Bridwell, Cornwall Online Parish Clerks website, https://www.cornwall-opc-database.org/search-database/more-info/?t=criminal_courts&id=9134, accessed 9 June 2024; Elizabeth Mayne, County Quarter Sessions March and June 1846, County Assizes, August 1846, Cornwall Online Parish Clerks, https://www.cornwall-opc-database.org/search-database/more-info/?t=criminal_courts&id=9253, accessed 9 June 2024.

[3] Elizabeth Mayne, Bodmin Gaol 14 May 1847, Cornwall Online Parish Clerks website, https://www.cornwall-opc-database.org/search-database/more-info/?t=criminal_courts&id=9525, accessed 9 June 2024.

[4] Elizabeth Mayne, Conduct record.

[5] Removal List Millbank Prison to Van Diemen’s Land, Elizabeth Mayne, England and Wales Crime Prisons and Punishments, 1770–1935, Correspondence and Warrants, 1838, HO13, Piece No. 96, pp5-6, Findmypast.com, accessed 18 June 2024; Late English, Hobarton Guardian, or True Friend of Tasmania, 9 August 1848, 3; Local and General, North West Post (Formby, Tasmania), 17 September 1895, 2.

[6] Convict Ships: Tasmania, Thames, Theresa, Thomas Arbuthnot, Thomas Harrison, Tortoise, Tory, Admiralty Records, 1673–1957, ADM101/71 Image 247, Trove https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1600098837/view.

[7] Elizabeth Mayne, Conduct record.

[8] Dianne Snowden, ‘Female Convicts’, in The Companion to Tasmanian History, ed. Alison Alexander (Hobart: Centre for Tasmanian Historical Studies, University of Tasmania, 2005), 131; Ian Brand, The Convict Probation System: Van Diemen’s Land 1839–1854, ed. M. N. Sprod (Sandy Bay: Blubber Head Press, 1990), 237–39; Entry for Elizabeth Mayne, Female convicts in Van Diemen’s Land at the Anson Probation Station, Female Convicts Research Centre website, Tasmania, https://femaleconvicts.org.au/docs/lists/AnsonConvicts.pdf, accessed 20 June 2024; Elizabeth Mayne, Tory, 1848; Conduct Registers of Female Convicts arriving in the Period of the Probation System, Tamanian Archives, CON41/1/18.

[9] Elizabeth Mayne, Tory, 1848, Description Lists of Female Convicts, Tasmanian Archives CON 19/1/6, image 154; Elizabeth Mayne, Tory, 1848, Indents of Female Convicts, Tasmanian Archives CON15/1/4, image 352; Bodmin Bridwell, Elizabeth Chenoweth, Cornwall Online Parish Clerks website, extra searches, Institutional Inmates: Criminal Registers, County Quarter Sessions March and June 1846, County Assizes, https://www.cornwall-opc-database.org/search-database/more-info/?t=institution_inmates&id=226015. 

[10] Elizabeth Mayne, Conduct record.

[11] Elizabeth Mayne, Tory, 1848, Convicts Permission to Marry, Tasmanian Archives, CON52/1/7 p.179,https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/CON52-1-3p179; Elizabeth Mayne, Tory, 1848, Convicts Permission to Marry, Tasmanian Archives, Con52/1/7, p 104,https://libraries.tas.gov.au/Digital/CON52-1-7p104.

[12] Marriage certificate of Elizabeth Mayne and John Withers, married 14 May, 1851, registered 14 May 1851,Longford registration district, Tasmanian Archives 1856/942 RGD37/1/10, no.833.

[13] Elizabeth Mayne, Conduct record.

[14] Celebrating 150 Years of Service to the Tasmanian Community, John Withers, Public Trustees Tasmania Annual Report 2002–2003, p.14, accessed 29 May 2024, https://www.publictrustee.tas.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/annual-report-2002-2003.pdf.

[15] Elizabeth Mayne, Tory, 1848, Hobart Town Gazette, Convict Department, 13 July 1854, image 566, p.571, Family Search website, accessed 13 June 2024, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-898F-V3K7?i=565,

[16] Elizabeth Mayne, Tory, 1848, Convicts Permission to Marry, Australia, Tasmania, Government Gazette, 1833-1925. (Hobart Town Gazette), 8 January 1856, image 546 p16, Family Search.com, accessed 9 July 2024, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-998N-S3ZK?i=545,; Elizabeth Mayne, Conduct record.

[17] Marriage certificate of Elizabeth Mayne and James Smith, married 3 March 1856, registered 3 March 1856, Port Sorrell registration district, Tasmanian Archives 1856/842.

[18] Elizabeth Mayne, Conduct record.

[19] Elizabeth Mayne, Tory, 1848, Hobart Town Gazette, Convict Department, 21 July 1857, image 529, p.664, Family Search, accessed 13 June 2024; Elizabeth Mayne, Conduct record.

[20] Death Registration for William Thomas Barnett Smith, died 3 October 1909, (birth not registered), registration district of Launceston, Tasmanian Archives; Tasmanian Federation Index, 1909/1743; Death Registration for William Thomas Barnett Smith died 3 October 1909, (birth not registered), registration district of Launceston, Tasmanian name index, 1995574, Tasmanian Archives Tasmanian Federation Index, 1909/1743; Birth register entry for Samual Barnett Smith, born 7 December 1855, Tasmanian Archives names index, 998925 RGD33/1/34, 1855/1345; Birth register entry for James Barnard (Barnett) Smith, born 11 January 1858, Tasmanian Archives, RGD33/1/34, no 129, 1858/1722; Unnamed (male) Smith, born 30 May 1860, Tasmanian Archives, Tasmanian Pioneer index 1860/1914; Birth entry for George Barnett Smith, born 9 September 1862, Tasmanian Archives, Pioneer index 1862/1431; Birth register entry for Charlotte Barnett Smith, born 1 December 1864, Tasmanian Archives, Name index 968695, RGD33/1/9, image 28, no. 7175, 1864/1612; Birth entry for Unnamed (male) Smith, born 22 October 1866, Tasmanian Archives, Pioneer index, 1866/13616; Birth Registration for Roseanna Emily Smith, born 25 March 1869, 1869/1301, Tasmanian Archives RGD 33/1/47, no, 1301, name index 1021738, 1301/1869.

[21] William Chenoweth, West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser (Truro), 3 April 1846, 4, Findmypast.com, accessed 10 June 2024; Elizabeth Mayne, Conduct Record.

[22] William Michael Chynoweth, Lady Montague, 1852, Conduct Registers of Male Convicts arriving in the Period of the Probation System, Tasmanian Archives CON33/1/110, image 51; Marriage certificate of Elizabeth Mayne and James Smith; England Criminal Registers 1791-1892, Elizabeth Chenoweth, HO 27; Piece: 78, p.124, Ancestry.com, accessed 14 June 2024; Jane Chenoweth, England Criminal Registers 1791–1892, Cornwall 1846, p.122, Ancestry.com, accessed 14 June 2024.

[23] William Chenoweth, Bodmin Goal, Certified copy of an entry of death, General Registry Office England,DYDF775981, 6 May 1849; England and Wales Criminal Registers 1770–1935, 1847, William Chenoweth, HO27, piece 81, p.138, Findmypast.com, accessed 10 June 2024; Prison Registers and Statistical Returns 1850–1865, William Chenoweth, HO24, piece13, Ancestry.com, accessed 10 June 2024; England and Wales Criminal Registers, 1770–1935, 1847, William Chenoweth HO 27, Piece 81, p.138.

[24] UK Criminal Records 1780–1871, Benjamin Chenoweth, HO18/365B, ancestry.com, accessed 11 June 2024; William Michael Chenoweth, Lady Montague, p.296; William Michael Chynoweth, Lady Montague, 1852, Conduct Registers of Male Convicts arriving in the Period of the Probation System, Tasmanian Archives CON 14/1/43, p.267 68; Cornwall Lent Assizes, William Michael Chenoweth, Crown Court, Royal Cornwall Gazette, 6 April 1849, p6, Cornwall Online Parish Clerks Website, accessed 21 June 2024, https://www.opc-cornwall.org › emigrant_pdfs; England and Wales Criminal Registers 1791-1892, William Chenoweth HO 27, piece 87, p.144, Findmypast.com, accessed 10 June 2024.

[25] England and Wales Criminal Registers, 1717-1935, Jane Chenoweth, Bodmin Assizes, HO 27, Piece 103, p.162, Findmypast.com, accessed 10 June 2024; UK Criminal Records 1780–1871, Jane Chenoweth, Criminal Petitions, part 2, HO18/365B, Findmypast.com, accessed 10 June 2024.

[26] Jane Chenoweth, England and Wales Criminal Registers, 1770-1935 HO 27, Piece 78; p.122, Findmypast.com accessed 10 June 2024.

[27] Local and General, Elizabeth Smith, The North West Post (Formby, Tasmania), 17 September 1895, 2; Death registration of Elizabeth Smith, died 16 September 1845, Tasmanian Names Index 1895/779.