Hannah Rigby
Hannah Rigby (c. 1794 – 10 October 1853) was an
penal settlement closed in 1839, she became one of the first permanent settlers in what is now Queensland.[1]
Rigby was born in
embroiderer. She was convicted of larceny by a court in Liverpool in October 1821 and received a seven-year sentence of transportation. She reached Sydney in February 1823 aboard the Lord Sidmouth. A son, Robert Frederick, was born in 1824, fathered by free settler Robert Crawford. The following year, Rigby married George Page, a fellow convict. In September 1826, Rigby was arrested and charged with "absconding from service". She was subsequently confined to the Parramatta Female Factory for three months. Rigby obtained a certificate of freedom in 1828, by which point she had moved to Newcastle and given birth to a second son, Samuel.[2]
In 1830, Rigby was charged with armed robbery for the theft of ribbon worth £1. She was again sentenced to seven years' transportation, and sent to the penal colony at
Moreton Bay Courier, which did not mention her status as an ex-convict.[1]
References
- ^ a b Richardson, Jan (2013), Queensland's Female Convicts: Tragedy and Resilience, Female Convict Research Centre. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
- ^ a b Harrison, Jennifer (2005), Rigby, Hannah (1794–1853), Australian Dictionary of Biography. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
