Ephraim Doe takes a wife



Reverend Arthur Davenport
who performed the ceremony



Ephraim decided he had had enough of batchelorhood. He had been recommended for pardon on June 25 1850 and now had much more control over his life. He must have thought long and hard about his earlier intention to marry Ann Connors and the demise of the romance. That had been six months previous, and now , with freedom, he had to be responsible for himself. A man needed someone to look after him: cook, wash, and clean house. He no longer had to live in a probation station where these things were organised. After all, a real man could not be seen hanging his own socks on the line. On July 30 he received permission to marry Bridget Norton, a convict laundress from Athlone in Ireland.  

On 19^th August, they met at the church. Traditionally, Monday was washing day but on this particular Monday, Bridget decided to leave the suds and the bluo behind, and meandered down to St Lukes to attach herself to Ephraim Doe. Was this a marriage where two people decided to support each other or was there love involved? Women had a far greater choice than men when finding a husband in Van Diemen’s Land. Many of the male convicts remained unmarried as there were simply not enough women to go around.

Bridget would have had little time to organise her wedding dress and flowers. Did she have something special or was it her everyday wear? Maybe Ephraim made a little more effort to flick his hair over that bald spot which was beginning to appear at the top of his head. The Banns had been read over the previous Sundays and the ceremony went ahead. Mr and Mrs Doe carefully signed the register with crosses next to their names and turned to saunter down the aisle to meet their future.

Possibly, Ephraim had found a hut for them to live in now that he was a family man. He had no steady job and for a time work was on short term contracts, wherever it could be found. Setting up a proper home and gathering belongings would take some time.