Bridget Doe, the mother

It is about to be Mother’s Day and in this family, Bridget was the mother. I am sure that she would have enjoyed a day being looked after by a grateful family but it is unlikely that it ever happened. It seems that she had been married back in Ireland and she came out to Australia as a widow with one child. I have not been able to find any information at all concerning the child. She did not bring any child with her to Australia.

It seems that Bridget had a liking for shoes and this led to her downfall. Her theft seems very brazen as if she wanted to be caught. Ephraim thanked the judge when he was sentenced to transportation and maybe Bridget was just as grateful. It seems that she had been in trouble before. A second or third offence was much more likely to bring a sentence of transportation. Her story was printed in the Liverpool Mercury.

“On Tuesday, a woman named Bridget Norton, of shabby genteel appearance, appeared before the magistrates under the following circumstances. It seemed that on the preceding day, the prisoner walked into a shoe shop in St James Street, and intimated that she wanted some shoes for a friend of hers, who was troubled with swelled legs. Several lots were then shown to her and she chose four pairs, saying that if they could be sent to Sparling Street where she lodged, they would be paid for. The proprietor of the shop accordingly sent the shoes by his daughter who found the prisoner at the place stated. The prisoner with great politeness introduced her to the parlour, and taking the shoes said she would go and fetch the money. The messenger waited upwards of an hour, and her patience being exhausted, she sought the prisoner, when it was ascertained that she had decamped with the shoes. Information was immediately given to the police, which led to her detection shortly afterwards. The prisoner had previously been convicted of similar offences.”

Bridget knew manners! And she was of genteel appearance! She was a laundress from Ireland and described on her indent as being well behaved and industrious. Our Bridget was beginning to sound a bit classy! It was generally accepted that Irish women were rather low creatures, lazy, dirty and ill mannered. Bridget must have had a good upbringing or worked in a home where she picked up some style from the ladies.

It was not to last.  1859 found her sloshed in the bar of the Halfway Hotel at Jerusalem, “not quite drunk and not quite sober.” She had also been convicted of tippling with Edward Hunt, a perpetual drunkard. She had followed her husband in search of work or enjoyment and been found out of her area without a pass, resulting in a stint in the female factory.

Whatever her faults, Bridget was not going to take her husband’s involvement in the death of John Harris and his likely incarceration without a fight.

Norton Bridget Tried: Lancaster 20 Dec 1847 Embarked:                             7 years Arrived: 6 August 1848	Transported for stealing boots and shoes. Widow. Gaol Report: 4th conviction Stated this offence Well behaved, very industrious
Trade  Laundress,  Height  5 ‘2 1/2” Age 30,   Complex Dark, Head Round, Hair Dark brown, Visage oval, Forehead low, Eyebrows L Brown, Eyes grey, Nose medium, Mouth medium, Chin medium, Native place Athlone
Marks: None
Period of Gang Probation: 6 months Services 8/2/53 Station of Gang: Anson Class: 8/2/49 3 rd    Sept 2 /50 Married to Ephraim Doe
Offences and Sentences June 9/51(Married) Absent from her residence and abode 3 months hard labour.(IF) Approved 13/6/51 For Hobart April 19/52 QS Richmond Feloniously stealing of a satin waistcoat-discharged Mar 29/52 Richmond Felony remanded(WN) Mar 30/52 Fully committed to take her trial. Was tried at the QS Richmond on the 19th April 1852 for stealing a waistcoat- discharged T of L 10/8/52 Feb 5/53 Harbouring a prisoner of the crown for the purpose of tippling 6 months hard labour(GF) Appd. 11/2/53 Tried SC Launceston 17 October 1867 Murder,manslaughter-not guilty Con 41/1/6		Remarks 2/7/53 plus Ephraim Doe Notes by JJ See LC/445/2 Ephraim also charged See LC/445/2 Convict was Edward Hunt. He received 10 days solitary See Cornwall Chronicle Launceston Times