Date of Conviction: 14/03/1828

Age at Conviction: 31

Crime Convicted of: Coining

Court Convicted at: Lancaster Assizes (held at Lancaster Castle)

Sentence Length: Life

Ship Transported on: Competitor

Where Arrived: Port Jackson, New South Wales

Departure Date: 08/06/1828

Arrival Date: 10/10/1828

Biography: Ellen Curwen/ Curven was part of a group of coiners at Liverpool, including her sister Alice Boden who was transported alongside her on Competitor. She had forged a base half crown and claimed she was innocent. The death sentence she received was commuted to transportation for life. Originally from Belfast, her husband was Thomas Curwen, a seaman at Liverpool and they had one child. Ellen was Catholic, and unusual for the time was was noted as being able to read. She was 5 foot 2 1/4 inches with a sallow, freckled complexion, black hair and dark grey eyes.

In New South Wales Ellen was assigned to Elizabeth ? and was a servant of ‘country work’. She received a ticket of leave in 1833. She applied in 1834 to marry convict John Hill, one of the Pentrich Revolutionaries, of ship Tottenham but this was refused due to her existing marriage back in England. Ellen received a conditional pardon in 1840. At that time, her years of being in a warmer climate had changed her to a ruddy, freckled complexion, with hair brown-grey, blue eyes and missing a front upper tooth and her little finger on her left hand was contracted. When her sister drowned in a dam in 1842, it was Ellen who reported the death.