Date of Conviction: 18/04/1825

Age at Conviction: 19

Crime Convicted of: Theft

Court Convicted at: Lancaster Quarter Sessions (held at the New Bailey, Salford)

Sentence Length: 7 Years

Ship Transported on: Remained in England

Where Arrived: N/A

Departure Date: N/A

Arrival Date: N/A

Biography: Jemima had stolen money along with Mary Ann Thacker from a Jonathan Hayton at Manchester. Jemima had been born at Liverpool and lived on Red Cross Street there but was now living in Manchester. A petition was written by friends of Mary Ann claiming Jemima was the principal of the theft and had led Mary Ann astray. They said Jemima had led Jonathan to a public house, then a house of ‘ill-fame’ before turning him over to men there who robbed him of £2 11 shillings.

She was described as a single woman, 5ft 1 tall with grey eyes, brown/fair hair, a sallow complexion, two large front teeth and was a little pitted from smallpox. Whilst in Lancaster Castle jail she had been bled several times in both arms. Jemima was sent to Millbank jail in London, arriving on the 8th July.

Confusing records initially make it appear as though Jemima dies at Millbank in February 1826; the official inquest and newspaper report details which followed mix up Jemima with Mary Adlard who was convicted and travelled to London with Jemima. Jemima provided a witness statement at Mary’s inquest. She said during the journey from Lancaster to London she had shared numerous bottles of rum with Mary, bought for them by their transporters. At the inquest the surgeon said soon after Mary’s arrival from Lancaster, she had been vomiting blood, which continued intermittently over the next few months before increasing in frequency. He stated her stomach was diseased and she claimed to have been kicked by her husband two years earlier and she had been permanently in the infirmary since her arrival. Mary was already spitting blood by the time the carriage reached Preston. Jemima stated she recognised Mary was addicted to alcohol. Jemima was described by the newspapers, as ‘clean and healthy looking in the extreme’. In all cases though, their names had been switched over.

18 months later, there are letters appealing for Jemima to be pardoned on medical grounds, stating that she has had severe epilepsy since birth and cannot be left alone for a moment and has parents willing to take her back. This pardon was granted in October 1827.