Date of Conviction: 20/03/1820

Age at Conviction: 17

Crime Convicted of: Highway Robbery

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

Sentence Length: 20 Years

Ship Transported on: Providence (1)

Where Arrived: Hobart, Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania)

Departure Date: 06/06/1821

Arrival Date: 18/12/1821

Biography: Bridget (also L’ Estrange) had committed two counts of highway robbery at Liverpool along with three other men and boys by robbing Robert McNish and Nicholas Banks, mainly stealing clothing and 12 shillings belonging to them. Her death sentence was commuted to an unusual twenty year term of transportation, which was later presumed to mean a life sentence as it would be understood by sentencing laws throughout the later 19th and 20th centuries. She had been born at Liverpool and was described as being five foot tall with grey eyes and dark brown hair.

Bridget was sent to Van Diemen’s Land. She briefly absconded from her employer in February 1823 before in March 1823, she married John Nichols, a local free farmer at St David’s church, Hobart and they went on to have six children. She briefly received a stay in custody after she was found drinking in the home of another man in 1827 whilst her husband was away but other than than, lived a calmer life in Tasmania. Bridget received a conditional pardon in November 1836. Bridget passed away in June 1854 and is buried at St Matthew’s Church, Rokeby, near Hobart; her grave site is marked with a memorial.