Date of Conviction: 12/10/1795

Age at Conviction: 33

Crime Convicted of: Unknown (Presumed Theft)

Court Convicted at: Lancaster Quarter Sessions (held at The Old Moot Hall, Wigan)

Sentence Length: 7 Years

Ship Transported on: Britannia

Where Arrived: Port Jackson, New South Wales

Departure Date: 01/01/1798

Arrival Date: 18/07/1798

Biography: Sarah was the wife of Thomas Leather of Warrington. Prior to leaving Lancaster Castle, in late December 1797, the Sheriff received a letter that Sarah and the other departing women be issued with two spare shifts, two dozen pairs of stockings, two dozen handkerchiefs and a pair of shoes. Government then requested that the women leave Lancaster on the 15th January 1798 but this did this not happen and they again wrote on the 26th January to say the ship was imminently due to sail and they were surprised the women had not yet been sent. Sarah left Lancaster with nine other women and headed to the Britannia, moored near Woolwich.

In 1802, Sarah had a son William, with soldier Isaac Taylor (arrived on ship- Ganges) and in 1808 a daughter, Sarah, but the baby died the following year. Sarah was free by 1802 and received her certificate of freedom in February 1810. The following month, in March 1810, Sarah and Isaac married at St Phillips, Sydney and had another child, Isaac the next month. They most likely left one month on again, in May 1810 onboard the Dromedary or Hindostan. The 1816 muster confirms that Sarah has left the colony with the 102nd Regiment. Regimental records show Isaac was discharged in 1811, probably as soon as the family arrived back in England and by 1815 was in receipt of a military pension.

Sarah’s husband Isaac was born in Hattersley (Manchester/Cheshire border) and it seems they came back to this area. To date I have not managed to find records for Sarah but William, their son, married in Oldham, before moving to Ireland (he may also have been with the military) and then finally settling in Stoke on Trent.