Date of Conviction: 21/08/1830

Age at Conviction: 54

Crime Convicted of: Forgery (Coins)

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

Sentence Length: 7 Years

Ship Transported on: America

Where Arrived: Hobart, Van Diemen’s Land

Departure Date: 30/12/1830

Arrival Date: 09/05/1831

Biography: Margaret, from Liverpool, was convicted of ‘traitorously colouring four half crowns’. Her daughter Hannah Cannon was acquitted of the same crime. They had been set up by a woman paid for by Liverpool Police who was a ‘plant’.

On arrival, Margaret was assigned to John Martin at New Norfolk as a house servant. She was described as 5ft 4, a native of Ballinrobe Co. Mayo, she had a large head with large and full face and a fresh complexion, dark brown hair, grey eyes, a short chin; fleshy underneath and a small nose and was stout-made. It is also revealed she is a widow and had four children. She had previously been convicted of stealing butter at Preston in 1817. Her jail report from Lancaster said she had been ‘peaceable’.

Margaret’s convict record is blank. In 1833 she was ‘an assistant to Mr Glover’ and in November 1834, she married fellow widower, Peter Roy at New Norfolk. Peter was a survivor from the Hibernia emigrant ship which had caught fire on its way to Van Diemen’s land. In 1835 Margaret had a ticket of leave and received her certificate of freedom in August 1837. To date I haven’t found further records of either Margaret or Peter.