Thank you to those who responded to my query. I have since found an answer on Leslie Uebel's website, which states that conditions for issue of a T-of-L were the same for men and women convicts - except that females had to serve a much shorter period of probation than males did. Regulations issued on 17.03.1829 and contained in a circular to magistrates dated 4.09.1829 set out that female convicts who had "uninterrupted good conduct in service, in the married state, or as monitresses in the Female Factory" could apply as follows; After 2 years, if under a sentence of 7 years; 3 years, do 14 years; 4 years, if serving a life sentence. Another circular issued on 11.09.1829 closed a loophole for pregnant women (not living with their husbands) because it was perceived that "bearing illegitimate children would have been rendered a qualification for obtaining a Ticket of Leave." So, while it helped if she was married and living with her husband, I understand that she was still required to meet the regular conditions of having a T-of-L. I found when I searched for "Ellen" on the ASG site that quite a few ladies with that given name had been granted a ticket - including my ancestor Ellen Timson, who had a husband and five children by the time she got it in 1839, ten years after receiving her life sentence. Ray