I know that young convict men who were sentenced to death often had this punished reduced to transportation as it suited the Government to send them out to Australia to help the labourer force. Has anyone come across any information as to whether punish of transportation was effected by the age of a women? For example could a woman awaiting trial consider it advantageous to lie about her age and make herself older [beyond child bearing age] in hopes that she would be consider not worth the cost of transporting to Australia? Karen