Hello, I would like to hear from any others who have an interest in the transportation of English people, especially females, from Nottingham to Australia. I am descended from a girl or young woman who took such a path .. somewhat against her own will no doubt. I've found out, via Nottingham newpaper court reporting of the times, that she was trialled at: Nottingham Shire Hall, High Pavement, The Lace Market Nottingham, NG1 1HN This place remained in the English justice system until fairly recently, in the 1980s, after which it has been turned into a museum and also, I think, is headquarters of various ?volunteer/?NGO programs to hopefully salvage or modify the thinking of young offenders. The museum at the complex today is called the "Galleries of Justice". Nottingham became global headquarters of advances in the lace industry and underwent massive industrialisation .. with very considerable attendant poverty and pollution too. It is said that Nottingham’s Shire Hall was the only place in the UK where you could be tried, incarcerated and hanged on the front steps - all in the name of justice. Over the centuries, thousands of people have entered the building with a sense of dread for their future – as many would have been Imprisoned, and sometimes, even publicly executed on the front steps. It also apparently had a hanging room for persons not deemed worthy of public execution. The court, where the Nottingham Assizes was held, was on the ground level but underground there were several levels of underground dug-out cells or 'caves', This building's site has considerable antiquity with its older cave cells (known as the pits) lying deeper underground. It was announced in 2007 that it was intended to open up these to the public and the PR at the time ran as "Robin Hood's Prison - Sheriff's Dungeon Found At Nottingham" (Article by Caroline Lewis, 17/10/2007). The museum head, Tim Desmond, said "This is the first time visitors to the Galleries of Justice will be able to see the dungeon where Robin Hood would have been imprisoned in medieval times and already we have received a lot of interest from the public, from as far away as Japan." There is of course very little evidence to show that Robin really even existed, let alone where he was imprisioned. However, evidence regarding medieval excavations below the site does confirm the likely use of the place by the Sheriff of Nottingham. The dark dungeon cells would have been in use when the Sheriff himself resided at Shire Hall. One 'cave' cell had always been known of as the ‘Sheriff’s Dungeon’. The museum administration had not given this much thought until it came to do an exhibition dealing with the Sheriff of Nottingham. Staff who then began reviewing the evidence came to think that the Sheriff indeed did imprison felons in the lower level caves under the building. Nottingham itself was first known as Tiggua Cobaucc in Anglo-Saxon times or ‘Place of Caves’, and that there's said to be a 'labyrinth' of sandstone caves under the central area of the city where the Shire Hall and the modern Broadmarsh Shopping Center are. My ancestor was Ann Reffin. How many other females were sent from Nottingham to Sydney I do not yet know, but hope to find out. Best Regards John in wonderfully wet Sydney (The heat has ended!)

Thank you for the below information John, it was most interesting. I do not think I can really understand how dreadful it must have been by those incarcerated within the walls, no matter what their crime. Jill J -----Original Message----- From: aus-pt-jackson-convicts-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:aus-pt-jackson- Hello, I would like to hear from any others who have an interest in the transportation of English people, especially females, from Nottingham to Australia. I am descended from a girl or young woman who took such a path .. somewhat against her own will no doubt. I've found out, via Nottingham newpaper court reporting of the times, that she was trialled at: Nottingham Shire Hall, High Pavement, The Lace Market Nottingham, NG1 1HN

At 01:44 PM 12/02/2009 +1100, you wrote: >Thank you for the below information John, it was most interesting. >I do not think I can really understand how dreadful it must have been >by those incarcerated within the walls, no matter what their crime. >Jill J Thanks Jill, I'm hoping anyone interested in sharing or looking for additional info might contact me off-list. On the web it is easy to find the comments of visitors to these places and get to know them even if not going there oneself. Re the Shire Hall court/prisons now called the "Galleries of Justice" in Nottingham, visitors' comments say that Nottingham is not the most interesting place to visit - overrun with factories and pollution, and overall a very dirty city with little of its Robin Hood reputation - but that "the real gem of Nottingham" is this courthouse/prison complex museum. It today employs a paid actor as Judge, before which "prisoners" (visitors) may pass for trial and sentence ... after which they can be put in stocks or cells, or stood on a "real gallows", as well as participate in prisoner duties. What they call "interactive" exhibits I suppose. One who has been there wrote "... hardly the sort of place you would choose for a holiday ..... justice of a kind we find barbaric today was administered, particularly to those who were poor and unable to properly provide for or defend themselves."  Another good thing I saw recently, and I'm sure others saw it too, is about convict hulks research in Bermuda by Chris Addams and Michael Davis: Viz. http://convicthulks.com It's topical at present for Sydney because I think some of their found artefacts have been sent here for display. Their writings include some interesting comparison between Australians and Americans which people here might or might not agree with: "Prisoners upon these hulks were expendable. Convicts were to be used as a resource to strengthen defences and aid powerful countries to grow. Britain and Bermuda benefited by utilizing slave labor both white and black. These prisoners included not only convicts, but reformists, unionists and general insurrectionists who were fed up with the Status Quo. In essence, a solid background for the people who had their own way of seeing and doing things (very stubborn, very opinionated and ready for a fight at any time, just to name a few of their qualities.) The Confederate Southern States people loosely termed 'red-necks' are from this base, very little other than their accents divides them from basic Australian stock." Cheers, John >-----Original Message----- >From: aus-pt-jackson-convicts-bounces@rootsweb.com >[mailto:aus-pt-jackson- >Hello, >I would like to hear from any others who have an interest in the >transportation of English people, especially females, from Nottingham >to >Australia. >I am descended from a girl or young woman who took such a path .. >somewhat >against her own will no doubt. >I've found out, via Nottingham newpaper court reporting of the times, >that >she was trialled at: >Nottingham Shire Hall, >High Pavement, The Lace Market >Nottingham, NG1 1HN > > > > > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to AUS-PT-JACKSON-CONVICTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >