Don, It would seem that in at least one case it more or less meant being free, unencumbered, responsible for herself. You will need to "find on this page" and then write "being on her own hands" to find the references. There are three other instances of it being mentioned. In two cases, the woman was charged for that exact offence. In the other, a free man desirous of marrying a convict woman, needed her to "be on her own hands" but she had already declared a husband in Britain. So a letter was written, declaring the said husband dead so the authorities could with clear conscience allow her to marry. Sorry, I have now found the links are too long to cut and paste. Just Google "convict term, being on her own hands" and it will bring up the references. Regards, Wynnette. -----Original Message----- From: aus-tasmania-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:aus-tasmania-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Don Bradmore via Sent: Thursday, 17 July 2014 1:30 PM To: AUS-Tasmania@rootsweb.com Subject: [AUS-Tas] Being on her own hands Hello Listers, At Hobart in 1830 a female convict in whom I'm interested was charged with 'being on her own hands'. As punishment, she was 'to be placed under the special surveillance of the police until the pleasure of the Lieutenant-Governor be known'. Can someone explain to this naive enquirer what the phrase 'being on her own hands' implies, please? The woman had married in Hobart two years earlier and had three children - one born before the marriage. Does 'being on her own hands' imply that she had left her husband? Does it have the same meaning as being 'on the town'? There is nothing in the woman's record, before or afterwards, to suggest 'on the town' experience. Don Bradmore, Central Victoria. ------------------------------- AUS-Tasmania Mailing List Website http://www.rootsweb.com/~austashs/ Contact Admin AUS-Tasmania-Admin@rootsweb.com Search the Archive (type AUS-Tasmania in the list box) http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to AUS-TASMANIA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2014.0.4744 / Virus Database: 3986/7871 - Release Date: 07/17/14 ----- No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 2014.0.4744 / Virus Database: 3986/7874 - Release Date: 07/18/14