Hi all,
I believe this woman was my 4 x great grandmother, who was born in 1781 in Newcastle upon Tyne, married there to John Simmons/Symonds in 1798, had five children with John before being transported to Port Jackson, arriving in 1814. She was assigned to convict Isaac Dowse/Douse upon arrival, helping to raise the children of his late wife. Elizabeth and Isaac had another four children, although I can find no evidence that they married.
Isaac died in 1853, when Elizabeth was 72 years old. Her life after that has been a mystery.
However I believe she died in 1869 as Elizabeth Dowle (an easy jump from Dowse to Dowle) and is buried at the All Saints cemetery in Parramatta, where her name is one of many on the memorial plaques. This also accords with the death certificate.
Parramatta Asylum records show that she arrived "from Darlinghurst" on 21 Dec 1869 and died on 31 Dec 1869.
Am I right in thinking she would have come from Darlinghurst Gaol? Is there any way I can get access to the Darlinghurst records? She was obviously in a bad way by the time she got to Parramatta, I'd just like to get a feeling as to why she had come to the attention of authorities in the first place.
Thanks for any suggestions.
Geoff Turner,
Brisbane.
