Members were told a fascinating and enthralling story of eight females convicts from Worcester who were transported to Australia back in the 1700s and the intriguing connection with the speaker for the evening, David Clark.

The speaker said his interest in these eight women started when he became Mayor of Worcester.

Looking through the Guildhall in Worcester, he came across documents showing how the Guildhall was originally used – as a Court House. He was curious when he discovered eight females who had committed “offences” such as stealing a piece of cloth all came from the Worcester area. All were sentenced to transportation to Australia and after serving out their sentence of seven years there, and of good behaviour, would be “freed”, and given a plot of land.

These ladies had been reduced to stealing because they had lost the security of their land after the Land Enclosure Acts and were forced to “steal” to support their family. Being transported happened in three stages, travelling to London, being held on a barge in the Thames, and then finally put on a ship to travel for up to a year to Botany Bay. Probably only 70% of the ship’s company made it to Australia, many dying on route. The speaker discovered that the eight ladies from Worcester were part of a small group that were taken to Norfolk Island and there they established a community over the years. Not many people ever returned to England, but at least two of the women did, returning as very successful and wealthy individuals achieved through their hard work down under.

Reflecting on the dreadful lifestyle in cities in the late 1700s, an early 1800s arrival in the new unpolluted Australia was a much better option to create a new life. The speaker, tracing his personal connection, found one of the eight had lived close to where he lives now, had association with the same school, university, had similar number of children together with numerous “coincidences” which seemed to link him to these eight convicts transported all those centuries ago. Mr Clark has followed up his fascination with putting all their life stories and coincidences into a fascinating book.

After a welcome cup of tea, members enjoyed a Keep Fit session making sure we exercised our limbs as well as our minds, before heading home.Cookhill WI meets the second Wednesday of each month 7.30pm at Cookhill Village Hall. New members very welcome.