The 'incorrigible' convict with a sharp tongue

Abstract

Jailed five times and acquitted a further five times in her twenties, Catherine Henrys consistently displayed contempt for those in authority. Her long history of criminality included breaking a convicted felon, William Golding, out of prison and assaulting an officer. When she was sentenced to transportation for life for “stealing money from the person” in 1835, she was described in court transcripts as being “associated with persons of the worst description.” Far from being cowed by the transportation experience, she persisted in her rebelliousness in colonial Australia. Show more