Ann Lang

Ann Lang, born in Kilkenny, Ireland, was transported to New South Wales on the Mariner (1825). After stealing wearing apparel from her mistress in 1826, Ann was sent to the Port Macquarie penal settlement to serve a three-year sentence. She returned to Sydney in 1829 but the following year, after participating in a riot at the Parramatta Female Factory, was sent to the Moreton Bay penal settlement for another three years. Ann returned to Sydney in October 1833 but died at the Parramatta Hospital on 24 August 1835 aged just 37.

Ann Lang, a housemaid, was convicted of stealing money in Limerick, Ireland in 1824. Born in Kilkenny in about 1799, she was transported for life on the Mariner, arriving in New South Wales on 10 July 1825 aged 27 years. The indent of the Mariner described Ann as 'deranged' and stated that her husband was a publican in Dublin. Other documents described Lang as having a cast in her left eye, while an 1831 news article stated that her nickname was 'Funny Ey'd Anne' [sic].

In 1826, Ann was sent to Port Macquarie for three years for stealing wearing apparel and other items from her mistress. After serving her sentence, she returned to Sydney and in August 1829 applied to marry George Tigley, a convict per the Baring (1819). Then in August 1830 Ann applied to marry Charles Jackson per Anne (1810). Both applications were refused as the indent of the Mariner stated that Ann's husband was a publican in Dublin. In fact, as noted in Jennifer Harrison's 2016 book, Female Convicts at Moreton Bay 1826-1839, Lang may have been married twice in Ireland prior to her transportation to Australia. In attempting to convince the authorities to allow her to marry in New South Wales, Ann stated that her husband Michael McSweeney, a soldier in the 39th Regiment, had been killed at Bergen op Loom in Holland. It is not clear whether Ann's surname of Lang was her birth surname or that of her second husband, the publican in Dublin referred to in the Mariner indent.

Having been refused permission to marry both Tigley and Jackson, Ann continued her acts of resistance against the convict authorities, as evidenced by her multiple abscondments and gaol sentences. She also took part in a riot at the Parramatta Female Factory in September 1830. The following month she was tried at the Parramatta General Sessions for 'mutinous and turbulent conduct in the factory and being the ringleader of the 3rd class who attempted to break out'. She was sent to Moreton Bay for three years, finally returning to Sydney on 22 October 1833.

Ann Lang lived less than two years after serving the second of her three-year sentences, dying at the Parramatta Hospital on 24 August 1835 aged 37. She had spent six of her ten years in Australia at the Port Macquarie and Moreton Bay penal settlements and further amounts of time serving shorter sentences in the Sydney Gaol and Parramatta Female Factory.

Archival Resources

NSWSA, Indent, NRS 12188, Item 4/4009A, Microfiche 656

Anne [sic] Lang per Mariner (1825).

NSWSA, Register of Convicts Applications to Marry, NRS 12212, Item 4/4511

George Tigley and Ann Lang, 22 August 1829.

NSWSA, Convict Applications for the Publication of Banns, NRS 905, Reel 3036

Charles Jackson and Anne [sic] Lang, 27 August 1830.

NSWSA, Convict Death Register, NRS 12213, Item 4/4549, Reel 690, p. 129

Ann Lang, died 24 August 1835, Parramatta.

QSA, Chronological Register of Convicts at Moreton Bay, Item ID ITM869689

Ann Lang per Mariner 2, Prisoner No. 2203, p. 68.

Books

Shackled: Female Convicts at Moreton Bay 1826-1839

Jennifer Harrison, 2016.
Anchor Books, Melbourne.

Newspapers

The police

Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser
26 January 1826

Disturbances at Parramatta

Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser
5 October 1830

Spirits and tobacco

Sydney Monitor
16 February 1831

Online Resources

Convict Records website, entry for Anne [sic] Lang per Mariner (1825)
QSA, Chronological Register of Convicts at Moreton Bay, Item ID ITM869689
NSWSA, Convicts Index, Convict Death Register, entry for Ann Lang per Mariner
Griffith University, Prosecution Project, entry for Ann Lang, Trial ID 568780