Convict bonnet exhibition and book launch for They Sent Me North

Looking back over 2019 it has been a wonderful year for family history, with many conferences attended, my first trip to England for RootsTech London, and the launch of a book I contributed an ancestor biography to.

On 30th July, I went with Maria from the Genies Down Under podcast to the Lovett Gallery at Newcastle Library to attend a book launch and Blessing of the Bonnets as part of a worldwide female convict bonnets exhibition. There were over 1000 bonnets on display, lovingly made by a descendant of these convict women, or a volunteer.

Since 2007, Dr Christina Henri has been working on Roses from the Heart, the first ever memorial to the 25,566 women sentenced as convicts and transported to Australia from 1788 to 1853. Roses from the Heart invites people from around the world to make and contribute a servant's bonnet to symbolise the life of each convict woman. The link to Newcastle and the Hunter Region of NSW is a strong one, with many female convicts being sent there from Sydney. My ancestor, Sarah Morris, was one of these women, arriving with her daughter, Jane. Stories about these women and their lives were compiled into a book They Sent me North: Female Convicts in the Hunter. The night was a collaboration between the Newcastle Family History Society, Maitland and Beyond Family History Society, and the Raymond Terrace Historical Society.

Roses from the Heart

Cr Loretta Baker, Mayor of Maitland

Dr Ann Hardy, University of Newcastle

Left: Jane Ison, Newcastle Family History Society
Centre: Vicki Osborn, Maitland & Beyond Family History Society
Right: Dr Christina Henri, Roses From the Heart project

Melodie Woodford, Newcastle Family History Society

Vicki Osborn, Maitland & Beyond Family History Society

Jane Ison, Newcastle Family History Society

The bonnets were blessed by
Left: Rev Dean Andrew Doohan, Dean of Newcastle Catholic Church
Right: Very Reverend Katherine Bowyer, Dean of Newcastle Anglican Church

My convict's bonnet

My convict's bonnet was sewn by Roma from the Maitland & Beyond Family History Society. A huge thanks to Roma for her talent and generosity. Sarah Morris arrived on the ship Princess Charlotte in 1827. Her two-year-old daughter, Jane, arrived with her, so Roma has included a teddy bear motif around the bonnet to symbolise their shared journey to Sydney. I love that the bonnets were displayed on washing lines, highlighting that washing and laundry tasks were traditionally women's work.