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These educational resources on female convicts has been compiled in order to
complement the book and CD
A Drift
of 'Derwent Ducks'. Resources produced by the
Female Factory
Historic Site and the
Female Factory
Research Group are also used.
The resources have been developed to address the
Key Element Outcomes of the Essential Learnings Framework used in Tasmanian
schools. However, the resources can be used by teachers working with other
curricula. Many of the resources are available online or have online
components.
They would be useful to teachers doing a unit on convicts,
Tasmanian history, Tasmanian women, research techniques or crime; or teachers
who simply want some interesting, factual material as the basis for numeracy and
literacy work.
Resources by Title
Resources by Major Key Element OUtcome
Other Ideas
Overview: Use the graphs and statistics in
A Drift of 'Derwent Ducks' to investigate female convicts.
Big Question: What can statistics about female
convicts tell us?
Key Element Outcomes:
MAJOR
MINOR
Standards: 4–5
Background: 200 female convicts were
transported on the Australasia from Dublin to Hobart in 1849. A
Drift of 'Derwent Ducks' tells their stories and provides statistical
information on the women and their children.
Lesson Ideas:
-
Students use the 28 graphs in A Drift of 'Derwent Ducks'
to convert between percentages and numbers of convicts, given the total number
of convicts.
Example 1: Figure 20 on page 281 is a pie chart showing the ages at which
colonial-born children of Australasia convicts died. The total
number of children is given as 112 and the pie portions are given as
percentages. Students can use this information to work out how many
children died at different ages.
(Figures 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 24, 25, 27, 28
and 30 could also be used.)
Example 2: Figure 21 on page 285 is a column graph showing the ages of the
convicts at the time of transportation. The total number of convicts is
given as 200. Students can use the information in the graph to work out
the percentage of convicts at each age.
(Figures 5, 19, 22, 23, 26 and 29 could also be used.)
-
Students use the information provided in Table 6 on page
98—numbers, names and ages of children transported with their convict mothers on
the Australasia—to work out the average age of the children transported
with their mothers.
(Tables 10, 11, 13, 15, 19 and 20 could also be used.)
-
Students use the data provided in Table 4 on page
31—percentage comparison of sentences of all Irish female convicts with
Australasia convicts—to create a column graph, either by hand or by using MS
Excel.
(Tables 2, 3, 5, 22, 24 and 25 could also be used.)
-
Students compare relevant data (eg age at death of
children, age at death) with today's statistics. Students could search for
current statistics on the Internet.
-
Students write a synopsis of the lives of the
Australasia convicts from the statistics provided in A Drift of 'Derwent
Ducks'.
-
Students discuss their findings and consider how our lives
are very different today from those of the Australasia convicts.
Resources:
Overview: Use historical (convict) and modern
methods of describing and identifying people to explore the Big Question.
Big Question: Are descriptions of people
reliable?
Key Element Outcomes:
MAJOR
MINOR
Standards: 2–3
Background:
When convicts were transported to Australia,
photography had not yet become a common method for creating an image of
someone. The Government needed a way to identify convicts—for example, if
convicts absconded, descriptions of them were published in the Hobart Town
Gazette so that people could identify them and catch them (sometimes
receiving a reward). Today the police would publish a photograph of a wanted
person.
For identification of
convicts, the Government recorded descriptions of the convicts when they arrived
in the colony. These descriptions were recorded in books known as Description
Lists. An example of the Description List for Ann Daley, a convict transported
on the Australasia, is provided (see Resources).
Lesson Ideas:
Resources:
Overview: Use the biographies of the
Australasia convicts provided on the CD accompanying A Drift of 'Derwent
Ducks' to write a creative story about a convict.
Big Question: What can the lives of female
convicts tell us?
Key Element Outcomes:
MAJOR
MINOR
Standards: 2–5
Background: Transportation and description
details, plus a chronology of important life events, is provided for each
Australasia convict on the CD which accompanies the book A Drift of
'Derwent Ducks'. The CD can be copied for educational purposes if you
wish to have a class set. Alternatively, the pdf files could be loaded
onto a drive accessible to students. There is one pdf file for each of the
200 convicts.
Information on the convicts is provided from the time of
their transportation offence to the time of their death, is this is known.
Lesson Ideas:
-
Students browse the CD files and choose a
convict. Alternatively, students randomly choose a convict (eg
draw the name out of a hat).
-
Students read the story of their chosen
convict. They may need to refer to the list of abbreviations and
acronyms provided on pages 343–344 of the book to assist their interpretation.
The book may also assist with other information for which they do not know the
meaning, as may the
Female Factory Research Group website.
-
It may be useful at this stage for students
to work in small groups to discuss the stories of their chosen convicts.
-
Students generate a piece of creative
writing (story, poem, song, limerick, play, script) about their chosen convict.
-
Students discuss what the life of their
chosen convict tells them that could inform their own life.
Resources:
Overview: Visit the Archives Office of
Tasmania to view the original convict records for the Australasia
convicts and learn how to find records at the AOT. Interpret these records
and compare the record keeping system of the convict period with how we would do
it today.
Big Question: How did Governments store large
amounts of information for easy retrieval before they had computers?
Key Element Outcomes:
MAJOR
MINOR
Standards: 3–5
Background: The Archives Office of Tasmania
holds extensive records from Tasmania's convict period. The originals are
accessible by appointment—they are usually accessed on microfilm. Governor
Arthur instituted a comprehensive record keeping system in the 1820s and this
was used until the end of the convict period.
The main records available for each convict are:
conduct record, indent, description list, appropriation list. Not all of
these are available for every convict. There are also many other records
available. A
guide to these records is available online. A
brief guide to the most frequently used records is also available online.
Lesson Ideas:
-
Students to search to find or randomly
choose from the CD A Drift of 'Derwent Ducks': Chapter 7 The Facts a female convict.
(The CD contains one pdf file for each of the 200 convicts.)
-
Students note the references for the
basic convict records for their chosen convict.
-
Discuss why all of the Australasia
convicts have the same (or similar) references.
(The women were processed as a batch upon arrival and so their records
were recorded together in the convict books.)
-
Students search
Tasmanian Archives Online for the file references for the convict records to
find a description of the records.
(Use
Series Search, typing, for example, CON40 in the Series Number field.)
-
Take your class on an excursion to the
Archives Office of Tasmania to view the extensive convict records they
preserve.
(You will need to make an appointment with an archivist first if you wish your
class to view the original records.)
-
Using the microfilm printers, students make a copy of the
conduct record for their chosen Australasia convict.
(The cost of a microfilm print is $1.10.)
-
Students compare the information in the CD pdf file to the
information on the conduct record to assist them in interpreting the entries.
-
Students investigate and discuss the record keeping system
for the convict records and suggest how this information could be collected and
stored using today's information technology.
-
Design a computer-based record keeping system for the
information contained in the conduct records, indents and description lists.
Resources:
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Class discussion on why the convicts committed crimes and
why some deliberately committed offences in order to be transported.
Points to consider include:
-
Irish famine
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chain migration—ie, joining family members previously
transported
-
making a better life for themselves
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Re-enactment of the drama of a court room in which the
women were tried and sentenced.
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Students use the indexes, list of contents, list of figures
and list of tables to answer multiple choice or short answer questions.
-
Students conduct a survey of immigrant ancestry of the
students in their class, including convict ancestry. A useful resource for
this may be the
Immigration Timeline in the Resource Centre.
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Excursion sites include:
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Cascades Female Factory Historic Site, South Hobart
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Queen's Orphanage, New Town (now St John's Park)
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Archives Office of Tasmania, Hobart
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Campbell St Gaol, Hobart
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Ross Female Factory
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George Town History Resource Centre
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