We had an excellent speaker at our weekly meeting on Thursday morning, November 20. David Clark, the 75 year old former mayor of Worcester, spoke about the first female convicts deported to Australia.

His interest in the subject had been aroused by the cells in the Worcester Town Hall where he discovered that 8 Worcestershire women had been convicted of stealing small items of clothes and sentenced to deportation in 1785. He researched their plight and was able to follow their dreadful experiences, including a 9 month journey by ship from London to Botany Bay, and their eventual demise. He described the lives of each of the 8 women, and particularly that of one Olivia Gascoigne. He estimates that some 43,000 of her direct descendants are currently living in Australia with some 11,000 outside Australia.

We were appalled to hear about the brutality of those times, when death sentences were common, even for 10 year old boys, and where even minor offences by today’s standards were punishable with utmost severity.

David has written his account of this and has had his book “Sentenced to Beyond the Seas” published. George Bourne thanked David on our behalf, and congratulated him on his thorough research and for delivering his talk in such a relaxed, informative and empathetic manner.

Next Thursday morning, November 27, we look forward to hearing about Gertrude Bell, a heroine of the British Empire, from Jan Long.

CHRIS DONOUGH