OUR CONVICT MAID
A poem about Margaret Thomas, mother of Elizabeth Ingston by Dell Paton
Margaret Thomas was a convict on the ship Speke in 1809. The Master was John Hingston (HX#1) by whom she had a child, Elizabeth Ingston.
What was the motive, Margaret dear, what was it that had mattered
That incited theft of clothing and left your reputation tattered?
You could have caused a child to burn, maybe forever scarred;
When you brushed aside a lantern, when badly caught off-guard.
Your trusted friend had given you so freely of her key
And later you went into her flat acting suspiciously
Why wouldn’t you be noticed with the clothes beneath your dress
You would have looked so pregnant underneath all that duress
Those who saw you every day must have looked at you askance
The bulging waist ,a massive hump, had appeared as if by chance!
Then down the stairs you flew at ten to catch the man who pawned
To sell, get gain and none suspect before the next day dawned.
But Margaret, dear, the clues were there , the evidence was clear
You had a key, there were witnesses and you had cause to fear.
The broker recognized you from the lineup way back then
He yelled “That’s the cursed woman who had a stealing yen!”
She’d changed her name to Mary Badgay when she handed him the loot,
All she’d needed was the money and didn’t give a hoot!
The Bobbies had come searching with their warrant to her flat
With their evidence they knew that there was mischief she was at.
And then our Margaret’s husband showed the Bobbies under bed
Where other clothes were stowed! How’s that from one she’d wed?
There were breeches, vests and waistcoats, pushed way under there
Just like the fire she’d started, Our Margaret lacked some care!
To Newgate Prison our dear Margaret was sent without delay.
Olde Bailey judges had delighted in a hand in all her fray
She got the usual harsh sentence of seven years in Botany Bay
And suffered in that prison until the “Speke” got underway.
With ninety-nine maid convicts, they sailed from England’s shores
Where more suffering awaited because evil men made laws
No housing for our women, and selected one by one
Farmed out like pigs or cattle, their virtue was undone
Marg fared a little better as she was her Captain’s choice
A pregnancy in Sydney-did this cause them to rejoice?
Elizabeth, a child born free and Ingston was her name
John had given his permission; his seed was where she came.
John sailed right back to England’s shores into her history book
While Margaret earned her freedom and became a Parramatta Cook
By Dell Paton, Margaret’s 4th gr granddaughter. Copyright
Placed on web page 5th June 2011