AustLit

In 1840 Eliza Churchill was sentenced to fourteen years transporation for theft. She was transported to Van Diemen's Land on the Navarino and assigned to a domestic servant's position in Launceston. She twice absconded and, on each occasion, was sent to the Female House as punishment. In March 1842 Churchill gave evidence to the Committe of Enquiry into Female Convict Prison Discipline - a committee appointed by Sir John Franklin. On the strength of her evidence, Churchill was granted a conditional pardon. The account she provided to the committee is included in papers held in the Archives Office of Tasmania.

(Source: 'Eliza Churchill Tells ...' by Lucy Frost, Chain Letters : Narrating Convict Lives, 2001)