One Free Woman: The True Story of Convict Hannah Rigby

By: Jane Smith

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Synopsis: These women are twice convicted, and among them are no doubt some of the most depraved of their sex. -- James Backhouse. &‘A heartbreaking and compelling story of a spirited convict woman.&’Hannah Rigby was a poor Liverpool seamstress, a prisoner and a serial thief. Exiled from her homeland, oppressed by poverty and rigid social mores, used and discarded by a series of men. An &“exemplary&” servant who was fond of a lark – and a single mother determined to keep her family together.One Free Woman tells the compelling true story of the only female convict to stay in Moreton Bay when the penal settlement closed – a woman who notoriously served three separate sentences of transportation, including two at one of the harshest establishments in the country. It is a heartbreaking and sensitively told story of a life that was typical of many women of the time struggling against poverty and gender inequality – women whose voices throughout history have seldom been heard.One Free Woman reveals new information and celebrates a remarkable woman who, despite a lifetime of immeasurable suffering and loss, could still summon the joy to dance until she dropped. &‘A fascinating portrait of an extraordinary life.&’ Sophie Masson AM, award-winning author