Hannah Rigby’s Boys: A Lucky Break
By Jane Smith, researcher and author. | 20 December 2024
Guest blog by Jane Smith, researcher and author.
Sometimes a mistake can set you on the right path. When researching the convict Hannah Rigby at the State Library of Queensland recently, I found just that.
Hannah was a Liverpool seamstress who was convicted in 1821 for stealing and transported to New South Wales. She was notorious for being sentenced to transportation three times: once to Sydney, and twice to Moreton Bay for crimes she committed in the colony. She was also the only convict woman to remain in Moreton Bay when the penal establishment closed.

Sketch of Moreton Bay as Hannah Rigby might have seen it on her arrival. Pencil sketch of Moreton Bay in, 1831. Negative number 17351, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.
I first came across Hannah when I was researching Moreton Bay history for my book Ship of Death: The Tragedy of the ‘Emigrant’. The book is an account of the 1850 typhus-stricken voyage of the second ship to bring government-assisted emigrants directly to Brisbane in a bid to increase its population of ‘respectable’ white settlers and erase the stain of convictism. Many passengers died at sea and many more on Stradbroke Island, where they were quarantined for months. One of the characters I researched was Dr David Keith Ballow, who died from typhus during the ordeal. Hannah Rigby was his assigned servant.
Not much had been published about Hannah – only a few brief entries in sources like Australian Dictionary of Biography and Wikipedia. They briefly mentioned Hannah’s crimes and stated that she had had three sons by three different men (though I’ve found four!).
In 1840, after the closure of the penal establishment, Dr Ballow wrote to the authorities advocating for Hannah’s freedom. He described her as an ‘exemplary’ servant who had never given him ‘the slightest cause for distrust or complaint’.(1) Dr Ballow was a well-respected citizen with a strong sense of duty and, I suspect, a sense of ‘morality’ that was conventional for his time. That he had championed a repeat offender like Hannah intrigued me. I resolved to write her biography.
![Dr Ballow’s letter to the Commandant of Moreton Bay in 1840 advocating for Hannah’s freedom and describing her conduct as ‘exemplary’. Colonial Secretary’s Papers. Letters Relating to Moreton Bay and Queensland Received 1822- 1860. Reel A2.11, letter [40/8432].](/sites/default/files/styles/slq_standard/public/Col%20Sec%20letter%2040.13197%20p.1.jpg?itok=RPsDvM0I)
Dr Ballow’s letter to the Commandant of Moreton Bay in 1840 advocating for Hannah’s freedom and describing her conduct as ‘exemplary’. Colonial Secretary’s Papers. Letters Relating to Moreton Bay and Queensland Received 1822- 1860. Reel A2.11, letter [40/8432], John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.
![Dr Ballow’s letter to the Commandant of Moreton Bay in 1840 advocating for Hannah’s freedom and describing her conduct as ‘exemplary’. Colonial Secretary’s Papers. Letters Relating to Moreton Bay and Queensland Received 1822- 1860. Reel A2.11, letter [40/8432].](/sites/default/files/styles/slq_standard/public/Col%20Sec%20letter%2040.13197%20p.2.jpg?itok=-TKKWFMP)
Dr Ballow’s letter to the Commandant of Moreton Bay in 1840 advocating for Hannah’s freedom and describing her conduct as ‘exemplary’. Colonial Secretary’s Papers. Letters Relating to Moreton Bay and Queensland Received 1822- 1860. Reel A2.11, letter [40/8432], John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland.
Previous writers seemed to assume that Hannah’s sons Robert and Samuel were with her in 1830, when she was transported to Moreton Bay the first time. But at six years old, Robert was past the age when children were usually separated from their convict mothers. I didn’t want to assume he was there; I needed evidence.
I searched high and low at Queensland State Archives (QSA) and State Library. I found proof in hospital records at QSA that two-year-old Samuel was with Hannah, as he was treated for fever soon after their arrival at Moreton Bay. (2)
Robert was harder to track down. He was old enough for school, and I discovered there was a school for children of convicts and the military in Moreton Bay in the early 1830s. Could he have attended? I found a catalogue record for the book Education in Queensland, by ER Wyeth, in the John Oxley collection. I ordered it … but accidentally requested the wrong item: the unpublished manuscript rather than the published book. A lucky mistake! The manuscript included appendixes that were not in the published book, and amongst them was a list of children enrolled at the Moreton Bay School – including Robert.

Moreton Bay Penal Settlement Hospital records showing Hannah’s son Samuel receiving treatment for fever in February 1831. Queensland State Archives. Register of out-patients treated at the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement Hospital, Item ID ITM2858.

The list of students enrolled at the Moreton Bay School in June/July 1831, which shows Robert Rigby in “Third Class”. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Wyeth, E. R. (Ezra R. (1824). Education in Queensland, OM75-30, Part 1, Appendix 11.
But for more information, I needed to see the original source of the list. To my dismay, it was not cited.
Tracking it down was a frustrating challenge. But with the generous help of a librarian, a historian and a few archivists, and despite several red herrings and false starts, we eventually located a possible source in the State Records of New South Wales. I flew to Sydney and finally saw the original school lists with my own eyes. They held more gems of information I wasn’t even looking for – for example, that Robert was already able to read when he started school, and that he was initially enrolled under his father’s surname (Crawford).
My story has three lessons: 1. Non-fiction authors, please cite your sources! 2. When you hit a brick wall in your historical research, librarians, archivists and historians are your friends, and 3. Luck plays a part in research. If I hadn’t ordered the wrong item, I might still not have proof that Robert was ever in Moreton Bay.
Jane Smith is an author, editor, and librarian/archivist. Her research in State Library's John Oxley Library contributes to her upcoming book, One Free Woman: The True Story of Convict Hannah Rigby, set for release in early 2025. State Library holds several of Jane's books in its collection.
References
- Correspondence of the Colonial Secretary: Letters received relating to Moreton Bay and Queensland 1822- 1860, A2 Series [microfilm], Reel A2.11, pp. 234-237.
- Queensland State Archives. Register of out-patients treated at the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement Hospital, Item ID ITM2858.
- MHNSW-StAC: Cash Vouchers [Clergy and School Lands Corporation], NRS 803, [4/310], Parochial Schools Vol.III; and MHNSW-StAC: Cash Vouchers [Clergy and School Lands Corporation], NRS 803, [4/318], Parochial Schools Vol.II.

Dr David Keith Ballow’s grave at the Dunwich Cemetery, North Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah). Image courtesy of Jane Smith.

One Free Woman: The True Story of Convict Hannah Rigby by Jane Smith, Published by Big Sky Publishing 2025.
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