Guide to the Papers of Margaret Catchpole (as filmed by the AJCP), 29 March 1800-1967

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Summary

Collection number:

M944

Creator:

Catchpole, Margaret

Extent:

49 items

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Citation items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for reference.

Background

Content Summary:

Clyde collection: newspaper cuttings 1845 on Rev. Richard Cobbold's book The History of Margaret Catchpole (London, 1845).

Woolnough collection: Vol.1: Letters 1908-11 relating to Margaret Catchpole, documents and photographs, including a letter from Gregory M. Mathews and a handbill and cuttings regarding a production of the play Margaret Catchpole starring Laurence Irving at Ipswich; Vol. 2: Transcript of article in the Ipswich Journal 1800 recording her escape from prison; an article on the Cobbold house at Ipswich; certificate of burial of Margaret Catchpole; correspondence and notes 1914-18 on material in the Mitchell Library; typed transcripts of letters by Margaret Catchpole 1803-11; pamphlet by F.J. Foakes Jackson 1916 on Rev. Richard Cobbold; and cuttings from English newspapers 1915, 1932-65 on Margaret Catchpole.

Biographical / Historical:

Margaret Catchpole (1772-1819) was born in Suffolk, the illegitimate daughter of Elizabeth Catchpole and a farm labourer. She spent her early life on farms and had little education. She worked as a servant for families and was a nurse and under-cook in the household of John Cobbold, an Ipswich brewer. She learnt to read and write while living with the Cobbolds.

In 1797, after being unemployed for several months, Catchpole stole the coach gelding of John Cobbold and rode to London. She was caught and sentenced to death at the Suffolk Assizes. The sentence was commuted to transportation for seven years. In March 1800 she escaped from Ipswich Gaol, but she was again caught and sentenced to death. The sentence was subsequently commuted to transportation for life and she was sent to New South Wales on the Nilein 1801.

Catchpole worked for the commissary, John Palmer, for eighteen months and subsequently worked for a succession of families, including the Faithfuls and Rouses. She was well regarded by her employers and was left alone by the Rouses as the overseer of their property at Richmond. She was pardoned in 1814, but did not return to England. She remained at Richmond, managing a small store and acting as a midwife and nurse. Her letters to the Cobbolds and others in England are one of the finest sources on life in Sydney at the beginning of the nineteenth century. They formed the basis of the biography by Richard Cobbold, the son of John Cobbold, which in turn was the source for many stories, plays and books.

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:: Available for Access.
Conditions Governing Use:: Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.