David A. Mitchell - edited transcripts of the 11 known letters of Margaret Catchpole, written 1801-1811, together with an audio cassette of the letters read by Joan Rix in Suffolk dialect, compiled and recorded 1996

MLMSS 6241
MLOH 241

fonds

1801-1811, transcribed and recorded 1996

Textual Records, Nonmusical Sound Recordings

139661

Digitised

0.01 metres of textual material (1 folder) - typescript
1 audiocassette (1 hr., 3 min.) - 10 × 7 cm, 4 mm tape

Margaret Catchpole (1762-1819), convict and pioneer, was born on 14 March 1762 in Suffolk. She worked as a servant for various families until she became the under-nurse and under-cook for Mrs John Cobbold, wife of an Ipswich brewer. Here she was treated like a member of the family and learnt to read and write. She left the Cobbolds in mid-1795, and in May 1797, she stole John Cobbold's horse and rode it to London with the intention of selling it. She was arrested and sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to 7 years transportation. For three years she was kept in the custody of John Ripshaw, Keeper of New Gaol in Ipswich. In March 1800, she made a spectacular mid-night escape over the 22-foot gaol wall, but was quickly recaptured. Again, she was sentenced to death but this was commuted to transportation for life.
Margaret reached Sydney on 14 Dec. 1801 and initially worked as cook for the commissary John Palmer. She was determined to keep good company, and worked for well-known families such as the Faithfulls, Rouses, Dights, Woods and Skinners. Her decent and industrious way of life led to her pardon on 31 January 1814 by Governor Macquarie. The rest of her life was spent keeping a small store at Richmond, acting as midwife and nurse, and helping others. She died of influenza on 13 May 1819.
Her letters provide an important first-hand account of early colonial life in New South Wales.

25 May 1801; 1. Letter to Mrs Cobbold from Ipswich Gaol [transcribed from original letter in Ipswich Museum].
21 Jan. 1802; 2. Letter to Mrs Cobbold from Sydney, also including a letter to Dr George Stebbing [transcribed from original letter in the Mitchell Library, located at A 1508].
2 May 1803; 3. Letter to Uncle and Aunt Howes from New South Wales [transcribed from original letter in the Nan Kivell Collection in the National Library of Australia].
20 Dec. 1804; 4. Letter to Uncle and Aunt Howes from Sydney [transcribed from original letter in the Mitchell Library, located at A 1508].
8 Oct. 1806; 5. Letter to Uncle and Aunt Howes from Sydney [transcribed from original letter in the Nan Kivell Collection in the National Library of Australia].
28 Jan. 1807; 6. Letter to Uncle and Aunt Howes [transcribed from original letter in the Nan Kivell Collection in the National Library of Australia].
25 May 1807; 7. Letter to Mrs Cobbold from Sydney [transcribed from original letter in the Mitchell Library, located at A 1508].
18 Oct. 1807; 8. Letter to Mrs Cobbold from Sydney [transcribed from original letter in the Mitchell Library, located at A 1508].
8 Oct. 1809; 9. Letter to Mrs Cobbold from Richmond Hill [transcribed from original letter in the Mitchell Library, located at A 1508].
1 Sep. 1811; 10. Letter to Mrs Cobbold from Richmond Hill [transcribed from original letter in the Mitchell Library, located at A 1508].
2 Sep. 1811; 11. Letter to Uncle and Aunt Howes and cousins from Richmond Hill [transcribed from original letter in the Nan Kivell Collection in the National Library of Australia].
4 Dec. 1996; Audio cassette of the letters read aloud by Joan Rix, a native of Margaret Catchpole's home village of Brandeston, with brief commentary, recorded in the studios of the East Anglian Film Archive at the University of East Anglia at Norwich:

Sound recording:
1. From Our Own Margaret Catchpole: letters from Australia 1802-1811 (MLOH 241)

In copyright:
Reproduction Restricted:
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy copyright holder.

The description of this material has been supplied from the Oral History Digitisation Program, undertaken 2014 to 2017, of the Library's oral history collections.

Copy available at CY MLOH 241/1