Memory of the World; 2012 - unesdoc - Unesco

legal authority. In 1827 she appears on a list of prisoners
who recently escaped from the Female Factory. By 1833
she appears to have been sentenced to further time in
the Female Factory as there is a letter in the Colonial
Secretary’s Correspondence from her husband, John Peck,
praying for her release CSIL 33/4733 [4/2191.5], Reel 2196.
Whether by guile or good fortune, Susan managed
to obtain her freedom somewhat earlier than she should
have. In early June 1831 she obtained a Certificate of
Freedom as Susan Courtney per ‘Friendship’. Granting her
a certificate of freedom was a major administrative error
on the part of the authorities, as the life sentence imposed
in 1823 should have superseded the original 14 year term,
and she should have remained a convict for many years
beyond 1831.’
� A former prison, now a museum reconstructing prison life.
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