Evidence Type: Newspaper Report
7 October 1834
SATURDAY—ELIZABETH WILLIAMS, a comely looking damsel, who had seen little more than one and twenty summers, made her congee at the bar, under the following circumstances: — Conductor ORR stated, that on going his rounds on the Rocks the previous morning, he found the prisoner in a skilling at the rear of Mr. UNDERWOOD’s buildings, with a jolly tar on each side of her; and singing “How happy could I be with either,” and suspecting her to be a runaway, he took her into custody. Mr. THOMPSON, of Elizabeth-street, proved her to be an absentee from his service since the 29th Sept. The defence which Elizabeth set up was singular enough; she stated, that being out on an errand, she met a shipmate, and after walking some way with her, she went into the skilling in question for the purpose of merely washing her face, which she was in the act of doing, when the traps made their appearance, and she solemnly asseverated that there was no male in her company at the time; this however was denied by ORR; and the Bench not being able to comprehend her it could take her seven days to walk from Elizabeth-street to the Rocks, for the purpose of making her toilet, to cure her roaming propensities sent her for two months to Mrs. GORDON’S retreat, and to be afterwards returned to Government.
CITATION
Female Factory Online, (femalefactoryonline.org), “Law Report of ELIZABETH WILLIAMS,” https://femalefactoryonline.org/law-reports/p18341007/, accessed [insert current date].
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