Captured: Portraits of Crime 1870-1930 - Flipbook - Page 27
187 2 – 1910
DA R L I N G H U R S T
GAO L
B ILO EL A
GAO L
NO POCKETS
TOO DEEP
Sarah Clif ford
STEALING
Sarah Clifford, born in Jamaica c.1833, was a former convict
and known pickpocket in both Tasmania and NSW. She was
photographed numerous times at Darlinghurst and Biloela gaols
between 1872 and 1910. Clifford was convicted and gaoled for
scores of stealing and petty offences over a four decade period.
Clifford arrived in Hobart as a convict transportee from
Ireland in 1852 aboard the ship, Martin Luther. She gave birth
to a child and sought permission to marry. Approval was not
granted as she did not comply with the condition to desist from
offending for a period of six months. She absconded from custody
in 1854 and was punished with eighteen months hard labour.
Following this, Clifford was granted a ticket of leave for
good conduct. However, within weeks she was arrested for
pickpocketing and stealing articles of clothing. While awaiting
trial on a charge of stealing a pair of children’s shoes in
1858, she attempted suicide using a ‘dinner knife’ to cut her
throat. Clifford’s ticket of leave was soon revoked. It was
later re-instated, and she was awarded a certificate of freedom
in 1859. But Clifford soon returned to old habits. At one point
in 1860, she was even implicated with her partner, William Fox,
in the murder of a female prostitute.
By 1864 Clifford and Fox, together with their children,
John, Sarah and Mary, were living in the Newcastle area north
of Sydney. They were soon caught pickpocketing, but Clifford
was discharged on the presumption of law ‘where a woman
committed a felony in the presence of her husband that she
was acting under coercion’.
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