Susannah Noon (aka Susan Noon) (born between 1797 and 1800 in England) was the first known female convict

emancipist An emancipist was a convict sentenced and transported under the convict system to Australia, who had been given a conditional or absolute pardon. The term was also used to refer to those convicts whose sentences had expired, and might sometime ...

from

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

to settle in the South Island of New Zealand.

Transportation

Noon was about 12 years old when she was convicted of the theft of four pairs of stockings by fraudulent means from a

hosiers Hosiery, also referred to as legwear, describes garments worn directly on the feet and legs. The term originated as the collective term for products of which a maker or seller is termed a hosier; and those products are also known generically as h ...

shop in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colc ...

, England. She was convicted at the Essex Quarters Sessions on 30 April 1810 and sentenced to seven years’

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipel ...

. Noon left England on the '' Friends'' convict ship bound for New South Wales in April 1811.

Marriages

At the age of about 14, Noon married fellow convict William Docwra (aka Dockerell) on 25 November 1811 at St Matthews, Windsor, NSW. About 1820, the couple moved to Sydney where they ran a clothing shop at 68 George Street. Dockerell died on 22 January 1824. On 15 October 1825, Noon married Samuel Cave (aka Charles Samuel Cave and Charles James Cave) at St James, Sydney, despite the fact that he was a newly arrived convict transported for

bigamy In cultures where monogamy is mandated, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their marital status as married persons. I ...

. They had two daughters and a son;

Ann Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie. Anne is sometimes used as a male name in th ...

, who was born on 20 November 1827, and Susannah who was born on 20 April 1830, and Charles Samuel who was born on 4 February 1835. Their third daughter Eliza, born in 1831, died as an infant. Cave was largely an absentee husband, initially detained for further misdemeanours in the colony and then, as a

cooper Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to: * Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels Arts and entertainment * Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads * Cooper (video game character), in ' ...

, working offshore in the

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industry ...

industry. During his absence, Noon lost the shop in George Street and was eventually declared insolvent.

New Zealand

Cave finally gained his certificate of freedom on 17 May 1834. On 9 December 1837, Noon and her children left New South Wales with Cave on the ''Vanguard'' to go and live in a shore-based whaling station in Ocean Bay,

Port Underwood Te Whanganui / Port Underwood is a sheltered harbour which forms the north-east extension of Te Koko-o-Kupe / Cloudy Bay at the northeast of New Zealand's South Island, on the east coast of the Marlborough Sounds.Wises New Zealand Guide, 7th Edi ...

, in the South Island of New Zealand. On 24 June 1843, Noon and her husband gave a deposition to the magistrates investigating the

Wairau Affray The Wairau Affray of 17 June 1843, also called the Wairau Massacre in older histories, was the first serious clash of arms between British settlers and Māori in New Zealand after the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi and the only one to take ...

between

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

led by

Te Rauparaha Te Rauparaha (c.1768 – 27 November 1849) was a Māori rangatira (chief) and war leader of the Ngāti Toa tribe who took a leading part in the Musket Wars, receiving the nickname "the Napoleon of the South". He was influential in the origin ...

and the Nelson colonists led by Captain Arthur Wakefield. Te Rauparaha and his warriors had stopped at her house in Ocean Bay en route to the Wairau. Noon and her family remained in Port Underwood until 1847 when they shifted to Nelson. Noon died in Nelson on 30 June 1852. Her age was given as 52 but this conflicts with the Sydney records. It is known only that she was born somewhere between 1797 and 1800. Her husband remarried and later died at

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a ...

in 1872 aged 75.

Literature

A non fiction account of Noon’s story and those of the other women of the convict ship ''Friends'' was written by Elsbeth Hardie and published in 2015 as ''The Girl Who Stole Stockings''.Hardie, Elsbeth, The Girl Who Stole Stockings, Australian Teachers of Media Inc (ATOM), Melbourne, Australia, 2015, Young convicts life detailed in new book
Elene McPhee, The Marlborough Times, Last updated 07:00, October 10, 2015, retrieved 6 January 2016

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Noon, Susannah Settlers of New Zealand Women convicts transported to Australia 1852 deaths Year of birth uncertain