Harriet Munslow arrived in Van Diemens Land (VDL) as a convict per Tasmania (1) in 1844.[1] She was twenty-one years old. Her life in England had been a troubled one.
Two years later Harriet married a former convict, William Kingsbury and, shortly afterwards, had settled down with him on his small leased farm on the big ‘Adelphi’ estate near Westbury. But it was not a happy marriage and, when Kingsbury, an alcoholic, died in 1855, Harriet soon remarried. Her second husband was Thomas Wildgust, also a former convict, a young labourer on a neighbouring property. This time, Harriet found the happiness that had eluded her for so long. By the time they passed away - Harriet in 1890 and Thomas a decade or so later – they had not only achieved financial security but had become highly respected members of their community. Seemingly, their convict pasts had been quite forgotten.
[1] Conduct record: CON41-1-4, Image 121; Description List: CON19-1-4, Image 156; Indent: CON15-1-3, Image 78.
