This letter was written in 1827 by Mary Hindle in Sydney, Australia where she had arrived as a convict only a few weeks earlier. She writes to her husband George in Haslingden, Lancashire telling him about her five-month journey and the hardship she now faces.

Mary's story begins in April 1826 when handloom weavers rioted in towns across East Lancashire in protest against the introduction of the power loom. This new innovation had caused economic hardship for traditional handloom weavers who were facing unemployment and a bad harvest. The riots took place over a four-day period during which time more than a thousand looms were damaged or destroyed.

A few days later Mary Hindle was arrested for taking part in a riot at William Turner's Mill in Helmshore. Despite the fact that there was some doubt over her role in the riots, she was sentenced to death at Lancaster Castle along with thirty-five men and five women. This sentence was later commuted to transportation for life to Australia.

A petition signed by '34 very respectable inhabitants', including the mill owner William Turner, was sent to the Home Secretary Robert Peel as were petitions from St James' Church, Mary's husband and her father's former employer; all of which failed.

Leaving behind her husband and six-year-old daughter, Mary set sail for Australia in April 1827 on the convict ship 'Harmony', arriving five months later. Mary died in 1841, never returning home to Lancashire.