Man Robbery—A Gender Signifier in Convict Australia 1827–1836

This paper investigates the use of the anomalous term ‘man robbery’ in historical records relating to convict women in New South Wales. We question its accuracy as a criminal offence and conclude that its use in the 1830s was an administrative code that summarized an assessment not only of the women’s criminality but also of their morality. Its use in the historical records has been accepted uncritically by modern historians. The anomaly was identified through a large-scale study of these records. Often used to trace the histories of individual women for genealogical research, recurring patterns in the records are more noticeable when considering the crimes of some 5000 women transported to New South Wales, especially when their court records held in Britain are compared with those held in Australia. Evidence has emerged that the criminality of the women has been reduced by this gendered criminal offence. Inconsistency in the application of the term ‘man robbery’ led us to question it accuracy. Violence and participation in gangs were airbrushed from the records by the use of a term that implied that the women’s crimes related to their sexuality rather than their skills as criminals.