In 1833, a young Manx woman named Ann Thompson was convicted and sentenced to 7 years Transportation to Australia for stealing 37 yards of lace edging, worth 25 shillings (£130.00 today).
Tragically, the ship (Amphitrite) that Ann was transported on was shipwrecked off the coast of Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, and all the female convicts on board, including Ann, were drowned.
The drowning of the female convicts was a needless tragedy caused by the captain’s refusal to allow them to be taken ashore, locking them below decks instead.
The incident caused international outrage (nearly bringing the Transportation system to an end), made worse by the fact that the bodies of the convicts were robbed and desecrated after they washed ashore.
Although lengthy stories of the tragedy appeared in Manx newspapers at the time, the Isle of Man government did not let it be known that a Manx woman was among the dead. They did, however, write several letters to the London headquarters of the Transportation system, quibbling about the amount they had paid for Ann’s passage to London.
The painting represents the lace edging Ann was convicted of stealing. The combined length of the horizontal strips in the painting total 37 yards.
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