There is probably no straight answer but I would like others thoughts on my convict Ellen DAWSON. She was tried and transported under that name but once she married in Australia and received her ticket of leave she appears to have used the name DOYLE as her maiden name on everything I have found. Her children give her name as DOYLE on their marriage certificates. The only child to be registered after civil registration began has Ellen DOYLE as mother. Her rest certificate states she was the daughter of John DOYLE (an army officer) and Ellen. She was born about 1811 in Liverpool but was working in London as a laundress when convicted. It was her second offence and she previously spent 3 months in gaol.
My dilemma is which is her correct name - Dawson or Doyle? I know convicts often used aliases here but would it be very likely that DAWSON would have been an alias she used in London to perhaps hide her shame from her family? Until I found the child registered with the mother's name as DOYLE I thought perhaps it was the children making up the name to cover convict origins but she did it herself.
Lyn in Brisbane
