Sarah Taafe or Taife (nee Adams)

Sarah Adams, an English convict, was born about 1820 in the county of Somersetshire. At the age of 19 she was convicted of a felony and transported for ten years, arriving in Sydney on the Mary Anne (1839). In 1847 Sarah was granted a ticket of leave for Raymond Terrace, New South Wales.

By November 1854 she was in Queensland where she married Thomas Taafe (or Taife), a well-known horse jockey in Queensland and New South Wales. A few months later Sarah was charged with stabbing Thomas at their house in Ipswich. It seems that a violent argument ensued after Thomas came home to find dinner not prepared. Sarah was imprisoned in the Brisbane Gaol until her trial and then, having been found guilty, was sent south to serve three years’ hard labour in the Parramatta Gaol.

Sarah returned to Ipswich in 1858, but the following year a newspaper report suggested that her husband Thomas had met another woman and was living with her in Brisbane.[2] Unfortunately, the stories of both Thomas and Sarah come to an abrupt halt with their lives cut short at a young age. Thomas died in Ipswich in February 1861 aged about 28 of throat cancer, while Sarah died of ‘phthisis’ (most likely tuberculosis) five months later in July 1861. Sarah’s death certificate stated she was 25 years old but, based on her age at transportation, she was closer to 41. The death certificates of Thomas and Sarah both record that the couple had one living male child and one deceased male child but, sadly, neither son can be traced.

[1] Queensland State Archives (QSA),  Item ID ITM2917, Register of male and female prisoners admitted – HM Gaol, Brisbane, 3 Jan 1850 to 3 Feb 1864.

[2] ‘Monday, August 8th’, North Australian, Ipswich and General Advertiser, 9 Aug 1859, p. 3.