In May 1824 twenty women under sentence of transportation languished in the gaol at Lancaster Castle. Some had been there for years and amongst them was a 76 year old. One woman called Mary Partridge was described as being a fit healthy woman who wished to go abroad. Who were these women? How did they come to be sentenced to transportation? Why would anyone want to 'go abroad'? This book sets out to address these questions and others and tell these women's stories, together with the stories of some of other women who were similarly sentenced in Lancashire.