Pickpocket Sarah Clifford's reputation was as 'the woman in black', a seemingly harmless lady with a black shawl who frequented the footpaths outside shop windows who really was an incorrigible thief and well known to Sydney's detectives. She would fleece shoppers - many of them unsuspecting visitors from the country - of their purses and secrete them beneath her shawl before going to a hotel to investigate the contents. Weary magistrates were well acquainted with the recidivist and her laments of spending every Christmas behind bars instead of with her children. At yet another hearing in August 1910 - for stealing a blouse and collars from Mark Foy's department store - a newspaper article described her as 'one of the oldest woman criminals in New South Wales'. She was described as '75 years old, wrinkled, and grey, and without teeth' and speaking in a 'high treble' voice to the arresting detective to say: 'I can't help it. I can't keep my hands off things'.'. Source: Daily Mail (22 January 2023).

Timeline

1851: January 18 -Intent to pick pockets [Dublin, Ireland]. Grangegorman Female Prison
1852: March 19 - Felony money [Dublin, Ireland]. Grangegorman Female Prison (7 years transportation)
1852: June 8 - Martin Luther departs Dublin, Ireland
1852: September 1 - Martin Luther arrives Van Diemen's Land
1858: Attempted suicide using a ‘dinner knife’ to cut her throat.
1860: Implicated with her partner, William Fox, in the murder of a female prostitute.
1867: Feb - Stealing: 1 month Labor
1867: Dec - Picking Pockets: 18 Months Labor
1868: Stealing: 3 Months Labor
1870: Mar - Attempted to steal: 3 Months labor
1870: Aug - Stealing from a person: 2 yrs Hard Labor
1873: Picking pockets: 6 months labor
1876: Stealing from a person: 3 yrs hard labor
1880: Stealing from a person: 2 yrs hard labor for each charge 2 charges
1882: Stealing from a person: 3 Yrs hard labor
1884: Suspected Person: 2 months Labor
1885: Stealing from a person: 6 months labor
1886: Suspected person: 3 months labor
1887: Mar - Suspected person: 6 months labor
1887: Nov - Vagrancy: 6 months labor
1895: Suspected Person: 6 Months Hard labor in Glebe
1897: Suspected person: 6 months
1899: Gaol Darlinghurst
1890: Goal Biloela
1903: Trial for stealing from Margaret Freeman
1907: Intent to commit felony, six months hard labour
1908: Stole cup and saucer, six months hard labour
1910: Stole two candlesticks and sentenced to six months light labour in the State Reformatory for Women

Sources

Convict Records
Name: Sarah Maguire
Admission Age: 19
Role: Prisoner
Birth Date: 1832
Birth Place: Jamaica
Admission Date: 18 Jan 1851
Admission Place: Dublin, Ireland
Charge: Intent to pick pockets
Sentence: Two months
Jail: Grangegorman Female Prison
Identification Number: 176
https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/maguire/sarah/150450

Convict Records
Name: Sarah Maguire
Admission Age: 17
Role: Prisoner
Birth Date: 1835
Admission Date: 19 Mar 1852
Admission Place: Dublin City, Dublin, Ireland
Charge: Felony money
Sentence: 7 years transportation
Jail: Grangegorman Female Prison
Identification Number: 3052
https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/maguire/sarah/150450

New South Wales, Australia, Gaol Description and Entrance Books, 1818-1930
Name Sarah Clifford
[Sarah Fox]
Birth Year abt 1833
Age 40
Arrival Year 1869
Arrival Country Australia
Date of Admission/Photo 1873
Gaol Darlinghurst
Gaol Location Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia
Record Type Description Book

New South Wales, Australia, Gaol Description and Entrance Books, 1818-1930
Name Sarah Clifford
Birth Year abt 1837
Birth Place Jamaica
Age 45
Date of Admission/Photo 1882
Gaol Maitland
Gaol Location East Maitland, New South Wales, Australia
Record Type Description Book

New South Wales, Australia, Gaol Description and Entrance Books, 1818-1930
Name Sarah Clifford
Birth Year abt 1835
Birth Place Jamaica
Age 50
Date of Admission/Photo 1885
Gaol Maitland
Gaol Location East Maitland, New South Wales, Australia
Record Type Description Book

New South Wales, Australia, Gaol Description and Entrance Books, 1818-1930
Name Sarah Clifford
[Sarah Fox]
[Sarah Maguire]
Birth Year 1832
Birth Place Jamaica
Age 57
Date of Admission/Photo 5 Oct. 1889
Gaol Darlinghurst
Gaol Location Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia
Record Type Photograph Description Book
Photo Available? Y

New South Wales, Australia, Gaol Description and Entrance Books, 1818-1930
Name Sarah Clifford
Birth Year abt 1833
Age 64
Date of Admission/Photo 27 Oct. 1897
Gaol Biloela
Gaol Location Biloela, New South Wales, Australia
Record Type Description Book

New South Wales, Australia, Gaol Description and Entrance Books, 1818-1930
Name Sarah Clifford
Birth Year abt 1834
Birth Place Jamaica
Age 64
Date of Admission/Photo 16 May 1898
Gaol Darlinghurst
Gaol Location Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia
Record Type Entrance and Description Book

New South Wales, Australia, Gaol Description and Entrance Books, 1818-1930
Name Sarah Clifford
Birth Year abt 1834
Birth Place Jamaica
Age 64
Date of Admission/Photo 17 May 1898
Gaol Biloela
Gaol Location Biloela, New South Wales, Australia
Record Type Entrance and Description Book

New South Wales, Australia, Gaol Description and Entrance Books, 1818-1930
Name Sarah Clifford
Birth Year abt 1834
Birth Place Jamaica
Age 65
Date of Admission/Photo 25 Mar. 1899
Gaol Darlinghurst
Gaol Location Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia
Record Type Entrance and Description Book

New South Wales, Australia, Gaol Description and Entrance Books, 1818-1930
Name Sarah Clifford
Birth Year abt 1834
Birth Place Jamaica
Age 66
Date of Admission/Photo Oct. 1900
Gaol Biloela
Gaol Location Biloela, New South Wales, Australia
Record Type Entrance and Description Book

New South Wales, Australia, Gaol Description and Entrance Books, 1818-1930
Name Sarah Clifford
Birth Year 1833
Birth Place United States
Age 68
Date of Admission/Photo 5 Jun. 1901
Gaol Darlinghurst
Gaol Location Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia
Record Type Photograph Description Book
Photo Available? Y

New South Wales, Australia, Gaol Description and Entrance Books, 1818-1930
Name Sarah Clifford
[Fox Clifford]
[Maguire Clifford]
Birth Year 1833
Birth Place Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Age 70
Vessel Arrived In B S
Date of Admission/Photo 1 Apr. 1903
Gaol Darlinghurst
Gaol Location Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia
Record Type Photograph Description Book
Photo Available? Y