A female ancestor who made the news - Well, Sarah Peaulet didn't make the social pages, but she made the newspaper. The Police report of the Sydney Gazette, 23 January 1828, page 3.
Her husband, William Webb, had been mentioned in the paper two days before, claiming that William Dixon had stolen his wife and struck him.
Sarah, on the 23rd, counterclaimed in the court that her husband was "in the habit of beating her with his fist, with great violence". The paper went on to suggest that small pox could be helpful as it would mark pretty women, thereby protecting them from the attentions of other men. There was no comment from the writer about Webb's violence against her.
Webb had a history of violence, against his wife and others. He had arrived in the colony in 1816 aboard the Ocean, Sarah was born here as a free person of convict parents.
Sarah was successfully divorced from Webb and went on to live with William Dixon until her death in 1872. Sarah and William were married in 1871 following Webb's death
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