Since the very earliest days of transportation, female convicts were stereotyped as ‘habitual and recalcitrant offenders’ who were a corruptive force in colonial society.1 This article investigates the extent and nature of the criminal recidivism of First Fleet women in the settlements of Port Jackson, Rose Hill and Norfolk Island during the period 1788 to 1790. It also makes significant revelations concerning the early colonial court’s capacity to protect the interests of women in cases of domestic violence and sexual abuse and, in so doing, highlights the androcentric nature the early colonial legal system. In assessing the validity of the claim that convict women were irreclaimable, vicious and perversive, this article makes a valuable contribution to the historiography relating to convict women, their reputations, character and their treatment by both the colonial courts and the male population in general.