James was a catholic and Emma's family devout Church of England consequently it is thought that religious intolerance was a reason for the breaking away of Emma from her family. The first 5 years of their marriage was spent in Port Arthur where James is said to have been a warden at the goal. Described as strict, unbending and not liked among the inmates it is part of the family folklore that he was stabbed by an inmate. Like many of the other wives Emma hated Port Arthur for its isolation and brutal, sadistic environment. Travelling to Hobart for the birth of their first child, Emma was conveyed along the Peninsula via the human railway where convicts were actually harnessed to carriages and made to pull as horses would.

Source N.G.