A child beggar on the streets of London, Mary Wade's life was already tragic when she was sentenced to death by hanging in 1789.

That sentence was later commuted to penal transportation to Australia – a daunting prospect for an 11-year-old whose crime was stealing a younger girl's clothes.

Wade's story deeply affected Ms Seres, whose 10-year-old daughter Scarlett was studying colonial Australia at school and was cast as the child convict in a play.

"It really brought home how incredibly lucky we are," she said. "You know we have schools and there are laws against children working.”

"Going to this strange country that you know nothing about without your family I think would be quite scary," Scarlett added.

Wade's life inspired Seres to paint Scarlett as Colonial Girl, which was awarded the $150,000 prize on Wednesday.

The portrait of her daughter as the child convict took Seres three and a half months to complete.

The judges said Seres' winning painting revealed the close relationship between mother and daughter and "an awareness of the vulnerability of the young, but also conveys the forbearance required of convict women and the gravity of their situation".

Seres said the prize money, Australia's richest art award, will allow her to concentrate on a new body of work inspired by a BBC adaptation of the 19th-century mystery novel The Woman in White.

She will travel to Belfast for three months for research before returning to Gerringong to create artworks for an exhibition to be held in Britain.