Date of Conviction: 19/01/1818

Age at Conviction: 28

Crime Convicted of: Theft

Court Convicted at: Liverpool Borough Quarter Sessions (held at the Town Hall, Liverpool)

Sentence Length: 7 Years

Ship Transported on: Maria

Where Arrived: Port Jackson, New South Wales

Departure Date: 15/05/1818

Arrival Date: 17/09/1818

Biography: Margaret was part of a group of three men (all transported) and another woman (2 years imprisonment) who stole 1000 yards muslin and 150 yards linen belonging to Joseph Fearon, Joseph Fry & Mary Sugden. She was transferred to Lancaster Castle from Liverpool Gaol after sentencing and on the 12th March a removal order was received there from the secretary of state for 35 female convicts who were to be sent on the Maria. The women left the castle in three groups over several days. Margaret was in the third group, leaving Lancaster on the 17th March. She briefly suffered from headaches and constipation onboard ship and was given a soda of sulpher salts.

Almost immediately after arrival, Margaret was transferred to Port Dalrymple, Van Diemen’s Land on the Elizabeth Henrietta but appears to have been returned to Sydney the following year as in 1819 Margaret was indentured as a servant to Mr William Hill (government slaughterman) at Sydney. In 1820 and 21, Margaret was noted as being ‘single’ at Sydney. By 1825 Margaret was a servant to William Thurston (publican) in Sydney but later that year received her certificate of freedom.

The only blemish on Margaret’s record is that she was fined 5 shillings for being drunk and disorderly in the street in 1830.