Date of Conviction: 19/01/1824

Age at Conviction: 34

Crime Convicted of: Theft

Court Convicted at: Lancaster Quarter Sessions (held at the New Bailey, Salford )

Sentence Length: 7 Years

Ship Transported on: Grenada (1)

Where Arrived: Sydney Cove, New South Wales

Departure Date: 25/08/1824

Arrival Date: 23/01/1824

Biography: Martha had was charged with theft of a purse. She had already served four sentences of imprisonment at Salford and Lancaster Castle having spent most of the last ten years in and out of prison, having previously been tried as Mary Jowett. She was described as a single woman and a weaver and in good health.

She was designated to be a chambermaid in the colony and was described as being 5ft 2, with hazel coloured eyes, dark brown to black hair and a pale, pock pitted complexion. She was a native of Leeds, Yorkshire. Upon arrival she was sent to the female factory at Parramatta. By 1828, she was still in the factory. The following year, in May 1829, Martha was again returned to the factory (1st class) after being given up by her master.

Martha received her certificate of freedom in February 1831. She was now noted as having lost three fingers on her right hand, perhaps suggesting why she had moved from weaving to being a housemaid and why she was frequently returned to the factory.

From this point on Martha was known as Martha Lee. No marriage record has been found so perhaps she was in a common law relationship. In October 1835, Martha was jailed for a month and she was again in trouble for being drunk and disorderly in 1836. In 1837, suffering from severe alcohol addiction, she was in court for disturbing the peace at The Rocks and being a nuisance to that neighbourhood. The newspapers reported her violent shaking and stammering from alcohol withdrawal and she was jailed for six weeks.

In February 1840, now as Martha Hill or Lee, she was put on trial at the Quarter Sessions for stealing and then pawning a moleskin coat. She was probably still in custody when she died at Parramatta’s general hospital on the 19th September 1840 and was buried the next day in St John’s cemetery as her death is recorded in the convict register.