Date of Conviction: 22/03/1817

Age at Conviction: 45

Crime Convicted of: Uttering Forged Notes

Court Convicted at: Lancaster Assizes (held at Lancaster Castle)

Sentence Length: 14 Years

Ship Transported on: Friendship (2)

Where Arrived: Port Jackson, New South Wales

Departure Date: 03/07/1817

Arrival Date: 14/01/1818

Biography: Mary had uttered forged notes at Manchester. The order came to remove her and other women awaiting transportation on the 19th May at Lancaster Castle and she left there on the 27th May for Deptford. Onboard ship, Mary had acted as a nurse and the surgeon said, had behaved with the greatest propriety and humanity and he recommended her to the Governor, describing her as “quiet”.

Within days of arrival, Mary was sent to the Derwent River, Van Diemen’s Land on the Duke of Wellington. However, it appears that by August, Mary was transferred back to Sydney on the Jupiter. By 1820, Mary had a ticket of leave. In 1825, she was listed as a general servant to John Anslip; Constable.

Mary got her certificate of freedom in March 1831 and at that time she was described as a native of Gibraltar, 5ft 1, fair to ruddy complexion, grey eyes, brown hair turning grey and had a scar on her left cheek and had lost most of her upper front teeth and was a housekeeper, now 58 years old.

Although not certain, there is a death record for a Mary Jones, aged 63 in St James’ parish in 1837, this may well be ‘our’ Mary, if so, she was probably buried in the Devonshire St Cemetery.