Date of Conviction: 27/10/1818

Age at Conviction: 18

Crime Convicted of: Theft

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

Sentence Length: 7 Years

Ship Transported on: Janus

Where Arrived: Port Jackson, New South Wales

Departure Date: 23/10/1819

Arrival Date: 03/05/1820

Biography: Maria had already been imprisoned for three months the year before for theft of a corset from Bolton. This time, she had stolen a pocket book and bank notes from W Wilkinson. Shortly after arrival, she was sent on to Hobart, Van Diemen’s Land on the Princess Charlotte.

Maria married James Pitfield (ship- Lady Castlereagh) at Hobart in August 1820; she was already heavily pregnant; the timings suggesting she must have conceived onboard ship, and gave birth to son John two months after the wedding. In February 1822 she briefly had to sit in the stocks for breaking the peace. She later was sent to factory for ‘improper conduct in another man’s house. In 1825 she was suspected of a felony but the charges were dismissed due to lack of evidence. Maria died in June 1828, aged 27 and was buried with a memorial at St David’s Anglican Cemetery. The same year her husband was imprisoned and their son John would be put in an orphan school for the next seven years until his father’s release. She is buried along with her husband, and two infant granddaughters.