Mary Wade was born in London in 1777 and is the most famous convict in our family tree. She was sentenced at the Old Bailey to life for stealing a dress from an 8 year old girl and was transported to Australia on the Second Fleet (Lady Juliana) in 1789 at the age of 12, the youngest female convict to have been transported. The transcript of her trial is here. Before her conviction, she used to sweep the streets of London.
Mary went on to have a colourful life in Australia and it is believed that on her death, she had over 200 living descendants. Historians estimate that there could now be as many as 90,000 of her direct descendants living in Australia. Her remarkable story has been documented in the book, Mary Wade to Us, and is also told in The Floating Brothel, which was made into a tv documentary. (See also this link.) Read more about Mary Wade and some of her descendants here.
William Ray was born about 1772 in London and transported to Australia for 7 years with the Third Fleet in 1791 on the Albermarle. He was tried at the Old Bailey and convicted on 24th October 1787 for theft. The transcript of his trial is here. He married Sarah Mary Wade on 4 April 1808 in St Johns Parramatta NSW but by 1828 Sarah had left William for another man, Nathaniel Boon, with whom she had more children, one of whom was hung in Wagga for murder. William and Sarah Mary had a daughter, Mary Ray.
Between 1816 and 1826 he was publican of The Plough Inn and at some point he was given a land grant of 60 acres at Airds (near Campbelltown.) He died on 14 October 1835 in Marrickville at his son’s (George Robert) house. He was buried on 18 October 1835 in St Peters church, Campbelltown NSW.
William Ray arrived on the same convict ship as John Mitton – the Albermarle on 13 October 1791.
At the time they were unrelated but they became related through the marriage of their grandchildren, Edward Ray and Catherine Herrick 61 years later.
John Mitton was born on 12th August 1772 in London and died on 13th November 1853 in Campbelltown NSW. He arrived in Australia on the Albermarle in 1791 with the Third Fleet (listed as John Milton) after being sentenced at the Old Bailey in 1790 to life. The transcript of his trial is here. His crime was highway robbery: he and two others held up a man on a London road, seized his bag and stole some items from it. He was 18 at the time. After spending 14 years as a convict, he was given a pardon by the governor in 1804. He then went on to become a police constable.
He married Catherine Lahey, a fellow convict, in around 1801 in Parramatta NSW.
Catherine Lahey arrived in Australia in 1800 (aboard the Speedy) after being tried at the Old Bailey in 1798. Her crime was counterfeiting silver coins and she was sentenced to life. She and her accomplice were caught in their house in King Street, near Drury Lane, London (near present day Covent Garden.) The transcript of her trial is here.
Catherine was born about 1773 in Bloomsbury London and died on 29th May 1868 in Campbelltown NSW.
Paths crossing?
Daisy Blunden married Stanley Edward Perry in 1905. Daisy’s great great grandmother, Catherine Lahey, was a convict. She was tried at the Old Bailey in 1798.
At the time of her trial, Catherine was a lodger in a house in Drury Lane. Her landlord? A man named William Perry. Strange coincidence, indeed.
John Herrick was born in Birr, Ireland in 1802. He arrived in Australia on 21st September, 1819 aboard the Daphne, having been tried at Offaly / King’s Co, Ireland the same year and being convicted for life. He received a conditional pardon in 1834. He was recorded in the convict transport register that would have accompanied the ship to Australia as being 20 years old at the time, 5 foot 9 inches tall, with brown hair and hazel eyes.
He married Mary Matilda Mitton on 26th May 1827 in St Marys Catholic Church Sydney. She was the daughter of John Mitton and Catherine Lahey, both convicts, and was born 14 April 1804 in Parramatta NSW. Together, they had 11 children, including two who died in infancy. Both Mary and John died in Campbelltown NSW (Mary on 4th August 1872 and John on 3rd September 1883) and are buried at St Johns Catholic Church there.
Joseph Bull arrived in Australia in 1821 on the Adamant. He was convicted in Leicester, England in 1820 for 7 years but was granted his ticket of leave in 1825 (ticket number 25/485) and given his certificate of freedom on 31st Oct 1827. He appears to have been born in Leicestershire in 1797 and worked as a framework fitter.
After getting his ticket of leave in the district of Wilberforce, Joseph Bull moved to Goulburn. He became a very successful business man and started a drapery store and pharmacy. He also owned 3 banks, including the Australian Joint Stock Bank, and when he died in 1871 he left a sizable estate including half of Goulburn, valued at 14,000 Pounds. (Equal to around £845,000 or AUS$2 million in today’s money.) The family was also involved in the local church and Joseph donated land for church buildings in the area.