By Meredit Hunt 9F
Mary Ann W ade
Mary Ann Wade
Early Life
Mary Ann Wade was born on the 5th of November in 1777 in Southwark London,
England. Wade had an upbringing of a large family which was supervised by her single
mother. At an early age, Mary brought food to the table by sweeping the streets for
money.
Crime and Punishment
On the 5th of October 1788, Wade had committed a
crime. This crime was that she had stolen one
cotton frock, one linen tippet (a long fur scarf or
shawl worn around the neck and shoulders) and one
linen cap from Mary Phillips, an 8 year old girl, who
at the time was collecting water in a bottle at a
privy. The two girls then decided to sell the stolen
frock to a pawnbroker which then gave the girls
money. Unfortunately the girls were caught by
another young girl who had reported the incident
to a local police officer. He later discovered the
tippet in Mary's room. She was then arrested and
placed in Bridwell Prison. Her trial was held on 14th
of January 1789, where she was found guilty and
was sentenced to death by hanging. She spent 93
days in the notorious Newgate Prison.
The Voyage
This is a primary
source which indicates
the arrival of the ship
Mary Wade had be
transported on.
On March 11th 1789,
King George III was
cured from an illness which citizens thought of him to be slightly mad. In celebration, he
ordered for all women on a life sentence to be penalized to transportation on a voyage
to the Continent of Australia, which was the first convict ship made up of women and
children. The sail would have been cramped, unsanitary and upheld unhealthy living
conditions. This was perceived as the life of a convict. ‘They would have been served a
blanket and only a small amount of space to live in, they also very rarely saw sunlight and
got vitamin D.’
After a 9 month voyage across the ocean along with 151 other convicts, the ship arrived
at Sydney on 3 June 1790 and Wade was sent on to Norfolk Island aboard the ship,
Surprise, arriving on 7 August 1790.
The Start of Her Family Life
When women were classified in the colony, they were admitted a free man as a house
servant. There was no record discovered of Mary’s master, or the birth father of her first
of two children. The first child was born on Norfolk Island before her 15th birthday in
1793 the other was born two years later to in 1795.
Wade and her small family were then escorted to Sydney, in which they lived in a small
tent. Wade gave birth to a third child by the Irish transportee, Teague Harrigan, who
joined a whaling expedition three years later and never returned. Soon after, Mary lived
with her husband Jonathon Brooker close to the Hawkesbury River in 1809. Mary raised
her family which consisted of 21 children. 7 of those children lived to build their own
families and relationships.
Later on in Life
Brooker had earned his Certificate of Freedom of February in 1811 and then was given
60 acres at Tarrawanna, New South Wales by the Governor Macquarie. Wade finally
earned her Certificate of Freedom on the first of September in 1812.
Tragedy
In 1816 they decided to live on the property of Airds in Campbelltown, New South
Wales with their family. Wade married Jonathan Brooker on 10 February in 1817 at
St Lukes church in Liverpool, New South Wales. Brooker had an agreement to own 30
acres in 1822 until bushfires destroyed their property in 1823. Jon's livelihood as a
carpenter ended as his tools were all destroyed.
Life At An End
They recovered with Mary and Jon going on to own 62 acres in Illawarra in 1828. At this
time Mary lived until Jon's death on 14 March in 1833. He was buried in the graveyard
of St. Peter's Church, Campbelltown, New South Wales. Mary passed away on the 17th of
December 1859 at the age of 82 in Wollongong, New South Wales and her funeral was
the first service to be held in St Paul's Church of England in Fairy Meadow, New South
Wales with her son donating the land on which the church was built.
This is a primary source which is the
obituary of Mary Wade in the daily
newspaper.
This is also a primary source which shows
the actual interview Mary Wade took part
by speaking in.
Interview
On the 17th of April I interviewed Mrs Macdonald, a librarian at the Parkdale Library,
and asked her a series of questions based on my research..
Q. Hello Mrs Mcdonald, would you mind if I asked a couple questions on the English
Migrants who emigrated to Australia?
A. ‘Please, ask anything you like!
Q. How much do you know of this person, Mary Wade?
A. ‘I don’t know of Mary Wade, but I do know of these convicts who entered Australia not
by free will. It would have been very difficult for the convicts to move here. To leave all of
teir family behind and structure a new lifestyle.’
Q. What would it have been like for these convicts who entered Australia, what would
the conditions been like?
A. ‘It would have been very unsanitary, dirty and unhygienic. This would only have been for
the convicts and not the free settlers. They would have been served a blanket and only a
small amount of space to live in, they also very rarely saw sunlight and got vitamin D.’
Q. Considering the conditions the convicts were forced to live in, was it easy to catch a
cold or disease because of the uncleanliness?
A. ‘Yes, it would have been quite common. This is because of the way people were. They
were all cramped in this ship which could only really carry half the people that were all on
it! The most common diseases to catch were tuberculosis, Cholera, Typhoid, Meningitis and
Rabies. HIV was very uncommon but was still seen occasionally.’
Q. Do you think it would have been difficult to obtain a new lifestyle when the convicts
were classed as ‘Free Settlers’ at the end of their serving time?
A. ‘Well, it depends on the time era. If it was the earliest of settlers, it wouldn’t have been
very difficult because there wasn’t many businesses. But if it was later on in time, yes
because there are more businesses and less and less land to be offered.
Q. Okay well, thank you very much for your time and it was very appreciated!
For my visual display, I will be making a basket in which holds the possessions that
Mary Wade stole.
Bibliography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Wade
http://www.convictrecords.com.au/convicts/wade/mary/66503
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convict_women_in_Australia
http://www.marywadefamily.org/items/show/5
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=mary+wade+convict&safe=active&es_sm=93&s
ource=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=HOtgU7e_BsLolAWLroGgDA&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&bi
w=1366&bih=665#imgdii=_