Mary Wade
Encyclopedia
Mary Ann Wade was only 11 years old when transported to Australia as the youngest convict aboard the Lady Juliana
as part of the Second Fleet
. Her family grew to include five generations and over 300 descendants in her own lifetime and today number in the tens of thousands.
Mary was born on 5 October 1777 at Southwark
, London to Mary English and George Wade of Westminster, Middlesex and then christened on 21 December 1777 at Saint Olave, Southwark
, Surrey
, England. She spent her days sweeping the streets of London as a means of begging, being one of a large family of a single mother living in poverty. On 5 October 1788, Mary with another child, Jane Whiting, 14 years old, stole the clothes (one cotton frock, one linen tippet
, one linen cap) from Mary Phillips, an 8 year old, who at the time was collecting water in a bottle at a privy
. They then sold the frock to a pawnbroker
. Mary was reported by another child to an Officer of the Law who later found the tippet in Mary's room whereupon she was arrested and placed in Bridewell Prison. Her trial was held on 14 January 1789 at the Old Bailey
, where she was found guilty and was sentenced to death by hanging
.
, a degenerative mental disease. Five days later, in the spirit of celebration, all the women on death row, including Mary Wade, had their sentences commuted to penal transportation
to Australia. She spent 93 days in the Newgate Prison
before being transported on the Lady Juliana
to Australia, which was the first convict ship to hold a cargo made up entirely of women and children. The 11-month voyage across the ocean to Sydney, arrived on 3 June 1790 and she was then sent on to Norfolk Island aboard the Surprize
, arriving on 7 August 1790.
, Sarah to Teague (Edward) Harrigan, an emancipated Irish transportee in 1793 and William in 1795, who is believed to be Jonathan Brooker's son. When they arrived back in Sydney, Mary lived with Teague Harrigan, with whom she had another son, Edward, in their tent on the banks of the Tank Stream
in Sydney in 1803. Teague left to go on a whaling expedition in 1806 and never returned.
from 1809. It was here that Mary raised her family which numbered 21 children, seven of whom lived to have their own children. Jonathan was given his Certificate of Freedom in February 1811 and then given a grant of 60 acres (242,811.6 m²) at Tarrawanna, New South Wales
by Governor Macquarie. Mary finally received her Certificate of Freedom on the first of September 1812. In 1816 they settled on the property of Airds (made up of the modern suburbs of Airds, Bradbury, St Helens Park, Rosemeadow, among others) in Campbelltown, New South Wales
with their family. Mary married Jonathan Brooker on 10 February 1817 at St Lukes, Liverpool, New South Wales
and her husband owned 30 acres (1822) until bushfires destroyed their property (1823) whilst Jon's livelihood as a Chair-maker by trade ended as his tools were all destroyed. The family became destitute and pleaded to the Governor of the time, Governor Thomas Brisbane
, for aid. They recovered with Mary and Jon going on to own 62 acres (250,905.3 m²) in Illawarra
(1828). Here Mary lived till Jon's death on 14 March 1833, when he was buried in the graveyard of St. Peter’s Church, Campbelltown, NSW. Mary died on 17 December 1859 at the age of 82, in Wollongong, New South Wales
and her funeral service was the very first to be held in St Paul's Church of England, Fairy Meadow, New South Wales
with her son donating the land on which the church was built.
, the former Prime Minister of Australia
, is one of her descendants. Mary's story is told in the book "Mary Wade to Us" published as a family tree, noted in the further reading below. This, and the stories of Mr Rudd's other convict ancestors has now been collated into two leather-bound volumes by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is kept in the National Library of Australia
in Canberra.
Lady Juliana (ship)
Lady Juliana was a convict ship dispatched in 1789 from Britain to Australia. She was the first convict ship to arrive at Port Jackson in New South Wales after the First Fleet. She is therefore sometimes considered as part of the Second Fleet and sometimes not...
as part of the Second Fleet
Second Fleet (Australia)
The Second Fleet is the name of the second fleet of ships sent with settlers, convicts and supplies to colony at Sydney Cove in Port Jackson, Australia. The fleet comprised six ships: one Royal Navy escort, four convict ships, and a supply ship....
. Her family grew to include five generations and over 300 descendants in her own lifetime and today number in the tens of thousands.
Early years in London
Southwark
Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...
, London to Mary English and George Wade of Westminster, Middlesex and then christened on 21 December 1777 at Saint Olave, Southwark
Southwark
Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England. She spent her days sweeping the streets of London as a means of begging, being one of a large family of a single mother living in poverty. On 5 October 1788, Mary with another child, Jane Whiting, 14 years old, stole the clothes (one cotton frock, one linen tippet
Tippet
A tippet is a stole or scarf-like narrow piece of clothing, worn over the shoulders. They evolved in the fourteenth century from long sleeves and typically had one end hanging down to the knees...
, one linen cap) from Mary Phillips, an 8 year old, who at the time was collecting water in a bottle at a privy
Outhouse
An outhouse is a small structure separate from a main building which often contained a simple toilet and may possibly also be used for housing animals and storage.- Terminology :...
. They then sold the frock to a pawnbroker
Pawnbroker
A pawnbroker is an individual or business that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral...
. Mary was reported by another child to an Officer of the Law who later found the tippet in Mary's room whereupon she was arrested and placed in Bridewell Prison. Her trial was held on 14 January 1789 at the Old Bailey
Old Bailey
The Central Criminal Court in England and Wales, commonly known as the Old Bailey from the street in which it stands, is a court building in central London, one of a number of buildings housing the Crown Court...
, where she was found guilty and was sentenced to death by hanging
Death by hanging
Death by hanging may refer to:* Hanging* Death by Hanging, a 1968 film by Nagisa Oshima...
.
Penal transportation
On 11 March 1789, King George III was proclaimed cured of an unnamed madness; it is assumed that he suffered from porphyriaPorphyria
Porphyrias are a group of inherited or acquired disorders of certain enzymes in the heme bio-synthetic pathway . They are broadly classified as acute porphyrias and cutaneous porphyrias, based on the site of the overproduction and accumulation of the porphyrins...
, a degenerative mental disease. Five days later, in the spirit of celebration, all the women on death row, including Mary Wade, had their sentences commuted to penal transportation
Penal transportation
Transportation or penal transportation is the deporting of convicted criminals to a penal colony. Examples include transportation by France to Devil's Island and by the UK to its colonies in the Americas, from the 1610s through the American Revolution in the 1770s, and then to Australia between...
to Australia. She spent 93 days in the Newgate Prison
Newgate Prison
Newgate Prison was a prison in London, at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey just inside the City of London. It was originally located at the site of a gate in the Roman London Wall. The gate/prison was rebuilt in the 12th century, and demolished in 1777...
before being transported on the Lady Juliana
Lady Juliana (ship)
Lady Juliana was a convict ship dispatched in 1789 from Britain to Australia. She was the first convict ship to arrive at Port Jackson in New South Wales after the First Fleet. She is therefore sometimes considered as part of the Second Fleet and sometimes not...
to Australia, which was the first convict ship to hold a cargo made up entirely of women and children. The 11-month voyage across the ocean to Sydney, arrived on 3 June 1790 and she was then sent on to Norfolk Island aboard the Surprize
Surprize (ship)
Surprize was one of the notorious Second Fleet ships to Port Jackson. At 400 tons burthen , she was the smallest ship of the fleet, and was an unsuitable vessel for so long a voyage, proving to be a wet ship even in moderate weather. In rough seas and heavy gales the convicts “were considerably...
, arriving on 7 August 1790.
Life in Australia
She had two children on Norfolk IslandNorfolk Island
Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...
, Sarah to Teague (Edward) Harrigan, an emancipated Irish transportee in 1793 and William in 1795, who is believed to be Jonathan Brooker's son. When they arrived back in Sydney, Mary lived with Teague Harrigan, with whom she had another son, Edward, in their tent on the banks of the Tank Stream
Tank Stream
The Tank Stream is a fresh water course which empties into Sydney Cove in New South Wales, Australia. Today it is little more than a storm water drain, but originally it was the fresh water supply for the fledgling colony of New South Wales in the late 18th century...
in Sydney in 1803. Teague left to go on a whaling expedition in 1806 and never returned.
Marriage and family
Mary lived with Jonathan Brooker near the Hawkesbury RiverHawkesbury River
The Hawkesbury River, also known as Deerubbun, is one of the major rivers of the coastal region of New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its tributaries virtually encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney.-Geography:-Course:...
from 1809. It was here that Mary raised her family which numbered 21 children, seven of whom lived to have their own children. Jonathan was given his Certificate of Freedom in February 1811 and then given a grant of 60 acres (242,811.6 m²) at Tarrawanna, New South Wales
Tarrawanna, New South Wales
Tarrawanna is a northern suburb of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia, extending westward from the Princes Highway over the Illawarra Escarpment.-References:*http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/cultureheritage/illawarraAboriginalHistoryPoster.pdf...
by Governor Macquarie. Mary finally received her Certificate of Freedom on the first of September 1812. In 1816 they settled on the property of Airds (made up of the modern suburbs of Airds, Bradbury, St Helens Park, Rosemeadow, among others) in Campbelltown, New South Wales
Campbelltown, New South Wales
Campbelltown is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Campbelltown is located 51 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Campbelltown.- History :Campbelltown...
with their family. Mary married Jonathan Brooker on 10 February 1817 at St Lukes, Liverpool, New South Wales
Liverpool, New South Wales
Liverpool is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Liverpool is located 32 km south-west of the Sydney central business district, and is the administrative centre of the local government area of the City of Liverpool...
and her husband owned 30 acres (1822) until bushfires destroyed their property (1823) whilst Jon's livelihood as a Chair-maker by trade ended as his tools were all destroyed. The family became destitute and pleaded to the Governor of the time, Governor Thomas Brisbane
Thomas Brisbane
Major-General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1st Baronet GCH, GCB, FRS, FRSE was a British soldier, colonial Governor and astronomer.-Early life:...
, for aid. They recovered with Mary and Jon going on to own 62 acres (250,905.3 m²) in Illawarra
Illawarra
Illawarra is a region in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is a coastal region situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the Shoalhaven or South Coast region. It encompasses the cities of Wollongong, Shellharbour, Shoalhaven and the town of Kiama. The central region contains Lake...
(1828). Here Mary lived till Jon's death on 14 March 1833, when he was buried in the graveyard of St. Peter’s Church, Campbelltown, NSW. Mary died on 17 December 1859 at the age of 82, in Wollongong, New South Wales
Wollongong, New South Wales
Wollongong is a seaside city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the narrow coastal strip between the Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean, 82 kilometres south of Sydney...
and her funeral service was the very first to be held in St Paul's Church of England, Fairy Meadow, New South Wales
Fairy Meadow, New South Wales
Fairy Meadow is a suburb in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. Located in the Illawarra, it is a mainly low density residential area, except for a strip on the Princes Highway....
with her son donating the land on which the church was built.
Descendants
At the time of her death, Mary had over 300 living descendants and is considered as one of the founding mothers of the early settlers to Australia. Today her descendants number in the tens of thousands. Kevin RuddKevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
, the former Prime Minister of Australia
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
, is one of her descendants. Mary's story is told in the book "Mary Wade to Us" published as a family tree, noted in the further reading below. This, and the stories of Mr Rudd's other convict ancestors has now been collated into two leather-bound volumes by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is kept in the National Library of Australia
National Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia is the largest reference library of Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the...
in Canberra.
Further reading
- Mary Wade to Us, 1778-1986: a family history, available at the National Library of AustraliaNational Library of AustraliaThe National Library of Australia is the largest reference library of Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the...
; ISBN 186252078X - Mary Wade to Us, 1778-1986: a family history - online ebook
- Kevin Rudd - The Biography by Robert MacklinRobert MacklinRobert Victor Macklin is an Australian author and journalist.Macklin was born in 1941 and began his writing career for the Brisbane Courier Mail, later moving to The Age in Melbourne and then The Canberra Times in Canberra. In 1967 he became press secretary to Deputy Prime Minister John McEwen...
, Penguin GroupPenguin GroupThe Penguin Group is a trade book publisher, the largest in the world , having overtaken Random House in 2009. The Penguin Group is the name of the incorporated division of parent Pearson PLC that oversees these publishing operations...
; ISBN 9780670072378 - The Floating Brothel: The Extraordinary True Story of an Eighteenth-Century Ship and its Cargo of Female Convicts by Siân ReesSiân ReesSiân Rees is a British author and historian. She was born in Cornwall and has a degree in history from University of Oxford.She lives in Brighton with her two sons and West Highland Terrier, and is an RLF Fellow at the University of Sussex...
, Hyperion (publisher)Hyperion (publisher)Hyperion Books is a general-interest book publishing part of the Disney-ABC Television Group, a division of The Walt Disney Company, established in 1991. Hyperion publishes general-interest fiction and non-fiction books for adults under the following imprints: ABC Daytime Press, ESPN Books,...
; ISBN 0786867876, ISBN 978-0786867875
External links
- The Floating Brothel (Synopsis), Film Australia, abc.net.au
- Making the 'Floating Brothel', Timewatch, bbc.co.uk
- Burial Records for Pioneer Park Cemetery, Wollongong, New South Wales; Note: Mary Wade is buried in married name of Mary Ann Brooker
- Christening Record for Mary Ann Wade
- Birth, Death, Burial and Marriage Records for Mary Ann Wade
- Mary Wade: Sentenced to Hang – Aged 10, Your Archives.
- Secrets of the Dead, Interview with Siân Rees
- Convict Tales, Convicts to Australia
- So, Prime Minister, you're related to a thief and a forger, The Age, 1 August 2008