Name: Mary Bryant (nee Broad)
Ship: Charlotte
Reason: In 1786, at the age of 21, I was found guilty for assaulting a spinster and robbing her of a silk bonnet, and was sentenced to death. Lucky for me my sentence was then changed to seven years of transportation and I was sent to the prison hulk Dukirk in Plymouth. In May 1787, I was sent as a prisoner with the First Fleet aboard the Charlotte to Australia. During the transportation to Australia I became pregnant, the result of a relationship formed on the Dunkirk. I gave birth to a baby girl, whom I named Charlotte after the ship. She was baptised at a stop in Cape Town. Also on the transportation to Australia, I fell in love with another convict called William Bryant and we got married shortly after our arrival in Sydney Cove in 1788.
Ship experience: The fleet reached Rio de Janeiro on 5 August and stayed for a month. The ships were cleaned and water taken on board, repairs were made, and Phillip ordered large quantities of food for the fleet. The women convicts' clothing had become infested with lice and was burnt. We were issued with new clothes made from rice sacks.
Fugitive sighting:
What are you going to give me in return for any information I may have? What do you mean nothing? I know I'm a prisoner but if you can trade me nothing for information then I will give you nothing. I should have known you detective types would be unfair.
The Future of Mary Bryant:
In Sydney Cove Mary's husband, William, was found useful, they put him in charge of looking after the fishing boats. He was later convicted of privately selling some of the fish and received 100 lashes, and this was when William and I decided to escape Australia. I became one of the first successful escapees from the fledgling Australian penal colony.
In December 1790 the arrival of a Dutch trading vessel, Waaksamheyd, provided an opportunity to escape. William befriended the captain of the ship, and got a cart with maps of the passage home, as well as a compass and a supply of food for the escape.
On 28 March, we finally had a chance to escape and departed on the Wassamheyd, headed for England. We made it to Timor Island, where we told the Dutch Governor that we were survivors from a shipwreck, but were soon discovered as convicts that escaped Australia. They then locked us up in Batavia (now Jakarta), where my husband and son died from fever. My daughter Charlotte and I were then sent back to England but Charlotte died during the long voyage.
On my arrival in England in June 1792, I was sent to Newtown Prison to await trial for her crimes. In May 1793, I was pardoned and discharged, and returned to my family in Cornwall.
Ship: Charlotte
Reason: In 1786, at the age of 21, I was found guilty for assaulting a spinster and robbing her of a silk bonnet, and was sentenced to death. Lucky for me my sentence was then changed to seven years of transportation and I was sent to the prison hulk Dukirk in Plymouth. In May 1787, I was sent as a prisoner with the First Fleet aboard the Charlotte to Australia. During the transportation to Australia I became pregnant, the result of a relationship formed on the Dunkirk. I gave birth to a baby girl, whom I named Charlotte after the ship. She was baptised at a stop in Cape Town. Also on the transportation to Australia, I fell in love with another convict called William Bryant and we got married shortly after our arrival in Sydney Cove in 1788.
Ship experience: The fleet reached Rio de Janeiro on 5 August and stayed for a month. The ships were cleaned and water taken on board, repairs were made, and Phillip ordered large quantities of food for the fleet. The women convicts' clothing had become infested with lice and was burnt. We were issued with new clothes made from rice sacks.
Fugitive sighting:
What are you going to give me in return for any information I may have? What do you mean nothing? I know I'm a prisoner but if you can trade me nothing for information then I will give you nothing. I should have known you detective types would be unfair.
The Future of Mary Bryant:
In Sydney Cove Mary's husband, William, was found useful, they put him in charge of looking after the fishing boats. He was later convicted of privately selling some of the fish and received 100 lashes, and this was when William and I decided to escape Australia. I became one of the first successful escapees from the fledgling Australian penal colony.
In December 1790 the arrival of a Dutch trading vessel, Waaksamheyd, provided an opportunity to escape. William befriended the captain of the ship, and got a cart with maps of the passage home, as well as a compass and a supply of food for the escape.
On 28 March, we finally had a chance to escape and departed on the Wassamheyd, headed for England. We made it to Timor Island, where we told the Dutch Governor that we were survivors from a shipwreck, but were soon discovered as convicts that escaped Australia. They then locked us up in Batavia (now Jakarta), where my husband and son died from fever. My daughter Charlotte and I were then sent back to England but Charlotte died during the long voyage.
On my arrival in England in June 1792, I was sent to Newtown Prison to await trial for her crimes. In May 1793, I was pardoned and discharged, and returned to my family in Cornwall.