Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
Martha Bettelley was transported on the Mary, departing 3rd Jun 1823 and arriving 5th Oct 1823 with 127 passengers.
Built 1811, Ipswich,England 361 tons. 1817 Journey On Monday arrived the ship Mary, Capt. ORMON, from Calcutta, with merchandize—Passengers, Captain FAITHFUL and Lieut. HAMILTON: this vessel has brought 6 male prisoners from India, destined for Port Jackson; to which place it is expected she will sail to-morrow. Hobart Town Gazette, 24 May 1817. Ship News. On Thursday arrived from Calcutta, via Derwent, the ship Mary, Captain Ormon, with a various cargo. -Passengers from Calcutta, Captain Faithfull and Lieutenant Hamilton:-The Mary sailed from Calcutta the 23d of February, and left the Pilot the 1st of March. Sydney Gazette, Sat 7 Jun 1817. -------------------------------------------------- Convicts who sailed on the 'Mary' direct from Ireland - 1819 & 1836 - are currently being listed, incomplete data to date.
Mary (generic)References
| Primary Source | Australian Joint Copying Project. Microfilm Roll 88, Class and Piece Number HO11/5, Page Number 64 Ancestry.com. England, Select Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Original Data: England, Births and Christenings, 1538-1975. Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013. Description: This collection includes birth and christening records from England. Ancestry.com. New South Wales, Australia Convict Ship Muster Rolls and Related |
| Source Description | This record is one of the entries in the British convict transportation registers 1787-1867 database compiled by State Library of Queensland from British Home Office (HO) records which are available on microfilm as part of the Australian Joint Copying Pro |
| Original Source | Great Britain. Home Office |
| Compiled By | State Library of Queensland |
| Database Source | British convict transportation registers 1787-1867 database |
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Convict Notes
Tasmanian Marriage Record. https://stors.tas.gov.au/RGD36-1-1p147j2k Hobart Town, 1825. John Boon, age 33, Free, of this parish, and Martha Bettelley, age 25, of this parish, convict per Mary, were married by Banns, 31 Jan 1825 at St David’s church, Hobart, by the chaplain, Wm. Bedford.
Tasmanian Conduct Record. https://stors.tas.gov.au/CON40-1-1$init=CON40-1-1P99 No 69. Martha Betterly, per Mary, arr. Oct 1823. Tried Old Bailey, Feb 1822, Life. See record for details. Conditional Pardon, No 374, 11 April 1834. Free Pardon, No 234. 21 Nov 1836.
Martha Bettelley was born on 10th April 1797 and was baptised on 18th May 1799 at Church Eaton, Stafford, England. Her parents were Richard and Anne Betttelley. Records show that Richard Bettelley was married to Ann Humpback on 26 Sep 1783 and had nine children. \We don’t know Martha’s occupation, however in February 1822, at age 25, according to the London Morning Chronicle (22.2.1822) she was convicted on 20.2.1822 of a capital crime: of “breaking and entering the house of Mm Tuck …..and stealing therein a quantity of wearing apparel, his property.” Also reported in the London Statesman of 29.3.1822. She was sentenced at the Old Bailey courts, inexplicably, to a death sentence. This was at some point commuted to transportation, for which the record shows not life, as you would expect, but 7 years. A glance at the same day’s court records shows how harsh the system was. A boy aged 9 was convicted of larceny and sentenced to 7years, also another male thief aged 17 convicted to “Life Transportation.” Martha was transported to Sydney on 3rd June 1823 then to Hobart in the ship “Mary” with 126 other female convicts. (Note: The “Mary” did six convict voyages, 1821-1835, all carried only female convicts) The ship arrived on 3rd February 1824. Martha then shows up on the list of female convicts at the Hobart Town Female Factory. This institution operated from 1821 until 1829 when the Cascades Female Factory was built. Surprisingly, Martha was married to John Boon one year later, in 1825. Female convicts were mainly sent to the Female Factory or otherwise sent into domestic service. There is a record in Pardons and Tickets of Leave, 1834-1859 which shows Martha Bettely but no date is given. Martha died on 11.11.1873 in Launceston and had moved there presumably to be with her daughter, Eliza Ann Peters (nee Boon), wife of James Peters.