Summary
Personal Information
Crime
Voyage
Transportation
Mary Davidson was transported on the Lady Juliana, departing 31st May 1789 and arriving 3rd Jun 1790 with 247 passengers.
Launched 1777, 401 ton barque, built at Whitby, England. Departed Portsmouth, England on 29 July 1789, via Cape of Good Hope for Port Jackson, New South Wales, Australia on 3 June 1790. 1790 voyage carried 226 female passengers (convicts)- 5 of whom died on the trip. 6 children also on board. Significant because it was the first ship to bring all female women to the Colony.
Lady JulianaReferences
| Primary Source | The Second Fleet; Britain's Grim Convict Armada of 1790. Michael Flynn. Page 234 |
Claims
"6th great-grandmother"
Photos
No photos have been added for Mary Davidson.
Convict Notes
The Voyage of "The Floating Brothel" The British government chartered Lady Juliana to transport female convicts.[6] Her master was Thomas Edgar, who had sailed with James Cook on his last voyage. The surgeon was Richard Alley, who was apparently competent by the standards of the day, but made little attempt to maintain discipline. After a delay of six months Lady Juliana left Plymouth on 29 July 1789, and arrived at Port Jackson on 6 June 1790. She took 309 days to reach Port Jackson, one of the slowest journeys made by a convict ship. One reason was that she called at Tenerife and St Jago, and spent forty-five days at Rio de Janeiro, and nineteen days at the Cape of Good Hope. She carried 226 female convicts, five of whom died during the journey.[7] Her steward, John Nicol, wrote an account of the voyage. He gives a fascinating account of the voyage and the convicts. Most of these were London prostitutes, but there were some hardened criminals - thieves, receivers of stolen goods, shoplifters - among them. Lady Juliana gained the reputation for being a floating brothel. Nicol recalled that "when we were fairly out to sea, every man on board took a wife from among the convicts, they nothing loath." At the ports of call seamen from other ships were freely entertained, and the officers made no attempt to suppress this licentious activity. No provision had been made to set the convicts to any productive work during the voyage, and they were reported to be noisy and unruly, with a fondness for liquor and for fighting amongst themselves.[8] The low death rate during the voyage was due to Edgar and Alley's care. Rations were properly issued, the vessel kept clean and fumigated, the women were given free access to the deck, and supplies of fresh food were obtained at the ports of call. Source. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Juliana_(1777_ship) (accessed on 16/3/2018)
29th July 1789. Departure from Portsmouth aboard The Lady Juliana. Sources Source Citation State Library of Queensland; South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; The Second Fleet; Britain's Grim Convict Armada of 1790. Michael Flynn. Page 234 Source Information Ancestry.com. Web: Australia, Convict Records Index, 1787-1867 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2018. Original data: Australia Convict Records Index, 1787-1867. State Library of Queensland, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. https://convictrecords.com.au/: accessed Sep 2017 Michael Flynn, The Second Fleet: Britains Grim Convict Armada of 1790 : Library of Australian History, Sydney, 1993, p. 17
1788 Crime, Trial and Sentence. Northumberland Summer Assizes. DAVIDSON, MARY (C1768-1827) Mary Davidson (indicted as Daylson) was sentenced to seven years transportation the Northumberland Summer Assizes 1788 for stealing ten muslin handkerchiefs and 16 yards of tafferty silk from Alice Redhead, a milliner of Alnwick. Davidson was carrying two bundles when she was stopped in Clayport Street as a suspicious character. Clothing in the bundles was identified as stolen from Redhead's shop. Davidson was held in the county gaol until shortly before 26 April 1789 when she was embarked or the Lady Juliana transport, age given as 20. Posted 03 Nov 2012 to Ancestry by nancally
Abt 1768. Birth. Sources. Reakes, J., comp. Australia, Convict Index, 1788-1868 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2001. Original data: 1788-1868 Convict Records. Records kept at the New South Wales State Records Office, P.O. Box R625, Royal Exchange, NSW 2000; at the Archives Office of Tasmania, 77 Murray St., Hobart, TAS 7000; and at the State Records Office of Western Australia, Alexander Library, Perth Cultural Centre, Perth, WA 6000. State Library of Queensland; South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; The Second Fleet; Britain's Grim Convict Armada of 1790. Michael Flynn. Page 234 Source Information Ancestry.com. Web: Australia, Convict Records Index, 1787-1867 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2018. Original data: Australia Convict Records Index, 1787-1867. State Library of Queensland, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. https://convictrecords.com.au/: accessed Sep 2017