Elizabeth Pulley

75

iain Frazier on 11th October 2024

Family connections for Elizabeth (Pulley) are: PULLEY Elizabeth (Pulley/Pooley/Powley) daughter of Tobias (Pully) & Alice (???) was born about 1763 at Felthorpe & baptised on 21 2 1762 at St Margarets Felthorpe. Before age6 she & her 3brothers were orphaned. She was tried for theft in July 1799 (acquitted) & in 1780 for stealing clothes for which she was held at Wymondham Bridewell prison for 3weeks; then for burglary, on 24 12 1782, of cheese etc of Elizabeth (Mimms) at Thetford Norfolk Sessions on 14 3 1783, sentenced to death by hanging reduced to 7years, held at Norwich Castle for 3years & DUNKIRK hulk Plymouth Devonshire & arrived in NSW as a convict on 22 1 1788 after a journey of 8months (having left England on First Fleet ship FRIENDSHIP & being transferred to PRINCE OF WALES at Cape of Good Hope); she was possibly assigned to domestic duties. She married Anthony (Rope) on 19 5 1788 at St Phillips CofE Port Jackson Sydney & produced 8children. She was Free by Servitude by 1795. She died on 9 7 1837 age about75 at Castlereagh where she was buried. [Some details taken from this Website] Anthony (Rope) was born about 1758, but was baptised on 1 8 1755 at St Marys Norton Subcourse Norfolk & trained as a carpenter/bricklayer following his fathers profession. He was a labourer at Rochford, when tried for breaking & entering, on 2 9 1784, & stealing cotton gowns etc of Robert (Gosling) & Robert (Bradley) at Essex Lent Assizes at Chelmsford on 10 3 1785, sentenced to 7years & arrived in NSW as a convict on 26 1 1788 on First Fleet ship ALEXANDER; he was employed at brickworks near Central Station (now). He received a grant of land at The Ponds which he later sold. He bought land at the Ponds from Elizabeth Ann (Clark) in 1794. He was Free by Servitude by 1795. He approached the government for debt assistance in 1802. He was a landholder at Castlereagh in 1816. He sold the land at The Ponds to William (Bowman) in 1818. He built many private & public buildings & moved about to various farming properties & is recorded in 1828 as a farmer at Evan with his son William & a James age6. He died on 20 4 1843 age about87 at Castlereagh where he was buried. [Some details taken from this Website] REFERENCE: Craig James Smee 'Births and Baptisms Marriages and Defacto Relationships Deaths and Burials New South Wales 1788-1830' ..a complete listing from church & other records in the early colony.

54

Phil Hands on 29th June 2017

Elizabeth was born in Felthorpe, Norfolk, a village just thirty kilometres north-west of Anthony Rope's birthplace at Norton Subcourse. Her baptism took place on 21 Feb 1762 at St Margarets in Felthorpe with her parents listed as Tobias and Alice Pully. She and her three brothers were orphaned by the time she was 6 and all four may have been then sent to the workhouse. During her teenage years Elizabeth ran wild. In July 1779 she was acquitted of stealing clothes and just a year later she was sentenced to three weeks in Wymondham Bridewell prison for stealing clothes from a house near Drayton. Her punishment included a public whipping in the market place. Things were getting worse by 1781 when again she was in court for stealing clothing and money belonging to a Mr Pightling of Heatherset. This crime earned her a year's hard labour at Aylsham Bridewell. Not long after her release she was in trouble again and in March 1783 she was tried at Thetford Assizes and convicted of stealing a large quantity of food and material (worsted) from the shop of a Mrs Elizabeth Minns of Hethersett. This time she was sentenced to death by hanging but was reprieved by the judge as he left for London and she then spent three years languishing in gaol at Norwich castle while awaiting transportation. A short time in the 'Dunkirk' hulk at Plymouth preceded her voyage to New South Wales on the transport 'Friendship'. Along with 20 other female convicts Elizabeth suffered dreadfully, as she herself was in irons for 72 days of the 93 days from 13 May till 13 August 1787. Lt Ralph Clark's diary pinpoints five fighting women which he at one stage labelled as damned whores. Elizabeth Pulley was listed as one of the five. The ship travelled in extremely hot weather and it was lice-ridden, so her conditions were very uncomfortable. Thankfully, when the Fleet reached Cape Town (South Africa), she was transferred to the Prince of Wales ship with other female convicts. This was to make room for animals and other supplies to be taken on board the Friendship. Upon the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove, all the convicts were put to work in various jobs necessary to build shelter and feed all the people. Anthony Rope was sent to work in the brickfields, which were located near what is now Central Station in Sydney. In Anthony's small amount of spare time he built a hut there for himself and this was finished by May 1788. Elizabeth, along with other women, would have been put to work sewing, cleaning, washing and cooking. Anthony and Elizabeth met on the first night that the women of the Fleet were set down at Sydney Cove on 6th February 1788. They were married on 19th May 1788 by the Reverend Richard Johnson, celebrating with meat from a goat that one naval officer reported as missing. They had 8 children between 1788-1808, their son Robert Rope was possibly one of the first children conceived and born in the settlement. Anthony was given a grant of land at The Ponds which is now part of the Sydney suburb of Dundas, but this later had to be sold to repay debt. Farming was very harsh and the settlers were constantly deluged by floods and ravaged by fires and droughts. The family moved to various farms out in the west of Sydney as they looked for land that would safely grow crops. It should be noted that although the farms were granted to the owners, Anthony was the first settler at all of the farms he moved to, so he first had to clear the land before he could put crops in. He also had to build the family home every time they moved. Anthony did extra jobs to make money along the way. At one stage he was employed to build a dwelling for the workers on Elizabeth King's farm Dunheved in 1807. Recent research by Rope family historians has identified at least five sites where the family lived as they moved from leasehold to leasehold: Rope's Farm at The Ponds, now Dundas; a farm at Toongabbie; Tumbledown Barn at Mulgrave Place, now Riverstone, near Windsor; Badgery's Farm on the Nepean River near Richmond; and Jordan Hill in what is now Llandilo, on the west bank of South Creek. The stretch of land leading to this leasehold was known as Rope's Paddock for many years. The new suburb, Ropes Crossing, has been named after him as it lies near where the family farmed at Jordan Hill. Elizabeth died on 9th August 1837 at Castlereagh, Greater Sydney aged 75 years. Anthony died on 20th April 1843 aged 88 years. Both are buried at Castlereagh.

105

Denis Pember on 23rd September 2015

Sainty & Johnson; 1828 Census of New South Wales: [Ref R1330] Rope, Elizabeth, 64, FS, Prince of Wales, 1788. # Also listed [Ref R1329] Rope, Anthony, 65, FS, Alexander, 1788, Farmer at Evan, 11 acres all cleared and cultivated, 5 cattle. # Also Rope, William, 24, BC. (this would be their youngest son William born 1805) and Rope, James, 6, BC (could be a grandson?). Another son, John, 32, BC, is listed separately with his family also at Evan. The 5 daughters are probably all married.

105

Denis Pember on 23rd September 2015

Elizabeth was tried at Norfolk Lent Assizes which began at Thetford on Friday 14 Mar 1783. "Elizabeth Pulley spinster: 24th December last at Hethersett abt. 12 in the Night burglarised the dwelling house of Elizabeth Mimms widow and stealing ten pounds weight of cheese value 3s. three pounds weight of Bacon value 18d. twenty four ounces weight of butter value 12d. three pounds weight of raisons value 12d seven pounds weight of flour value 12d. two rolls of Worsted value 12d. goods of said Elizabeth Mimms." "Jury say Guilt. To be hanged by the neck until she be dead". The sentence was reduced to seven years transportation. She was first aboard the ship 'Friendship'. At the Cape of Good Hope she was transferred to the ship 'Prince of Wales'.

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Eric Harry Daly on 13th January 2013

Elizabeth Pulley was tried at Thetford, Norfolk on 14 March 1783 for burglary with a value of 8 shillings. She was sentenced to transportation for 7 years having been originally sentenced to death, and left England on the Friendship aged about 24 at that time (May 1787), she died in 1837. She had a previous conviction for theft.Married Anthony Rope on 19 May 1788. Frances Williams lent her clothes for the wedding which was celebrated with seapye that caused a furore in the community, containing goat’s flesh believed to have been stolen. They had 6 children