Summary
Personal Information
Voyage
Transportation
Mary Ann Stephens was transported on the Francis And Eliza, departing 15th Dec 1814 and arriving 8th Aug 1815 with 125 passengers.
The Francis & Eliza was built on the Thames in 1782 (345 tons). The Francis & Eliza and the Canada departed Cork in convoy on 5 December 1814.The Francis and Eliza was taken on 4th January by the American Warrior privateer. She was plundered before being given up and allowed to continue on the journey. Captain Harrison was removed on board the privateer, and detained many hours but was afterwards liberated and restored to his own ship. Captain Harrison later reported that while the ship lay at Sierra Leone, in the month of March, a terrible fever raged at that settlement, occasioning a mortality most dreadful.The Francis & Eliza and Canada sailed from Sierra Leone together for the Cape of Good Hope, where they arrived the 12th May and remained three weeks to refresh. Fifty-two male prisoners and sixty-five female prisoners arrived in Port Jackson on the Francis and Eliza on 8 August 1815. (Ref. Sydney Gazette 12/08/1815)
Francis And Eliza (generic)References
| Primary Source | convict ships to NSW |
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Convict Notes
Sydney Monitor Friday 8th Decmber 1837 p. 2 On Wednesday week the 29th ult Mrs. Lloyd of York-street, missed from her room a box containing several articles of jewellery and other matters; from having observed a woman named Mary Ann Gilberthorpe lurking about the premises after she had been ordered away, her suspicions rested on her. A few days ago Mrs. Lloyd, on passing the public stocks saw Mrs. Gilberthorpe seated there; she gave her into custody, and on searching her, found concealed about her person, some of the stolen property, consisting of a silver chain, a gold broach, pair of bracelets, and other property. In her defence the prisoner stated that she had --- to go to a water closet in Mrs. Lloyd's garden, where she found a small bundle, which seemed heavy, and being in a state of intoxication at the time, she walked off with it. Mrs. Lloyd stated the property on the prisoner to be worth about three pounds, the value of the property stolen much exceeded that amount. The woman was then committed for trial. Citation details: (NRS 12210) Butts of Certificates of Freedom 1840 March All Records Text: 40/517 17 Mar 1840 Mary Stephens or Smith Per Francis & Eliza master Harrison 1815 Native place Dublin, a servant Convicted for stealing china at Dublin City in Oct 1813 and received a 7 year sentence Born 1794, 5 feet 1 inch tall, ruddy and freckled complexion, brown mixed with grey hair and hazel eyes, lost two front upper teeth, two scars on upper lip Held a ticket of leave dated 11 May 1816 Name: Mary Stephens now Gilberthorpe / also Jane Gilberthorpe Birth Year: 1793 Age: 50 Arrival Year: 1815 Arrival Country: Australia Vessel Arrived In: Fras Eliza Date of Admission/Photo: 1843 Gaol: Darlinghurst Gaol Location: Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia Record Type: Description Book Mary died on 3rd January 1846 aged 52 at Lane Cove, Sydney. Sydney Morning Herald Wednesday 7th January 1846 p. 3 INQUESTS. - On Monday evening, two inquests were held in Leburn's public house, the first was on a female whose body had been found in the water, near Onions's Farm, in the Lane Cove district, on Saturday last. It was proved that the name of the deceased was Mary Ann Gilberthorpe, and Mr. Surgeon Cuthill deposed that her death had been caused by drowning , but as there was no evidence to show how the body got into the water, a verdict of found drowned was recorded. Thomas Gilberthorpe died in 1848 aged 90.
Tried and convicted at Dublin in October 1813 for stealing china, sentenced to transportation for 7 years, she would have spent time in the Dublin Goal, where she would have been put to work scrubbing, cleaning and other menial tasks before being sent to Cork to board her transportation vessel. Left Cork on 5th December 1814. Ship:- the 'Francis and Eliza' sailed with 54 male and 69 female convicts on board of which 2 males and 4 females died during the voyage. Arrived on 8th August 1815. On arrival Mary was seven months pregnant by one of the sailors an board, she was sent to the Female factory at Parramatta, it was here that her daughter Mary Ann was born. Mary received her Ticket of Leave on 11th May 1816. Around 1817 Mary entered into a defacto relationship with convict Isaac Gowlett ('Ganges' 1797) that was to produce 3 children between 1818-1823. On 13th February 1822, with Isaac being a sick man, Mary applied for admission of her daughter Mary Ann to the Female Orphan Institution, which was accepted. In 1823 Mary Ann took her infant daughter Maria, still suckling, leaving Fanny and Sarah with Isaac, and went to the home of Thomas Gilberthorpe at Windsor taking employment as his servant and housekeeper. Thomas Gilberthorpe was forty years her senior and although previously a convict himself, was by now a prosperous farmer. The 1823 Muster shows that Mary Ann was living with a Thomas Gilberthorpe as a servant and Maria was with her. Another child is shown with the notation 'child of Thomas Gilberthorpe'. An investigation of the NSW Birth, Deaths & Marriages shows that eventually Mary Ann bore Thomas three sons.