Mary Wade (17 December 1775 – 17 December 1859) was a
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
woman and
convict
A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as " prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former conv ...
who was transported to Australia when she was 13 years old. She was the youngest convict aboard , part of the
Second Fleet. Her family grew to include five generations and over 300 descendants in her own lifetime.
Early years in London
![Pass Room Bridewell Microcosm](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Pass_Room_Bridewell_Microcosm.jpg)
Researchers in the 1980s believed that Wade was born on 5 October 1777 at
Southwark, London, to Mary English and George Wade, and was christened on 21 December 1777 at Saint Olave,
Southwark,
Surrey, England however, a later group of researchers, with access to records not previously available, now believe that Wade was born on 17 December 1775, in the parish of
Westminster St Margaret and St John
St Margaret was an ancient parish in the City and Liberty of Westminster and the county of Middlesex. It included the core of modern Westminster, including the Palace of Westminster and the area around, but not including Westminster Abbey. It ...
, Middlesex, to Lawrence Wade (died August 1794, Perkins Rents, Westminster) and Mary Smith (died November 1836, 5 New Court, Westminster), and was baptised on 7 January 1776, at
St Margaret's, Westminster
The Church of St Margaret, Westminster Abbey, is in the grounds of Westminster Abbey on Parliament Square, London, England. It is dedicated to Margaret of Antioch, and forms part of a single World Heritage Site with the Palace of Westminster ...
.
Evidence for her revised date of birth and parents includes:
- Her mother stated during the trial that her daughter was born in December.
- Mary Wade was living in
St Margaret's parish in Westminster at the time of her arrest.
- Her death certificate records that she was born in Westminster.
* Lawrence Wade died at Perkins Rents in 1794 - Mary was living there at the time of her trial.
If the new research is accurate, Mary had at least three siblings: Elizabeth Ann Wade (born 5 February 1778 and baptised 1 March 1778 at St Margaret's Westminster), Henrietta (born 17 November 1780 and baptised 10 December 1780 at St Margaret's Westminster), and Henry (born 1 August 1786, baptised 20 August 1786, died April 1793 and buried 24 April 1793, at St Margaret's.
Wade spent her days sweeping the streets of London, as a means of begging. On 5 January 1789, Mary, with another child, Jane Whiting, 14 years old, stole clothes (one cotton frock, one linen
tippet
A tippet is a piece of clothing worn over the shoulders in the shape of a scarf or cape. Tippets evolved in the fourteenth century from long sleeves and typically had one end hanging down to the knees. A tippet (or tappit) could also be the long ...
, one linen cap) from Mary Phillips, an 8-year-old, who at the time was collecting water in a bottle at a
privy
Privy is an old-fashioned term for an outdoor toilet, often known as an outhouse and by many other names. Privy may also refer to:
* Privy council, a body that advises the head of state
* Privy mark, a small mark in the design of a coin
* Privy Pur ...
. They then sold the frock to a
pawnbroker. Mary was reported to an Officer of the Law by another child who later found the tippet in Mary's room, whereupon she was arrested and placed in
Bridewell
Bridewell Palace in London was built as a residence of King Henry VIII and was one of his homes early in his reign for eight years. Given to the City of London Corporation by his son King Edward VI for use as an orphanage and place of corre ...
Prison. Her trial was held on 14 January 1789 at the
Old Bailey, where she was found guilty and sentenced to
death by hanging
Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging ...
.
Penal transportation
On 11 March 1789,
King George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
was proclaimed cured of an unnamed madness; it is assumed that he suffered from
porphyria
Porphyria is a group of liver disorders in which substances called porphyrins build up in the body, negatively affecting the skin or nervous system. The types that affect the nervous system are also known as acute porphyria, as symptoms are ...
, a degenerative mental disease. A month later, in the spirit of celebration, all the women on death row, including Mary Wade, had their sentences commuted to
penal transportation to Australia. Wade spent 93 days in the
Newgate Prison before being transported to Australia on the , which was the first
convict ship
A convict ship was any ship engaged on a voyage to carry convicted felons under sentence of penal transportation from their place of conviction to their place of exile.
Description
A convict ship, as used to convey convicts to the British coloni ...
to carry only women and children. After an 11-month voyage, the ship arrived in
Sydney on 3 June 1790. Wade was sent on to
Norfolk Island aboard the ''Lady Juliana'', arriving on 7 August 1790.
Life in Australia
Wade had 3 children on
Norfolk Island: Sarah in 1793, Edward (born c1795 died c1796) and William (born 1795). When they arrived back in Sydney, Mary lived with Teague Harrigan, with whom she had another two children: Edward (born c1800 died 1803) and Edward (born 1803), in their tent on the banks of the
Tank Stream
The Tank Stream is a heritage-listed former fresh water tributary of Sydney Cove and now tunnel and watercourse located in the Sydney central business district, in the City of Sydney local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The T ...
in Sydney. Teague left to go on a whaling expedition in 1806 and, by 1817, he was living in
Port Dalrymple, Tasmania. He was granted land near the
Tamar River
The Tamar River, officially kanamaluka / River Tamar, is a estuary located in northern Tasmania, Australia. Despite being called a river, the waterway is a brackish and tidal estuary over its entire length.
Location and features
Formed by the ...
in
Launceston in 1825 and, presumably, never returned to the mainland.
Marriage and family
From 1809, Wade lived with Jonathan Brooker near the
Hawkesbury River
The Hawkesbury River, or Hawkesbury-Nepean River, is a river located northwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, almost encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney.
...
. It was there that she raised a family which numbered 21 children (current researchers question this assertion), seven of whom lived to have their own children. Brooker was given a
certificate of freedom in February 1811 and was granted of land by
Governor Lachlan Macquarie, at
Tarrawanna, New South Wales
Tarrawanna is a northern suburb of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia, extending westward from the Princes Highway over the Illawarra Escarpment.
Tarrawanna's main street Meadow Street has a few shops including cafes, a brewery, a Thai res ...
. Mary received her certificate of freedom on 1 September 1812. In 1816, the family settled on the property of Airds (comprising the modern suburbs of Airds, Bradbury, St Helens Park and Rosemeadow, among others) in
Campbelltown, New South Wales
Campbelltown is a suburb located on the outskirts of the metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located in Greater Western Sydney south-west of the Sydney central business district by road. Campbelltown is the adminis ...
.
Wade married Jonathan Brooker on 10 February 1817 at St Lukes,
Liverpool, New South Wales
Liverpool is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately south-west of the Sydney CBD. Liverpool is the administrative seat of the local government area of the City of Liverpoo ...
, and her husband owned 30 acres in 1822, but a bushfire burned out the property in 1823. Brooker's livelihood as a chair-maker ended because all his tools were destroyed. The family became destitute and pleaded to
Governor Thomas Brisbane for aid. They recovered, with Wade and Brooker owning of land in
Illawarra
The Illawarra is a coastal region in the Australian state of New South Wales, nestled between the mountains and the sea. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast region. It encompasses the two cities of Wollongo ...
by 1828. They lived there until Brookers' death on 14 March 1833. He was buried in the graveyard of St. Peter's Church, Campbelltown. Wade died in
Wollongong, New South Wales
Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wat ...
on 17 December 1859 (her birthday), at the age of 84. Her funeral service was the very first to be held in St Paul's Church of England,
Fairy Meadow, New South Wales
Fairy Meadow is a suburb in the City of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. Located in the Illawarra region and only 4 km from the city centre, it is a mainly low-density residential area, with a large strip of commercial and industri ...
, with her son having donated the land on which the church was built.
Legacy
At the time of her death, Wade had over 300 living descendants and is considered one of the founding mothers of the early European settlement of Australia. Her descendants now number in the tens of thousands, including
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and again from June 2013 to September 2013, holding office as the leader of the ...
, former
Prime Minister of Australia. Wade's story is told in the book ''Mary Wade to Us'', published as a family tree, noted in the further reading below. That, and the stories of Rudd's other convict ancestors, has been collated into two leather-bound volumes by
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...
, and is kept in the
National Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...
in Canberra.
In 2017, the
NSW Government
The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governmen ...
named the
Mary Wade Correctional Centre, a remand centre for women, in her honour.
References
Further reading
* ''Mary Wade to Us, 1778–1986: a family history'', available at the
National Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...
;
''Mary Wade to Us, 1778–1986: a family history'' – online ebook* ''Kevin Rudd – The Biography'' by
Robert Macklin
Robert Victor Macklin (born 1941 in Brisbane) is an Australian author and journalist. He was educated at Ironside Primary School, Brisbane Grammar School, Brisbane Grammar, and Australian National University.
He began his writing career for the ...
,
Penguin Group
Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initial ...
;
* ''The Floating Brothel: The Extraordinary True Story of an Eighteenth-Century Ship and its Cargo of Female Convicts'' by
Siân Rees,
Hyperion (publisher)
Hachette Books, formerly Hyperion Books, is a general-interest book imprint of the Perseus Books Group, which is a division of Hachette Book Group and ultimately a part of Lagardère Group. Established in 1990, Hachette publishes general-inter ...
; ,
External links
The Mary Wade Family Association A community site for descendants of Mary Wade to preserve, share and extend the knowledge of their shared family history.Making the 'Floating Brothel', Timewatch, bbc.co.uk*
ttp://www.familysearch.org/Eng/search/IGI/individual_record.asp?recid=500151624837&lds=1®ion=2®ionfriendly=British+Isles&frompage=99 Christening Record for Mary Ann Wadebr>
Mary Wade: Sentenced to Hang – Aged 10, Your Archives.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wade, Mary
People from Southwark
History of New South Wales
1777 births
1859 deaths
Convicts transported to Australia on the Second Fleet
British female criminals
Female
Female (Venus symbol, symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ovum, ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the Sperm, male gamete during sexual reproduction.
A female has larger gamet ...