Sarah Bellamy (1770 – 24 February 1843) was a convict on the

First Fleet The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. She was sentenced for several years'

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...

and was one of the longest-living first fleeters.

Early life

Bellamy was born in 1770 to Richard and Elizabeth Bellamy and before she was convicted, she was unemployed.

Crime and sentencing

She was convicted on the 9 July 1785 for robbing twenty-four silk handkerchiefs and one wallet which may have contained 630 shillings. Bellamy was sentenced to seven years transportation. Two days before she left for

Botany Bay Botany Bay (Dharawal: ''Kamay''), an open oceanic embayment, is located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point and the Cook ...

she pleaded to be publicly whipped and not to be transported but her pleas were ignored and she left England at age 17 in May 1787.

Journey to Australia

She travelled to Australia aboard the ''

Lady Penrhyn ''Lady Penrhyn'' was built on the River Thames in 1786 as a slave ship. ''Lady Penrhyn'' was designed as a two-deck ship for use in the Atlantic slave trade, with a capacity of 275 slaves. She was part-owned by William Compton Sever, who serve ...

''. Bellamy had to share the ship with one hundred and one other women; no male convicts were on the ship. Aboard the ship she had a short-lived relationship with one of the sailors, Joseph Downey; they had a baby aboard the ship but he died 9 days later. Their relationship did not continue when they reached their destination. It took 252 days to reach Botany Bay.

Convict years

She first worked as a housemaid to Lieutenant Faddy and, later, a weaver. She later married

James Bloodsworth James Bloodsworth (7 March 1759 – 21 March 1804) was a convict sentenced for the theft of one game cock and two hens at Esher, Surrey. James was a master bricklayer and builder responsible for the construction of most of the buildings in the co ...

, and together they had eight children of which four died at infancy. Due to James being a bricklayer and architect they lived together in a beautiful house, had a high social status and were quite wealthy due to James's salary being 50 pounds. Bellamy's family gained a very good reputation throughout the new colony. She outlived her husband, who died on 24 March 1804 from pneumonia, leaving her with three young children—the oldest being 13 years old. She lived with her children but didn't marry again and later was granted a conditional pardon on 23 February 1811. In fact, James and Sarah never married, because it was known that James had left a living wife (Jane Marks; married 9 December 1782) and several children in England when he was transported.

Death

She died on 24 February 1843. The reason of her death is unspecified but is thought to be of natural causes. She was buried two days after her death at Meekcity Street Cemetery. She was survived by four children, James Bloodsworth (died 16 April 1857), John Bloodsworth (died 14 April 1873) Ann Bloodsworth (Bray) (died 16 April 1875) and Elizabeth Bloodsworth (died 1871).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellamy, Sarah 1770 births 1843 deaths Australian convict women People from Worcestershire (before 1974) Convicts transported to Australia on the First Fleet