Catharine Hagerty

“Catherine Hagerty, convict. Middle sized, fresh complexion. Much inclined to smile. Hoarse voice" (Sydney Gazette in 1806): The only other woman on board was another former convict, Irishwoman Catharine Hagerty (variously spelled), who shared the bunk of the American first mate, Benjamin Kelly... The mutineers sailed the Venus across the Tasman Sea to New Zealand, reaching the Bay of Islands by the beginning of July. Charlotte, her child and Catherine Hegarty were landed on shore, where they were given refuge by local Māori, possibly Ngāpuhi rangatira Te Pahi and his people in the Rangihoua Bay area. Kelly, a convict named John Lancashire and another child – probably the ship’s boy – were also said to have landed with the women. Charlotte and Catherine Hegarty were kept apart from the men in their own quarters, and the local chiefs declared them tapu, so no one dared approach them. Catherine was said to have died shortly afterwards... it can be said that Charlotte Badger and Catharine Hagerty were probably the first European females to have set foot in the Bay of Islands of New Zealand, and to live in New Zealand under the protection of Māori, if just for some weeks or months, at the turn of the nineteenth century. Source: Elsbeth Hardie. 'Badger, Charlotte', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 2022. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/6b15/badger-charlotte (accessed 9 March 2023)

See also

• Kitty Haggerty – A Female Pirate https://tamarvalleynews.com.au/kitty-haggerty-a-female-pirate/