Biography

Mary WADE was born on October 5, 1777 in Southwark, UK and was baptized on December 21, 1777 in St Olave Southwark, Camberwell, Greater London, UK. Her parents were George WADE and Mary ENGLISH.

At age 10 on 14/1/1789 at Old Bailey, Mary (with Jane WHITING) was convicted of Violent Theft and highway robbery and was sentenced to death. On 22/4/1789 her sentenced was commuted to transportation for life. She left England in June 1789 and arrived in Sydney Cove on 3/6/1790 on "Lady Juliana".

Mary was sent to Norfolk Island arriving on 7/8/1790

Mary had a relationship with Edward Teague HARRIGAN c1791. Together they had the following children:

• 1792 Edward ; died young
• 1793 Sarah Mary;
• 1795 William ;
• 1803 Edward .

In 1806 her husband Edward left on a sealing expedition on "Fox" and did not return.

Mary married Jonathon BROKER / BROOKER on February 10, 1817 in Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia. Together they had the following children:

• 1809 John ;
• 1810 Elizabeth ;
• 1812 Mary ;
• 1814 James Albert ;

NOTE: There is some researchers who believe she had 21 children - sources are required in order to add the additional children to her profile.

Mary received her certificate of freedom on 1/9/1812

In 1820 Mary's husband Jonathan petitioned the government for a land grant (stating he has a wife and 7 children, 5 of which he supports)

In 1828 Mary, her husband Jonathan and 4 children (Edward, John, Mary, James) appear in the Australian Muster (Census)

Her husband Jonathan died 14/3/1833

Mary died on December 17, 1859 in Fairy Meadow, New South Wales, Australia and was buried in December 1859 in Pioneer Rest Park aka St Paul's Church of England Cemetery, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.

LINKS

• https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/wade/mary/66503
• https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t17890114-58-off300&d...
• https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/images.jsp?doc=178901140076
• https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/images.jsp?doc=178901140077
• https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/images.jsp?doc=178901140078
• https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/images.jsp?doc=178901140079
• https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/images.jsp?doc=178901140080
• https://australianroyalty.net.au/tree/purnellmccord.ged/individual/...
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Wade
• https://hillstohawkesbury.com.au/mary-wade-littlest-convict/
• https://ro.uow.edu.au/hcp/3/
• https://historyofyesterday.com/youngest-ever-convict-transported-to...
• https://www.marywadefamily.org/about
• https://convicts-edss428.weebly.com/mary-wade.html
• http://womenofhistory.blogspot.com/2010/09/mary-wade-1778-1859.html
• https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1040174/All-family-How-Aus...
• https://elt.oup.com/elt/students/highfiveitaly/dislessia/hfi_level3...
• https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/brooker-mary-ann-25817
• https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/132228961
• https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/132224878
• https://ro.uow.edu.au/hcp/3/
• https://www.marywadefamily.org/items/show/8
• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Wade-1931
• https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/wade-harrigan-brooker-group/ab...
• https://hillstohawkesbury.com.au/mary-wade-littlest-convict/
• https://familypedia.fandom.com/wiki/Mary_Wade_(1777-1859)
• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/13799329/mary-brooker
• https://historyofyesterday.com/youngest-ever-convict-transported-to...
• https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/6950299
• https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/LZF5-S33
• https://www.marywadefamily.org/webtrees/tree/MaryWadeFamily/individ...

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DISAMBIGUATION

Do NOT confuse with Mary WADE aka Mary COCKLANE a convict who arrived on "Lady Penrhyn" in 1788 - married George ATKINSON

QUERY ON MIDDLE NAME

A middle name of Anne has been proposed however no source has been provided to support Mary having a middle name.

DISPUTE ON PARENTAGE

Parents Lawrence WADE 1752-1794 and Mary SMITH1753-1836 Researchers in the 1980s believed that Wade was born on the 5th of October 1777 at Southwark, London, to Mary English and George Wade, and was christened on the 21st of 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 the 17th of December 1775, in the parish of Westminster St Margaret and St John, Middlesex, to Lawrence Wade (died Aug 1794, Perkins Rents, Westminster) and Mary Smith (died Nov 1836, 5 New Court, Westminster), and was baptised on 7 January 1776, at St Margaret's, 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.

OTHER

The trial of Mary Wade, aged 11, and Jane Whiting, aged 14, was an extraordinary one. They were tried at the 14 Jan 1789 Old Bailey sessions on a capital charge of highway robbery.

Both girls were ragged children who frequented the Treasury building on Whitehall to beg for halfpence from passers-by.

On 5 Jan Mary Phillips, an eight year old shoemaker's daughter who lived in Charles Street, was sent by her brother to fill a bottle of water at the public wash house adjoining the Treasury building. The two girls approached the child and Wade said she would fill the bottle for her, but dropped and broke it. They said they would replace it if she would follow them up a passage to a privy where they told her to take off her clothes. They ran off with her frock, cap and tippet, leaving the child shut up in the privy crying and wearing only her petticoats. It was already dark and a woman with a lamp came in with washing and sent the girl home.

The girls pawned the frock at James Kimber's rather disreputable pawn shop on Great Almonry for 18p. They were arrested the following week when Catherine McKillen, who often begged with them, reported them to the police after a local woman complained that Wade had robbed her. McKillen said she had heard Wade say 'I wish I had not done it' to which Whiting retorted 'it was through you it was done...it was your own fault. Wade then allegedly said 'I was in a good mind to have chicked ‎[her]‎ down the necessary, and I wish I had done it'. She also said that Wade had been arrested previously for stripping a child 'and chucking her in a ditch' but had been released because of her youth.

Although only 8, the evidence of the victim on oath was accepted by the court. She told the judge the girls had not beaten or hurt her. The judge reprimanded Wade's mother when she appeared in the witness box to speak for her daughter. Mrs Wade said she was married to a drover. 'I hardly can ask you how your child has behaved' the judge said, ' for I am afraid you are as much in fault as she is, by not taking proper care of her, and keeping her at home, and making her industrious; letting her run about the streets, was the sure way to lead to the place where she is now'.

Mrs Wade replied 'It is the other girl that induces her out, when my back is turned, to go a begging with her. I never brought her up to go a begging; all the butchers know me well. I have a great family of them'. The judge told her 'I hope you will take better care of the rest, or else they will all come to the gallows'.

The judge then told the jury that 'the very circumstance of such a child falling into the hands of two strangers, young as they are standing over her and stripping her, does seem to be equivalent to holding a pistol to the breast of a grown person..the tender years of these persons may be a circumstance to be attended to in other views, but...I think it would be a dangerous thing to society, to lower the offence below the rank of actual robbery'.

A guilty verdict was returned and the girls were sentenced to death. It is highly unlikely that there was any serious intention to execute them and the reprieve to transportation for life which followed in April was probably a matter of course. A life sentence was nevertheless a very severe one for girls of such a young age and the authorities may have decided to make an example of them ‎[this was at the time when child labour was widespread]‎. They were both among a group of women sent from Newgate Gaol on 7 May 1789 for embarkation aboard the ship 'Lady Juliana'. Old Bailey transcript 22 Apr 1789: The following Prisoners accepted the conditions mentioned in his Majesty's pardon, viz. To be transported during the term of their lives. Lidia Jones; Elizabeth Shakespeare; Esther Thornton; Catherine Heyland; Ann Steel; Elizabeth Smith; Mary Wade; Jane Whiting.

Mary sailed on the ship 'Lady Juliana' which departed England on 29 Jul 1789 and arrived in the colony on 3 Jun 1790. Each member of the crew soon took a 'wife' from the convicts.

Jonathan Brooker and Mary were living together by 1806. The couple lived in the Hawkesbury area until about 1813 when Brooker was granted 60 acres in the Airds district.

Mary lived with her son Edward at Fairy Meadow in later life. At her death, the Illawarra Mercury commented that she was the matriarch of the largest white family in Australia, with more than 300 descendants at the time of her death ‎(now numbering in the thousands)‎.

Mary Wade came to Australia as a 11 year old convict girl. She was one of a boatload of convict women sent to the two year old colony of New South Wales in 1790.

At age 16, she gave birth to her first child, Sarah Wade.

Mary Wade is reputed to have given birth to 21 children in her childbearing years but only seven survived to have children of their own. Those seven children lived through much better times than Mary and were quite prolific in their child rearing.

When Mary died in 1859 at the age of 82, she had over 300 living descendents and was considered one of the founding mothers of the early settlers in Australia. Tens of thousands of Australians, including our present Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, trace their lineage back to that little convict girl, Mary Wade.

Early descendents seemed to congregate in the Wollongong and Riverina regions, but today they are scattered all over the world.

Mary was born on 5th October 1777 in Southwark, London. She was christened on 21st December 1777 at St Olaves Bermondsey. She died on 17th December 1859 aged 82, at Fairy Meadow, NSW and is buried at St Pauls Church of England Cemetery, Wollongong, NSW.

Her trial was on 14th January 1789, where she was sentenced to death for stealing a frock from an 8 year old girl. Mary was 11 at the time. She spent 93 days in the infamous Newgate prison before being transported on the Lady Juliana (Second Fleet) for an 11 month voyage across the ocean to Sydney, where she arrived on 3rd June 1790. She was then sent on to Norfolk Island on the Surprise, arriving on 7th August 1790.

She had 2 children on Norfolk Island - Sarah in 1793 and William in 1795 (believed to be Jonathan Brooker's son). When they came back to Australia, Mary lived with Teague Harrigan and they had a son, Edward, in their tent on the banks of the Tank Stream in Sydney in 1803. Teague left to go on a whaling expedition in 1806 and never returned.

Mary later lived with Jonathan Brooker, having more children. There is no record of them having married. They were given their Certificates of Emancipation in 1811 and 1812 and eventually settled in Airds with their family. Life on the land was difficult and their property and crops were lost in 1823 in a bushfire.

The family became destitute and pleaded to the Governor of the time, Governor Brisbane, for aid. They eventually resettled in the Corrimal area of Illawarra. Jonathan died in 1833 and Mary lived for another 26 years, remaining in the Illawarra area.

The graveyard Mary was buried in was made into a rest park. The tombstones were laid flat on their graves and covered with soil. Lawn was laid over the area and roses were planted. The area has a low stone wall around it and the entrance has a plaque which reads " City of Wollongong, Erected to the Memory of Pioneers of this District, Who Here Lie at Rest."

At the time of her death, Mary had over 300 living descendants. She is therefore known affectionately as one of the founding mothers of Australia.

Bio: http://www.perryfamilyhistory.net/wade/biography.shtml

LINKS

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Wade

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GEDCOM Note

<p>Mary Wade (c. 1778 - 1859)</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Born in London, her father seems to have died when she was very youg and she was raised by her widow mother. Though her mother may have re-married.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>From the age of 10yo, Mary spent her days sweeping the streets of London as a means of begging. Young Mary was one of a large family of a single mother living in poverty. Withanother child - said to be 14yo - Mary stole the clothes off a small 8yo girl and pawned them. However, young Mary was turned in by yet another child; she was arrested, and brought before the court. Both young girls were condemned to be hanged. Mary spent 93 days in the notorious Newgate Prison till her sentance was commuted to transportation for life, to Australia. Mary was transferred to the ship the "Lady Juliana" of the Second Fleet.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Mary Wade and Jane Whiting were indicted for felonionise effecting Mary Phillips on the Kings Highway on the 5 Oct 1788. The trial was by the Fitfth Middlesex Court, both were found guilty and sentinced to Death. On 17 April 1789 George 111 respited her sentance on condition that she be transported to the eastern cost of Australia.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>The ship arrived 3rd June 1790, Ship: Lady Juliana, a ship of the "Second Fleet" finally sailing from Plymoth on 29 July 1789.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Mary arrived in Australiabarely 11yo (c.1789) - the voyage from England to Australia took 11 months. It was not an unusual practice for the officers aboard to take a mistress from the female convicts for the duration of the voyage. Once in the colony, most female convicts were assigned to free-men - ostensibly as house servants. There was no record of who was Mary's master, nor was there any record as to who the father of her first two children was. The first child was born on Norfok Island before her 15th birthday (c.1793), the other was born two years later (c.1795).</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Mary Wade arrived on Norfolk Island on 7/8/1790. She had two children by an unknown relationship:</p><p><p>Sarah (1793-1887; m. 1stly William Ray; m 2ndly Jonathan Boon),</p></p><p><p>William (1796-1885; known later as William Brooker), and Edward (1797-1797).</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Mary was taken from Norfok Island to Sydney. She then married Edward or Teague Harrigan (per Salamander 1791) and had Edward (1803-1891). She lived in a tent, where she gave birth to a third child by a emancipated Irish transportee, Teague Harrigan - who joined a whaling expedition three years later.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>After this Marymarried, 10 Feb 1817 St Luke's, Liverpool, to Jonathan Brooker and had :</p><p><p>John (1809-1886),</p></p><p><p>Elizabeth (b1810; m Lowe),</p></p><p><p>Mary (1812-1890; m Hart, Ledwidge, Angel),</p></p><p><p>and James (1815-1880)</p></p><p><p></p></p><p><p>She and her husband Jonathon Brooker near the Hawkesbury River (1809). It was here that Mary raised her family which numbered 21 children, seven of which lived to have their own children.</p><p><p>When Mary became emancipated, she and her family moved and estalblished a farm at Airds, in Campbelltown, New South Wales. Mary and her husband owned 30 acres (1822) until bushfires destroyed their property (1823) - and Jon's livelihood (he was a carpenter by trade and his tools were all destroyed). The family was destitute. But they recovered. Mary (50s) and Jon (68yo) went on to own 62 acres in Illawarra (1828). Here Mary lived till Jon's death (1833), and then her own death (1859). Mary's funeral service was the very first to be held in St Paul's Church of England church, Fairy Meadow - her son donated the land on which the church was built.</p><p><p>Mary Wade (c. 1778 - 1859)</p></p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Born in London, her father seems to have died when she was very youg and she was raised by her widow mother. Though her mother may have re-married.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>From the age of 10yo, Mary spent her days sweeping the streets of London as a means of begging. Young Mary was one of a large family of a single mother living in poverty. With another child - said to be 14yo - Mary stole the clothes off a small 8yo girl and pawned them. However, young Mary was turned in by yet another child; she was arrested, and brought before the court. Both young girls were condemned to be hanged. Mary spent 93 days in the notoriousNewgate Prison till her sentance was commuted to transportation for life, to Australia. Mary was transferred to the ship the "Lady Juliana" of the Second Fleet.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Mary Wade and Jane Whiting were indicted for felonionise effecting Mary Phillips on the Kings Highway on the 5 Oct 1788. The trial was by the Fitfth Middlesex Court, both were found guilty and sentinced to Death. On 17 April 1789 George 111 respited her sentance on condition that she be transported to the eastern cost of Australia.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>The ship arrived 3rd June 1790, Ship: Lady Juliana, a ship of the "Second Fleet" finally sailing from Plymoth on 29 July 1789.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Mary arrived in Australia barely 11yo (c.1789) - the voyage from England to Australia took 11 months. It was not an unusual practice for the officers aboard to take a mistress from the female convicts for the duration of the voyage. Once in the colony, most female convicts were assigned to free-men - ostensibly as house servants. There was no record of who was Mary's master, nor was there any record as to who the father of her first two children was. The first child was born on Norfok Island before her 15th birthday (c.1793), the other was born two years later (c.1795).</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Mary Wade arrived on Norfolk Island on 7/8/1790. She had two children by an unknown relationship:</p><p><p>Sarah (1793-1887; m. 1stly William Ray; m 2ndly Jonathan Boon),</p></p><p><p>William (1796-1885; known later as William Brooker), and Edward (1797-1797).</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>Mary was taken from Norfok Island to Sydney. She then married Edward or Teague Harrigan (per Salamander 1791) and had Edward (1803-1891). She lived in a tent, where she gave birth to a third child by a emancipated Irish transportee, Teague Harrigan - who joined a whaling expedition three years later.</p><p><p></p></p><p><p>After this Mary married, 10 Feb 1817 St Luke's, Liverpool, to Jonathan Brooker and had :</p><p><p>John (1809-1886),</p></p><p><p>Elizabeth (b1810; m Lowe),</p></p><p><p>Mary (1812-1890; m Hart, Ledwidge, Angel),</p></p><p><p>and James (1815-1880)</p></p><p><p></p></p><p><p>She and her husband Jonathon Brooker near the Hawkesbury River (1809). It was here that Mary raised her family which numbered 21 children, seven of which lived to have their own children.</p><p>When Mary became emancipated, she and her family moved and estalblished a farm at Airds, in Campbelltown, New South Wales. Mary and her husband owned 30 acres (1822) until bushfires destroyed their property (1823) - and Jon's livelihood (he was acarpenter by trade and his tools were all destroyed). The family was destitute. But they recovered. Mary (50s) and Jon (68yo) went on to own 62 acres in Illawarra (1828). Here Mary lived till Jon's death (1833), and then her own death (1859). Mary's funeral service was the very first to be held in St Paul's Church of England church, Fairy Meadow - her son donated the land on which the church was built.

GEDCOM Note

Youngest convict onboard the second fleet ship called Lady Juliana - mount pitt settlement Norfolk Island In 1790