[3] In October 1718, King, now using the name Mary Gilstone, was arrested for stealing a gold watch from a woman near St Anne's Church, Soho.
[4] She was sentenced to death in December 1718, but this was commuted to fourteen years' transportation to America when it was confirmed by a 'Panel of Matrons' that she was pregnant.
[5] After her baby was weaned, King was transported on the convict ship Susannah and Sarah,[6] to Annapolis, Maryland, arriving on 23 April 1720, but within a short time had returned to England.
[8][7] In June 1721, King was arrested robbing a house in Little Russell Street, Covent Garden and incarcerated in Newgate Prison.
[15] Defoe was visiting his friend, the journalist Nathaniel Mist, when he began mentioning Moll King in his notes.