Molly Morgan

She was born as Mary Jones in Ludlow, Shropshire, England, and stayed there throughout her childhood and early adulthood, marrying William Morgan on 25 June 1785 and having two children with him.

In 1789, hempen yarn stolen from a factory was discovered at the Morgans' house, resulting in the couple being sentenced to penal transportation.

In 1794, Molly Morgan was able to escape back to England aboard the Resolution by becoming Captain John Locke's mistress.

Morgan also aided other settlers several times, including donating money to help build a school, turning part of her home into a hospital, and riding to Sydney on behalf of convicts.

Her wealth significantly decreased throughout the later years of her life and she died on 27 June 1835, at Anvil Creek in Greta, New South Wales, where she owned 203 acres (82 ha) of land.

[4][6][9] In 1788, Molly Morgan stole hempen yarn, due to her family struggling at the time,[10] which resulted in her being arrested along with her husband.

[8][9] While her husband, with the help of some of his soldier friends, was able to escape jail and run away,[6][8] Molly was tried at Shrewsbury Assizes and found guilty on 8 August 1789,[1][4] which caused her to attempt suicide.

[3][4] Shortly after arriving at Botany Bay in Sydney, New South Wales, on 28 June 1790, Morgan was sent to Parramatta[9] and later essentially became a free agent.

[3] As a result of her good behaviour, Molly soon received a ticket of leave, allowing the couple to start a small shop.

[3][4] Morgan decided to try to escape the colony in New South Wales, so that she could go to the two children of her and William, who were still in England with no parent caring for them.

[11] She became the mistress of Captain John Locke, allowing her to join him on the Resolution, a store ship which was heading towards England, on 9 November 1794, along with thirteen other convicts who had not finished their transportation sentences.

[11] In 1819, five years after she was jailed,[1][c] Lachlan Macquarie, the governor of New South Wales, trusted Morgan enough to give her a ticket of leave, along with eleven other convicts who he thought were behaving well.

[1][11] Morgan established a settlement in the land she was given at Wallis Plains and became a successful farmer in the area, also starting a wine shanty there.

[11] In addition, she rode her horse to Sydney several times to negotiate with the governor regarding the execution of runaway convicts[9] and turned part of her home into a hospital.

[1][3] During the last few years of her life, Morgan had difficulties sustaining the large amount of property she owned, due to sale irregularity issues, causing her wealth to quickly decrease.

she was in the constant habit of lending the most valuable assistance to all who asked it – the settlers of the years 1820 to 1826 have reason to remember her, as many without the aid rendered by her, would not have borne themselves through the trying seasons of that period while many from her ignorance of accounts fattened themselves on her good will.

The writer of these remarks, often favoured by her, only regrets that her latter days were not those of enjoyment of the comforts of life to which she was entitled from the numerous acts of kindness she had evinced to all around her.