Quite a Black Country Girl NAME>>>>>>>>>>>>
Mary BowaterCRIME>>>>>>>>>>>Convicted for stealing a coat
PUNISHMENT>>>>>>Mary Bowater was tried at
Stafford on 20 March 1802 – 7years
transportation to New South Wales;
More.......she finally arrived aboard â€ÂThe Experiment†in Sydney 24 June 1804, going on to Port Dalrymple in 1805.
In 1811 she wed another transportee, Thomas Smith who had been tried in Essex.
In due time the Smiths acquired considerable land.
Thomas Smith was granted 50 acres of land at Norfolk Plains in 1823 by the Governor of New South Wales.
Unfortunately Thomas drowned whilst crossing a river.
Mary who had been the driving force behind Thomas took over the running of the land and appears to have had 600 acres and numerous sheep & cattle. She also held 3 licenses for pole carts.. In 1829 she purchased a further 200 acres, selling this on to acquire a further 1000 acres, and continued to acquire further land in 1836.
As a landowner with a reputation for fine horse stock she took to Horse Racing and her horse “Little John†won a succession of races including the Launceston St Leger in 1843 & the Town Plate at New Town in 1844.
The culmination of this was the winning of the Hobart Plate in 1844.
So for a woman convicted for stealing a coat marrying a man convicted for stealing a lamb, acquiring wealth and repute she proved more than a match for the “men only “circuit of the time.
Mary died childless in 1849 aged 80, the informant being Daniel Bowater (another transported convict) a farmer at Long Plains.
Money was divided between various family members in England.
Those who inherited were Susannah Gould wife of William (Rowley Regis) George Bagley (Dudley) Thomas & Jeremiah Bagley (Rowley) and Sarah Parish (Halesowen).
A further £200 was divided between Roger Bagley (Hales, Salop) and Samuel Bagley, Victualler of West Bromwich)
Five Bowater Convicts arrived in Tasmania 1827-1838, who all came from Birmingham.
The links are a work in progress that may be lost in time or at best a conjecture.
The full story is accessible online and I am proud to have exchanged information with its author Irene Schaffer who has researched the convicts of Norfolk Plains.
I have copies of the wills .
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