I have discovered another Rajah convict in my family tree!!
I would like to introduce you to Mary Ford.
She is not directly related to me, but she is connected to my Dewhurst family, through her grandson Henry, who married Charles Dewhurst and Elizabeth Banks' granddaughter Lillian Edith.
The information below is all available by searching Archives records, however I would like to acknowledge that this work was done by Dr. Trudy Cowley and Dr. Dianne Snowden, of the Female Convicts Research Group.
Mary Ford was from Salford, near Manchester. She was sentenced to 10 years transportation for receiving a stolen watch at the Lancaster Sessions of the Peace on 31 August 1840.
Mary was married with 4 children at the time of her transportation. She was 36 years old. She stated on arrival that she had been separated from her husband Matthew 3 years prior. I do not know what happened to her children but they were not transported with her.
Mary arrived on the Rajah which landed in Hobart on 21 July 1841, by which time she was 37. She was immediately assigned to a Mr D Cameron, in the Evandale area. She was 'returned to the Crown' in November, and reassigned to a Mr Ralston in December.
On 5th May 1843 an application for Permission to Marry was lodged for Mary to James COLLINS, who was a convict transported on the Southworth. James was on his second transportation - he was previously transported to NSW in 1820, on the Neptune, and he returned to Britain, in 1828. By 1830 he was in Tasmania, having been transported again, this time for stealing 'wearing apparel' - and sentenced to 14 years transportation. His convict arrival record shows his true name as John Collins, which is the name he was listed under on the Neptune.
James and Mary married at Evandale Parish Church - James aged 40 and Mary 39. They had 2 sons, Thomas in 1844, and James in 1846. Mary was still an assigned convict during this time, and spent 3 months in the Launceston Female Factory in 1848 for being absent without leave from her master's residence.
Thomas Collins (now using the name Collings) married Mary Wilson in 1863 and they had 9 children. Thomas died in February 1913.
James married Jane nee ILLMAN on 15/12/1866 - Jane's father George was also a convict on the Southworth, so it's interesting to imagine that the two fathers ended up in service together or became friends.
This is a photo of Jane Collings nee Illman.
I hope you have enjoyed meeting Mary and her family,
Bernadette.
