Sentencing and convict life
First sentence and escape
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. A bleaching factory located near the Morgans' house was reported to have a few shillings of hempen yarn missing, and it was discovered to be hidden at their house. [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. [11] Her trial was used as an example of what would happen if other thieves performed a similar action as Morgan, a "special case". [8]
Morgan was sentenced to seven years of penal transportation, being forced to sail to Australia with the Second Fleet on the hell ship Neptune in 1790; [3] Morgan's children remained in England. [11] Of the 502 convicts on the ship, 164 of them died during the voyage, mostly from starvation and neglect, [6] [9] and almost half of the total group of convicts died either on the ship or shortly after arriving at shore. [4] During that time, ship owners would receive money for every convict they transported and if a convict died they would not have to spend money to feed them, essentially meaning that the more convicts that were on the ship but died during the voyage, the more money the ship owner would make. [6] However, by using her "good looks" and swapping favours with the officers of the ship during the voyage, she received better treatment than the other convicts, including gaining extra rations and special privileges, as well as not having to endure the harsh treatment the rest of the convicts received. [10] Due to this, Morgan was still in decent condition after the voyage. [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. [10] Three years later, [3] William was caught again and this time was deported to Australia; he arrived at Australia in a group of prisoners who had been transported for thievery. [10] Molly received permission to join him after his arrival. [6] They both worked in Sydney, William on labour gangs and Molly in a factory. [3] As a result of her good behaviour, Molly soon received a ticket of leave, allowing the couple to start a small shop. [1] [4]
Due to Molly's persistent flirting with men, William eventually left her following several arguments between the two. [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. [1] [3] Along the way, Locke proposed to her, but she declined. [3] [4] After Morgan's escape, various theories were formed by the people in the colony as to what had happened to her. [1] Upon arrival in England, Morgan was able to recover her children. She became a dressmaker in Plymouth, Devon, [1] [3] [11] working to provide for her children. [9] In 1797, Morgan married Thomas Mears, also spelt Meares, Meyers, [12] or Mares, [6] a rich brassfounder and bellringer, [6] while she was still legally married to William. [1] [4] [5] By this time, William had a new partner and family. [2]
Second sentence and land grant
In 1803, Mears' house burned down, [lower-alpha 2] and Morgan was found guilty of this incident after a trial on 10 October 1803 at Croydon Sessions. [1] Although she escaped to nearby London, she was eventually arrested; [9] for her sentence, she was sent back to Australia a second time for seven years of penal transportation, this time on the Experiment, arriving on 24 June 1804 at Port Jackson. [4] The convicts transported on the ship included 136 females, of which 6 died while on the ship, and 2 males, significantly fewer than the previous voyage on the Neptune. [13] Upon arrival, Morgan was not able to locate William in Sydney. [3] She was given several protectors, including Thomas Byrne, [4] and acquired land and cattle at Parramatta a few years afterwards. [1] In 1814, she was sentenced to jail for seven years in Newcastle Penal Colony for milking a stolen cow. [3] However, the man who actually stole the cow was sentenced to only three years in jail. [11]
In 1819, five years after she was jailed, [1] [lower-alpha 3] 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. These twelve convicts were granted 20–30 acres (8.1–12.1 ha) of land [14] in West Maitland, [4] [15] in an area which became known as Wallis Plains, [16] located along Wallis Creek and the Hunter River. [2] These convicts could use this land to farm, in a "trial project to see if criminals could better themselves". [14] Morgan had received a farm in her own right, being the only female convict in the group to do so. [2] By 1822, Morgan was granted freedom. [1] [11]
