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Mary Charlton (c. 1769–1847)

Mary Gittos (c.1769-1847) was found guilty on 10 September 1788 at the Old Bailey, London, of stealing clothing and 24 half pence from a woman in a room. Sentenced to 7 years transportation, she arrived at Sydney aboard the Lady Juliana in June 1790 as part of the Second Fleet.

Gittos was sent to Norfolk Island on the Surprize in August 1790. Soon after William Charlton, a soldier in the NSW Corps, arrived on the island in 1793 Gittos began living with him; they had at least eight children. The couple returned to Sydney in November 1795 and then returned to Norfolk Island in 1802. They were back in New South Wales in 1806 and appear to have moved to Parramatta. Gittos married Charlton on 16 April 1810.

It is not known for certain whether she was the Mary Charlton who died in the Sydney Benevolent Asylum on 26 July 1847, described as aged 75 or was Mary Charlton who died, aged 45, at the Liverpool Lunatic Asylum in November 1826.

* information from Michael Flynn, The Second Fleet: Britain’s Grim Convict Armada of 1790 (1993), pp 290-91

Citation details

'Charlton, Mary (c. 1769–1847)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/charlton-mary-26176/text38009, accessed 29 March 2024.

© Copyright People Australia, 2012

Life Summary [details]

Alternative Names
  • Gittos, Mary
  • Getty, Mary
  • Gatehouse, Mary
  • Gatty, Mary
  • Gettey, Mary
Birth

c. 1769
Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England

Death

26 July, 1847 (aged ~ 78)
Parramatta, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Cause of Death

unknown

Cultural Heritage

Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.

Passenger Ship
Occupation
Key Events
Key Places
Convict Record

Crime: theft
Sentence: 7 years