Mary McDonald (1745–1821)
Mary Oliver was sentenced, on 19 March 1787 at Maidstone, Kent, to 14 years transportation. She arrived in Sydney in 1791 aboard the Mary Ann and married Alexander McDonald on 18 March 1792. On 30 November 1792 she was one of the petitioners for a Roman Catholic priest to be sent to New South Wales.
On 14 June 1806 Mary wrote to her daughter Barbara Stiles (Styles) in England, who had been seven when her mother had been transported, suggesting that she come out to New South Wales. Barbara, her husband Thomas, and three children arrived in the colony aboard the Mary Ann in January 1816.
Mary, along withher husband and son-in-law, drowned on 21 December 1821 after the boat in which they were travelling overturned off the Pulpit, about 4 miles from Sydney. An inquest found that the whole party was in a state of intoxication and had been quarrelling.
* information from Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), pp 229-230
Related Entries in NCB Sites
- McDonald, Alexander (husband)
Citation details
'McDonald, Mary (1745–1821)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/mcdonald-mary-29906/text37022, accessed 20 April 2024.
Life Summary [details]
Alternative Names
- Oliver, Mary
- Olliver, Mary
Birth
Death
21 December,
1821
(aged ~ 76)
Sydney,
New South Wales,
Australia
Cause of Death
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.
Religious Influence
Includes the religion in which subjects were raised, have chosen themselves, attendance at religious schools and/or religious funeral rites; Atheism and Agnosticism have been included.