John O'Craft (c.1749- ) was found guilty on 17 March 1783 at Exeter, Devon, of stealing a pair of leather breeches and some money. Sentenced to 7 years transportation to America, he was among the prisoners who mutinied on the convict transport Mercury in April 1784. Recaptured, he was sent to the Dunkirk hulk in June 1784. He was discharged to the Charlotte in March 1787 (where he was mustered as Oakraft) and arrived in Sydney in January 1788 as part of the First Fleet.
By July 1791 O'Craft was principal of the nightwatch at Parramatta and was settled on 30 acres at Prospect in August 1792. There is no record of him having developed this land. No later colonial records have been found for O'Craft.
* information from Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), p 267
'O'Craft, John (c. 1749–?)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/ocraft-john-30839/text38190, accessed 19 April 2024.