Mary Cleaver was found guilty of burglary on 5 April 1786 at Bristol, England. She was sentenced to 7 years transportation and spent time on the Dunkirk hulk before arriving in Sydney in January 1788 aboard the Charlotte as part of the First Fleet. She gave birth to a son, James, during the voyage. He died in March 1788; two further children also died as infants.
Cleaver married John Baughan on 17 February 1788. It is likely they knew each other on the Dunkirk. Following her husband's death in 1797 she sold the lease of their house and land to Robert Campbell and sailed for England on the Reliance in 1800. She had returned to the colony by 1806 and was living with Richard Harding; the couple were still together in 1814.
She was buried on 19 February 1828 at Parramatta. Her name was registered as Mary Cleever; her age given as 47.
* information from Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), p 74
'Baughan, Mary (c. 1759–1828)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/baughan-mary-30201/text37481, accessed 15 November 2024.
18 February,
1828
(aged ~ 69)
Parramatta, Sydney,
New South Wales,
Australia
Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.
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.