Mary Ann Biggs (1801–1858)
Mary Ann Debney married James Fletcher, a widower, on 8 April 1834 at St John's, Launceston. In 1835 as Mrs James Fletcher (formerly Miss Debney) she advertised that she would be resuming her 'Establishment for young ladies at her residence, no. 117 New Town Road’, Hobart Town. As previously, she was embracing 'the useful as well as the polished system of education’. Drawing was included in the 50-guinea boarding-school fee. In partnership with Miss Hilton, Fletcher announced the opening of a new girls’ school at Launceston in August 1842 which offered private lessons in 'Music, Dancing, Drawing, Needlework, &c.’. The partnership was dissolved within six months. She later travelled to Melbourne with her daughter — it is not known if her husband was deceased — where, in 1845, she married William Biggs. Following her death in 1858 her daughter married William Biggs.
Additional Resources and Scholarship
- marriage notice, Launceston Advertiser (Tas), 10 April 1834, p 2
- ad for her school, Colonial Times (Hobart), 1 December 1835, p 3, column 2
Related Entries in NCB Sites
- Biggs, William Jennings (husband)
- Biggs, Mary Ann (daughter)
- Boyce, Sarah (stepdaughter)
- Lewis, Mary Ann (mother-in-law)
- Biggs, William (father-in-law)
- Smith, Elizabeth (sister-in-law)
- Biggs, Sarah (sister-in-law)
- Cook, Ann (sister-in-law)
- Stapleton, Maria (sister-in-law)
- Smith, John Frederick (brother-in-law)
- Cook, William (brother-in-law)
- Biggs, Charles (brother-in-law)
- Biggs, James (brother-in-law)
- Biggs, William (brother-in-law)
- Stapleton, Francis (brother-in-law)
- Biggs, John (brother-in-law)
- Biggs, Francis (brother-in-law)
- Murray, Martha (niece by marriage)
- Bagot, Jane (niece by marriage)
- Torning, Margaret Jane (niece by marriage)
- Smith, James Sydney (nephew by marriage)
- Smith, Walter George (nephew by marriage)
- Jones, Maria (granddaughter)
- Norgate, Harriet (granddaughter)
- Morris, Elizabeth Sarah (granddaughter)
- Grill, Emily (granddaughter)
- Biggs, Sydney John (grandson)
- Biggs, William (grandson)
- Biggs, Henry James (grandson)
- Biggs, George (grandson)
- Biggs, Henry Arthur (grandson)
- Biggs, Arthur (grandson)
Citation details
'Biggs, Mary Ann (1801–1858)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/biggs-mary-ann-28191/text35876, accessed 13 December 2024.
Life Summary [details]
Alternative Names
- Fletcher, Mary Ann
- Debney, Mary Ann
Birth
1801
London,
Middlesex,
England
Death
1 April,
1858
(aged ~ 57)
Brunswick, Melbourne,
Victoria,
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.