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Mary Ann Brooker (1775–1859)

Mary Wade and Jane Whiting were sentenced to life transportation for assaulting an eight-year-old girl and taking her cotton frock, linen tippet, and linen cap. She arrived in Sydney in 1790 aboard the Lady Juliana.

She was sent to Norfolk Island aboard the Surprize in August. She bore two surviving children there, Sarah (1793) to Teague Harrigan and William (1796) who is thought to be the son of Jonathan Brooker. By 1800 Wade, Harrigan and Brooker and their children were all living in New South Wales. Mary continued to live with Harrigan. Their relationship had ended by 1806 and she again took up with Brooker. They married in 1817.

Additional Resources and Scholarship

  • death notice, Illawarra Mercury (Wollongong, NSW) 22 December 1859, p 2
  • funeral notice, Illawarra Mercury (Wollongong, NSW), 19 December 1859, p 3, column 3

Related Entries in NCB Sites

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Citation details

'Brooker, Mary Ann (1775–1859)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/brooker-mary-ann-25817/text33995, accessed 14 June 2025.

© Copyright People Australia, 2012

Life Summary [details]

Alternative Names
  • Wade, Mary Ann
Birth

17 December, 1775
London, Middlesex, England

Death

17 December, 1859 (aged 84)
Wollongong, 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.

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.

Passenger Ship
Occupation or Descriptor
Key Events
Legacies
Key Places
Convict Record

Crime: assault and robbery
Sentence: life