Elizabeth Chapman (1781–?)
Elizabeth Chapman, accompanied her parents, Thomas Chapman, corporal of marines, mother Jane, and sister Jane, to New South Wales aboard the Charlotte as part of the First Fleet.
On 10 September 1789 Elizabeth was raped at Port Jackson by Henry Wright. Wright was sentenced to death but the Judge Advocate David Collins recommended that he be pardoned. Governor Phillip granted Wright a pardon on the condition that he be sent to Norfolk Island for the term of his natural life.
Elizabeth returned to England with her family on the Gorgon, leaving in December 1791 and arriving at Plymouth on 29 June 1792.
* information from Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), p 68
Additional Resources and Scholarship
- proceedings of trial, R. v. Wright [1789] NSWKR 4; [1789] NSWSupC 4 (pdf)
Related Entries in NCB Sites
- Chapman, Jane (mother)
- Chapman, Thomas (father)
- Chapman, Jane (sister)
- Chapman, Maria (sister)
- Wright, Henry (crime perpetrator)
- Collins, David (trial)
Citation details
'Chapman, Elizabeth (1781–?)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/chapman-elizabeth-29943/text37081, accessed 10 December 2024.