People Australia

Jane Creek (c.1734- ), a 'chair woman' in service, was found guilty on 6 January 1787 at the Old Bailey, London, of stealing two pairs of flat irons, a coffee pot, and 35 pounds of feathers. Sentenced to 7 years transportation she arrived at Sydney in January 1788 aboard the Lady Penrhyn as part of the First Fleet.

On 12 January 1789 Creek was the centre of a disturbance at Port Jackson by John Russell who beat Mary Love and Elizabeth Morgan (Lock) when seeking 'Nurse' Creek whom he claimed as his 'property'. Creek was sent to Norfolk Island on the Sirius in March 1790. In June 1794 she was earning a living by washing and sewing. She returned to Port Jackson on the Supply in April 1796. No further records have been found for her in the colony.

There is a slight possibility she was Jane Cogging who died at Sydney Hospital on 25 January 1818, aged 55, who was said to have arrived on the 'Lady Penrea'.

* information from Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), p 85