People Australia

Mary Tuck was found guilty on 24 October 1787 at the Old Bailey, London, of stealing clothing from a house. Sentenced to 7 years transportation she was sent to Newgate Gaol before arriving in Sydney in June 1790 aboard the Lady Juliana as part of the Second Fleet. Eight weeks later she was sent to Norfolk Island on the Surprize. In early 1791 she was allowed to cultivate a piece a piece of land under Major Grose's plan to encourage convicts to support themselves. By 1 July she had cleared 67 rods of her land at Charlotte Field (Queenborough). She later worked at the orphan school.

With her partner, John Cropper, she sailed for Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania) on the Daedalus in December 1807. In 1809 the couple were mustered, with no children, holding 21 acres and supported by public rations. By 1819 they had 60 sheep, 4 bushels of grain in store, and were cultivating the land themselves. Their farm, including a piggery, was burnt down in a bushfire in 1824.

Mary Cropper died at Sandy Bay, Hobart. Her burial was registered on 6 November 1826 in the register of St David's, Hobart; her age was given as 92.

* information from Michael Flynn, The Second Fleet: Britain's Grim Convict Armada of 1790 (1993), pp 578-79