People Australia

Mary Bolton was found guilty on 12 March 1785 at Shrewsbury, England, of stealing a large quantity of clothing late at night. Her death sentence was commuted to 7 years transportation. Sent to Southwark Gaol on 23 November 1786 she arrived in Sydney in January 1788 aboard the Lady Penrhyn as part of the First Fleet.

Bolton was sent to Norfolk Island on the Surprize in August 1790. In February she was given a pig under the plan to make convicts more self-sufficient. By June 1794 she was living with Samuel Day; there was no record of any children. In December 1810 Mary was publicly victualled as a hospital nurse. With Day and two children Bolton left for Port Dalrymple, Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania), in January 1813. The two children seem to have been adopted; Mary (b.1797) and Catherine (b.1802) both had Sullivan as their surname. No record has been traced of Bolton's death.

* information from Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), p 40