Stephen Le Grove (c.1764- ), a waterman, was found guilty on 14 January 1784 at the Old Bailey, London, of stealing 118 Norwegian deal boards worth £10. Sentenced to 7 years transportation, he was among the prisoners who mutinied on the convict transport Mercury, in April 1784. Recaptured, he was sent to the Dunkirk hulk in July 1784. He was discharged to the Friendship in March 1787 and arrived in Sydney in January 1788 as part of the First Fleet.
Le Grove received 50 lashes on 16 March 1789 for being absent from work. He was appointed a nightwatchman in August 1789. His term of servitude ended in January 1791 and Governor Phillip recorded his departure from the colony in that year year as a free man.
Le Grove departed the colony on the Matilda in December 1791. The ship was heading for Peru but intended to engage in some whaling en route. The vessel was wrecked on 25 February 1792. 29 survivors (including Le Grove) made for Tahiti where they were stripped of clothing and possessions. Rescued by HMS Providence in July, Le Grove remained with the ship until paid off in London in September 1793. No later details of his life have been traced.
* information from Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), pp 217-18
'Le Grove, Stephen (c. 1764–?)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/le-grove-stephen-30823/text38172, accessed 14 March 2025.
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