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Olivia Lucas (1761–1830)

Olivia Gascoigne was found guilty on 5 March 1785 at Worchester, England, of stealing 13 pieces of gold coin of the value of £13/13/-,  and one piece of foreign silver coin from a dwelling house. Her death sentence was commuted to seven years transportation on 28 December 1785. She arrived in Sydney in January 1788 aboard the Lady Penrhyn as part of the First Fleet.

Gascoigne was sent to Norfolk Island aboard the Supply shortly after her arrival. Also on board was Nathaniel Lucas. The couple were married shortly after their arrival on Norfolk Island in a civil ceremony. The marriage was solemnised in 1791; they had 13 children, 11 of whom survived infancy. The couple returned to Port Jackson in 1805. Following her husband's death, Olivia Lucas moved to Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania) in 1818 with six of her surviving children. She died at Launceston on 10 June 1830; her age was given as 69.

* information from Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), p 141

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Citation details

'Lucas, Olivia (1761–1830)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/lucas-olivia-25601/text33916, accessed 14 March 2025.

© Copyright People Australia, 2012

Life Summary [details]

Alternative Names
  • Gascoigne, Olivia
Birth

1761
England

Death

10 June, 1830 (aged ~ 69)
Launceston, Tasmania, Australia

Cause of Death

unknown

Cultural Heritage

Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.

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Includes the religion in which subjects were raised, have chosen themselves, attendance at religious schools and/or religious funeral rites; Atheism and Agnosticism have been included.

Passenger Ship
Occupation or Descriptor
Key Events
Convict Record

Crime: theft
Sentence: 7 years