People Australia

Edward MacClean (c.1731-c.1794?), a labourer, was found guilty on 15 March 1784 at Maidstone, Kent, of stealing a large quantity of clothing. His death sentence was commuted to 7 years transportation. Sent to the Censor hulk on 20 October 1784 he was dispatched to the Scarborough in February 1787 and arrived at Sydney in January 1788 as part of the First Fleet.

MacClean married (as Edward McLane) Phebe Williams on 24 December 1790 at St Philips Church, Sydney; both marked the register with an X. His death has not been traced but his widow Phebe married again on 8 October 1794. The burial of a James Maclane was registered at Parramatta on 7 February 1794, perhaps an error for Edward?

information from

• Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), p 228
• Biographical Database of Australia — https://www.bda-online.org.au