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Phoebe Podmore (c. 1772–1817)

Phoebe Flarty (c.1772-1817) and Ann Parsley were found guilty on 21 February 1787 at the Old Bailey, London, of shoplifting: they stole three muslin shawls from a shop. Sentenced to 7 years transportation, the women arrived at Sydney aboard the Prince of Wales in January 1788 as part of the First Fleet.

Flarty (recorded as Phebee Flartee) shared a tent  with Ann Smith at Port Jackson. She was acquitted on 7 September 1788 of joining three other young women in making taunting remarks to Captain Brown of the Fishburn. On 7 October 1789 she and Ann Mather were accused of stealing fourteen and a half ounces of pork from John Gepp, Hardwicke Richardson, and William Parish. The women accused each other of the crime. Both were found guilty and sentenced to twenty-five lashes.

Flarty was sent to Norfolk island on the Sirius in March 1790. The following month she received (as Philbay Flatterty) 25 lashes for allowing pigs into the garden she was tending, and in October she received 26 of 50 lashes for repeatedly coming into town from Charlotte Field without permission.

By June 1794 Flarty was living with William Welch, who she had associated with in England. She had a son, possibly by Welch, and was earning her living by brewing. She returned to Port Jackson on the Supply with two children in November 1795; Richard Podmore, a private in the New South Wales Corps, was also on the ship. She and Podmore would have at least five children together, the first born in 1799 and the last in 1815.

Flarty and Podmore returned to Norfolk Island with her son Zachary and the couple's daughter Ann (her daughter Mary with Welch died in 1797) on the Porpoise in February 1801. The family returned to Sydney in February 1805. Podmore received a 100 grant of land at St George in January 1810. The couple married on 30 July that year.

Phebe Podmore died on 27 January 1817 at Sydney; her age was given as 44.

information from

  • Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), pp 128-29
  • Cathy Dunn, 'Phoebe Flarty, Convict, Prince of Wales 1788', HMS Sirius 1786-1790, https://hmssirius.com.au/phoebe-flarty-convict-prince-of-wales-1788 — accessed 15 September 2020

Additional Resources

Citation details

'Podmore, Phoebe (c. 1772–1817)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/podmore-phoebe-31023/text38393, accessed 29 March 2024.

© Copyright People Australia, 2012

Life Summary [details]

Alternative Names
  • Flarty, Phoebe
  • Flarty, Phobe
  • Flarty, Phebe
  • Flaherty, Phoebe
  • Flaharty, Phoebe
  • Haghharty, Phoebe
  • Flarherty, Phoebe
  • Welsh, Phoebe
  • Flartee, Phebee
  • Flartree, Phoebe
  • Flatterty, Philbay
  • Podmore, Phebe
  • Padmore, Phoebe
Birth

c. 1772

Death

27 January, 1817 (aged ~ 45)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Cause of Death

unknown

Passenger Ship
Occupation
Key Events
Social Issues
Convict Record

Crime: theft
Sentence: 7 years
Court: Old Bailey, London
Trial Date: 21 February 1787
(1787)