Jane Poole (c.1768-1826) was found guilty on 19 August 1786 at Wells, Somerset, of stealing a silver watch and other goods. Her death sentence was commuted to 7 years transportation. Poole was sent to the Dunkirk hulk early in December 1786, where she remained until she embarked for New South Wales on the Charlotte in January 1787, arriving in Sydney in January 1788 as part of the First Fleet.
Poole was sent to Norfolk Island in November 1789. She married James McManis on the island in a mass wedding ceremony in November 1791. A daughter was born that year. The family returned to Port Jackson on the Atlantic in September 1792. Following James's death in 1797 a grant of 60 acres of land made out to her husband at Mulgrave Place, New South Wales, was made over to Jane.
In mid 1800 Poole was registered as a landholder in her own right — owning 100 acres. By mid-1802 she had established a partnership with Richard Ridge; they were listed as joint holders of 250 acres at Mulgrave Place. They had a daughter in 1803. By 1805 Ridge was listed as the sole owner of 305 acres. The couple separated soon after 1806. In 1814 Poole was described as a widow; she retained ownership of her 160 acre grant. She was still listed as the owner of the land in 1822.
As Jane McManus she was buried on 28 November 1826 at St John's Parramatta; her age was given as 58. She bequeathed her estate to her three children 'share and share alike', as well as several horses.
* further information: Mollie Gillen, The Founders of Australia: A Biographical Dictionary of the First Fleet (1989), pp 291-92
'Poole, Jane (1768–1826)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/poole-jane-26802/text34395, accessed 9 November 2024.
26 November,
1826
(aged ~ 58)
Parramatta, Sydney,
New South Wales,
Australia
Includes subject's nationality; their parents' nationality; the countries in which they spent a significant part of their childhood, and their self-identity.