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Elizabeth Williams (1765–1796)

Elizabeth Young was sentenced to seven years transportation for simple grand larceny. She arrived in Sydney in 1791 aboard the Mary Ann as part of the Third Fleet. She married Robert Williams on 11 September 1791 at St Johns Church of England, Parramatta.

On 19 September 1796 she was found bludgeoned to death at the Ponds, with her baby son Robert unharmed by her side. Elizabeth Roster (Second Fleet convict, 1790, Lady Juliana) and William Orman (Second Fleet convict, 1790, Surprize) were charged with burglary and her death. After a lengthy trial at the Sydney Court of Criminal Jurisdiction, in November 1796, they were acquitted. In 1816 Roster was tried for the murder of her defacto husband John Anderson. She and her co-accused James Stack (convict, 1801, Earl Cornwallis) were found guilty and executed.

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Citation details

'Williams, Elizabeth (1765–1796)', People Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://peopleaustralia.anu.edu.au/biography/williams-elizabeth-27804/text35542, accessed 21 September 2024.

© Copyright People Australia, 2012

Life Summary [details]

Alternative Names
  • Young, Elizabeth
Birth

1765
England

Death

19 September, 1796 (aged ~ 31)
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Cause of Death

assaulted

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.

Passenger Ship
Occupation
Key Events
Convict Record

Crime: theft
Sentence: 7 years