The Journey

Mary Turner (Wilkes) & David Batty: A First Fleet Woman and the Man Who Helped Build a Life With Her When we talk about Australia’s beginnings, we often picture ships, governors, and grand events. But the real story of the colony was written by ordinary people who endured extraordinary circumstances. Among them were Mary Turner , a young woman transported with the First Fleet, Mary always used the name Mary Wilkes in Australia, and David Batty , a Third Fleet convict whose life became inseparable from hers. Their partnership—formed in hardship, sustained through resilience—left a legacy that still echoes through their descendants today. A Young Woman Sent Across the World In March 1785, at the Worcester Assizes, a young Englishwoman named Mary Turner stood before the court accused of stealing clothing worth only a few pounds. Like so many women of her time, poverty and circumstance shaped her fate more than criminal intent. She was sentenced to seven years’ transportation , a puni...

  The Convict Connection: From Chains to Legacy   Foundations: The Convict Era The following is my Convict Connection and   1 – Mary Turner (Wilks): A First Fleet Woman In the spring of 1785, nineteen-year-old Mary Turner stood trial in Worcestershire for theft. Convicted and sentenced to seven years’ transportation, she was torn from her homeland and thrust into the unknown. Two years later, she boarded the Lady Penrhyn , one of the eleven ships of the First Fleet. The voyage was brutal — cramped quarters, disease, and meagre rations — yet Mary survived, arriving at Sydney Cove in January 1788. Transferred to Norfolk Island in 1790, she endured isolation and hardship, returning to Port Jackson in 1793. In 1794, she began a relationship with David Batty, a Third Fleet convict. Together they had four children, though tragedy struck with the death of their infant son Richard. Mary herself died in 1808, buried in the Old Sydney Burial Ground. Her resilience embodi...

  My Convicts Ancestors The following are some of my convict ancestors    Mary Turner (Wilks) Arrived on the First Fleet 1788 Ship  “Lady Penrhyn” David Batty Arrived on the Third Fleet 13/10/1794 on the  "Albemarle" Frances Piper arrived on 14/12/1801 on the  “Minorca” Richard Yardy arrived 31/10/1835 on the He was sent on the  “Mary Ann” Others of interest  William Spears -  Colonial soldier, enlisted in the 102nd Regiment, New South Wales Corps of Foot, on January 4, 1800, in London Jonathan Piper Son of Francis Piper, Early Ship builder  Known as the ‘father’ of the Brisbane Water shipbuilding industry on the Central coast NSW in the very early days of the Colony Mary Turner / Wilks 1761-1808 Mary Turner alias Wilks was around 19 years of age when convicted of stealing at Worcestershire on 5 March 1785 and sentenced to 7 years transportation. She was sent on the ship “Lady Penrhyn” and in 1787 the ships of the firs...