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...

Precious Cargo Mary Turner & David Batty Mary TURNER/WILKS Mary Turner 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 February 1787 the ships of the first fleet sailed to establish a penal colony in NSW. On 20 January 1788 the last of the eleven ships of the First Fleet arrived at Botany Bay. Captain Arthur Phillip's search for a more suitable site led him to Port Jackson. The rest of the fleet sailed into Sydney Harbour on 26 January 1788. Mary was sent to Norfolk Island in 1790 on "Sirius" and returned to Port Jackson in 1793 on "Kitty" it was believed she had one son on Norfolk Island John who didn’t survive She had a relationship with David BATTY in 1794 at Sydney and they had 4 children, they were David 15/03/1794, Richard 28/8/1797-12/6/1799, Ann 2/2/1800, and Thomas 13/9/1802-17/10/1870 Mary`s last name was it Turner?...