This
is a biography about a woman called Mary Broad who was born into a fishing
family in Fowey in 1765. Life was very tough in Cornwall so she left home to
seek work in Plymouth where she became involved in petty thievery. After being
arrested for highway robbery of a silk bonnet, jewellery, and a few coins, she
was committed by the Mayor of Plymouth, to gaol and then was sentenced to seven
years' transportation to Australia.
In
May 1787, when she was only 22 years old, Mary was sent as a prisoner aboard the
ship Charlotte to New South Wales. Mary gave birth on the journey to a baby,
whom she called Charlotte. When she arrived in Australia, she married William
Bryant who was also from Cornwall. Bryant, who had worked as a fisherman, was a
convicted smuggler. He was also on the Charlotte with Mary and they later
had a son, Emanuel, born on 6 May 1790.
On
28 March 1791, William and Mary Bryant with the children and six other fellow
prisoners stole the Governor’s six-oared cutter. After a voyage of sixty-six
days, the group reached Kupang on the island of Timor, a journey of 5,000
kilometres. Timor was then under the control of the Dutch. The Bryants and their
crew claimed to be shipwreck survivors. They were later discovered to be British
convicts, apparently after William became drunk and confessed in the process of
bragging. To avoid an international incident they were sent back to Britain to
stand trial. The punishment for escaping from transportation was generally death
and Mary was sent to Newgate jail. I won’t reveal any more details of the
journey back to England or what happened once the prisoners arrived there
because not knowing anything about Mary’s story made the book an absolute page
turner for me.
This
was an excellent account, informative and very well researched. Apparently other
fictional books have been written about Mary Bryant as well as a TV movie, plays
and a musical. I can understand that as her story is certainly fascinating and
stirs the imagination. This book is factual but extremely interesting and easy
to read. It describes life in Cornwall at the time, the multiple reasons for the
widespread grinding poverty of the rapidly increasing underclass - a half
starved population living, quote “cheek-by-jowel with conspicuous wealth.
It
describes in depth the horrendous prison conditions, the even worse conditions
on board ship and the unbelievable deprivation suffered by the convicts as they
struggled to survive while building everything from scratch - the houses which
they made from wattle and daub collapsed in the strong winds and rain, the
cereal crops rotted, the vegetables failed to thrive while disease and lack of
food decimated the animals. The rations of old salted meat, weevily flour and
dried peas had to be cut. Clothes were becoming ragged. Ships bringing new
supplies were wrecked and there was no way to get news of their plight back to
England. Major Ross the Vice Governor who hated the country, the natives, the
marines, the convicts and most of all his staff was loathed by everyone in
return. Discipline was harsh and disease rampant. It was an absolutely wretched
existence and it was no wonder that the Bryants planned an escape, especially
after William had been been punished with a hundred lashes which nearly killed
him.
It
is an excellent book brimming with information and suspense - absolutely
gripping and unforgettable.
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