Mary Bryant (1765 – after 1794) was a Cornish

convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...

sent to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. She became one of the first successful escapees from the fledgling Australian penal colony.

Early life

Bryant was born Mary Broad (referred to as Mary Braund at the Exeter Assizes) in

Lanlivery Lanlivery ( kw, Lannlyvri) is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is about west of Lostwithiel and five miles (8 km) south of Bodmin. The Saints' Way runs past Lanlivery. Helman Tor, Red Moor and Br ...

, Cornwall, United Kingdom, to William Broad and Dorothy Guilleff (or Gelef/Juileff). William Broad was a farmer who also leased and coppiced woodland with his brother Matthew. In July 1785, Mary Broad was committed to prison to await trial for highway robbery by the Mayor of

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

, England, where her sister Elizabeth was living. She, along with Catherine Fryer and Mary Hayden alias Shepherd, was convicted of having robbed and assaulted Agnes Lakeman on a road in Plymouth, stealing a silk bonnet valued at 12 pence, and other goods valued at £1 and 11 shillings. All three were sentenced to hang on 20 March 1786, which was commuted to seven years' transportation by the Judge. She was initially held in

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...

, before being moved to the

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.First Fleet The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command ...

aboard the ship ''

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

''. Bryant gave birth on the journey to a baby, whom she called Charlotte Spence Broad. When she arrived in Australia, she married William Bryant on 10 February 1788. Bryant, who had been convicted for impersonating a seaman to receive some of the other man's wages, was also on the ''Dunkirk'' prison hulk and ''Charlotte'' with Mary and they later had a son, Emanuel, born on 6 May 1790. William Bryant was a mariner. In early

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, William was considered useful, and was put in charge of fishing. When he was caught selling fish on the side, he was given 100 lashes. Bryant's transportation order expired in March 1791. He made a plan to escape with others by boat.

Escape from the colony and recapture

On 28 March 1791 William and Mary Bryant, with her children, and seven transportees William Allen (who had been in the navy), James Martin, Samuel Bird alias John Simms, Samuel Broom alias John Butcher, James Cox alias Rolt, Nathaniel Lillie, and William Morton (an experienced navigator), left the colony by boat. Onboard they carried initial provisions of food and fresh water, as well as a fishing net. And had acquired a compass, quadrant, and chart, later said to have come from a Dutch sea captain of the Waaksamheyd at

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

. Initially they kept close to the coast, and stopped to replenish their supplies of water and food as they travelled North. Their planned route involved navigating the then uncharted

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

and the

Torres Straits The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost extremity of the Australian mai ...

. After a voyage of sixty-nine days, the group reached

Kupang Kupang ( id, Kota Kupang, ), formerly known as Koepang, is the capital of the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. At the 2020 C ensus, it had a population of 442,758; the official estimate as at mid 2021 was 455,850. It is the largest ci ...

, on the island of

Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...

, a journey of more than 5,000 kilometres. This voyage has often been compared with

William Bligh Vice-Admiral William Bligh (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was an officer of the Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. The mutiny on the HMS ''Bounty'' occurred in 1789 when the ship was under his command; after being set adrift i ...

's similar journey in an open boat only two years earlier, after the mutiny on the ''Bounty''. Bligh's voyage had also ended in Timor. Timor was then under the control of the Dutch. The Bryants' party claimed to be shipwreck survivors. They were later discovered and imprisoned by the Dutch governor, then handed over to Captain Edward Edwards of

HMS Pandora Ten ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS ''Pandora'' after the mythological Pandora. Another was planned, but the name was reassigned to another ship: * , a 24-gun sixth rate launched in 1779. She was sent to capture the ''Bounty'' mut ...

, which had been wrecked. They were sent back to Britain to stand trial, travelling first on a Dutch ship (the ''Rembang'') to

Batavia Batavia may refer to: Historical places * Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands * Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...

in the company of survivors of , a British ship sent to capture the Bounty mutineers, thereafter travelling from Batavia to

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

on the three Dutch

VOC VOC, VoC or voc may refer to: Science and technology * Open-circuit voltage (VOC), the voltage between two terminals when there is no external load connected * Variant of concern, a category used during the assessment of a new variant of a virus ...

ships ''Vredenburg'', ''Hoornwey'' and ''

Horssen Horssen is a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland. It is a part of the municipality of Druten, and lies about 10 km northwest of Wijchen. Horssen was a separate municipality until 1984, when it was merged with Druten. History It wa ...

'' (carrying Mary Bryant and her daughter Charlotte), arriving there on 19 March 1792, and later from Cape Town in the company of Royal Marines returning from Sydney on HMS ''Gorgon''. During the voyage back, Mary lost William and both of her children, Emanuel and William dying at Batavia on the 1st and 22 December 1791, whilst Charlotte died on the last leg of the voyage on 6 May 1792. Morton and Bird also died, and Cox became a man overboard from the ''Horssen''. Mary Bryant, Allen, Broom alias John Butcher, Lillie, and Martin arrived back in England on 18 June 1792. The punishment for escaping from transportation was generally death, but following court hearings in London, they were all ordered to 'remain on their former sentence, until they should be discharged by course of law'. Their case was taken up by the biographer and lawyer,

James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 (New Style, N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of his friend and older contemporary the Englis ...

. On 2 May 1793 Mary Bryant was pardoned, and she was released from

Newgate prison Newgate Prison was a prison at the corner of Newgate Street and Old Bailey Street just inside the City of London, England, originally at the site of Newgate, a gate in the Roman London Wall. Built in the 12th century and demolished in 1904, t ...

, her sentence having expired, while Allen, Broom alias Butcher, Lillie, and Martin had to wait until 2 November 1793 to be released by proclamation. Bryant returned to her family in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, and Boswell provided her with £10 a year until his death in 1795.

In popular culture

The Bryant party's escape was the subject of a ten episode serial, written by

Rex Rienits Rex Rienits (17 April 1909 – 1971) was an Australian writer of radio, films, plays and TV. He was a journalist before becoming one of the leading radio writers in Australia. He moved to England in 1949 and worked for a number of years there. He ...

, broadcast by the

Australian Broadcasting Commission The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owned ...

during 1963. Mary Bryant was portrayed by

Fay Kelton Fay Kelton (Born in Tasmania between 1940–41), is an Australian former actress radio, stage and television, she relocated to Melbourne in her teens. She was a regular performer on the ABC radio serial '' Blue Hills'' (1949-1976), and also ap ...

. Bryant was the subject of a British/Australian television movie ''

The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant ''The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant'' is a 2005 miniseries loosely based on the life of Mary Bryant, an English girl from Cornwall who in this telling was convicted of petty theft (though the historical Mary Bryant was transported for a viole ...

'', with

Romola Garai Romola Sadie Garai (; born 6 August 1982) is a British actress and film director. She appeared in ''Amazing Grace'', ''Atonement'', and ''Glorious 39'', and in the BBC series '' Emma'', '' The Hour'' and ''The Crimson Petal and the White''. In ...

playing the eponymous role,

Jack Davenport Jack Arthur Davenport (born 1 March 1973) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in the television series ''This Life'' and ''Coupling'', and as James Norrington in the '' Pirates of the Caribbean'' series. He has also appeared ...

and

Sam Neill Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. Neill's near-50 year career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he has been regarded as one o ...

. It was first screened in Australia on 30 October 2005 on

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

as a two 2-hour part series. It was screened in the UK over Easter weekend 2006 on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

. It was not completely historically accurate. She also featured heavily in Timberlake Wertenbaker's play ''

Our Country's Good ''Our Country's Good'' is a 1988 play written by British playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker, adapted from the Thomas Keneally novel ''The Playmaker''. The story concerns a group of Royal Marines and convicts in a penal colony in New South Wales, ...

'', which itself was based on Thomas Keneally's novel ''

The Playmaker ''The Playmaker'' is a novel based in Australia written by the Australian author Thomas Keneally. In 1789 in Sydney Cove, the remotest penal colony of the British Empire, a group of convicts and one of their captors unite to stage a play. Gover ...

''. Both centre on the first Australian settlers' decision to stage a performance of ''

The Recruiting Officer ''The Recruiting Officer'' is a 1706 play by the Irish writer George Farquhar, which follows the social and sexual exploits of two officers, the womanising Plume and the cowardly Brazen, in the town of Shrewsbury (the town where Farquhar himse ...

'', and the action ends just at the point of Bryant's escape. In the play, she is referred to by a nickname, Dabby Bryant. The story was fictionalised by Rosa Jordan in her novel ''Far From Botany Bay'', by Lesley Pearse in the novel ''Remember Me,'' and by Meg Keneally in ''Fled''. The Mary Bryant story also featured in Patrick Edgeworth's play ''Boswell for the Defence''. A huge success in London in 1989, it starred Leo McKern. A musical titled ''Mary Bryant'' was written by

Nick Enright Nicholas Paul Enright AM (22 December 1950 – 30 March 2003) was an Australian dramatist, playwright and theatre director. Early life Enright was born on 22 December 1950 to a prosperous professional Catholic family in East Maitland, New Sou ...

and was presented in Melbourne by

Magnormos Magnormos is an independent musical theatre production company based in Melbourne, Australia, that specialises in musicals written by Australian writers and lesser-known international works. Its productions have included the Australian premiere of ...

. Mary Bryant was the subject of a one-woman theatre show, ''Oh Mary!'', devised and directed by Bec Applebee and Simon Harvey (

Kneehigh Theatre Kneehigh Theatre was an international touring theatre company founded in 1980 by Mike Shepherd and based in Cornwall, England. The company was based in barns on the southern Cornish coast, at Gorran Haven, but the administration was in Truro. O ...

. It toured the UK in 2011. Paul Marsh (of the Canberra Australia group "Coolibah Coolective") composed "Sixty Six Days In An Open Boat" to tell the story of Mary and her family's journey.

Books about Bryant

*Causer, Tim (2017
''Memorandoms by James Martin: An Astonishing Escape from Early New South Wales''
. London: UCL Press *Cook, Judith (1993) ''To Brave Every Danger: the epic life of Mary Bryant of Fowey, highwaywoman and convicted felon, her transportation and amazing escape from Botany Bay''. London: Macmillan * Currey, C. H. (1963) ''The Transportation, Escape and Pardoning of Mary Bryant (née Broad)''. Sydney: Angus and Robertson *Durand, John (2005) "The Odyssey of Mary B" Elkhorn WI *Erickson, Carolly (2005) ''The Girl From Botany Bay''. Hoboken, NJ.: John Wiley *Hausman, Gerald & Loretta (2003) ''Escape from Botany Bay: the true story of Mary Bryant''. New York: Orchard Books * Hughes, Robert ''

The Fatal Shore ''The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia's Founding'' by Robert Hughes is a history of the early years of British colonisation of Australia, and especially the history and social effects of Britain's convict transportation system. It also ad ...

: a history of the transportation of convicts to Australia, 1787–1868''. New York: Knopf *Kampen, Anthony van (1968) ''Het leven van Mary Bryant''. 3 vols. Bussum: Unieboek NV (in Dutch) *King, Jonathan (2004) ''Mary Bryant: her life and escape from Botany Bay''. Pymble, N.S.W.: Simon & Schuster Australia *MacKenzie, Charlotte (2021) ''Mary Broad the documentary'' Lulu.com *Pearse, Lesley (2003) ''Remember Me''. London: Michael Joseph (London: Penguin Books, 2004 ) (historical novel) *Pottle, Frederick A. (1938) ''Boswell and the Girl from Botany Bay''. London: Heinemann *Preston, Diana (2017) ''Paradise in Chains: The Bounty Mutiny and the Founding of Australia''. Bloomsbury Publishing USA *Scutt, Craig (2007) ''Mary Bryant: The Impossible Escape''. Fitzroy, Melbourne, Australia; Black Dog Books *Veitch, Anthony Scott (1980) ''Spindrift, The Mary Bryant Story: a colonial saga''. Australia: Angus & Robertson Publishers *Walker, Mike (2005) ''A Long Way Home''. Chichester; Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley

References

*Parish registers for Fowey, 1803–1970. Microfilm of original records in the

Cornwall Record Office Kresen Kernow ( Cornish for Cornwall Centre) in Redruth, United Kingdom is Cornwall's archive centre, home to the world's biggest collection of archive and library material related to Cornwall. Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and C ...

, Truro, Cornwall. Cornwall Record Office call nos.: DDP/66/1/9, 18, 21–23. *Cornwall parish registers, marriages. Vol. 8, p. 1–54 Phillimore, 1905 *Devon Quarter Sessions. Epiphany 1786, DRO-QS32/73, Christmas Session 1786. Gaol Calendar.

External links

Mary Bryant movie
at the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

First Fleet Online
at University of Wollongong
Mary Broad Christening and Family information from IGI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryant, Mary 1765 births Convicts transported to Australia on the First Fleet People from Fowey English highwaymen Recipients of British royal pardons Year of death unknown Australian people of Cornish descent British emigrants to Australia Australian convict women Convict escapees in Australia British female criminals

Female Female (Venus symbol, symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ovum, ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the Sperm, male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gamet ...