Mary Pike (1776 – 1832) was an Irish
quaker
Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...
heiress who was abducted by Sir
Henry Browne Hayes
Sir Henry Browne Hayes (1762–1832) was a landowner and Sheriff of Cork City in Ireland. Convicted of the kidnap of a wealthy heiress in Cork, he was subject to penal transportation to New South Wales in 1802 where he built Vaucluse House near ...
.
Early life and family
Mary Pike was born in 1776, the only surviving daughter of Samuel Pike and Catherine née Hutchinson. Her father was in business with his older brother Ebenezer with a family bank in
Cork city
Cork ( ; from , meaning 'marsh') is the second-largest city in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the county town of County Cork, the largest city in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the List of settlements on the island of Ireland ...
which was established in around 1770. The details of Pike's early life are not recorded. After the death of her father in 1796, she inherited £20,000. She moved out of the city to live with the family of
Cooper Penrose, a brother of her aunt Anne, at Woodhill. It appears that she became estranged from her mother, possibly over religion. Penrose was expelled from the
Society of Friends
Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...
due to his indulgence in avaricious leisure pursuits.
Abduction
Pike was abducted by Sir
Henry Browne Hayes
Sir Henry Browne Hayes (1762–1832) was a landowner and Sheriff of Cork City in Ireland. Convicted of the kidnap of a wealthy heiress in Cork, he was subject to penal transportation to New South Wales in 1802 where he built Vaucluse House near ...
on 22 July 1797, using a forged letter from her mother's physician claiming that her mother was gravely ill and requesting her presence. He ambushed and kidnapped her on the road from Woodhill. Bringing her to
Vernon Mount
Vernon Mount (sometimes Vernon Mount House or Mount Vernon) is a ruined Georgian manor house in Cork, Ireland. It was built between the 1780s and early 1790s to designs attributed to Abraham Hargrave. Originally built for the merchant Hayes fam ...
, his residence, Hayes and his sister forced Pike into a marriage ceremony, which Pike resisted strongly. Her uncle, Richard, discovered that Pike was at Vernon Mount, rescued her. He put up a reward for the capture of Hayes and his accomplices, on top of the government offering of £1,000. Despite living in the vicinity of Cork, Hayes remained at large. He wrote to Pike to offer his surrender himself for trial if the reward was rescinded. He was finally brought before the Cork spring assizes on 13 April 1801, prosecuted by
John Philpot Curran
John Philpot Curran (24 July 1750 – 14 October 1817) was an Irish orator, politician, and lawyer celebrated for his defence of civil and political liberty. He first won popular acclaim in 1780, as the only lawyer in his circuit willing to repr ...
, with Hayes being sentenced to transportation to
Botany Bay
Botany Bay (Dharawal language, Dharawal: ''Kamay'') is an open oceanic embayment, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, south of the Sydney central business district. Its source is the confluence of the Georges River at Taren Point a ...
.
Pike was deeply affected by the abduction, appearing to have "developed a pathological fear of the male sex" and lived in a quaker retreat.
Other reports state that she was admitted to a mental institution.
She died in 1832 with a fortune of £55,000.
References
Further reading
* Groeger, Kieran (2019), ''The Much Maligned Mary Pike''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pike, Mary
1776 births
1832 deaths
18th-century Irish people
Irish Quakers
People from Cork (city)