Wollongong hosts 250th celebration of convict Mary Wade's birth

The English convict girl who escaped the hangman to become an Australian matriarch with more than 15,000 descendants – including former prime minister Kevin Rudd – is being celebrated in Wollongong.

Not only is Mary Wade’s story starring in the new She Shapes History tours that launched last weekend, but more than 50 descendants recently gathered at Wollongong Surf Leisure Resort to mark the 250^th anniversary of her birth.

“We had a range of generations represented, including a few 9th and 10th generation people,” said descendant Dennis O’Brien, the president of the Mary Wade Family History Association. 

Born in London, Mary stole a cotton frock and a cap, was convicted of highway robbery and condemned to death at age 13. That sentence was commuted and instead she was banished to Australia, sailing from Portsmouth in May 1789 aboard Lady Juliana, a ship of all-women convicts nicknamed 'the floating brothel'.

She landed in Sydney in the winter of 1790.

“I think Mary would be amused to think that her family has spread itself all over this continent and even New Zealand," Dennis said.

"She has among [her descendants], a Victoria Cross winner (World War Two), Gallipoli veterans, a Prime Minister, the founder of Milo, and many hundred of adventurers who farmed the outbacks of NSW and Queensland.

“We believe she would be pleased at the contribution we have made.”

Touring where Mary lived

On November 14, Federal Member for Cunningham Alison Byrnes and Wollongong MP Paul Scully welcomed the Mary Wade Family History Association to town for a weekend program that included DNA talks, family tree displays, and bus tours of Campbelltown and Wollongong, where Mary and her family lived.

The tour included a stop at Pioneer Park, where Mary is buried near the old entrance to the cemetery. She died on her 84th birthday, 17 December 1859, leaving behind many grand and great-grandchildren. 

“Family names that relate back to Mary are Brooker, Harrigan, Angel, Boon, Ray, Ledwidge, Lowe, Rudd, Hurst, Jenkins, Spinks, Griffin and over 3000 more,” Dennis said. “The current Official Family Tree has 15,600 descendants listed. We believe that is about 70% of them all.”

Former PM appeared via video

On the Saturday night, the association held a special 250^th Celebration of Mary’s Birth. 

“We had a nice evening of food, wine and for dessert we had a special cupcake with the Reunion symbol on top,” Dennis said.

“We had some early colonial music with a sing-along with a member who played her ukulele. At the dinner we cut a cake and sang Happy Birthday to Mary and the candles were blown out by two of our youngest descendants who were attending with family. That was great.”

One of Mary’s best-known descendants, now Australia’s Ambassador to the United States, made a guest appearance.

“We also had a video presentation from His Excellency Kevin Rudd, 26^th Prime Minister of Australia, who gave a 15-minute overview of the history of Mary, her descendants and the contribution they had made to our country’s development,” Dennis said. “He even wondered what Mary would think of her 5^th great-grandchild being prime minister.”

Mary, mother of many

Family reunions – or musters – have been held regularly since the 1980s. The last one was in 2022 at Norfolk Island, where Mary lived for about nine years after first being transported. She was, by some accounts, the youngest girl convict to land in Australia.

“There is a lot of information about Mary in the public domain,” Dennis said. 

“Mary was born in London in 1775, was a very poor as a child, most likely living a lot of time on the streets. Her family were around but they were not well-off. It is said she had a bad temper and could be rough, not sure how these fit with a child under 12. 

“She was part of a theft attempt against another young girl, stole some clothing and was later caught and tried on 12 January 1789, found guilty and sentenced to hang. Hanging was very common for most crimes in that period. Some say because of the illness of King George, it was decided to use these lower end convicts as a means of colonising the new lands found in Sydney Cove.”

Mary Wade endured an 11-month voyage aboard Lady Juliana, part of the Second Fleet. The all-women convict ship left Portsmouth in May 1789 and when it sailed into Sydney the population of women immediately doubled, according to NSW State Library.

“This is only two years after the First Fleet had arrived to settle Sydney,” Dennis said. “Mary was quickly sent off to Norfolk Island, where she stayed till 1799, and then settle in Sydney for a short time before moving to other parts of the colony.

“We believe Mary had two known partners, Teague Harrigan and Jonathan Brooker, the latter she married around 1817. It is possible that she may have spent time with other male convicts, especially when on Norfolk Island where the arrangements were for females to live with two or three males. DNA research is opening the chance to confirm other relationships, especially regarding her first two children.

“Mary, to our knowledge had 11 children of which seven survived past infancy: Sarah (1793-1887), William (1796-1885), Edward (1803-1891), John Brooker (1809-1886), Elizabeth Brooker (1810-1889), Mary Brooker (1812-1890), and James Brooker (1814-1880).”

While some websites say Mary had 21 children, Dennis said this is a mistake due to a misreading of an old document prepared in the 1860s.

Group unites 'nearly 1000 descendants'

President of the association for the past two years, Dennis’s own interest in family history began as a teenager in Melbourne, learning about his father’s side. It wasn’t until later, when he discovered his mother’s family in Sydney were descended from First and Second Fleet convicts, that Dennis found he was linked to Mary Wade. He joined the fledgling association in the 2000s. 

“We incorporated in 2018 and started to actively seek membership from descendants," he said. "We now have around 100 members and nearly 1000 descendants through the Facebook group. Though small, we hold reunions or musters every two or three years.”

For Dennis, a personal highlight of 2025's event was the chance to catch up with committee members and meet distant cousins.

“I was pleased to be able to hang a three-generational family tree, which was 1.5m height and 3.5m long – possibly the first time that has been able to be displayed. 

“We also had chart so that attendees could see how they are related to each other and how far back their line went. We also had a map of Australia/NZ showing where attendees had come from."

In 2025, the muster guests – mostly retirees – travelled from New South Wales, as well as interstate and New Zealand to meet in Wollongong. 

“The family has spread far and wide," Dennis said.

"We even have descendants living back in the UK or Europe.”

Read more

In 1986, the association published a book titled Mary Wade to Us: A Family History 1778-1986. Only two copies are held by Wollongong City Libraries – neither are available to loan, but can be viewed in the Local Studies reference section at Wollongong Library.

Visit the Mary Wade Family History Association's website.