The story of Ann Carey is a tale of hardship, a good deal of sadness but punctuated by happier interludes throughout her life, told by our speaker Rosemary Noble, who has extensively researched the subject.
Ann was born in Norfolk in January 1772; her early life was a difficult one. At the age of 14, Ann was arrested for stealing clothing and again a second time for stealing caps and two handkerchiefs, resulting in her trial in 1789 at Norwich Assizes. Her punishment was seven years transportation to Australia. Between the years of 1788 and 1868, over 162,000 men, women and some children were transported in the most dreadful conditions aboard the prison ships.
Ann endured this terrible journey, sailing from Plymouth on 19 January 1790 and arriving in Port Jackson (Sydney Cove) on June 28 1790. The ship ‘Neptune’ was an 809-ton merchant ship built on the River Thames in 1779. It became the largest and most infamous convict transport ship of Australia's Second Fleet, earning the label "Hell Ship" due to the extreme mistreatment and high mortality rate of the people on board. She was the largest ship of the notorious Second Fleet, consisting of six ships. Neptune sailed with 499 convicts, 78 of those were female.
Ann married her first husband Stephen in 1791, and they had a young family. Three years later, following her settlement in New South Wales, Ann and Stephen together with 150 convicts were put on ships to Norfolk Island, a week’s sailing from Sydney. Norfolk Island was generally used to grow crops for Sydney but this became unsustainable due to failing harvests and the salty winds. In 1799 Stephen and one of their sons died.
Following Ann’s return to Sydney she married Theophilus Feutrill. They were granted several hundred acres of land at Bankstown, this was possible under the free settlers policy following the completion of their sentences. Ann and Theophilus went on to have 13 children of which 8 lived to adulthood.
By 1804 Ann had sold many acres to Matthew Flanders and the family moved to Van Dieman’s Land (later named Tasmania). Ann was one of the first white women to settle in Tasmania.
The Sri Lankan war from 1796-1818 saw Theophilus and one of his sons joining the army which sailed to modern day Ceylon. This was a difficult time for the whole family. In 1814 Theophilus deserted and was sent back to England, his son died in Sri Lanka in 1818. Back in England Theophilus was found hanged in his cell.
There is a fascinating coincidence between the stealing of two handkerchiefs which led to Ann’s second arrest and her transportation to Australia and her life with her second husband and the final demise of Theophilus who hanged himself with two handkerchiefs over ten thousand miles away from his beloved family in Tasmania.
Ann died in Launceston, Tasmania in 1830. Her descendants live on around the world and her legacy is one of hardship but of great determination to survive and thrive in such a harsh landscape. Perhaps she is able to give some of us the inspiration to count our blessings today.