Margaret Humphreys

From Crime to Redemption: A Convict’s Journey (1817-1833)

Criminal Conviction & Transportation
14 December 1817
Assault at St Paul’s
Assaulted James Redman at St Paul’s, Shadwell, London
14 January 1818
Criminal Conviction
Convicted of violent theft and highway robbery, sentenced to transportation
September 1818
Arrival in Australia
Arrived in New South Wales aboard the convict ship “Maria”
Marriage & Family Life
23 March 1819
Permission to Marry
Granted permission to marry James McCarthy
11 April 1819
First Marriage
Married James McCarty by banns within the district of Castlereagh & Richmond
1820
First Child Born
Birth of daughter Mary Anne McCarthy
1822
General Muster
Listed as wife of JJ McCarthy, Windsor, with 2 unnamed children
16 September 1823
Assigned Service
Assigned to James McCarthy of Kent Street
Path to Freedom
20 January 1827
Memorial for Release
Memorial to Colonial Secretary requesting release from Female Factory to care for infant child
10 December 1827
Ticket of Leave Granted
Granted Ticket of Leave, allowed to remain in the district of Sydney
11 October 1828
Lost Ticket Explained
James McCarthy (police conductor) writes to explain lost ticket of leave
26 February 1829
New Charges
Charged in Sydney with “Aiding and assisting a runaway in his escape on the Parramatta Road”
30 March 1829
Appeal for Children
Letter to Colonial Secretary asking for release to care for children and restore ticket of leave
30 September 1829
Marriage Complications
Application to marry James Harding due to James McCarty’s previous marriage and his former wife arriving in colony
22 November 1829
Second Marriage
Married James Harding in chapel at Sackville Reach
24 January 1833
Petition for Pardon
James Harding petitions for conditional pardon, stating they rent 12 acres at Lower Branch of Hawkesbury with 1 child