Gravesites Of Tasmania

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MARY THICKENS

Convicts

Mary Sullivan( may be her married name) was born in County Cork in Ireland around 1824. In Ireland she was married and widowed, we are unsure if her maiden name was Sullivan or if that was her married name. In 1848 Mary resorted to Arson as a means to get transported to Australia

The Constitution or Cork Advertiser 2 May 1848 p. 2 col. 5.

Margaret Stafford, Catherine Cullinane, and Mary Sullivan, arson, transported 15 years

Mary Sullivan stated her offence to be burning a house for the purpose of being transported; her prosecutor was Connell at Douglas . She confessed to one previous conviction: breaking [ ? ] 1 month

Her Convict record is as follows

Mary Sullivan 1st Lord Auckland 1849 No.

TRIAL PLACE: Cork

TRIAL DATE: 1 May 1848

OFFENCE: arson

SENTENCE: 15 years

SURGEON'S REPORT: 'midling'

AGE: 28

NATIVE PLACE: Co. Cork

MARITAL STATUS: widowed

RELIGION: Roman Catholic

LITERACY: could not read or write

HEIGHT: 5'½ "

TRADE: housemaid

FAMILY: parents, Timothy and Mary; brothers Michael and Pat; and sisters Bridget, Johanna, Ellen and Margaret, at her Native Place

She met and married her new husband, Samuel Thickers in Tasmania , Samuel was also a convict, he changed his name on the wedding document and was now known as Thickins.

Mary Sullivan 1st Lord Auckland and Samuel Thickers John Calvin applied for permission to marry on 22 April 1851.[2] Mary Sullivan, a twenty-seven-year-old widowed servant, and Samuel Thickers, a twenty-five-year-old iron turner, were married by banns on 12 May 1851 in St. Joseph 's Catholic Church, Hobart, by Rev. Hall. Witnesses were Henry Jeffs and Mary Jeffs.[3]

On 27 November 1855, before the Chief Police Magistrate, Mary Thickers, free, was charged by Catherine Fielding with unlawfully threatening to do her some grievous bodily harm. The complaint was dismissed because the parties did not appear. Costs of 7/6 were paid.[5]

Mary and Samuel had six children, all of whom survived.

For reasons as yet unknown Samuel left Mary in Tasmania . We are trying to find out if she was left when her son Richard emigrated to NewZealand around 1874 or when Richard came back to Australia to live in Victoria around 1888. Either way this seems to be when all mention of convict history was forgotten. Samuel Thickins died a fortunate man, his son and grandson were doing very well for themselves and he lived to see his great grandson and great granddaughter. We have portrait of the four generations of the Thickins men, and my grandfather spoke fondly of his great grandfather, never mentioning Mary or any convict past. Samuel died in 1908 and was buried in a fine grave in the Methodist section of the Brighton cemetery. We only discovered Mary's poor burial last year, something else that had been covered up. It is nice to know that we now remember her.

Mary Thickens, buried in a Paupers grave, Cornelian Bay 21/08/1906

died at the New Town Charitable Institution

Submitted by Alison Jones

alisonsjones@gmail.com

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Gravesites Of Tasmania, Honouring the past, building understanding.