Bryant, Mary (1765-?), was an English convict known for her escape from Australia. A convict is someone who has been found guilty of a crime. From 1787 to 1868, Britain (now the United Kingdom) transported more than 162,000 convicts to prison colonies in Australia. Bryant became internationally famous following her escape and subsequent recapture in the late 1700’s.
Mary Broad was born in 1765, in the town of Fowey in Cornwall, England. In 1786, she was charged with assault and robbery. She was found guilty and sentenced to transportation to Australia for seven years. Broad was transported on the convict ship Charlotte, which sailed as part of the First Fleet. The First Fleet was the first group of ships to carry convicts to Australia. Broad gave birth to a daughter, Charlotte, during the voyage.
In January 1788, the fleet landed at Botany Bay, on the southeast coast of Australia. Shortly after arriving in Australia, Broad married fellow convict William Bryant. Their son, Emmanuel, was born in April 1790. William Bryant worked on fishing boats around the settlement of Port Jackson in the newly formed colony of New South Wales. As with many other convicts in Australia, the Bryant family suffered under harsh treatment and poor conditions. The couple eventually decided to escape from the colony with their children.
The Bryants, their children, and seven other convicts left New South Wales in a stolen ship on March 28, 1791. Mary Bryant was the only adult woman in the party. The group sailed along Australia’s northeastern coast until they reached what is now Cape York, in the Australian state of Queensland. They then sailed west—first along the north coast, around what is now Arnhem Land, then through the Arafura Sea—for two months. In total, their journey lasted almost 10 weeks and covered 3,254 miles (5,237 kilometers).
The party finally landed at what is now the port city of Kupang, on the Indonesian island of Timor. There, they pretended to be the victims of a shipwreck. However, the Dutch authorities in Timor eventually became suspicious of the group and arrested them as escapees. They were turned over to a British naval officer, Captain Edward Edwards, who took them back to England to face trial. Many of the escapees died on the journey to England, including Mary Bryant’s husband and children.
Upon her return to England, Bryant was found guilty and ordered to serve the remainder of her original sentence. However, her story was published in British newspapers, where she was praised for her courage and resilience. Bryant was eventually pardoned in May 1793. It is thought that she returned to Cornwall, but little is known of her later years.
