Mary Bryant was charged with assault and robbery, convicted and sentenced to death. Her sentence was reduced to transportation for seven years. She arrived on the First Fleet of Botany Bay. On 1788 Mary married a fisherman named William Bryant. One night Mary, William and their two children, both under the age of four, escaped with seven other convict men in the governor’s boat. Travelling nearly five thousand kilometers they reached Timor, Indonesia. Eventually Mary, one of her children and four convict men made it to England. She was re-tried for her crime and given a pardon. Bryant is remembered because she was one of the first escapees from
