Mary Cullinford. b. abt 1806

[Tineke]

Hello.   I am hoping someone can give me lead into finding anything about Mary Cullingford prior to 1838    Mary was a widow so Cullingford is her married name.  , I do not know a way to find out about her prior to her marriage.
Mary was tried at Southampton Azzizes on 2nd April 1838  for larceny.  (. she stole a blanket from her employer ).   Mary was sentenced to 7 years transportation to Van Diemans Land. I have all her records from then on.   
  How can I find out about her previous to 1838. .?  She may have had children . Any help very much appreciated.   Kind regards. Tineke

[dee-jay]

From the Criminal Register it appears that was Mary CULLINGFORD's third conviction, hence the transportation.
 
The case was heard at Portsmouth Borough Sessions and the Hampshire Chronicle Monday 09 April 1838 reported that the 'blanket & c.', the property of John EDWARDS, was stolen at Portsea.  There are several of his name in Portsea in 1841:  do you have any idea of his trade?

Unfortunately the British Library Newspaper Archive OCR presented problems, not only from the original hyphenatiion of Mary's surname, which is why it took me a while to locate the Chronicle report and make a load of necessary corrections.  If I persevere, it may be possible to locate other newspaper reports,  but don't hold your breath!  If you'd like a copy of my transcription, please PM me with your email address.

If Mary had any dependent children it is likely they would have been repatriated to their respective Poor Law Union of parishes of origin. I've not encountered anything that records Mary a widow.

Happy hunting!

[Tineke]

Thank you for this information. I have only discovered Mary because, after transportation she met and  married  my distant cousin. also a convict .  They asked permission to marry. which was granted and married in 1840in Avoca. Tasmania.  I have a copy of the marriage certificate which states she is a widow. Having found all the information I can on Samuel her husband ,I decided to try and out more about Mary and wondered what circumstances  got her into the mess she was in .
    Mary and Samuel served their time. (Samuel became a constable ).They settled in Campbeltown and died there .
 If you manage to get any more information I would be delighted. Please email
*
    Many thanks.  again. Tineke

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[dee-jay]

Tineke,
You'll find my transcription in a PM addressed to you.

[PamberG]

I have checked Hampshire marriage records & unfortunately there is no marriage of a Mary to a Mr. CULLINGFORD (or variations) in the period 1820 to 1838. Also no baptisms of CULLINGFORD children in the same period in Hampshire where the mother is Mary. Finally there are no male burials for any possible husband in Hampshire in the period up to 1838. So it looks as though Mary was from another county, but we don't have any clues at present. On a quick look it seems that Suffolk & Norfolk have quite a few people of that name.

PamberG

[matthewj64]

Hi Tineke

Her convict description says 'Suffolk' - I've checked other entries and am confident this refers to her native place.

I would also put more weight on her convict records, which consistently state her as single, over her marriage register entry as a widow. A possible reason to call herself a widow may have been to prevent having to explain why she was still not married at 32 - just a guess 

M