An Irish convict who was convicted at the Lifford Assizes and arrived in Sydney in June 1802 on the ‘Hercules’, He was sent from Sydney to Norfolk Island and while there had a relationship with Mary Ann MARTIN. He sailed on the 'Lady Nelson' to Hobart in 1808 and was granted land. In 1829 Coventry was convicted of stealing three Bullocks and sentenced to seven years at Sarah Island in Macquarie Harbour. On 3 September 1830 he absconded with four others, by overpowering a guard and robbing him of everything he had, including his food, and fled into bushland. Lack of food meant they turned to cannabalism and William as the oldest was the first to die and be eaten. Two were later re-captured and executed in Hobart on 5 August 1831. These two, Edward Broughton and Matthew MacAvoy, confessed to the murder and cannibalism of their companions, Hutchinson, Coventry, and Fagan.