On her arrival in Hobart Town on the 9th April, 1842, it was noted that Mary had worked as a kitchen maid in Cardiff, Wales. Her conduct on board the Emma Eugenia was described as having been ‘tolerably good’.
Queens Orphanage records at Newtown suggest that she may have worked there as a cook and a kitchen maid after her arrival until August 22nd, 1844 which was just after she had married. -Not confirmed. She was not recorded as being an inmate in the Cascades Female Factory.
Mary was described as being 5ft 2 ¾ inches in height. She had a fresh complexion, and oval head and visage, brown hair and eyes, a short nose, medium mouth, round chin and a scar on her forehead. Above her left arm she had the letters ‘A.B.T’ and ‘Fish’ on the right. She was able to read.
There were no blemishes on her convict record in Hobart town until after she had she married in 1844. In October of 1844, she was found to be out after hours and received a month’s hard labour. Soon afterwards she had received 14 days hard labour for disturbing the peace. She gained a ticket of leave on the 11th Nov, 1845 and was recommended for a conditional pardon in November of the following year. She would be pardoned on the 11th July, 1848, receiving her certificate of freedom on the 8th August.
Late in 1842 or in 1843, Mary had met a wood turner, a Joseph HOSKINS (later spelt as Hosking).
Joseph was born in Falmouth, Cornwall around 1812 of unconfirmed parents although his father was possibly carpenter, Richard Hoskins who was recorded as living in Falmouth in 1841. It is apparent that Joseph moved to London prior to 1832, either with the intention of finding work or having been offered a position before he left Cornwall. He was known to have been employed by a man of Jewish persuasion- Emanuel ‘Money’ Moses who was a publican at the Black Lion Hotel, Vinegar Yard, off Drury Lane near Covent Garden.
(Note -‘Money’ Moses along with daughter Alice Abrahams and other Jewish Londoners would later be implicated in the illegal receiving and sale of known stolen gold dust, transported from traders William Carne & Co. of Falmouth in Cornwall in 1839.All would be sent to Van Diemens Land. Another relative, Isaac ‘Ikey’ Solomon would be also sent out for separate charges of a similar nature)