Mary Ann (Turnbull) Wright (1797 - 1825)

Born 23 Dec 1797 in London, Middlesex, England

Ancestors

Wife of James Joseph Hartley — married 1813 (to 22 Dec 1813) in St Matthews Church of England, Windsor, New South Wales, Australia

Wife of James Wright — married 1816 in St Matthews Church of England, Windsor, New South Wales, Australia

Descendants

Died 7 Feb 1825 at age 27 in Hawkesbury, New South Wales, Australia

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Biography

Mary (Turnbull) Wright was born in London, Middlesex, England.

Mary (Turnbull) Wright has Scottish Ancestors.

Mary (Turnbull) Wright came free to the Colony of New South Wales (1788-1900)

Mary Ann was born in 1797. She was the daughter of John Turnbull and Ann Warr.

She passed away in 1825:^[1][2]

The following may be depended on as too true an account of the direful deed glanced at in our last:–On Saturday morning, the 5th Feb, between 8 and 9 in the morning, a most barbarous murder was committed on the body of Mrs. Wright, a daughter of Mr. Turnbull's, Portland-head, by her husband.—This dreadful event took place in their own house, 0n the first branch of the River Hawkesbury. The first notice of it was given by one of the children, who cried out to Mr. Cavenagh's people, the nearest neighbours, that her mother was killed, and that her father had run away. On entering the house a shocking scene presented itself. The woman was lying on the floor covered over with the bed, bathed with gore, and quite speechless. On examination she was found to have received several mortal fractures upon the head, besides several bruises in other parts of the body. The axe, which had been the instrument of inflicting these wounds, was lying, at a little distance covered with blood and hair. Medical aid was procured with the utmost despatch; but it was unavailing—the poor woman died on Monday. On the Coroner's Inquest it was ascertained that the woman, as well as her husband, had been seen only a few minutes before the deed was perpetrated. The children had been sent to their customary employments; the eldest, a boy, to mind the pigs; the second, a girl, to frighten away the cockatoos from the maize, who had also to nurse the youngest child, an infant about a year old. There was only this difference; that the father sent away the least boy with some bread to his elder brother, which was an unusual thing. There was no evidence of any domestic quarrel either that morning, or the preceding night; nor of the intoxication of either of the parties.—Some conversation, however, of rather a singular nature, occurred on Friday evening. The woman, on telling her son that she should go with him in the morning to the place where he took the pigs, that she might get some peaches, added—"If I live till the morning, for I may die, or I may be killed;" on which her husband said– 'Killed! why, who is to kill you if I do not?"; she replied, "No, there is no one to kill me if you don't." The Coroner's Inquest was wilful murder against the husband; who has not yet been found, though several persons think they have seen him prowling about in the neighbourhood. By others it is conjectured, as he took his razors with him, that he has destroyed himself.

Sources

1. ↑ NSW BDM death 6350/1825 V18256350 2B
2. ↑ Tasmanian and Port Dalrymple Advertiser (Launceston, Tas), 6 April 1825, p 4

• NSW BDM marriage 1581/1813 V18131581 3A
• NSW BDM marriage 1981/1816 V18161981 3A

See also:

• 'Wright, Mary Ann (1797–1825)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/wright-mary-ann-17202/text28997, accessed 10 November 2017.
• EBENEZER PIONEERS OF THE HAWKESBURY. (1923, April 6). Windsor and Richmond Gazette (NSW : 1888 - 1965), p. 1. Retrieved April 14, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article85868665