Mary Ann (Hampton) Riley (1815 - 1898)

Born 17 Mar 1815 in Woodchurch, Kent, England, United Kingdom

Ancestors

Wife of William Knight — married 30 May 1841 (to about 1844) in Woodchurch, Kent, England, United Kingdom

Wife of John Riley — married about 1845 in Raymond Terrace, New South Wales, Australia

Descendants

Died 13 Apr 1898 at age 83 in Guernsey Street, Scone, New South Wales, Australia

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Peter Jones [send private message], Neil Newton [send private message], Maureen Joliffe [send private message], and Yvonne Hudson [send private message]

Biography

Mary Ann was baptised at Snargate, Kent, England, on 28 Nov 1819.^[1]. She is the daughter of William Hampton and Mary Muckaway.

When she was around 17 years old, in 1836, her father, William was convicted of stealing firewood and sentenced to be transported to New South Wales, Australia for seven years. In practice, this was a life sentence to the colony for most convicts as very few were able to save enough money to pay their passage back home once their time was served, and William was no different.

In May 1841, at Woodchurch, Kent, she married William Knight.^[2][3][4][5] Within months the family emmigrated to Australia. Mary's arrival with William in New South Wales is evidenced in the ships list, showing:^[6]

Knight, Mary Anne, 21, farm servant, Protestant, Kent

The shipping record further notes that she could read but not write and that a bounty of 19 shillings was paid for her immigration. The line below hers, with a scribbled line through it but still legible, records the death of her daughter:

Knight, girl, 9 months, died on the passage, Protestant, Kent

Ultimately, by 1860 most of Mary's immediate family left Kent and the majority made their new homes in Australia:

• Younger sister Phillis (Hampton) Dunster had married at Woodchurch, Kent, in 1840 and her family emigrated to New York in 1850.
• Her maternal uncle, Richard Muckaway and his family emigrated to New Zealand in 1841.
• Younger brother James married in New South Wales in 1845.
• Brother Thomas and his family^[7], younger sister Salina (married at Ashford, Kent, in 1855) and her family, younger brother Edmund, plus their older half-brother William (Robinson) Mackaway and his family, all arrived in New South Wales in 1855 aboard the Hilton.

According to Louise Westall Taylor:^[8]

Mary Anne had followed her father to New South Wales arriving in Sydney in 1841. She had left England on the 'Fairlie' with her husband, William Knight, and their young baby who died from ‘inflammation’ during the voyage. They both worked for Thos. Love and Co. in Sydney to whom they had been assigned, before going north to the Lower Hunter region not far from where Mary Anne’s father and uncle were living. Knight died around this time since, in 1845, Mary Anne married convict John Royle (alias Riley) at Raymond Terrace.

Royle and Mary Anne went on to have 15 children, three of whom died in their infancy. Small parcels of land were purchased by Royle in the townships of Scone and Aberdeen in the Upper Hunter in the period 1854-55. Their children stayed in the general area and gradually bought up larger quantities of land. The eldest son and his wife also had 15 children, all born in Gunnedah, and the youngest couple had 14, all born in Scone. Unsurprisingly, there are many of their descendants in the Scone/Gunnedah region today.

Mary Ann would ultimately give birth to seventeen children, the majority of whom were still alive when she died:

1. Mary Ann Knight (abt.1841-1841) (died at sea on her voyage to Australia
2. Mary Ann (Knight) Newman (abt.1843-1909)
3. Ruth Riley (1845-1847) (died at Aberdeen at two years of age)
4. John Riley (1846-1898)
5. James Riley (1848-1921)
6. William George Riley (1849-1852) (died at Aberdeen at three years of age)
7. Richard John Riley (1851-1916)
8. Elizabeth (Riley) Jones (1852-1919)
9. Jane Riley (abt.1853-abt.1854) (died at around one year of age)
10. Sarah (Riley) Wilkinson (abt.1854-1919)
11. Philip Riley (1855-1918)
12. Cornelius William (Rilley) Riley (1857-1928)
13. Ruth (Royle) Jones (1858-1921)
14. Alfred Riley (abt.1859-abt.1861) (died at around two years of age)
15. Selina (Riley) Jones (1860-1917)
16. Louisa Riley (abt.1862-bef.1873) (died at around 11 years of age)
17. George (Royle) Riley (1862-1925)

Mary Ann died in April 1898.^[9] The family's grief is evidenced by the In Memoriam notices published in the following year:^[10]

IN MEMORIAM

In loving remembrance of my dear mother, Mary Ann Riley, who departed this life on April 13th, 1898, aged 81 years.

"Gone, but not forgotten.

Inserted by her affectionate daughter, Elizabeth Jones, "Rose Valley."

--------------------------------

In loving rememberance of our dear mother, who departed this life on 13th of April,1898.

You are not forgotten, mother dear,

Nor shall you ever be;

As long as life and memory lasts,

We will remember thee.

Inserted by her loving son and daughter in-law, George and Annie Riley, Gundy.

Sources

1. ↑ "England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NY6V-VS4 : 6 December 2014, Mary Anne Hampton, 28 Nov 1819); citing Snargate, Kent, England, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,835,740.
2. ↑ Woodchurch Local and Family History, Marriage Details: William Knight & Mary Ann Hampton, 30 May 1841
3. ↑ "England, Kent, Parish Registers, 1538-1911," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJDL-Q6QF : 17 July 2017), William Knight and Mary Ann Hampton, 09 May 1841; citing Marriage, Woodchurch, Kent, England, Kent Archives Office, Maidstone; FHL microfilm 1,866,587.
4. ↑ "England Marriages, 1538–1973 ," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NXL3-YHL : 10 December 2014), William Knight and Mary Ann Hampton, 30 May 1841; citing Woodchurch, Kent, England, reference Page 20 No. 39, index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City; FHL microfilm 1,473,776.
5. ↑ "England, Kent, Parish Registers, 1538-1911," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QJDL-Q6QF : 17 July 2017), William Knight and Mary Ann Hampton, 09 May 1841; citing Marriage, Woodchurch, Kent, England, Kent Archives Office, Maidstone; FHL microfilm 1,866,587.
6. ↑ Page=NRS5316/4_4788/Fairlie_5%20Nov%201841/4_478800293.jpg&No=3 NSW Records Archive for the Fairlie, arrived 5 Nov 1841, p3
7. ↑ Also accompanying Thomas and his wife were her parents Moses Law (abt.1802-1876) and Celia (Oliver) Law (abt.1804-1891)
8. ↑ Recovering Lives: 15 Convicts In New South Wales, A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at The Australian National University, February 2015, Louise Westall Taylor, pp 210-
9. ↑ NSW BDM Death registration of RILEY, MARY A, reg. no. 7171/1898, showing parents WILLIAM and MARY A, registered at SCONE
10. ↑ Family Notices (1899, April 14). The Scone Advocate (NSW : 1887 - 1954), p. 2. Retrieved March 3, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article156259388