Mary Gutsell was born 17 March 1822 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia to John Gutsell (c1784-1853) and Frances Tomsett (c1785-1853) and died 6 October 1892 Laughtondale, Hawkesbury River, New South Wales, Australia of unspecified causes.
Mary was the daughter of convicts.
1. Mary's mother was the convict Fanny Gutsell (Frances Gutsell nee Tomsett) who arrived in Sydney on 18 Jun 1815 at the age of 29 aboard the Northampton after being convicted for 7 years on 21 Mar 1814 in the Lewes, Sussex Assizes. (Fanny was a pet-name for Frances. In the 1822 muster of New South Wales she is shown not as Fanny Gutsell but as Frances Gutsell. It is also the name given for their mother on the birth records for Mary & her sisters Charlotte & Frances, and on the death records for Charlotte & Mary.) On the birth records of Mary (1822), and her sisters Charlotte (1819) & Frances (1817), and on the death records of both Charlotte & Mary, it is stated that their father's name was John Gutsell. This means that her mother Fanny was a married woman when she was transported to Sydney, Australia, in 1815. It also means that her father joined their mother in New South Wales.
2. Mary's father was the convict John Gold (Gould) who arrived in Sydney 7 months later on 18 January 1816 at the age of 31 aboard the Fanny after being convicted for 7 years on 11 Jul 1814 in the Cantervury, Kent Assizes. John Gould was an alias, Gould being the maiden surname of his mother. John Gould was Fanny Gutsell's husband John Gutsell. Kent is the county immediately to the right of Sussex, and it was common for people to travel between the counties of Sussex and Kent. Frances' father is not the convict John Gutsell who arrived in Sydney in mid-1820 aboard the Eliza, far to late to be the father of Mary's sisters.
The matter of Mary's parents, the alias that her father was using, and the details contained in the records, is more fully discussed in the entries for her parents.
Mary's marriage
In 1840 Mary married James Cole who was about 28 years of age. At 18, Mary was older than her sisters had been when they married so she did not give birth to as many children, or over as long a period. In total Mary gave birth to 11 children over a 24 year period from the ages of 21 to 45.
Mary's husband James Cole had been born in Bristol, England. He supported his family by farming, operating a public punt over the Hawkesbury River at Peats Ferry, and having a mail contract for one day a week.
Children