Convict's wife runs inn on Bathurst road

It wasn't just convicts that were sent to the NSW penal colony. Many free spouses followed their imprisoned partners, along with their children, in the hope of making a better life while prison terms were served. They may have hoped to return to Britain but many stayed on and contributed to the burgeoning communities in such a far off land.

This was the story of Mary Hardwick, wife of convicted felon, Pierce Briggington Collitts. She was born in London in in 1769 to parents, Edward and Mary. Her first child with Pierce was Sarah, born in 1792. The couple then married at St Dunstanes, Stepney in London.

Collits Inn at Hartley Vale, run by Pierce and Mary Collits. Courtesy Wikipedia.

Their second daughter, Maria, was born in 1796. Then Pierce did something to change the whole future of the family. For whatever reason, Pierce knowingly received stolen goods from Edward Baldwin who pilfered 12 yards of mode, 12 yards of muslin, 18 yards of lace and 14 handkerchiefs. He was sentenced at the Old Bailey to 14 years transportation.

Mary and her two daughters (there were two sons that didn't survive past 1801) followed Pierce to the other side of the world. She was allocated land at Castlereagh, past Penrith and her husband was assigned to her as convict help.

The couple had three boys and one daughter in quick succession. They did their best to eke a living out of the harsh and strange environment as Pierce worked out his sentence. Mary would teach local children a basic education and Pierce would take on positions of constable, pound-keeper and inspector of cattle.

By 1822 Pierce was a free man and after receiving a land grant at the foothills of Mount York, on the northern side, he and his son were exploring the very rough road to where they would eventually build an inn that would be popular with the passing traffic between Sydney and the newly established Bathurst.

While the couple ran Collett's Inn, as it became known, they still owned 200 cattle and crops on the Nepean. Mary and her ex-convict husband, Pierce, were becoming a couple of standing in the burgeoning colony.

However, when the Great Western Highway was built, bypassing the little inn at Hartley Vale, Pierce and Mary had to revert the land to a farm to continue to make a living from it. There were many stories of bushrangers drinking at the inn and an illicit love affair that would later become a musical.

Mary Collits final resting place. Courtesy Findagrave.

Mary died in 1841 when she was "killed accidentally" according to the coroner's report. She is buried in Hartley cemetery, next to Pierce, who followed her in 1848.

References

• 'Mary, daughter of Edward and Mary', Parish records for January 1770 at St Leonard, Shoreditch, ancestry.com, accessed 13th January, 2025.

• 'Pierce Collet and Mary Hardwick', London Metropolitan Archives: St Dunstan and All saints Register of Marriages Aug 1792 - Sep 1796, ancestry.com, accessed 13th January, 2025.

• 'Edward Baldwin and Pearce Collett', The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, accessed 13th January, 2025, www.oldbaileyonline.org

• 'Australoddities', The Southern Mail, Friday 23 November, 1951, Page 10