Mary Sampson Thomas Bray was born in about 1826, and baptised in East Newlyn in Cornwall on 23 July 1826. She was named after her Aunt, Mary Sampson Thomas, sister of her mother Margaret Thomas.
Mary was the eldest child of Philip Bray, a coal miner, and Margaret Thomas. The Bray family were originally from the areas of Gwennap and Redruth in Cornwall, both mining towns. Mary's parents lived in the North East Cornwall mining areas of Newlyn East and St Allens when she was a child.
Mary's father died in a mining accident in St Allens, Cornwall, when she was 10 years old. A year later, her mother remarried Samuel Warren.
In the 1841 census in England, she is recorded living with her stepfather, Samuel Warren, her mother, and 6 siblings. The family lived in Devon for a period prior to coming to Australia.
Mary arrived in Australia on the 'William Metcalfe' as an assisted immigrant, docking in Sydney on 13 March 1844. Her mother and step-father and her brothers and sisters were on the same boat. She was aged 18, described as a 'children's nurse', noted to be able to read and write and her religion was 'protestant'.
After Mary arrived in Sydney, she was employed by J J Moore, near Liverpool at 12 pounds per month, presumably in a domestic role. She married Alexander Baird in 1846, when she was 20 years old. Eight of her 13 children, survived to adulthood.
Following Alexander Baird's death, Mary married Henry Gee, a builder. She died of pleurisy and emphysema in Sydney at the age of 68 and is buried at Rookwood Cemetery, at the time referred to as the Necropolis.
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B > Bray | G > Gee > Mary Sampson Thomas (Bray) Gee
Categories: William Metcalfe, Arrived 13 Mar 1844 | Assisted Immigrants from Cornwall to Australia