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Mary Raycraft

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Birth	:	1788 Berkshire, England
Death	:	Jan 1827
Burial	:	Saint Matthew's Anglican Church Cemetery, Windsor, Hawkesbury City, Australia
Coordinate	:	-33.6092840, 150.8116340
Description	:	Mary Raycroft, born c1788 England was the daughter of Elizabeth Raycroft. Tried on 7 December 1804, Mary Ann Raycraft, aged eighteen, from the county of Bristol, was committed on 8 December 1804 to Newgate Prison from the Sessions of the Peace, Middlesex, before Mr Grose. Her alleged crime was not stated, she was sentenced to seven years transportation. The remarks column referred back to a previous case in October 1804 for stealing linen apparel from a dwelling house, tried 26 October, she was not found guilty. It appears Mary Ann Raycraft/Raycroft noticed Mary Briant crying at the bottom of Whitecross... Read More	Mary Raycroft, born c1788 England was the daughter of Elizabeth Raycroft. Tried on 7 December 1804, Mary Ann Raycraft, aged eighteen, from the county of Bristol, was committed on 8 December 1804 to Newgate Prison from the Sessions of the Peace, Middlesex, before Mr Grose. Her alleged crime was not stated, she was sentenced to seven years transportation. The remarks column referred back to a previous case in October 1804 for stealing linen apparel from a dwelling house, tried 26 October, she was not found guilty. It appears Mary Ann Raycraft/Raycroft noticed Mary Briant crying at the bottom of Whitecross Street (11km from Portugal Street, Lincoln's Inn Field where William Baker had been the potboy) and being concerned crossed the street to see if Briant needed help. Mary Briant had stolen a shirt and neck handkerchief the property of Richard Turner of No. 37 Banner Street, near Finsbury Square and was being pursued down the street after being searched by Turner's daughter. As Mary was comforting Briant she was taken as an accomplice. Briant was found guilty sentenced to one year in the house of correction, before Mr Baron Thompson, the First Middlesex jury, Old Baily proceedings, 8th Session. (Greater London Records Office, Criminal Register, Series I, Home Office 26/10). It is unknown if the two young ladies were acquaintances. Mary Ann Raycroft's voyage on the William Pitt was a very different experience to that suffered by William Baker, her life partner, who was transported for seven years on the hell-ship Neptune. On Saturday afternoon, 13 July 1805, twenty-five female convicts were removed in two wagons from Newgate prison to the William Pitt, among them was Mary Raycraft. The William Pitt departed from Falmouth, with 119 female convicts and one male. Among the free passengers were Charles Grimes the deputy surveyor for the colony. It was from Charles Grimes that our William Baker bought his Hawkesbury land at Richmond Bottoms/Cornwallis. Others on board were Mr & Mrs Gregory Blaxland and their children and servants. Gregory Blaxland was an explorer, one to go down in history as Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth who crossed the Blue Mts. After leaving England the William Pitt called in at Madeira (staying 3 days), San Salvadore (3 weeks), Cape of Good Hope (5 weeks) arriving at Port Jackson 11 April 1806. With only four deaths the 117 convicts arrived in good health after their 223-day voyage. Mary Ann was a young woman when she stepped ashore and into the life of William Baker in 1806. The same year William Baker and his wife Sarah (nee Draper) agreed to lead separate lives, but Sarah remained his legal wife. In 1805 Chapel Row (Castlereagh Street), Sydney Town, was predominantly the location for shops and trades, with the dwellings used for trading & accommodation. William Baker Settler, after gaining his freedom farmed along the Hawkesbury River at Pitt Town Bottoms and later Richmond Bottoms before trying his hand as a merchant in Sydney Town. He owned No 49 Chapel Row where he operated his business. Also in Chapel Row was Mary Ann Raycroft. William Baker became acquainted with Mary soon after opening his Chapel Row shop. It is quite possible that Mary gained her freedom on arrival because she was to be suitably employed by William Baker. The 1806 Muster shows Mary Raycroft as a convict arriving on the female convict ship William Pitt, transported for seven years. She was self-employed and holding a ticket-of-leave. On arrival Mary had been given lenient treatment as it was extremely rare for a convict to be given a ticket-of-leave immediately on landing. In 1807 men's & women's apparel was stolen from the Chapel Row residence of Mary Ann Raycraft. the premises feloniously entered, and a quantity of men and women's wearing apparel stolen, part of which was the same night found secreted in and about the premises of Rosetta White, who was taken into custody, and underwent an examination on Tuesday, when she was remanded. (was this William's merchandise?) By 1807 William Baker was getting his affairs in order to leave his Sydney Town premises to return to Green Hills. All his properties in Chapel Row were offered for sale. Mary Raycroft became William's life partner and mother of his children. On 29 August 1808, in the Register of Births of St Matthew's Anglican Church, Windsor, is shown the birth of William to William Baker and Mary Raycroft. William Baker had returned to Green Hills on the Hawkesbury River, he was now with Mary beginning a new life in a rapidly expanding community. William and Mary had five more children all born in Windsor: Elizabeth born 8 March 1810, John Thomas born 27 May 1813, Mary born 10 September 1815, Daniel (Raycroft later Racraft) born 21 May 1820 and James (later Henry) born 25 May 1822. All the children's baptisms were registered in Windsor. By 1810 William Baker, described as a small enterprising man, had purchased his first lot of land at Green Hills on Baker's Line, the boundary between the Government Domain and Whitehouse Farm. When Governor Macquarie established his town of Windsor adjoining the Green Hills, Baker's Line became Baker Street. It was where William kept his Royal Oak Inn, presumably the family lived in quarters at the inn. In later years William built the family a new home on the corner of Kable and George Streets. It was a grand two storey home facing George Street, which was the principal street in the town. William Baker and Mary Ann Raycroft were both literate and so it can be presumed that all their children attended the parochial school. Mary's mother Elizabeth came out from England on the Midas in 1821 to join them in the family home, but their happiness was cut short with the death first of Elizabeth late 1826 and a few weeks later Mary herself. She was just thirty-eight years old when buried on 4 January 1827. In 1829 William was to follow her to the grave buried 3 September 1829 at St Matthew's Church burial grounds. Only the burial is registered and not the grave location. It can be presumed that William Baker was buried alongside Mary Ann. In 2010 the descendants of William Baker, Sarah Draper and Mary Ann Raycroft held a reunion at St Matthew's. The church allocated a site in the far corner of the graveyard for a memorial marker to all William Baker's family buried in unmarked graves. A reliable family member has said that information passed down within the family that William and Mary Ann are buried with their daughter Elizabeth Smith in the Smith Family Vault. This corresponds with the area my research would suggest to the location for William Baker's grave. It was an area favoured by the wealthy emancipist businessmen. Raycraft or Raycroft? A question difficult to answer. Raycraft: A 1807 Newspaper report for Rosetta White stealing wearing apparel from Mary Raycraft's dwelling house in Chapel Row. Raycroft: 1804 Criminal Register & Old Bailey Proceedings; Baptisms of her children, 1810 Elizabeth, 1813 John Thomas, 1815 Mary, 1820 Daniel Baker, and 1822 James; and the death certificate for her son William Baker Junior in 1857; and 1827 Mary Ann Raycroft's Burial Certificate. Mary's son Daniel in later life added a second name in memory of his mother, this Christian name was passed down through the family as Racraft. Contributor: Sylvia van der Straaten (51062017)

frequently asked questions (FAQ):

Where is Mary Raycraft's memorial?
Mary Raycraft's memorial is located at: Saint Matthew's Anglican Church Cemetery, Windsor, Hawkesbury City, Australia.
When did Mary Raycraft death?
Mary Raycraft death on Jan 1827 in
Where are the coordinates of the Mary Raycraft's memorial?
Latitude: -33.6092840
Longitude: 150.8116340

Family Members:

Children

William Baker

(1808 - 1857)

Elizabeth Baker Smith

(1810 - 1878)

John Thomas Baker

(1813 - 1890)

Mary Baker Bailey

(1815 - 1903)

James Henry Baker

(1822 - 1853)

Flowers:

Nearby Cemetories:

1. Saint Matthew's Anglican Church Cemetery
Windsor, Hawkesbury City, Australia
Coordinate: -33.6092840, 150.8116340

2. St. Matthew's Catholic Cemetery
Windsor, Hawkesbury City, Australia
Coordinate: -33.6124790, 150.8140260

3. Windsor Presbyterian Cemetery
Windsor, Hawkesbury City, Australia
Coordinate: -33.6138820, 150.8101210

4. Green Hills Burial Ground
Windsor, Hawkesbury City, Australia
Coordinate: -33.6065600, 150.8251280

5. McGraths Hill Cemetery
McGraths Hill, Hawkesbury City, Australia
Coordinate: -33.6141730, 150.8355030

6. Richmond Lawn Cemetery
Richmond, Hawkesbury City, Australia
Coordinate: -33.5969400, 150.7713200

7. Richmond War Cemetery
Richmond, Hawkesbury City, Australia
Coordinate: -33.5963690, 150.7710550

8. Richmond Presbyterian Cemetery
Richmond, Hawkesbury City, Australia
Coordinate: -33.5973040, 150.7614470

9. St Monica's Catholic Church
Richmond, Hawkesbury City, Australia
Coordinate: -33.6004600, 150.7592300

10. St James Anglican Churchyard Cemetery
Pitt Town, Hawkesbury City, Australia
Coordinate: -33.5846130, 150.8572080

11. Scots Uniting Churchyard
Pitt Town, Hawkesbury City, Australia
Coordinate: -33.5841000, 150.8570200

12. Pitt Town Cemetery
Pitt Town, Hawkesbury City, Australia
Coordinate: -33.5882520, 150.8713590

13. Saint Peter's Anglican Cemetery
Richmond, Hawkesbury City, Australia
Coordinate: -33.5931300, 150.7448200

14. Pitt Town General Cemetery
Pitt Town, Hawkesbury City, Australia
Coordinate: -33.5893440, 150.8775180

15. Wilberforce Cemetery
Wilberforce, Hawkesbury City, Australia
Coordinate: -33.5540650, 150.8426950

16. Londonderry Historical Cemetery
Londonderry, Penrith City, Australia
Coordinate: -33.6284000, 150.7393000

17. St Phillips Church Cemetery
Marsden Park, Blacktown City, Australia
Coordinate: -33.6793810, 150.8167060

18. Clydesdale Property
Marsden Park, Blacktown City, Australia
Coordinate: -33.6848034, 150.8077757

19. Riverstone Cemetery
Riverstone, Blacktown City, Australia
Coordinate: -33.6853450, 150.8480790

20. Animal Memorial Cemetery & Crematorium
Berkshire Park, Penrith City, Australia
Coordinate: -33.6887690, 150.7850410

21. St. Phillip's Cemetery
Richmond, Hawkesbury City, Australia
Coordinate: -33.5737090, 150.7127090

22. Ebenezer Uniting Cemetery
Windsor, Hawkesbury City, Australia
Coordinate: -33.5360290, 150.8914210

23. Rouse Hill Anglican Cemetery
Rouse Hill, Blacktown City, Australia
Coordinate: -33.6810100, 150.9174190

24. Castlebrook Memorial Park
Rouse Hill, Blacktown City, Australia
Coordinate: -33.6948310, 150.9219790