• Entry type: Person
  • Entry ID: AWE3743

Reibey, Mary

  • Maiden name Haydock, Molly
    Alternative spelling Raby, Mary
    Alternative spelling Raiby, Mary
    Alias Burrow, James
(1777 – 1855)
  • Born 12 May, 1777, Bury England
  • Died 30 May, 1855, Newtown Sydney New South Wales Australia
  • Occupation Businesswoman, Convict

Summary

Mary Reibey was orphaned as a girl and arrested in 1791 after disguising herself as a male, James Burrow, and attempting to sell a stolen horse. As James Burrow she was sentenced to seven years transportation and arrived in the colony on 7 October 1792. Through marriage to her husband Thomas Raby, with whom she had seven children, Mary grew wealthy. She continued to accumulate property after his death, though the family fortune was strained by the misadventures of two of her sons-in-law.

Published resources

  • Resource Section
  • Edited Book
    • 200 Australian Women: A Redress Anthology, Radi, Heather, 1988
    • Dear Cousin: The Reibey Letters: Twenty-two letters of Mary Reibey, her children and their descendants, 1792-1901, Irvine, Nance, 1995
  • Book
    • Mary Reibey - Molly Incognita: A Biography of Mary Reibey, Irvine, Nance, 1982
  • Resource