RISELEY, Maria

1781 - 1859  (78 years)

• Name	RISELEY, Maria  [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
  Born	5 Mar 1781	Huntingdon, Huntingdonshire, England   [2, 3, 4]
  Gender	Female
  Died	22 Jul 1859	Priory, Bothwell, Tasmania   [2, 3, 4]
  Buried	Aft 22 Jul 1859	St Matthew's, Stephen Street Cemetery, New Norfolk, Tasmania, Australia   [3, 4]
  Person ID	I16125	My Genealogy
  Last Modified	16 Sep 2023

  
  

  Father	RISELEY, Robert,   b. 1753, Catworth, Huntingdonshire, England ,   d. 30 Jun 1828, Catworth, Huntingdonshire, England  (Age 75 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Married	1779	England
  Family ID	F6896	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 1	LORD, Lieutenant Edward,   b. 15 Jun 1781, Pembroke, Pembrokeshire, Wales ,   d. 15 Aug 1859  (Age 78 years)
  Married	8 Oct 1808	St David's Cathedral, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia   [6]
  Children	1. RISELEY, Elizabeth,   b. Aug 1806, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia ,   d. Aug 1806, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia  (Age ~ 0 years)  [natural]   2. LORD, Elizabeth,   b. 26 Aug 1806,   d. Abt Aug 1806, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia  [natural]   3. LORD, John Owen,   b. 10 Mar 1810, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia ,   d. 5 Nov 1829  (Age 19 years)  [natural]   4. LORD, Edward Robert,   b. 14 Mar 1812, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 6 Sep 1897, Richmond, Tasmania, Australia  (Age 85 years)  [natural]   5. LORD, Corbetta,   b. 29 May 1815, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia ,   d. 2 Jul 1873, Brighton, Victoria, Australia  (Age 58 years)  [natural]   6. LORD, William Henry,   b. 12 Jul 1817, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia  [natural]   7. LORD, Emma,   b. 28 Sep 1819, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia  [natural]   8. LORD, Edward,   b. 5 May 1828  [natural]
  Last Modified	16 Sep 2023
  Family ID	F875	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family 2	THOMPSON, John,   b. Abt 1775, England ,   d. New South Wales, Australia
  Children	1. THOMPSON, Carolina Maria Riseley,   b. 25 Jun 1805, Sydney Cove, New South Wales, Australia ,   d. 13 Mar 1840  (Age 34 years)  [natural]
  Last Modified	16 Sep 2023
  Family ID	F3307	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos		Maria Riseley Story
  		New South Wales, Australia Convict Ship Muster Rolls and Related Records, 1790-1849

  
  

• Notes

  Lord, Maria (1780–1859) by Dianne Snowden This article was published in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Supplementary Volume, (MUP), 2005 Maria Lord (c.1780-1859), convict and entrepreneur, was born in England, daughter of Robert Riseley and his wife Mary. Tried on 9 August 1802 at Surrey Assizes for stealing from a dwelling house, Maria was transported for seven years, reaching Sydney in the Experiment on 24 June 1804. On 25 June next year she gave birth to a daughter; the father was recorded as John Thompson, but the child was raised as Caroline Maria Lord. John Pascoe Fawkner claimed that Edward Lord, a well-connected Welsh marine officer who had arrived in Van Diemen's Land in 1804, had chosen Maria Risley from a line-up of convict women at the Female Factory at Parramatta. She was in Hobart Town by 22 December 1805. Until she was pardoned in 1808, Maria seems to have been assigned to Lord as his convict servant, although shortly after her arrival she opened a store with goods brought from Sydney. A daughter was born in 1806, but died after two days, and another was born in 1808; both were named Elizabeth Riseley. Maria married Lord in Hobart on 8 October that year, after she had been granted a free pardon. Five more children followed between 1810 and 1819. In 1810 David Collins died in office and Edward was briefly acting lieutenant-governor. He then sailed to England, resigned his commission and returned with his own ship stocked with £30,000 worth of goods. Maria and their children had remained in Sydney—a son was baptized there in March 1812. Edward reached Sydney next March and the family resumed business and trading interests in Hobart Town. While Edward concentrated on acquiring land and capital, Maria expanded her retail interests, forming partnerships with her brother John Risley, who arrived in the colony in 1819. From 1816 Edward travelled regularly to England, often with one or more of his children, who were left there with relations or in schools. During his absence, Maria acted as his agent and ran and extended his business, various well-stocked properties and two hotels. By 1820 she reputedly controlled over a third of colonial resources, holding monopolies for the supply of wheat and meat and a portion of the profitable rum trade. Socially, she was recognized as the wife of one of the colony's richest men. In August 1823 Dr Samuel Hood replaced Maria as her husband's agent and she announced that she was retiring and leaving for England; however, she moved only to the country, near Longford. Hood advertised in July 1824 that he was not authorized to pay her debts. In October Edward returned to Hobart Town, where he successfully charged Charles Rowcroft, who had been frequently in the company of Maria, with criminal conversation. Immediately after the trial, Lord went back to England, taking his youngest daughter with him. Rowcroft also left the colony. Back in Hobart Town, in 1825 Maria opened a retail shop and a butchery. Edward reappeared briefly in 1828; his convict servant Ann Fry named him as the father of her child. He had also established another family, with five children, in England. Maria continued in business on a smaller scale, and also ran a boarding house in the 1830s. She later moved to Bothwell, where she operated a trading store. She died there on 22 July 1859. Select Bibliography A. Alexander, Governors’ Ladies (Hob, 1987) H. Radi (ed), 200 Australian Women (Syd, 1988) P. Tardiff, Notorious Strumpets and Dangerous Girls (Syd, 1990) K. Daniels, Convict Women (Syd, 1998) Papers and Proceedings (Tasmanian Historical Research Association), vol 20, no 2, June 1973, p 98 D. Snowden, Women and Work in Van Diemen’s Land (B.A. Hons thesis, University of Tasmania, 1982). Citation details Dianne Snowden, 'Lord, Maria (1780–1859)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/lord-maria-13052/text23601, published first in hardcopy 2005, accessed online 28 February 2016. This article was first published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Supplementary Volume, (MUP), 2005 Maria Lord Significant Tasmanian Women icon (1780-1859) Maria Lord (nee Riseley) was born in England 1780. At age 22 Maria was sentenced to seven years transportation for stealing from a dwelling house and arrived at Sydney on board the Experiment in June 1804. In early 1805 Maria was seven months pregnant and living at the Female Factory (Sydney). On a visit to Sydney from Hobart Town, Lieutenant Edward Lord (nephew of Sir William Owen, the Baronet of Orielton) appears to have chosen Maria to be his partner, possibly by having her assigned to him as his servant. Edward, Maria and baby Caroline (born June 1805) arrived in Hobart Town in November 1805. Maria opened one of the first shops in the colony with the goods she had brought with her from Sydney. In 1806 a second daughter was born but died within a few days. A third daughter Elizabeth was born in 1807. In 1808 Edward Lord secured Maria’s pardon and the couple were married in October by Rev Robert Knopwood. Their first son (John Owen) was born in Sydney in 1810. Edward Lord was then Acting Governor of VDL (March to July 1810) following the death of Lieutenant-Governor Collins. A second son Edward was born in Sydney in 1812 while Edward Lord was in England. He returned in 1813 with an order for a land grant of 3000 acres. Edward, Maria and their four children returned to Hobart where they took up residence in Ingle Hall, Macquarie Street (one of the oldest buildings still standing in Hobart). As one of the most important families in the colony, the Lords gave many dinners and balls for their fellow colonists and held races at their country property Orielton. The Lord family are mentioned frequently in the Rev Knopwood’s Diary - he described their housewarming party in October 1814 as the ‘greatest dinner given in the colony’. It is believed that Maria Lord used the left hand side of Ingle Hall to conduct her business; while living in a house immediately behind it, now covered by the Mercury offices. Further children arrived Corbetta (1815); William (1817); and Emma (1819). In 1816 the eldest son John (aged 6) was sent to England to be educated in the care of the Lord family there, Edward and Eliza would follow later. Edward and Maria’s children appear to have been accepted by his family in England, whereas Maria as a former convict, was not. In 1819 Edward Lord again left for England taking Caroline with him. Maria, then seven months pregnant, was left in charge of all their retail and property interests, their homes and the two hotels they owned in Hobart. The 1819 Muster shows that the Lords owned 6974 acres; 3,400 cattle; 4500 sheep and 41 horses. They also employed 50 convict servants and 25 free workers. By this time Maria Lord was supplying almost a quarter of all meat purchased by the Commissariat and was reputed to have a monopoly on wheat, meat and the best quality rum in the colony. By 1820 Edward Lord was one of the richest men in the colony. At the end of 1821 Edward and Caroline returned from England with a further order for a land grant of 300 acres and merchandise for the store. In 1822 Lord chartered Royal George to export 4000 pounds of wool to England taking Corbetta and William with him. During this time Maria appears to have begun a relationship with Charles Rowcroft, 18 years her junior, and newly arrived in Hobart Town. In 1823 Dr Samuel Hood arrived from London as Edward Lord’s agent to manage his affairs. In August Maria advertised that she was retiring from business and left Hobart Town to live at New Plains (near Longford). On October 1824 Edward Lord returned to the colony and commenced legal action against Rowcroft charging him with ‘criminal conversation’ with Maria and seeking 1000 pounds in damages. A fortnight after winning his case, but having received only 100 pounds in damages, Lord again left for England taking with him five year old Emma. From this time on, Lord made his home permanently in England with Maria’s children. Only her eldest daughter Caroline who had married in 1823 now remained in the colony. Lord never divorced Maria, however having been found guilty of adultery, she had no claim on Lord’s property or her children. Maria’s business acumen is generally regarded as having generated the couple’s wealth while it was her husband Edward who had been able to obtain land grants and raise the capital needed for their business activities. Maria was responsible for their business interests, and acted as her husband’s agent during his extended voyages to Sydney and England. After their separation Edward Lord’s fortunes rapidly diminished, and by the time of his death, only the heavily mortgaged property Lawrenny near Hamilton remained. In August 1825 Maria returned to Hobart Town, announcing the opening of a new shop on the corner of Elizabeth and Liverpool Street, her business ventures continued on a smaller scale until her death. Edward Lord visited the colony in 1827, and before his return to England, fathered a child with his convict nurse Anne Fry. In addition Edward was also in a relationship with his and Maria’s children’s nurse in England, with whom he would have five children. In 1829 Maria’s two eldest sons John (aged 19) and Edward Robert arrived in Hobart Town. John drowned two months later in a river on his father’s property Lawrenny. Maria appears to have lived quietly after John’s death, continuing her business and running a boarding house for several years. Maria later retired to The Priory at Bothwell, a home bought for her by her son Edward. Lord again visited in colony in 1838 and the next year took Caroline to England. Maria died on the 22 nd July 1859 and was buried in the family plot at St Mathew's Cemetery, New Norfolk. Edward Lord died in England in August 1859 leaving Maria an annuity in his will, perhaps as a belated recognition, of the contribution made by his estranged wife as his business partner and the mother of his children. Sources: Alison Alexander, Governor’s ladies the wives and mistresses of the Van Diemen’s Land Governors Tasmanian Historical Research Association 1987. Kay Daniels, Convict Women Allen & Unwin 1998. ‘Edward Lord’ Australian Dictionary of Biography ‘House with a colourful history’ Frank Bolt The Mercury 7 July 2004

  
  

• Sources

  [S318] Ancestry Family Trees, (Name: Name: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com. Original data: Family Tree files submitted by Ancestry members.;;), Ancestry Family Tree. [S309] Public Member Trees, Ancestry.com, (Name: Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.;;). Record for Carolina Maria Riseley Thompson http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1030&h=13453276557&indiv=try [S309] Public Member Trees, Ancestry.com, (Name: Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.;;), Database online. Record for Robert Edward Lord http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=0&pid=2060 [S309] Public Member Trees, Ancestry.com, (Name: Name: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc.;;), Database online. Record for Maria Riseley http://trees.ancestry.com/pt/AMTCitationRedir.aspx?tid=0&pid=2060 [S144] New South Wales, Australia Convict Ship Muster Rolls and Related Records, 1790-1849, Ancestry.com, (Name: Name: Ancestry.com Operations Inc; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2008;;). New South Wales, Australia Convict Ship Muster Rolls and Related Records, 1790-1849 Database online. Record for Evan John Murray MacGregor Esq.