Margaret Catchpole
| Margaret Catchpole | |
|---|---|
| Born |
14 March 1762 Nacton, Suffolk, England |
| Died | 13 May 1819 (aged 57) New South Wales, Australia |
| Cause of death | Influenza |
| Occupation | Servant, nurse, cook |
| Parent(s) | Elizabeth and Jonathan |
Margaret Catchpole (14 March 1762 – 13 May 1819) was an English adventuress, chronicler and criminal. Born in Suffolk, she worked as a servant in various houses before being convicted of stealing a horse and later escaping from Ipswich Gaol. Following her capture she was transported to Australia. Her entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography describes her as one of the few true convict chroniclers with an excellent memory and a gift for recording events.
Catchpole was reputedly born at Nacton, Suffolk, the daughter of Elizabeth Catchpole and according to one source of Jonathan Catchpole, head ploughman.
Catchpole had little education and worked as a servant for different families until being employed by the writer Elizabeth Cobbold at the house on St Margarets Green in Ipswich. Her husband was the brewer and member of the prosperous Ipswich Cobbold family as under-nurse and under-cook in May 1793. Here she was virtually part of the family and was responsible for saving the lives of children in her care three times. She also learned to read and write here.
According to the 1949 Dictionary of Australian Biography (DAB1949), not be confused with the Australian Dictionary of Biography, she once rode bareback into Ipswich as a child to fetch a doctor, guiding the horse with a halter. The source also states that she had fallen in love with a sailor named William Laud, who had joined a band of smugglers; later he was pressed into service in the navy. And that Laud was trying to persuade Catchpole to travel in a boat with him when another admirer of Margaret, John Barry, came to her assistance and a fight ensued, Barry was shot by Laud. Barry recovered, but a price was put on his Laud's head.
In mid-1795 Catchpole left the Cobbolds and became ill and was unemployed. After being told by a man named Cook that Laud was back in London, Cook persuaded Catchpole to steal a horse and ride it to London to meet her former lover — Cook's plan was to sell the horse for his own benefit. On the night of 23 May 1797 Catchpole stole John Cobbold's coach gelding and rode the horse 70 miles (110 km) to London in nine hours, but was promptly arrested for its theft and tried at Suffolk Summer Assizes.
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