Elizabeth Morris was born in 1777 in Bisley, Gloucestershire, England. Her early years were marked by hardship, as she faced trial twice as a child—first at the age of 10, when she was acquitted, and again at 12. In 1790, Elizabeth was convicted and sentenced to transportation. She departed England aboard the “Mary Ann” on February 16, 1791, and arrived in Sydney, Australia, after a 143-day voyage, on June 9, 1791.
At the age of 15, Elizabeth had her first child, Hannah, with John Dalton, a convict who had arrived in Australia aboard the “Atlantic” in 1791. Dalton returned to England after completing his sentence, and Elizabeth went on to marry four times. Her second marriage, to William Kentwell in 1796, was a pivotal point in her life, as they had several children together. Elizabeth and William Kentwell lived between 1796 and 1809 at Toongabbie, where they farmed a land grant.
William drowned in the flood of 1809, and on August 23, 1809, Elizabeth took their seven-year-old daughter, Charlotte, to the Female Orphan Institution at Parramatta.
Elizabeth continued to run the farm with the help of Hannah and her two sons. A few years later, around 1813, she entered into a relationship with an Irish convict named Murty or Murtagh Shields, who had a wife and six children back in Ireland. Murtagh left her in 1815, and Elizabeth then began a relationship with Thomas Thompkins, a convict who had arrived on the Fortune. They married in 1815. Around this time, Elizabeth’s son, William Cody Kentwell, was killed by Aboriginal people at Wilberforce.
Elizabeth lived to the age of 75 and passed away on January 25, 1852, in Castle Hill, New South Wales. She was buried in Parramatta, leaving behind a legacy of resilience and endurance. She had nine children over four marriages, and her descendants still live in the Castle Hill area today.
