Last Month's Speaker summary

Seldom has the club had the opportunity of listening to such an interesting presentation of Australian history by our speaker Gillian Yung.

A normally dry subject was made to come alive through the telling of a personal story of one Mary Riebey who was convicted in London of horse stealing at the age of 13, and sentenced to seven years transportation to the Colony of New South Wales, arriving in Sydney in 1792.

From there her guile and intelligence, aided by the fact that she was literate, saw her rise within the settlement to become a very successful ship owner, merchant and trader. Married with 6 children she prospered in the international trade business until her death in 1855.

As a matter of interest Mary’s image is featured on the $20 note!

Thanks to Gillian Yung for taking the time to talk to us.

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