English School, early 19th Century

The eldest daughter of William Bligh and Elizabeth, Mary accompanied her father to Sydney in February 1806, her husband, Lieutenant John Putland sailing in the same convoy. Lieutenant Putland died of consumption in January 1808. After her father was ousted as Governor Mary married the new Lieutenant-Governor, Maurice Charles Philips O'Connell in May 1810. She remained in New South Wales until O'Connell's death in 1848. There is a similar portrait miniature of Mary in the Dixson Galleries, State Library of New South Wales (DG Min 2).