Cirrus@Austlit

Nineteenth-Century Travel Writing

Mary Ann Parker (c.1760-1848) was an English traveler and writer. She accompanied her husband, Captain John Parker of the Gorgon, a troopship that carried supplies in the third fleet, arriving in Sydney in 1791. Parker was said to be a “well-educated woman who had travelled widely” (ADB). Her travel journals were published following her husband’s death. They detailed their voyage to Australia via Cape Town, their relationship with the Governor and high society in Australia, as well as describing the Aboriginal population around Sydney (who she states cannot be approached without disgust, although she is inclined to think favourably of them), the colony in comparison to England, and the return journey.