James Cann

  Research Notes:

Susan Smith notes:
John Bernard Pendergast Read and Mary Ann Cann, daughter of Mary Hosegood & James Cann. Her mother Mary had 3 marriages, the first was to William Chapman. Both Mary & William arrived free aboard the "Allies" from London. Mary & William were in service to Edward Gostwyck Cory & his wife Fances nee Johnson whom they were to accompany to NSW. Mary was engaged as an companion/maid and Frances acted as her chaperone. It is thought Mary may have been related to the Cory family which would maybe explain why Mary allowed her first child Emmiline to be adopted by the Cory family after her husband, William died in 1827 at the age of 24, whilst clearing & felling a tree on his & Mary's 60 acre property on the bank of the Paterson River. Leaving Mary with 3 young children.
Mary next had a relationship with James Cann who also had come free, they were married in 1829. James is said to have hanged himself in one of his barns on his property in 1834. Speculation by family researchers is he had became depressed because he had built some of his outbuildings on what he thought were but not part of his land. In 1846 Mary married her overseerer Robert Searle (convict).

I come down the line from Mary & James's daughter Mary Ann Cann, who married John Riley (John Bernard Reed/Riley/Pendergast). He and his siblings went under several different versions of their parents surnames, which has caused some confusion for us family researchers to say the least. I don't know if this was to distance themselves from their fathers convict past or as rebellion against their grandfather, John Pendergast who would not give consent for his daughter, Bridget Pendergast's marriage to their father Patrick Reed/Riley (convict). They later married when Bridget was of age with the consent of the Colonial Governor but had had 3 children before they did so.

Both John Riley/Pendergast/Reed/Reid/Read and his brother William Riley married daughters of Mary Hosegood's with William marrying Matilda Searle.
I also noticed you have Charlotte Pendergast as a twin of Bridget Pendergast, recent research now shows she was actually Charlotte Hancy and just happened to be in the same household at the time of census.

James married Mary Hosegood 2nd.⁹⁰⁸ (Mary Hosegood was born circa 1800 and died in 1869 ⁹⁰⁸.)