This is an interesting story. Mary Beckwith was a young English convict girl taken on board in Sydney by French explorer Nicholas Baudin. Mary was chosen to sail back to France with Baudin & share his quarters. Records suggest she was an independant young woman, wilful & feisty.
It would be nice to know if she made it there, in one piece & did Mary get her freedom once arriving???
Baudin anchored in Nepean bay in 1803 & they came ashore here at what is now Baudin beach. Mary is most likely to have come as well, thus being the first European woman to set foot on South Australian soil
Her story however has a wider significance. she stands for all those women Aboriginal & others taken by sealers, whalers, seamen & settlers to serve them as wives & housekeepers. Their stories have been obliterated, but many showed great strength in not simply surviving but in achieving meaningful lives in the most tragic circumstances. Their memory is honoured in this place
The memorial: the upper section symbolises the sails & winds of fate that brought Mary & others to this place before official settlement. The skirt represents Mary herself & the forgotten women of the island
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