Margaret was born about 1825. Her admittance to the Queens Orphan School aged 5 in 1830 is the earliest record for Margaret I can find. Her mother Mary Stone did not come to Australia as a convict and regrettably there is a gap in the registers of cases heard in Petty Sessions from 1825 to 1836. Margaret was removed from the school in 1835 ‘discharged to her mother’.  If anyone has any information on Mary Stone I would love to hear from you.

At the age of 18 she married 29 year old shepherd Joseph Bedggood on 28 Jun 1843 at the Swansea schoolhouse. By 1846 when  Mary Ann was born, Joseph described himself as a farmer.They lived at 'Templestowe' near Bicheno and had 11 children; Martha born about 1844, Mary Ann born 24/7/1846, Hannah 8/41848, Margaret 3/9/1850, Joseph 7/71852, John 14/3/1854, Thomas born 3/9/1855 died 14/9/1855, Richard 9/12/1856, Charles 8/6/1858, Clarence born 25/8/1860 died 8/9/1860 and Alice 16/4/1866.

No death registration for Margret can be found but she is buried with Joseph at Seymour.  Her headstone states she died aged 41 on 17 May 1866 two months after the birth of Alice the youngest child of Joseph and Margaret.

For more information on the Bedggood family see my wesite at http://jens.familytreeguide.com/
I would appreciate any feedback, corrections, additions ect.