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Matthew Everingham | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1768 England |
| Died | 25 December 1817 (aged 1767–1768) Hawkesbury River, Australia |
| Resting place | Saint Matthew's Anglican Church Cemetery Windsor, Hawkesbury City, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation(s) | Lawyer's clerk, Farmer, Publican, District constable |
| Known for | First man ashore from the First Fleet |
| Conviction(s) | Indicted, for being a profligrate person, found Guilty of fraud |
| Criminal penalty | Seven years' penal transportation |
Matthew Everingham (c. 1768 – 25 December 1817), was an English convict sent to Australia aboard the Scarborough a ship of the First Fleet. Convicted on 7 July 1784 at Old Bailey for the crime of fraud, he was sentenced to seven years' penal transportation to America. However, that country was no longer a receptacle for Britain's convicts since the successful American War of Independence, Everingham was instead incarcerated in the prison hulk Censor, a former French Navy frigate on the River Thames near Woolwich. Conditions aboard these prison ships were extremely poor, and mortality rates were high. Everingham managed to survive for three years until the First Fleet sailed from Portsmouth on 13 May 1787, Everingham was on board the Scarborough – one of 208 male convicts. He was 19 when the fleet landed in Sydney Cove.