Ryan, John

Convict who arrived in Sydney as part of the First Fleet. He was a silk weaver who was convicted in London in 1784 of theft and sentenced to 7 years transportation to America, but escaped after a convict mutiny on the Mercury. He was recaptured and departed for New South Wales on the Charlotte in 1788. With three of his fellow mutineers, he was convicted of the theft of food in February 1788. Sentenced to 300 lashes, he was given a reprieve. He was sent to Norfolk Island on the Sirius in 1790 where he married and had a child. He and his family returned to Sydney in 1793.