The Australian Women's Register

Summary

The daughter of missionaries Francis and Rebecca Oakes, Mary Hutchinson attempted to establish a Christian mission in Tonga with her husband John Hutchinson, but the pair were forced to retreat. In 1832, John Hutchinson was appointed superintendent of the Female House of Correction (the female factory), with his wife as matron. Of their twelve children, six died in infancy. John Hutchinson’s recurring illness meant that Mary was often charged with running the institution. On her husband’s retirement, she became matron-in-charge of the smaller ‘factory’ at Launceston. She retired in 1854.