Person:Susan Osbourne (1)

When Mercy Balcomb was born on 22 March 1814 in Rolvenden, Kent, her father, Abraham, was 33, and her mother, Mercy, was 19. She was their 3rd child and daughter. She was to have 6 sisters and one brother.

Mercy married Robert Blanch on 12 October 1831 in Biddenden, Kent after her father "went to ground" evading debtors' prison and changing his name to Collins. Her sister, Mary Ann married Robert's brother less than a year later and the 2 couples emigrated to NSW, Australia in 1838.

Her mother, also Mercy, and sister, Harriet both died in 1832 in Ticehurst Workhouse, so her father packed up the remaining siblings and emigrated to New York, USA.

Life with Robert Blanch must have been difficult for Mercy because, in August 1842, after bearing him 5 children, she absconded with an ex-convict, Joseph Blundell, and adopted her grandmother’s Christian name, calling herself Susan Osborne. There is no record of Mercy ever marrying Joseph.

The Blundells became pioneers in the area of Queanbeyan, New South Wales that later became Canberra, ACT.

Susan had had five children by Robert Blanch and ten by Joseph Blundell totalling 15 altogether.

Susan Blundell (Mercy Balcomb) died on 8 April 1892 having lived a long life of 78 years.

1. ↑ Hugh John Blundell MCCAFFREY. McCaffrey PRF.
2. ↑ ^2.0 2.1 Tony Teague Info.