Steel, Elizabeth "Betty"

First known non-Aborigine deaf person in Australia. Born-deaf child of the London slums; made a living as a thief and prostitute; convicted in London in October 1787 for 7 years' deportation to Australia, at that time a prison colony, for stealing a man's watch. Soon after arrival in Sydney, Australia, she was sent to another penal colony on Norfolk Island where she met and married James Mackey, a hearing ex-convict. With him she pioneered a farm before moving back to Sydney, where her husband joined the army. She died 12 months later, about age 30. Her grave was discovered in 1991 beneath the floor of the Sydney Town Hall during renovations. Biography is The Story of Betty Steel (1995).