Tony Laffan is a descendant of Ann and Thomas Smith. He has self published a book on Ann Colpitts that identifies her as Ann Watson (not Ann Wise). He further states that there is no evidence that she married Tom Colpitts but cohabited with him as a member of the Bishop Aukland Gang who were a loose group of petty criminals that stole from shops and were clever pickpockets.
The third daughter of Ann and Thomas Smith, Elizabeth, was born in 1797 and he believes there is a good chance that she was the offspring of another First Fleeter Joseph Hatton with whom she lived until his death in 1828. In Joseph Hatton's 1823 Will, he left half of his property to Elizabeth and half to Joseph (jnr) born in 1800. The other three Smith girls were not in his will.
