From the parish records it is clear that Ann and John rejected Richard. A memorandum dated 12 June 1769 and signed by John Bosworth, Churchwarden, details an agreement between him, John Bonash, Overseer of the Poor of the parish of Marston, and William Satooll of Wootton for William Sawell to keep Richard Keep, a poor child, till Easter and the Parish undertook to cloth him. The Parish accounts contain various references to the cost of Richard’s upkeep, including another placement with John Biggs in 1770. On 10 October 1788Richard married Elizabeth Hull at Wootton. Richard’s abandonment and reliance upon handouts as a child resulted into his graduation into petty crime. There is a record of someone with the surname “Keep” breaking into the local lock-up in Wooton to rescue an accomplice. His wife’s family were no better. Elizabeth’s younger brother William was convicted of highway robbery near Dunstable at the Bedford Quarter Sessions on 20 October 1808.

Richard got his comeuppance at the Surrey Assizes on 5 August 1807 when he was found guilty of receiving stolen goods, namely eighty bushels of beans of the value of twenty pounds and nine sacks to the value of thirteen shillings and six pence. He was sentenced to be transported to Australia for a term of fourteen years. The beans were stolen by a Robert Benns at Queenhithe Wharf on the River Thames, from a Nathaniel Brickwood with force and arms. So Mary’s father Richard was transported to Australia on the “Admiral Gambier”, which sailed from Portsmouth on 2 July 1808 and arrived in Sydney on 20 December 1808 with 197 convicts on board. Interestingly the account book of the overseers of the poor of Marston notes continuing payments to 'Richard Keep in want' until 1809 - by which time he was in Australia. This may be payments made to his dependents, Elizabeth and the children. Richard died on 21 December 1817 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, aged 52, and was buried on 23 December 1817 at St Phillips Church, Cooks River Sydney.

Back in Bedfordshire his fifth child, Joseph, Mary’s younger brother, was a habitual offender beingsentenced to three months imprisonment in Bedford Gaol for poaching with snares on 16 October 1817. He was again arrested on 17 March 1819 for offences contrary to the Game Laws. Then in May 1831 he was fined one shilling for stealing hurdles. At that time he was living in Cardington, Bedfordshire, and was described as being 5 foot 8 inches tall, dark brown hair, with a ruddy complexion. However, both Joseph and Richard were small fry compared to Mary’s husband William Hurst. Mary married William, alias Billy Goodman, on 6 April 1814 at Wootton. In 1818, William was sentenced to three months in Bedford Gaol for poaching.

On the 17 December 1822 William was arrested for horse stealing from Owen Cambridge of Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire. Mr Cambridge wrote a short booklet on the subject. His first horse was stolen in the early morning of Sunday 13 October 1822. In his own words Mr. Cambridge wrote:

“I left Bassingbourn as soon as possible and hastened to London, where I arrived at one o'clock in the day, and went to Worship Street, Police Office, and gave a description of the horse. I went in the evening to a Jew (it being Sunday) and had some bills printed; they were distributed to every office in London by nine o'clock, but they did not produce any good effect. I then took an officer with me, and searched in town and its suburbs for three days, without finding the least clue to the discovery of the villain. After thus exerting myself, I almost despaired of ever finding my horse; and as the expenses would soon amount to more than the horse was worth, I determined at once to return home.”

On 22 November his stable was again broken into, and a more valuable horse stolen. Through a lot of dogged detective work Mr Cambridge established that the thief was called "Billy". When he went to a house at 2, Green Walk, Blackfriars, where "Billy" lived, with Officers from Bow Street, he got no reply. He did, however, have a lucky break following a tip off that two men were being held in Hertford for stealing turkeys from Litlington, which is about a mile from my residence. One of the prisoners by the name of Roberts explained that a man by the name of Charley Goodman stole his horse, and also the pony of Mr. Elbourne, who was one of Mr Cambridge’s neighbours. He also told Mr Cambridge where he could find his horse. When asked how he knew all of the details he replied: -

"To tell you the truth, sir, I was with Goodman when he stole it. He went into the stable while I watched. We then went from your yard to Mr. Elbourne's, and Goodman brought out the pony while I stood in the street. I went to St. Neots with the horse; from thence to Bedford, and took the route for London. Goodman and I made an exchange of the pony for a cart with a man who lives in a street very near where the six roads cross, near to Blackfriars Bridge, about a mile from the Toll Bar. We then stole some harness, put your horse into the cart, and set off for Bedfordshire to steal some poultry. We had visited that neighbourhood frequently and knew it well.  We returned to London with the poultry and sold it in the street; we did not send it to market.”

Roberts explained that he had left Goodman in London and with two others returned to Bedfordshire on a wagon drawn by Mr Cambridge’s horse. As the horse was not use to pulling a wagon they were forced to stop to steal another horse, but whilst doing so two of them were caught by local men, and the horse and wagon were seized. Mr Cambridge went straight to the Local Magistrate and got his horse returned to him, but it was in a sad state. He then returned to London with Mr. Elbourne and retrieved his pony from an Undertaker, who had purchased it from a Methodist Minister, who in turn had bought it from a Wheelwright that Goodman had sold it to.

Mr Cambridge decided to return to the address in Blackfriars, and this time spoke to an old lady who directed him to Bishopsgate to look for a young man named Edward. He found him and agreed that in exchange for helping him find Goodman, the young man could go free. Edward went to 7 Green Street, Bethnal Green, and found out that Billy was in Oxfordshire. Together with Edward, Mr Cambridge travelled to Deddington in Oxfordshire, where they arrested Billy Goodman. As luck would have it, Mr Cambridge was informed by a villager where his horse was being kept, and he managed to retrieve it. On their journey to Bassingbourn by the Peterborough coach William confessed: - "Sir, I have told you lies, it was not Baker who stole your horse, I am the man that stole both of your horses, and I deserve to suffer for it."

He also admitted that his real name as William Hurst. On arrival at Bassingbourn, Hurst was taken before a Bench of Magistrates, who remanded him to Cambridge Castle. He was tried at Cambridge, Isle of Ely Assizes, on the 13 March 1823 where hepleaded guilty to all the three indictments and sentenced to death by hanging, but after a plea for leniency by Owen Cambridge, this was changed to transportation for life. William was described as age 29 years, 5 foot 5 1/4  inches tall with light grey eyes, brown hair, and his trade was listed as groom or ploughman. His gaol report said he was a bad character, and had attempted to escape the hulk at Woolwich, prior to transportation.