Moll’s mother was first mentioned in Chapter 1 as a young girl in Newgate Prison about to be hanged for a petty theft. She was saved because she was carrying a child (Moll), and was later transported to the colonies, leaving the one-and-a-half-year-old Moll in bad hands.

She appeared again in Chapter 8 now living in Virginia and the mother of Moll’s husband. She reminisced to Moll about her experiences in Newgate Prison and Moll discovered that she was in actuality her own mother. This friendly, outgoing woman tried to convince Moll to remain married to her son (Moll’s brother) in order to keep the family intact. When she died, she left some money and her plantation to Moll.