Ms Esplund wrote a poem in the 1990s about ­former convict and landowner Molly Morgan and her influence on the city and said she deserved more recognition, despite having an inn and a road already named in her honour. 

“The Levee is a horrible name, it should be renamed Molly Morgan Mall because she was Maitland’s first businesswoman,” she said.

Molly Morgan bought 203 acres at Anvil Creek in 1819 and established the Angel Inn in the centre of the land, which is now Maitland CBD.

She had been transported to Australia in 1790 for stealing hemp, but managed to escape back to England, where she remarried. But she was transported back to Australia again, this time for bigamy.

Maitland, which was called Wallis Plains during her time, became known as Molly Morgan’s because of the extent of her landholdings. 

Ms Esplund said Molly Morgan’s history in the CBD provided an argument for the mall having her name.

“She settled here and operated the Angel Inn here and she was well known in the area,” she said.

“She did a lot for Maitland in those days and she deserves more recognition for that.”