William Edwards
| Town/City | Golden Grove |
|---|---|
| First name | William |
| Last name | Edwards |
| Country of Origin | England |
| Date of Birth | C1838 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1856 |
| Submitted by | Mervyn Edwards |
Story
William Edwards sailed from Plymouth on the 4th June 1856 aboard the ‘Aliquis’, a 1247 ton, 3 mast ship, built 1854 in Quebec. The ship arrived at Port Adelaide in the charge of Captain Pain on the 26th August, 1856 after a voyage of 83 days. Travelling with William were a huge passenger list of 210 males, 126 females and 128 children. A total of 435 passengers in all. William was an 18 year-old travelling alone, and nothing is known of his life in Cornwall. He married Emma Williams in 1861 at Black Springs in South Australia. Emma had no family in Australia and it is believed she arrived as a single 20 year-old woman aboard the ‘Nimroud’ which sailed from Southampton in 1855 and arrived at Port Adelaide on the 30th December 1855. The ship, in the charge of H. Tilman, was carrying 313 passengers but 4 died on the 123 day journey.
Six children were born to the marriage, but two daughters died in infancy. The surviving members were Thomas William 1862-1905, James Henry 1864-1924, Mary Jane 1865-1893 and Alice 1873-1941. The three oldest children married in South Australia and when the railway link to Broken Hill was complete in 1888, the family, minus James, relocated to seek work in the Broken Hill mines. William died in 1899 and Emma in 1894 and are buried in Broken Hill Cemetery with their eldest son and daughter.
The oldest child, Thomas, married Hannah Coen at Petersburg in 1887. Thomas was Church of England but was granted ‘special dispensation’ to marry in the Catholic faith. The couple were married by John Henry Norton who was ordained in Rome in 1881. It is interesting to note that John Norton and his family attended a Methodist Church, as that was the closest to their home in Victoria, however his father married in the Anglican Church. The church at Petersburg (re-named Peterborough during the war years) had yet to be built so they were married in the home of John Henry Norton. John Norton was to become known as the Bishop of Railways because his ministry was vast and he travelled by train to serve his flock who were chiefly railway workers. Thomas and Hannah had 2 sons and 5 daughters, they named the second son, John Henry and one has to wonder if he was actually named after their Priest. Hannah left Broken Hill and returned to South Australia after the untimely death of Thomas from pneumonia, she lived at Glenelg for the rest of her life.
The second son, James married Rebecca Drury, they had two sons and spent the whole of their married life at Wirabarra in South Australia.
Mary Jane married Henry Edward Matthews at Kooringa in South Australia she died at the age of 28, just three years after moving to Broken Hill. She was survived by 2 sons and 2 daughters.
Alice married William Williams at Broken Hill, they had 3 sons and after the death of Alice, William shared his time between Semaphore in South Australia and Broken Hill.
The 489 recognised descendants of William and Emma have spread to all states of Australia and many of them have spent their lives as Commissioned Officers and Soldiers of the Salvation Army, aiding and ministering to people in need.