William Shiels/Shields
| First name | William |
|---|---|
| Last name | Shiels/Shields |
| Country of Origin | Scotland |
| Date of Birth | 7/3/1815 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1849 |
| Submitted by | Sally Douglas |
Story
William Shiels (Shields) born in 1815 in Markinch, Fife, Scotland was one of the 11 and perhaps 12 children of David Shiels (Shields) a Market Gardener and the first Pastor of the Whytescauseway (breakaway) Baptist Church in Kirkcaldy, Fife and his wife “Fanny” Fotheringham Duddingston Mitchell/Mitchell of Lower Largo, Fife. Fanny Mitchell was christened by a famous vicar at the time – the Reverand Spence Oliphant whose wife was Fotheringham Duddingston – so that the Oliphant/Duddingston and Mitchell families was either very close friends or related.
In 1849 William and his wife of eleven years Elizabeth (Burrell/Birrell) and their 3 children David, Isabella/Isabel and William left Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Scotland and set sail for Australia – another William had already died as an infant in 1846 in Dunfermline, Fife.
Re. the career of William born 1815; he was an Engineer and Machine-maker in Scotland and in Victoria, Australia was a Gold Miner, Store-keeper, Licensed Victualler, Hotel-keeper (James Watt cnr Spencer Rosslyn Streets, West Melbourne) and property owner and landlord.
The Shiels family came on an assisted passage on the “Agenoria” which sailed from Plymouth on 7/2/1849 arriving in Sydney on 26/5/1849 – so that it was a long and arduous voyage. From the Lloyds Shipping Register ~ Agenoria 1848, Master – Captain Newby, Rigging – Barque, sheathed in yellow metal in 1848, Tonnage – 670 tons using old measurements, Construction – 1846 in New Brunswick, Owners – Gray and Son, Port of Registry – London, Port of Survey – London, Voyage – Sailed for Sydney ~ Moreover in the Shipping Gazette of 26/5/1849 at the National Library of Australia “This vessel has made a good passage in one hundred and seven days from Plymouth…All on board are now in good health, and much credit is due to the Commander, Surgeon-Superintendant and Officers of the Ship, for the remarkably clean condition in which she has arrived …” There is an oil painting of this ship in the Nova Scotia Museum Collections Unit, Maritime Museum of the Atlantic,Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada and it looks just like the what one would imagine and is ‘sheathed in gold’.Title:Agenoria, Artist Name: Unknown, Date of Artwork: nd, Medium: Oil on canvas, Dimensions: 61.2 x 91.5 cm
The Kirkcaldy Library in Fife has said that they have a copy of the Fifeshire Advertiser of 28/5/1853 which details a letter from William Shiels to his father David in Kirkcaldy – the essence of which is that between 1849 and 1853 William found 7 ozs of gold at Mt Alexander in Victoria and at that time it was worth 800 pounds. This was enough to get William and his wife and family off to a great financial start in Victoria and they eventually had a collection of properties in West Melbourne, Richmond and Hawthorn. The grandest property was probably 38 Lisson Grove, Hawthorn where Elizabeth as a widow spent her final years of life’s unknown and enriching journey – William had died at the age of 53 and Elizabeth lived till she was 86.
William’s second youngest brother – Andrew born 1825 Kirkcaldy, Fife came to Sydney, Australia too with his wife Cecilia Suttie Smith – sailing from Liverpool and arriving in Botany Bay on 9/6/1849 on the “Diana”. Life for Andrew Shiels was disastrous – he and his wife had already lost an infant son Andrew in Kirkcaldy in 1847; an unamed child had died in 1849 and later in 1949 their next child Isabel/Isabella born on the “Diana” died too. By December 1849 Andrew Shiels had died in Sydney, New South Wales. Cecilia re-married – to George Spence at the Free Church, Fort Street, Sydney and they went on to produce eight children.