Page:Gillespies Beach Beginnings • Alexander (2010).pdf/47



Whilst Laurence and Margaret were raising their family at Gillespie’s, over in Australia another drama was taking place which would introduce the name of Williams into the family’s saga, linking their Welsh heritage with those of the Irish Sullivans. The details are well-documented in the Cairns museum in Australia’s Queensland.

Henry (Harry) Williams married Eliza Sidwell in Sydney in 1865 at St Peter’s Anglican Church, Cooks River - an interesting coincidence - Cooks River, Australia, and the Cook River and valley at Weheka, Fox Glacier. Henry was born in Cardiganshire, Wales, in 1840 and his wife in 1843. I understand the Sidwells were of English extraction and at the time were farming at Goulbourn in New South Wales. Both of the Williams boys, and their sister, Alice, were therefore of Welsh and English descent, although in time the New Zealand heritage, through marriage with the Sullivans, would come to be thought of as predominantly Irish. Although I am using his correct name, Henry was commonly referred to as Harry.

When Henry Williams learned of the big strikes of gold on the West Coast of New Zealand he and his wife travelled to Hokitika via Port Chalmers where they settled temporarily. Steamers plied directly between Melbourne and Hokitika at this time. In approximately 1872 the pair returned to Australia. The newspaper report below indicates that Henry left his wife and children with his father-in-law, Mr Sidwell, a publican at Goulburn in New South Wales. Henry then departed for Queensland and the Etheridge goldfields. In some accounts his wife was said to have remained behind in Hokitika when he left for Australia but the newspaper article is probably more reliable.

Henry was, unfortunately, killed by Aboriginees at a place called Walshtown on the Etheridge river in 1873. Thoughts of travelling