William Alexander Anderson (1811 - 1872)

Born 1811 in Bromley, Middlesex, England

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 1872 at about age 61 in Macclesfield, South Australia

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Bruce Kelly [send private message] and Marie Private [send private message]

Biography

William was a versatile colonist being at different times a carpenter, blacksmith, farrier, fencer, charcoal burner and farmer.

William was born in Bromley, Middlesex , England, on the 12th November 1811. His parents names were Alexander Anderson and Mary Greathurst.

He had three brothers, Robert, David and Alexander; and three sisters, Rebekah, Matilda and Alice. William, like his father, was a cabinet maker and had served an apprenticeship as a mariner seaman. In 1835 he married Elizabeth Reeves, she died after only four months of marriage.

Williams parents were strict Church of England adherents so after a quarrel over playing skittles on Good Friday, William left home. He took a ship bound for South Africa where he worked for some time before taking passage to South Australia on the ship Courier, arriving at Port Adelaide on the 18th April 1840. He was the ship's carpenter. The Courier, a cargo ship, had cargo consisting of 20 pipes, 40 half pipes, 20 half-aurns Cape wine, 6 hhds brandy, 74 boxes of raisins, 25 bags of coffee, 300 deals and some crates of earthenware. William is reported to have jumped ship with another man after a dispute over being off course with the ships captain, Captain T. Dixon. After knocking him out and locking him in his cabin, they then hid in the hills (or tiers as they were then called) until the ship departed. Although no official record has been found confirming this, it sounds plausible as not all ships captains bothered to take the time to report a deserter, as it took time they didn't have, happened frequently and it was never hard to find someone else to replace them.

After arriving, William for a short time worked in the slate quarries at Willunga, before heading to Flaxley where he worked as a carpenter, building the cedar doors and windows in the house owned by Robert Davenport on the property ?Battunga?. It was here that he met his future wife Mary Eliza Milligan who worked as a maid at the property.

William Alexander Anderson and Mary Eliza Milligan were married in the Holy Trinity Church , North Terrace, on the 23rd Jul y 1844 after a two-day walk from Blakiston where Eliza lived with her father. For the walk to Adelaide , which included an overnight stay at the inn known as the ?Mountain Hut?, Mary Eliza was chaperoned by her father.

After the marriage the newlyweds returned by horse and cart to Macclesfield where they made their home. William and Mary Eliza were one of the first families to settle in Macclesfield.

William joined the Victorian Gold Rush in the early 1850s but returned home without success and rented land at Flaxley. In March 1856 William was granted a slaughtering license. In February 1859 a bushfire swept through the property destroying everything they owned. William, Mary Eliza and their children, then moved back to Macclesfield where they rented a farm on Meadows Road where William burned charcoal for use in the forges and worked as a blacksmith and farrier. He also did a lot of fencing in the district and built the saleyards at Macclesfield in the post and rail manner which required much splitting and shaping in the absence of nails and bolts.

One of his most notable contributions to Macclesfield was his family of 16 children, many of whom married into other Macclesfield families such as the Motts, McNamaras, Staceys and Webbs.

William died on the 14th April 1872 at Greenhills, near Macclesfield aged 61. He is buried at Macclesfield St Johns C/ E Cemetery.

Children

7 May 1845 Birth of son Melville Anderson ^[1]
1 Jan 1847 Birth of daughter Mary Anderson^[2]
10 Mar 1848 Birth of daughter Sarah Anderson^[3]
10 Jun 1850 Birth of daughter Janet Anderson^[4]
22 May 1851 Birth of daughter Rebekah Anderson^[5]
2 May 1852 Birth of daughter Ann Anderson^[6]
25 Oct 1853 Birth of son William Anderson ^[7]
26 Nov 1854 Birth of son James Anderson ^[8]
23 May 1856 Birth of son Henry Anderson ^[9]
1 Aug 1857 Birth of son John Anderson ^[10]
26 Apr 1859 Birth of daughter Margaret Anderson^[11]
8 Sep 1860 Birth of son Samuel Anderson ^[12]
25 Jun 1862 Birth of daughter Matilda Anderson^[13]
12 Aug 1864 Birth of son George Anderson^[14]
21 Jun 1867 Birth of daughter Alice Anderson^[15]
18 Feb 1869 Birth of son Alexander Anderson ^[16]

Sources

1. ↑ GenealogySA 1845 ref 1/109 [1]
2. ↑ GenealogySA 1/192 [2]
3. ↑ GenealogySA 1848 ref 2/46 [3]
4. ↑ GenealogySA 1850 ref 3/63 [4]
5. ↑ GenealogySA 1851 ref 3/214 [5]
6. ↑ GenealogySA 1852 ref 4/15 [6]
7. ↑ GenealogySA 1853 ref 4/228 [7]
8. ↑ GenealogySA 1854 ref 5/67 [8]
9. ↑ GenealogySA 1856 ref 5/332 [9]
10. ↑ GenealogySA 1857 ref 12/607 [10]
11. ↑ GenealogySA 1859 ref 17/58 [11]
12. ↑ GenealogySA 1860 ref 19/397 [12]
13. ↑ GenealogySA 1862 ref 25/243 [13]
14. ↑ GenealogySA 1864 ref 32/398 [14]
15. ↑ GenealogySA 1867 ref 57/284 [15]
16. ↑ GenealogySA 1869 ref 71/445 [16]

• CD, SA Marriages, Registrations 1842-1916, Book 101, page 163

• 1844, Marriages in the District of Adelaide No 633

• Australia Death Index, 1787-1985

• London, England, Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812