William Edward (Becket) Beckett (1838 - 1902)

Born 22 Aug 1838 in Wilberforce, New South Wales, Australia

Ancestors

Husband of Catherine (Collins) Beckett — married 13 Nov 1861 in St Mary's Catholic Church, Ipswich, Queensland, Australia

Descendants

Died 1 Dec 1902 at age 64 in Surat, Queensland, Australia

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Biography

William was born in 1838, the first child of convict father John (Becket) Beckett and his wife Catharine (Reynolds) Riley aka Beckett^[1] who had married late the year before at Windsor, New South Wales, when her mother was just 16 years of age. His father arrived aboard the ship Vittoria in 1828 after having been convicted in Buckinghamshire in 1826 and sentenced to transportation for 7 years. His mother was a daughter of Sarah Maria (Singleton) Sibrey , a granddaughter of convict William Singleton, and sister to Benjamin Singleton after-whom the current town of Singleton was ultimately named and both of her paternal grandparents were convicts on ships of the Third Fleet in 1791.

Unfortunately his parents' marriage did not last and they separated after another son was born in 1840. Their estrangement was almost almost certainly before 1843 when his mother gave birth to a son with another man, John Riley. By some accounts, Catherine left John Beckett when their youngest son was around 7 months old, and this would place their separation earlier, in mid-1841.

The first 2 children to John and Catharine, step-siblings to William and his bother John, were born around Goulburn in 1843 and 1845. A further 8 children, or more, were born around Wollombi between 1848 and 1866.

As an interesting aside, William's mother Catharine had a twin sister Elizabeth. They appear to have lived somewhat of a parallel existence: both marrying young; both eventually leaving their husbands to take-up with other men; both eventually moving away from the Hawkesbury region with their new families. It is apparent, however, that they remained close with at least one of Elizabeth's children probably being born at Wollombi we'll after they had otherwise moved north.

In any case, at some point William's mother, step-father, and many of his half-siblings moved north-west to around Warialda. This could have been in the 1870's although, by that time, it seems that both Willian and his brother were spending a good amount of time with their father in Queensland.

In 1856 William and his father John were charged with cattle theft. His father was found guilty and sentenced to 3 years hard labour in Darlinghurst gaol, while William was found not guilty.^[2]

Late in 1861, at Ipswich, Queensland, William married Catherine Collins.^[3] In the following years they appear to have raised a large family of at least 12 children, with several of their births registered around ‘Tartulla Station’, Surat, Queensland, that William's father had built-up before his death in 1872.

William's mother died at Gineroi, between Bingara and Warialda, New South Wales, in 1885.

William passed in December 1902 aged 64 years.^[4] He is buried in Surat General Cemetery.^[5][6][7] His wife survived him by almost 24 years, passing herself in Brisbane in 1926.^[8]

Sources

1. ↑ NSW BDM birth/ baptism 870/1838 V1838870 22
2. ↑ The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) Wed 8 Oct 1856 Page 5
3. ↑ QLD BDM marriage in 1861, Reg. No. C128, of Catherine Collins, and William Becket
4. ↑ QLD BDM death 1903 C3001
5. ↑ Find A Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 27 October 2018), memorial page for William Edward Beckett (22 Aug 1838–1 Dec 1902), Find A Grave Memorial no. 145950751, citing Surat General Cemetery, Surat, Maranoa Region, Queensland, Australia ; Maintained by Cynthia Egan (contributor 48690599)
6. ↑ "Australia Cemetery Inscriptions, 1802-2005," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/QGV5-1TKL : 18 March 2018), John in entry for William Beckett, 01 Dec 1902; from "Australia, Cemetery Inscriptions, 1802-2005," database with images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com : n.d.) citing Death, citing Jim and Alison Rogers : n.d. Various cemeteries, Australia; FHL microfilm
7. ↑ Advertising (1903, January 31). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 7. Retrieved July 23, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article19213763
8. ↑ Family Notices (1926, October 27). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), p. 6. Retrieved July 23, 2023, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article21088231