William Collins (1846 - 1909)

Born 26 Apr 1846 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Descendants

Died 22 Jan 1909 at age 62 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

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Biography

William Collins, the second son of John Collins and Anne Martin, was born in 1846 at Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. ^[1]

He married Mary Adelaide Gwendoline Roberts on 7 April 1900 at Dunedin, New Zealand.^[2]
MARRIAGES.
COLLINS—ROBERTS.—On the 7th April at St. Matthew's Church, Dunedin, New Zealand, by the Rev. W. Curzon-Siggers, M.A., William, second son of the late John Collins, Mundoolun, Brisbane, to Mary Adelaide Gwendoline, eldest daughter of the late FitzClarence Roberts, Kuriwao, Clinton, New Zealand.^[3]

William Collins died on 22 January 1909 at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.^[4]
Death of Mr. William Collins.
Just as we go to press we have received the sad news of the death of Mr. William Collins (Nindooimbah), which took place at the Mater Misericordia Hospital, Brisbane, at 9-30a.m. this morning. The body is being brought on to Jimboomba by special train and the funeral will take place at Mundoolun tomorrow (Saturday).^[5]

Obituary.
MR.WILLIAM COLLINS.
Few names are more closely identified with the development of the pastoral industry than that of the Collins family of the Logan and Albert district, and one of the well known members of that popular family, Mr. William Collins, of Nindooinbah, died on January 22, shortly after 9 o'clock, at the Mater Misericordiac (sic) Hospital. Mr. William Collins was the son of the late Mr. John Collins, of Mundoolun station, in the Beaudesert district. He was born in the year 1846, and when still a lad he began with his father and brother some remarkable station pioneering. As far back as 1863 he assisted in forming Westgrove station, on the Dawson River. Pioneer squatting in those days required a heart that was almost dauntless. As one of our Australian poets has written:—
Drought and hunger were banished words,
When he spoke of that unknown west ;
No drought he dreaded, no flood he feared,
Where the pelican builds her nest.
Towards the latter end of the seventies the late Mr. Collins entered into partnership with the late Sir Thomas McIlwraith and the late Hon. W. Forrest. The firm was known as the North Australian Pastoral Company, and large cattle stations were formed by them in what then was the comparatively unknown Northern Territory. About 20 years ago Mr. Collins entered into partnership with Sir Malcolm McEacharn, the late Hon. Simon Fraser. and other Victorians, and they purchased extensive cattle stations in the Burke district. Mr. Collins was engaged in various other pioneering work, and the stations with which he was associated are to be found in all the great pastoral districts of Queensland. He was connected with the well known firm of John Collins and Sons, with that of Collins, White and Co., and, as already indicated, with the North Australian Pastoral Company. He was a director of Moreheads Limited, a director of the Bank of North Queensland, and one of the members of the Pastoral Butchering Company, in South Brisbane. Many years ago, when associated with the late Sir Thomas McIlwraith, Mr. Collins speculated largely and successfully with frozen meat. He was an expert veterinary surgeon, and same years ago, he was commissioned by the Queensland Government to go to Texas to report upon the cattle disease, known as Texas fever. For some time. Mr. Collins has not been in good health, and no later than Wednesday last, he went on board a vessel, in Brisbane, with the intention of voyaging by way of Sydney, to New Zealand, for a long holiday trip. While on the boat he was seized with a sudden illness, and was taken to the hospital, at which he died this morning.
Some of our biographical details are taken from. "John's Australians."^[6]

He was buried at Mundoolan Anglican Church Cemetery, Logan City, Queensland.^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ NSW birth registration number 3830/1846 V18463830 32A COLLINS WILLIAM (Parents) JOHN and ANNE https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au
2. ↑ NZ marriage registration number 1900/1598 MARY ADELAIDE GWENDOLINE ROBERTS married WILLIAM COLLINS https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/
3. ↑ "Brisbane Courier" (Qld. : 1864 - 1933), Saturday 5 May 1900, page 8 column 3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/19041718?searchTerm=Collins%20marriage%20Mundoolun#
4. ↑ QLD death registration number 1909/B/10628 WILLIAM COLLINS Date of death 22/01/1909 (Parents) ANNE MARTIN and JOHN COLLINS https://www.familyhistory.bdm.qld.gov.au/
5. ↑ “Beaudesert Times” (Qld. : 1908 - 1954), Friday 22 January 1909, page 2 column 3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/216127165?searchTerm=William%20Collins#
6. ↑ “Week (Brisbane, Qld. : 1876 - 1934), Friday 29 January 1909, page 16 column 1 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/183689911/20917610#
7. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/140922835/william-collins : accessed 26 September 2021), memorial page for William Collins (26 Apr 1846–22 Jan 1909), Find a Grave Memorial ID 140922835, citing Mundoolan Anglican Church Cemetery, Mundoolun, Logan City, Queensland, Australia ; Maintained by Brett Williams (contributor 47234529)