Zephaniah Williams (1795 - 1874)

Born 1795 in Argoed, Monmouthshire, Wales

Husband of Joan (Llewelyn) Williams — married 9 Aug 1819 in Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, Wales

Died 8 May 1874 at about age 79 in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia

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Biography

Zephaniah Williams is Notable.

Zephaniah was born in 1795 in Monmouthshire, Wales. He passed away in 1874 in Tasmania.

"Williams was born near Argoed, Sirhowy Valley, Monmouthshire, Wales, with much of his childhood spent near the then village of Blackwood, also living for some periods in Caerphilly and Nantyglo. He was fortunate enough not only to have a fair amount of schooling, and becoming literate in both English and Welsh, but also having the character to be self-educated, particularly studying geology.

At the age of 25 he married Joan, then living for some time in Machen and had a son Llewellyn. Daughters Jane and Rhoda were born in 1825 and 1827 respectively.

At the age of 33 he came to Sirhowy, as a free thinking rationalist, with strong radical views, rather than one of religious conviction. In 1830 Williams launched a Political Union in Tredegar and the following year, in 1831, is thought to have been instrumental in forming the Humanists/Dynolwyr of Nantyglo. He became a coal miner or collier and later a Master Collier at Blaina and innkeeper, keeping the Royal Oak at Nantyglo, from where he used to pay his colliers.

He took active part in the Chartist Rising in Newport on 4 November 1839. This is also called the Newport Rising.^[1] He was sentenced by The Special Commission held at Shire Hall, Monmouth on 16 January 1840 with the verdict of 'guilty of high treason' - sentencing to death by hanging, drawing, and quartering. But his sentence was commuted and he was transported for life to Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania, Australia), arriving at the colony on the last day of June 1840."^[2] on the Mandarin.

His trial for High Treason on 31 Dec 1839.^[3]

• Ticket of leave 27th November 1849
• Conditional pardon 15th November 1852
• Free pardon 19th February 1857 ^[4]

Many coal mines were established around Latrobe in Tasmania over the years, including ex-convict Zephaniah Williams’ Denison Colliery from 1855. He constructed a jetty on the Mersey River in Devonport and got the government to put a road in, but then it folded in 1859. From the Land newspaper of Friday 2 January 1925, Page 2 we see mention of his discovery of shale oil:

Miner.—Yellow coal is said to have been discovered in Tasmania by a Mr. Zephaniah Williams. He was searching for coal below ground when accidentally his lamp left above ground set fire to a piece of yellow stone which lay along the surface like shale. This is probably the first discovery of oil shale in the State.

He died in 1874 in Windmill Hill in Launceston, Tasmania. He is buried in East Devonport St. Paul, Anglican, in Devonport, Tasmania. ^[5] Photo of grave on findagrave.com.^[6]

We see a little of his Obituary in the The Tasmanian newspaper in Launceston of Saturday 16 May 1874 below:

Mr Zephaniah Williams formerly of the Mersey, the Don and later of Torquay, died at his temporary residence, High-street, Windmill Hill, at 11 a.m. on the 8th inst. Mr Williams had come into town from his usual residence with his son-in-law, Mr George Atkinson, of Latrobe, for the purpose of having a very serious operation performed in the hope of obtaining relief from pain caused by a complaint of long standing

The operation was performed at 5 o'clock on the 7th inst. by Doctors Millar, Maddox, and Wigan, in the presence of three medical students — Messrs. Miller, Robertson, and Thompson — now walking the General Hospital, Launceston. Mr Williams had not strength to recover from the effects of the operation, and he sank and died next morning, when he was verging on the 80th year of his life.

Mr Williams was one of the celebrated Chartist leaders, Frost, Williams, and Jones, who dared to entertain and express claims to British liberty some forty years in advance of tho period for granting such demands. He has been a valuable colonist, always endeavoring to develop the mineral resources of Tasmania, and investing all his means towards that end as well as devoting his time, skill, and experience to the same end. Years ago the people resident on the Mersey presented him with a silver cup as a slight token of their appreciation of his services. He was manager of the Mersey Coal Company, by which he was, like other shareholders, a loser. He kept the Don Inn for some time, but retired from business about two years ago, since which he has resided with his son-in-law, Mr George Atkinson.

Sources

1. ↑ https://www.newport.gov.uk/en/About-Newport/History/The-Newport-Chartist-Rising.aspx
2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zephaniah_Williams
3. ↑ England & Wales, Criminal Registers, 1791-1892: https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?dbid=1590&h=1346479&indiv=try&o_vc=Record:OtherRecord&rhSource=1266
4. ↑ The Digital Panopticon Zephaniah Williams , Life Archive ID btr38785 (https://www.digitalpanopticon.org/life?id=btr38785). Version 1.2.1, consulted 10th April 2022.
5. ↑ https://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=1266&h=319530&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=TGl102&_phstart=successSource
6. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (accessed 13 November 2021), memorial page for Zephaniah Williams (1795–8 May 1874), Find A Grave: Memorial #88493415, citing East Devonport Pioneer Park Cemetery, East Devonport, Devonport City, Tasmania, Australia ; Maintained by Rebecca Ewing Peterson (contributor 46987065) .

• Wikidata: Item Q8069294
• https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSK3-D9QN-W?i=141&cat=219339 Image 142 of 502

• G. Rudé, Williams, Zephaniah (1795–1874), Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/williams-zephaniah-2795/text3985, published first in hardcopy 1967, accessed online 10 April 2022.

• Details for the convict Zephaniah Williams (1840) from the CLAIM A CONVICT website. first accessed online on the 10th of April, 2022 at: http://www.hawkesbury.net.au/claimaconvict/convictDetails.php?convictId=65278

• Zephaniah Williams, one of 211 convicts transported on the Mandarin, 24 February 1840 from the CONVICT RECORDS website. first accessed online on the 10th of April, 2022 at: https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/williams/zephaniah/38786

• Zephaniah Williams' Transporation to Van Diemen's Land LIBRARIES TASMANIA NAME_INDEXES:1447156

• Zephaniah Williams' 1841 Petition from certain convicts for indulgences. LIBRARIES TASMANIA NAME_INDEXES:1785226

• 1842 Petition from England complaining of the treatment of J Frost, Z Williams and W Jones. LIBRARIES TASMANIA NAME_INDEXES:1785225

• Zephaniah Williams' 1846 Notification of Pardons and indulgences granted to various convicts. LIBRARIES TASMANIA NAME_INDEXES:1787719

• Zephaniah Williams' Land at Spreyton, Devon 1856 LIBRARIES TASMANIA NAME_INDEXES:1761892

• Zephaniah Williams' Death record LIBRARIES TASMANIA NAME_INDEXES:1159536

• Zephaniah Williams' Will LIBRARIES TASMANIA NAME_INDEXES:1723607

• Grave record for Zephaniah Williams (Died: 8 May 1874), Billion Graves Record 12489157 Latrobe, Tasmania, Australia. first accessed online on the 10th of April, 2022 at: https://billiongraves.com/grave/Zephaniah-Williams/12489157

• OBITUARY NOTICES. from The Tasmanian (Launceston, Tas. : 1871 - 1879) of Saturday 16 May 1874, Page 14. first accessed on TROVE on the 10th of April, 2022 at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/198925311?searchTerm=%22Zephaniah%20Williams%22%20tasmania

• Family Notices from the Weekly Examiner (Launceston, Tas. : 1872 - 1878) of Saturday 16 May 1874, Page 19. first accessed on TROVE on the 10th of April, 2022 at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/233293857?searchTerm=%22Zephaniah%20Williams%22%20tasmania

• The Commentator from Land (Hobart, Tas. : 1924 - 1925) of Friday 2 January 1925, Page 2. first accessed on TROVE on the 10th of April, 2022 at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/173064421?searchTerm=%22Zephaniah%20Williams%22%20tasmania

• Launceston Historical Society, Tasmania: OUR HISTORY NO. 227: The Flammable Rocks of Latrobe (on the Launceston Historical Society, Tasmania FACEBOOK page <iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Flauncestonhistory%2Fposts%2F3260885197519508&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="695" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe>