By David Morgan

Supported by a Create NSW Arts and Cultural Grant – Old Parramattans & Rogues

I have a life, and it only goes in one direction: forward.

—Don Draper, Mad Men, Season 1, Episode 5

The prisoner at the bar of the Old Bailey is found guilty. He or she is then sent to a prison hulk to await transportation to the other side of the world. After months at sea—from the doldrums of the mid-Atlantic to the ‘Roaring Forties’ of the Indian Ocean—they arrive in Australia and are put to work through the assignment system, eventually earning their ‘Ticket of Leave’ and a chance to make a new life for themselves in the colony. Considering the future they might have faced if they had stayed in England, the stories of many convicts transported to Australia raise the provocative question: despite the anguish they endured between their arrest and their release, might transportation have been the best thing that could have happened to them?

Born into poverty as ‘Dick Whitman,’ the central character of the television series Mad Men grabs an opportunity for himself as an army private when his commanding officer Donald Draper is killed in the Korean War—he steals the real Donald Draper’s identity and goes on to success in the advertising industry in 1950s America. In the journey of John Wilson Isaac, sailor and convicted pickpocket in London, towards becoming John Williams, first Mayor of Parramatta, we also see a man sloughing off his old identity by adopting an alias which would become his new name, finding success in the inn keeping business, and rising to Victorian-era respectability.

‘…He Smiled At Me…’

Ports and the sea are recurring features of John Williams’s early life. His story begins on 24 June 1816, when he was born ‘John Wilson Isaac’ in Sussex, the second son of John and Ann Isaac. On 13 August 1817, he was baptised at St. Mary the Virgin Church, Rotherhithe, on the south bank of the Thames in London.[1] Rotherhithe is a Saxon name, meaning ‘mariners’ landing place,’ and it has a long association with the river and the sea, with a community made up of mariners, ship repairers, ship breakers, whalers, market gardeners and dockers.[2]

CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE. Left: St. Mary Church, Rotherhithe, Surrey, in A Short Account of the Churches, Schools and Charities in the Parish of St. Mary, Rotherhithe, (London: Seeleys and B. Batt, 1848) . CC BY 1.0. Courtesy of The British Library. Right: Francois Louis Thomas Francia, Floating Dock at Rotherhithe [with St. Mary’s Church in the background], (1 July 1815). © National Maritime Museum Collections.

The older John had been born in Bideford, Devon in 1783, the son of Francis and Mary Isaac, and baptised there at the nonconformist Great Meeting Independent Chapel.[3] He would go on to become a sailor, marrying Ann Moore at the Church of St. George the Martyr in Southwark.[4] As well as their son John, they would have another son, Francis, born in 1812, and daughters Mary, born in 1815, and Elizabeth, born in 1820.[5] But, having gone into the merchant navy, John senior died in 1820 at the Simpang Hospital in Surabaya in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia).[6] The four-year-old John was now without a father.

John would go on to follow his father’s trade, becoming a ‘sailor and cuddy servant [mess steward]’ according to his 1848 Pardon, which also gives us a physical description of him: five feet four inches (1.63 metres) tall, sallow complexion, dark brown hair, hazel eyes, a mole on his left cheek, and tattoos including ‘a crucifix and altar piece inside left lower part of right arm; man, woman and flag inside part of lower left arm; anchor tat[t]ooed on the back of left hand; bluskedoo [?] on the back of right hand.’[7] Assuming he went to sea at an early age, he would have been a sailor for some years by the time of his arrest.

Had he tired of life on board ship? Was he between voyages and looking for an easy source of income? It is not clear, but at about five o’clock in the afternoon of 28 March 1834, the seventeen-year-old John Isaac was in Cheapside, the main east-west thoroughfare in the heart of the ‘Square Mile’ of the City of London. So was Matthew Wood, a grocer, who would testify at Isaac’s trial on 10 April that ‘a young gentleman told me something – I did not see the prisoner then, but I had seen him follow me for about a quarter of an hour – he was afterwards taken, and I know him to be the same man who had followed me – I lost my handkerchief, and have not seen it since.’[8]

Next to appear in the witness box was John Smith, under-beadle of the Ward of Cheap, who testified that ‘I was coming, out of Bird-in-hand-court [opposite Old Jewry[9]] – the prisoner ran by, and hit me in the face – I knocked him down, and took him to the watch-house.’ The final witness for the prosecution was that ‘young gentleman’ Thomas Osborne Henderson, who would give the evidence which would send Isaac to prison:

I saw the prosecutor [Wood] in Cheapside, and the prisoner took the handkerchief from his pocket – he crossed the road – he saw me looking at him; and he smiled at me, which I thought was to convey an impression that it was only a joke – he then went up King-street – I went and told the prosecutor, we went up King-street, but could not see the prisoner – we returned to the corner of the street, and the prosecutor was telling the police of it – I saw the prisoner coming along and I said, “That is him” – he then ran off, and was taken by the beadle.[10]

Isaac’s only defence was to say that, ‘I heard the cry, and ran, but I did not know they were going to take me.’[11]

Whatever the truth of this story, he was lying about his name. In his trial he would go by the alias ‘John Williams,’ a name he would keep for the rest of his life. What was he doing in Cheapside, and why did he adopt this name? He may have thought he could find rich pickings among the prosperous crowds of the City, and his having an alias prepared implies he may already have been a practised thief. In addition, the fact that the handkerchief was not on his person when he was arrested could have meant that he had passed it to an accomplice. The jury found him guilty, and Mr. Sergeant Arabin sentenced him to be transported for fourteen years.[12]

The Cholera Ship

John Williams’s first stop after his conviction was the prison hulk Fortitude, anchored at Chatham in Kent, where he arrived on 6 May 1834; his offence was listed as ‘Stealing from the person’ and his age given as eighteen.[13] Previously known as HMS Cumberland, a 74-gun Royal Navy ship, the Fortitude had been operating as a hulk since 1830, and lay in the River Medway close to Chatham’s naval dockyard.[14]

The Fortitude prison hulk (formerly HMS Cumberland). D. Harding, Cumberland (1807), (Chatham: Chatham Dockyard, 5 March 1833). © National Maritime Museum Collections.

Williams was to leave England in the convict transport Henry Porcher, a barque of 485 tons, built in Bristol in 1817, owned by N. Griffiths, and under a Master named Hart.[15] But as the convicts began to arrive by water from Chatham via Sheerness, Royal Navy Surgeon Thomas Galloway noticed that something was wrong.[16] Galloway was an experienced naval surgeon, having already sailed on three earlier convict transports: the Persian in 1830, the Isabella in 1832 and the Asia in 1833.[17] On joining the Henry Porcher on 8 August 1834, Galloway had found that two crew members had been sent ashore with symptoms of cholera, while several apprentices had diarrhoea ‘of different degrees of violence, in some cases attended by Fever.’[18] On 25 August, John Williams and his fellow prisoners were embarked, and Galloway found one ‘labouring under Fever and Diarhea’ [sic], while another was ‘covered with scrofulous sores’—but ‘the person who superintended their embarkation refused to take them back; and the weather being stormy, the probability that the long passage in return [to Sheerness], exposed in an open boat, would much encrease [sic] the danger of the patient in fever; I ceased to press the measure; but wrote to the Superintendent stating the circumstance, and requesting another prisoner in exchange of him labouring under a scrofula; which on the following day was complied with.’[19]

Galloway soon made sure that Williams and his fellow convicts would leave England as quickly as possible. He noted ‘the prevalence of cholera at Woolwich,’ just downstream from Deptford, which had ‘caused a delay in the original scheme of embarkation,’ and asked whether the disease had appeared on board the Fortitude—he was ‘assured of the contrary.’[20] But on the day of embarkation he learned from the prisoners that ‘the Assistant Surgeon [of the Fortitude] was then on board the Hospital ship, confined to bed from Cholera, of which he died that night,’ a report which the Mate of the Fortitude later acknowledged.[21] In the days before the Henry Porcher’s departure, Galloway found that diarrhoea ‘became very frequent, many of the cases with suspicious symptoms, but no decided case of Asphyxia until the 31^st [August].’[22] Based on his observation of a similar outbreak in the area in January 1833, he came to the conclusion that ‘a speedy removal to a dryer and more genial atmosphere than that of the bleak and sickly situation of Sheerness, might have cut short the progress of the epidemic—acting under this impression in the present instance, I without hesitation immediately proceeded to sea, with a contrary wind, and blowing strong—and feel happy in stating, that by the time we had got as far to the westward as Portsmouth, both Diarhea [sic], [and] Cholera, had nearly ceased.’[23] John Williams would not return to England for another twenty-nine years.

Galloway was convinced of the importance of cleanliness and exercise in maintaining health. His medical journal of the voyage does not list Williams among the sick, but does give detailed daily reports of the progress of all cases, which included not only convicts but the soldiers guarding them. Of the 31 put on the sick list during the voyage, nine died: three of cholera, one of ‘diarhea’ [sic], one of scrofula, two of dysentery, and two of ‘phthisis incipiens’ (tuberculosis).[24] Williams’s life was now governed by the routine Galloway put in place for keeping the prisoners clean and exercised:

An economy was most regularly [and] rigidly adhered to during the whole of the passage…the decks daily scraped, or dry rubb’d with sand, [and] handstones; and fumigated or sprinkled every morning with chloride of lime[,] with airing from the stoves below whenever the temperature of the prison [i.e. onboard barracks] would allow of it. As great a number of the prisoners as the maindeck would conveniently contain were on deck, by divisions, from eight in the morning, until six, or half past seven at night, according to the hour of the sun setting; the bedding was always on deck in dry weather, and very frequently opened and exposed to the wind [and] sun; afterwards all shaken previous to being sent below.[25]

While in the tropics, Williams and his fellow convicts were ‘daily compelled to wash and bathe their persons, or have buckets of water thrown over them, between the hours of five and eight of the morning’; during colder weather they were run around the deck (‘dancing was also encouraged’) in order to ‘keep their circulation in activity whilst on deck for air.’[26] He added that ‘Those who expired of phthisis possessed the most indolent habits, were evidently highly scrofulous, and atrophia commenced nearly with the voyage. The soldier who died of scorbutic dysentery was of a similar disposition, a nuisance to his party from the moment of embarkation and I feel justified [in stating that] he fell a victim to his sloth and indolence, and his constantly remaining below, except when driven on deck to duty.’[27] If the eighteen-year-old Roberts was not one of the ‘indolent,’ we can assume he remained as fit and healthy as a transported convict could be until the Henry Porcher arrived at Warrane (Sydney Cove) in Cadigal Country on 1 January 1835 after a nearly four month voyage, with a load of 253 male prisoners, as well as a detachment of 29 men of the 50^th Regiment under Lieutenant Malcolm, along with eight women and seven children.[28] Williams’s height on arrival was listed in the Convict Indents as 62 inches (5 feet 2 inches or 1.57m).[29] He was now available for assignment.

Assignment and Marriage

After his arrival in Cadi (Sydney), Cadigal Country, Williams was assigned to Captain William Dumaresq and sent to his St. Aubins estate in Geawegal Country, near Scone in the Hunter Valley.[30] Dumaresq had been an officer in the Royal Staff Corps, serving in the Peninsular War and in Turtle Island (Canada, North America). In 1825 he accompanied his brother Henry when the latter came to Cadi (Sydney) to take up the post of private secretary to Governor Ralph Darling. In Anishinaabeg Country, Turtle Island (Canada, North America), William Dumaresq had been engaged in the construction of the Ottawa Canal (Rideau Canal), and Darling now appointed him provisionally as civil engineer and inspector of roads and bridges, later recommending him as deputy surveyor-general.[31] In the end none of these appointments were confirmed by the British government, after accusations of nepotism. The Dumaresq brothers were the target of constant newspaper attacks during Darling’s term, and in 1827 William fought a duel with Robert Wardell, editor of The Australian, over a libellous attack. In 1829 he retired from public life, living at St. Aubins not far from Henry’s estate, St. Heliers, a location known to the Gamilaraay People as ‘Boorumbeelah,’ near Bimboorien (Muswellbrook) in Gamilaraay Country, both named after the home of their forebears in Jersey, Channel Islands.[32] John Williams, the thief from London’s East End, was now working for a member of the colony’s landed gentry, a protégé of the former governor.

What was life like at St. Aubins for John Williams with William Dumaresq as his master? Henry Dumaresq was widely praised for the way he ran St. Heliers, with the Presbyterian churchman John Dunmore Lang saying that ‘the law on his estate is the law of kindness, and incitement to industry and good conduct are rewards, not punishments. The convict labourers reside in whitewashed cottages, each having a little garden in front. Prizes are awarded to those who keep their cottages in the best order…The result of such a system is just what might be expected; the men are sober, industrious and contented.’[33] If we assume that the nearby St. Aubins was run in the same way (Henry seems to have overshadowed William in the public perception) then John Williams now found himself in just the sort of environment where he could make a new start in life. He was still an assigned convict when he met Margaret Leslie.

Margaret Leslie was born on 24 September 1811, and baptised on 4 October 1811 in Laggan in the Scottish county of Inverness-shire.[34] She sailed from the Scottish port of Oban on the emigrant ship St. George, arriving at Warrane (Sydney Cove) on 19 November 1838. An Immigration Office advertisement in the Sydney Monitor listed the numbers of immigrants of various trades on board for the benefit of ‘persons desirous of employing them’; she was one of 25 unmarried females, whose trades included dairymaids, dressmakers, house servants, laundry maids and needlewomen.[35] It is unclear just where and when she met John Williams, but they were granted permission to marry on 22 April 1841; John and Margaret’s ages were given as 25 and 26 years respectively.[36] About ten weeks later on 3 July, their first son, the interestingly-named James Isaac Williams, was born at ‘Scone’ in Geawegal Country, and baptised there at St. Luke’s Church on 5 September; his father’s occupation was given as ‘Baker.’[37] Another child, Eliza, was born at Yass in Ngunnawal and Wirajuri Country in 1842.[38] After nearly two years of marriage, John received his Ticket of Leave while living at Berrima, Gundangara Country in April 1843, nine years after his conviction.[39]

John’s new life in the colonies seems to have encouraged his family to put aside any shame they might have felt at his transportation, because his brother Francis Isaac was to follow him as a free settler, even though John was still a convict at that time. Francis arrived with his family aboard the barque Eleanor, a ship of 153 tons, on 15 December 1840, having come from England via Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa (Port Nicholson, Wellington, New Zealand).[40]

Inn Keeper

Having been a baker, John Williams would soon move into the trade which would make him a prominent member of colonial society. In 1845, ‘being a fit Person to keep a Public House,’ he was awarded a Publican’s Licence for the Royal Hotel, Horton Street, Guruk (Port Macquarie) in Birpai Country.[41] The Royal had opened its doors in 1841 with Georgina Kinnear as its manageress, and had been built for Major Archibald Clunes Innes, one of the district’s leading landowners, primarily to accommodate visiting officers and new arrivals to the settlement.[42] Born in 1800, Innes had come to the then penal settlement of Port Macquarie at Guruk, Birpai Country as commandant in 1826. In 1830 he was granted 2568 acres (1039 ha) and soon became one of the richest men in the colony, but during the depression of the 1840s his wealth was almost completely wiped out.[43] Williams no doubt saw an opportunity and picked up the licence. (A family history suggests that William Dumaresq may have helped to finance the purchase.[44]) The licence would be renewed in 1846 and 1847.[45] While his business career was flourishing in Guruk (Port Macquarie), Williams’s family was also growing, with his daughter Catherine being baptised in Macquarie County on 5 September 1845.[46]

Also in 1845, John Williams began a partnership with Andrew Nash when together they leased the Lamb and Lark Inn at Norree (Baulkham Hills) in Bidjigal Country.[47] Nash was an emancipist from an earlier generation, having received a seven year sentence for receiving stolen goods in 1799 and arrived in New South Wales in 1801 aboard the ship Canada.[48] He already held the licences for the Woolpack Inn and the Hawkesbury Inn in Parramatta, and he and Williams now took advantage of another business opportunity. The Lamb and Lark (now the site of the Bull and Bush Hotel) had been founded in the early 1800s by the emancipist John Pye. Lying at the corner of two major thoroughfares—the roads from Parramatta to Windsor and Seven Hills—it was in the ideal spot for an inn. John Pye had died in 1830, leaving the inn to his son John Junior. Shortly after Nash and Williams took up the lease, John Junior also died, leaving the inn to his son, John III, then aged about fourteen.[49] If John Junior was already ill at the time the lease was signed, it would seem that he was acting to ensure the inn would continue to be run until John III came of age.

The year 1848 was a landmark one for John Williams. On 27 April he finally received his Certificate of Freedom, having served his fourteen year term.[50] That same year, he moved to Cadi (Sydney) to take up the licence of Petty’s Family Hotel, on the south-west corner of York and Jamison Streets.[51]

Thomas Petty had taken over the former Cummings’ Hotel in 1836 and made it into one of the most fashionable hotels in the colony before his death in 1847.[52] John Williams appears to have had a ‘connection’ with him through the Dumaresqs—Thomas Petty and his wife Martha had come out to New South Wales in 1829 as personal servants to William Dumaresq’s brother Henry.[53] Williams was now an eminently respectable hotelier, as this 1850 advertisement demonstrates:

As Petty’s Family Hotel was expanding, so was John Williams’s family—his daughter Barbara had been born at Guruk (Port Macquarie) on 9 March 1847, and his son John in Cadi (Sydney) on 19 November 1848.[54] Petty’s would go on to become one of the finest hotels in Sydney, ‘the resort of the most distinguished visitors to Sydney, including English and French Noblemen,’ as well as ‘the rendévous [sic] for all the wealthy squatters of New South Wales, Victoria, New Zealand, and the other colonies.’[55] It would continue as a hotel until it was sold to the Australian Red Cross in 1950, finally being demolished in 1976.[56]

Williams’s partnership with Andrew Nash would soon lead him to Parramatta, and The Woolpack Inn. Lying on the north-eastern corner of George and Marsden Streets, it had been founded in 1798 by the emancipist James Larra as the Masons Arms, later known as the Freemasons Arms Inn. After Larra’s bankruptcy, Nash bought the hotel in 1821. He renamed it the Woolpack Inn and, like Petty’s in Cadi (Sydney), it soon gained a reputation as the finest in Parramatta.

By the time of Nash’s death in 1855, Williams had taken over the licence and renamed it—no doubt with a nod towards his former premises—the ‘Williams Family Hotel.’[57] Among the events for which it catered was the 1855 opening of the Redfern to Parramatta Rail line, when The Empire recorded ‘the Governor-General and party, with a number of the visitors, taking up their quarters at Williams’s Family Hotel, where the preparations were such as were worthy of the occasion, and reflected credit on the zeal and energy of the proprietors.’[58] Williams was the licensee up to 1865.[59] He was becoming a leading citizen of Parramatta.

Bereavement would strike the Williams family in 1858, with Margaret dying at Parramatta in Burramattagal Country on 30 July at the age of 46, and being buried in St. John’s Cemetery on 3 August.[60] Her death certificate records the cause of death as ‘pulmonary consumption,’ and the duration of her last illness as two years.[61] There were two notices for her funeral in the Sydney Morning Herald—one apparently placed by the undertaker, James Willis, and the other by a friendly society, the Ancient Order of Foresters, inviting Williams’s fellow ‘Officers and Brothers.’[62] The inscription on her gravestone says that she was ‘Leaving a husband and five children to deplore their loss.’[63]

First Mayor of Parramatta

A prominent businessman of Parramatta, John Williams was now also becoming active in the town’s civic affairs. On 17 October 1859, he was present at a gathering of ‘some fourteen or fifteen gentlemen’ at the Union Inn, meeting ‘for the purpose of taking the necessary steps for forming themselves into a volunteer fire company, for the protection of life and property in this town.’[64] At the Parramatta Volunteer Fire Brigade’s first Annual General Meeting a year later, chairman R. H. Shackles stated that ‘our warm thanks are justly due to John Williams, Esq. for his kindness in every instance to forward the cause.’[65] On 18 January 1860 Williams was part of a deputation which went to Cadi (Sydney) and visited the Sydney Insurance Company and the No. 2 Sydney Volunteer Company, where ‘many useful hints, and more useful suggestions, were given.’[66] He returned with another deputation to the No. 2 Company on 23 January, where ‘[the] large engine was…taken to the adjacent green, and the company, assisted by the Parramatta men, succeeded in getting it into active operation in about three minutes; a continued stream of water being thrown upon the roofs of the large warehouses opposite the engine-station; for some time Mr T. Williams [sic – possibly John’s son James] and Mr M’Lennan, of the Parramatta Brigade, had charge of the branch.’[67] When practice was over they adjourned to the engine house where ‘a plentiful supply of refreshments was laid upon the table,’ a toast was drunk to the Parramatta Brigade, and ‘Mr. Williams, senior’ responded.[68] On 25 January the Brigade held another meeting at the Union Inn, where ‘it was decided that the town should be divided into districts, and collectors appointed to raise funds for the society[.]’[69]

By July 1860, the Fire Brigade’s premises were completed, and John Williams was the man of the hour. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, it was ‘the first public building commenced in the town…omitting all buildings for religious purposes.’[70] On 3 July the Parramatta Fire Brigade, assisted by the Sydney Fire Brigade and the Sydney Volunteer Fire Companies No. 1 and 2, opened its new engine house in Church Street alongside the Police Court. The brigades formed themselves into a procession to escort Williams from his residence to the site of the new building, where he laid the foundation stone.[71]

According to the Sydney Morning Herald he had ‘the advantage of being a brother of the “mystic tie”’ [i.e. a Freemason] and ‘proceeded in a workmanlike manner with his task, which was duly accomplished in the presence of some hundreds of the inhabitants.’[72] The Empire reported that he ‘urged upon all present the importance of the work, the necessity that existed for their cordial co-operation and support, and the unselfish, manly spirit that must necessarily animate men who, without fee or emolument, dedicated themselves to the protection of life and property.’[73] He then ‘adjusted the foundation stone, and declared it well and truly laid. The announcement was received with cheers.’[74]

Geographically, socially and personally, John Williams had come a long way in twenty-six years. It was not surprising then that, when the town of Parramatta decided to incorporate as a Borough and held its first Council elections on 27 December 1861, he was one of nine Aldermen elected. At the Council’s first meeting on 2 January 1862, Williams and Alderman James Byrnes both received three votes each for the position of town mayor, with Chairman James Pye (a brother of John Pye Junior) giving his casting vote in favour of Williams.[75] The new Mayor confessed to ‘some degree of embarrassment’ at the ‘unexpected honour conferred upon him……but he wished that it should be at once clearly and unmistakeably understood that he had had no voice in the matter, nor had he attempted to influence in any way whatever the mind of any member of the body in his favour.’[76] He added that he could see ‘on looking around him, three or four gentlemen far more suitable to occupy the position of Mayor than himself; but, after having been nominated to the office of alderman – after having received so large an amount of support – and having been elected to the council, he considered himself to be the property of the electors, that he was responsible to them for the full performance of his official duties, and that his best exertions were due to them.’[77]

Alderman Byrnes’s reply shows that proceedings were not quite as cordial as they might at first appear. He claimed that he was ‘relieved of a load of serious responsibility by the election of Mr. Williams,’ but ‘had regretted to notice in Mr. William’s [sic] address that he should have admitted that he was a mere machine in the hands of a party. (Mr. Williams: “I admitted nothing of the kind.”) (Mr. Byrnes: “Not in words, Mr. Williams.”). He knew perfectly well that he would not be elected that day, for he was aware of the malignant spirit which existed against himself personally. (Interruption from Mr. Pye and Mr. Harvey.)’[78] Nevertheless, he ‘concluded by an expression of good wishes towards Mr. Williams and his family. “He wished Mr. W., in every sense, a happy new year.” Mr. Williams and Mr. Byrnes here shook hands.’[79]

However, the matter was not over. Alderman Taylor, who had nominated Byrnes, then claimed that while canvassing the opinions of electors he had found ‘a large number in favour of Mr Byrnes,’ and after conversations with Aldermen Williams and Trott had ‘been led to understand that they would support Mr. Byrnes. “You, sir (addressing Mr. Williams), and Mr. Trott promised to support Mr. Byrnes; it was upon the faith of that that Mr. Byrnes has been brought forward, and to that, sir, you and Mr. Trott, to a considerable extent, owe your election.” [Mr. Williams and Mr. Trott here emphatically denied having given any promise to support Mr. Byrnes.]’[80]

This stormy meeting may explain why Williams did not remain as Mayor for long. On 3 February 1862, after only a month in office, he resigned, becoming Parramatta’s shortest-serving mayor, and on 17 February James Byrnes was elected in his stead. Factionalism on the Council would continue through the 1860s and 1870s.[81] But Williams now had a more pressing matter—he was, temporarily, returning to England.

Return to England, Second Marriage

In preparation for his leaving, Williams made announcements relating both to his business and to his political commitments. His journey back to his home country was, he said, due to ‘circumstances of a domestic nature.’[82] (A family history states that he left Australia on 6 March 1863 to sort out problems with his grandfather’s estate.[83]) In an advertisement in the Sydney Morning Herald he informed the public, ‘and especially his Patrons,’ that ‘he has transferred his present business to his son JAMES,’ then aged 21, ‘for whom he solicits a continuance of their favours in the various departments of his business’—not only the Family Hotel but ‘Wine and Spirit Stores, Stables, &c’—‘assuring them that his experience and ability to conduct the same is, after six years’ constant application under his father, perfect.’[84] In another Herald advertisement, addressed to ‘The Electors of the Municipality of Parramatta,’ he acknowledged a request that he allow himself to be nominated again as a candidate for alderman. He stated that his leaving for England meant that he was ‘compelled to decline the offer so kindly intended me,’ but that he would be open to standing again on his return.[85]

He now made a series of farewells appropriate for one of Parramatta’s leading citizens. On 25 February 1863 he attended a meeting of the subscribers to the School of Arts Building Fund, where he tendered his resignation as treasurer. A vote of thanks was unanimously accorded to him ‘for his zealous support of the society, and the judicious investment of the moneys collected for the building fund.’[86] The following night, the Parramatta Fire Brigade held a dinner for him, and the Sydney Morning Herald commented that ‘a more hearty and cheering meeting has not taken place for many a day.’[87] Not only the Fire Brigade were there—‘as Mr Williams’ urbanity and liberality had brought him much into the society of his fellow townsmen in the various useful and charitable institutions, a pretty numerous assemblage sat at the festal board to do honour to the guest of the evening…The company numbered from forty to fifty.’[88] He explained

that he was not leaving the country as many have done, because he had made his pile, but was going home at the call of an aged mother, an octogenarian, in the hope of seeing her once more before the inevitable decree should call her to another world. He hoped to be back amongst his fellow-townsmen in twelve or fifteen months, when it would afford him great pleasure to renew his connections with the institutions of the town with which he had been for the last eight years associated. He thanked them heartily for their kind expressions of regard towards him.[89]

There was one final farewell, this time from John Williams’s brethren of the Ancient Order of Foresters, Court [i.e. Lodge] Pride of Australia No. 2488. On the evening of 5 March 1863, a deputation waited upon him (presumably at the Williams Family Hotel) to present him with an address thanking him for his services as Treasurer for the past three years, wishing him a pleasant passage home, and expressing their hope that he would visit their former Courts in England. He replied that this reception was ‘quite unexpected, as he felt that he did not deserve it. He was sorry that be had not been able to attend the Court so frequently, from the fact that it was held in the evening’—no doubt because that was the time of day when the hotel was at its busiest.[90] The Chairman ‘said that he would present Brother Williams with a book, which stated the names of the street and number of the house where the different Courts were held,’ to help him look them up.[91] Williams promised that while he was in England ‘he would devote much of his time to acquire and to see how the system worked there, and would gain as much knowledge as he could, and then retain the same in his memory, if it pleased God to spare him.’[92] The proceedings closed ‘with conviviality and toasting.’[93]

We do not know on which ship Williams left Cadi (Sydney) accompanied by his son John Junior, nor when they arrived in England, but given a three- to four-month voyage it most likely would have been by July 1863. While seeing his mother, sorting out the estate affairs, and looking up Brethren of the Ancient Order of Foresters, Williams found time to attend two weddings. One was that of his daughter Catherine, who married William Harrison, a mariner, at St. Paul Church, Canonbury, in the Borough of Islington on 13 September 1863; their residence was given as 348 City Road and her father’s ‘Rank or profession’ as ‘Gentleman.’[94] The other was his own. On 1 July 1864, ‘John Isaac Williams,’ resident of St. Pancras, Middlesex, married Mary Louisa Moore of 4 Frederick Crescent, Camberwell in the parish church of St. Mary, Newington, Diocese of Southwark. In the marriage register, his ‘Rank or profession’ is again listed as ‘Gentleman.’ In sticking to his alias, he had to apply it retrospectively to his father as well, and gave it as ‘John James Williams,’ ‘Sailor.’[95]

We can only wonder what feelings John Williams had as he left England for the last time on the Blackwall, sailing from The Downs off the Kent coast on 14 August 1864 accompanied by his new wife Mary and son John Junior, arriving in Cadi (Sydney) on 8 December.[96] Along with the Williamses, there were six other passengers and 43 crew on the 790 ton cargo ship—perhaps he reflected on the contrast between the Blackwall and the accommodation aboard the Henry Porcher on his earlier voyage.[97] Six weeks after his landing, he was welcomed home at a ‘complimentary dinner’ given in his honour by his colleagues of the Parramatta Volunteer Fire Brigade at Nathaniel Payten’s White Horse Hotel. As with the dinners before his departure for England, the press report noted that it ‘was joined in by all the leading inhabitants of the town,’ that Williams modestly described the honour as ‘unexpected,’ and that he was ‘much moved.’ [98] Bell’s Life in Sydney concluded that it was ‘a just tribute to a worthy man, whose urbanity of manners is appreciated by all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance, and whose charity in the support of all the public institutions of the town will ever hold his name respected and beloved.’[99]

While Parramatta was welcoming John Williams home, his family was growing again. His first child with Mary, Margaret Louisa, was born on 6 May 1865. Her birth would be followed by those of Herbert Isaac (1866), Ernest Isaac (1868), Amy Annie (1871) and Louisa Maud (1874).[100] By 1865, Nathaniel Payten was running the Woolpack Hotel, and John Williams had moved back to Cadi (Sydney) to take up the licence of the Metropolitan Hotel at the corner of King and Castlereagh Streets.[101]

‘And the Light Shineth in the Darkness’

While John Williams was running the Metropolitan Hotel in Cadi (Sydney), his son James had followed in his father’s footsteps in becoming a Parramatta alderman. Like John, James would be praised for having ‘identified himself with almost every thing [sic] that was calculated to improve the place,’ becoming not only an alderman but a member of the Masonic lodge and Superintendent of the Fire Brigade.’[102] But during James’s time on the Council, the division which John had faced during his mayoralty would continue.[103] Only one thing would, at least temporarily, resolve the issue—James’s death on 10 April 1873 after a ‘long and painful illness’ at the age of 32.[104] The Empire noted that ‘[the] tolling of the bells of St. John’s Church, and of the Fire Brigade this morning, announced the sad news; and quite a gloom was cast over the town when it became known.’[105] This blow to his father, his family and the community of Parramatta is reflected in the inscription on the gravestone James would share with his parents—it quotes the Gospel of John, Chapter I, Verses 1–5, which begins, ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,’ and ends ‘And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.’[106]

The ‘darkness’ was now compounded by the fact that John Williams was also ill. He had done so much to build both his own business and the community in Parramatta, but now his son and potential successor was dead, and Parramatta was in turmoil. Mary was expecting her fifth child, Louisa Maud, who would be born the following year—perhaps John knew that he would not live to see her birth. He died on 6 November 1873 of Bright’s disease of the kidneys.[107] His obituary in The Empire called him ‘the very beau ideal of the good old English host’ who exhibited ‘uniform courtesy, attention and business tact…sterling truthfulness of character, large-minded liberality, and kindness of heart.’[108] His reputation was such that, even in Ipswich in Jagera, Yuggera and Ugarapul Country, his death was noteworthy enough to be reported in The Queensland Times.[109] The funeral procession left the Metropolitan Hotel on 8 November, making its way to the railway station, where mourners took the 2.15 pm train to Parramatta.[110]

The smiling pickpocket John Wilson Isaac in Cheapside and the ‘good old English host’ John Williams in Parramatta, Burramattagal Country were one and the same man. Transportation upended his life, but it put him into the business for which he turned out to be eminently suited. The English term ‘clubbable’—convivial, gregarious, sociable, and thus suitable for membership of a club—clearly applies to him. And as he became successful, he was conscious that he was not only building a new life for himself in a new land, but also building the institutions of that land—not just enduring life there to make his ‘pile’ before returning to England. Having given him his second chance, Australia was no longer a place of exile, but home.

CITE THIS

David Morgan, “John Williams: The Mayor of Reinvention,” St. John’s Online, (2020), https://stjohnsonline.org/bio/john-williams, accessed [insert current date]

Acknowledgements

Biographical selection, assignment, research assistance, editing & multimedia: Michaela Ann Cameron.

Special thanks to John Williams’s descendants, Dr. Ellen Jordan, Vicki Wilson, and the Fermor Isaac Descendants in Australia and New Zealand Facebook page admin Merrie Bott, for their assistance in answering my queries during the research phase of this essay. Thank you also to Helen Guy for generously permitting St. John’s Online to publish the 1866 image of Williams to accompany the essay.

References

Primary Sources

• Thomas Galloway, “Journal of His Majesty’s Convict Ship, Henry Porcher, Between the eight day of August, 1834 and the twenty first day of January, 1835,” Admiralty and Predecessors: Office of the Director General of the Medical Department of the Navy and Predecessors: Medical Journals (ADM 101, 804 bundles and volumes). Records of Medical and Prisoner of War Departments. Records of the Admiralty, Naval Forces, Royal Marines, Coastguard, and Related Bodies, (The National Archives. Kew, Surrey, England).
• Locating London’s Past (www.locatinglondon.org, version 1.0, 20 May 2020)
• Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 8.0), 10 April 1834, trial of JOHN WILLIAMS (t18340410-80), https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t18340410-80-off449&div=t18340410-80, accessed 5 February 2020.
• T. Leigh and Co., The Handbook of Sydney and Suburbs, (F. Cunningham: Sydney, 1883).
• John Lockie, Lockie’s Topography of London, (London: G. & W. Nichol, 1810).

Secondary Sources

• Australian Dictionary of Biography (http://adb.anu.edu.au/)
• Gary John Carter, About That Shout: The History of Pubs in Parramatta, (North Parramatta: G. J. Carter, 2018).
• Convict Records (https://convictrecords.com.au/)
• The Digital Panopticon: Tracing London Convicts in Britain and Australia, 1780–1925, (www.digitalpanopticon.org, 5 February 2020).
• Judith Dunn, The Parramatta Cemeteries: St John’s, (Parramatta: Parramatta and District Historical Society, 1991).
• Ali Williams, “John Williams: Publican,” in John Watson, (ed.), Men of Parramatta, (Parramatta: Parramatta and District Historical Society, 2000).

NOTES

[1] John Wilson Isaac; Gender: Male; Birth Date: 24 June 1816; Baptism Date: 13 August 1817; Baptism Place: St. Mary, Rotherhithe, London, England; Father: John Isaac; Mother: Ann; FHL Film Number: 254546, 254547, England, Births and Christenings, 1538–1975, (Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013).

[2] “Historic Rotherhithe,” St. Mary’s Rotherhithe, (n.d.), https://www.stmaryrotherhithe.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2&Itemid=5, accessed 5 February 2020.

[3] John Isaac; Gender: Male; Event Type: Baptism; Father: Francis Isaac; Mother: Mary; Baptism Date: 7 August 1783; Baptism Place: Bideford, Devon, England: Denomination: Independent; Piece Title: Piece 0515: Bideford, Great Meeting (Independent), 1753–1837, General Register Office: Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths surrendered to the Non-parochial Registers Commissions of 1837 and 1857; Class Number: RG 4; Piece Number: 515, (The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey, England).

[4] John Isaac; Event Date: 31 July 1811; Parish: Southwark, St. George the Martyr; Spouse’s Name: Ann Moore; Spouse’s Parish: Southwark, St. George the Martyr; Event Type: Marriage bond and allegation; Reference Number: DW/MP/202/013, Marriage Bonds and Allegations, (London, England: London Metropolitan Archives); John Isaac; Gender: Male; Marriage Date: 1 August 1811; Marriage Place: Saint George the Martyr, Southwark, Surrey, England; Spouse: Ann Moore; FHL Film Number: 370690, England, Marriages, 1538–1973, (Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013).

[5] Francis Isaac; Gender: Male; Baptism Date: 26 June 1812; Baptism Place: St. George the Martyr, Southwark, Surrey, England; Father: John Isaac; Mother: Ann Isaac, Church of England Parish Registers, 1538–1812, (London Metropolitan Archives, London, England); Mary Ann Isaac; Gender: Female; Birth Date: 21 September 1815; Baptism Date: 31 July 1816; Baptism Place: St. Mary, Rotherhithe, London, England; FHL: 254546, 254547, England, Births and Christenings, 1538–1975, (Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013); Elizabeth Isaac; Gender: Female; Baptism Date: 12 August 1821; Baptism Place: Newington, St. Mary, Southwark, England; Father: John Isaac; Mother: Ann Isaac, Board of Guardian Records and Church of England Parish Registers, (London Metropolitan Archives, London, England).

[6] John Isaac; Probate Date: 30 December 1820; Residence: Bideford, Prerogative Court of Canterbury and Related Probate Jurisdictions: Will Registers, Digitized images. Records of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, Series: PROB 11, (The National Archives, Kew, Surrey, England).

[7] Ali Williams, “John Williams: Publican,” in John Watson, (ed.), Men of Parramatta, (Parramatta: Parramatta and District Historical Society, 2000), p. 106.

[8] Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 8.0), 10 April 1834, trial of JOHN WILLIAMS (t18340410-80), https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t18340410-80-off449&div=t18340410-80, accessed 5 February 2020.

[9] John Lockie, Lockie’s Topography of London, (London: G. & W. Nichol, 1810), n.p.

[10] Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 8.0), 10 April 1834, trial of JOHN WILLIAMS (t18340410-80), https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t18340410-80-off449&div=t18340410-80, accessed 5 February 2020.

[11] Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 8.0), 10 April 1834, trial of JOHN WILLIAMS (t18340410-80), https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t18340410-80-off449&div=t18340410-80, accessed 5 February 2020.

[12] Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 8.0), 10 April 1834, trial of JOHN WILLIAMS (t18340410-80), https://www.oldbaileyonline.org/browse.jsp?id=t18340410-80-off449&div=t18340410-80, accessed 5 February 2020.

[13] John Williams; Age: 18; Estimate birth year: 1816; Date Received: 6 May 1834; Ship: Fortitude; Place Moored: Chatham; Date Convicted: 10 April 1834; Place Convicted: Central Criminal Court (Old Bailey, London), Home Office: Convict Prison Hulks: Registers and Letter Books, 1802–1849. Class: HO9; 5Piece: 2, (The National Archives, Kew, Surrey, England).

[14] “Fortitude,” Prison History, (2020), https://www.prisonhistory.org/prison/fortitude/, accessed online 6 February 2020.

[15] Lloyd’s Register of British and Foreign Shipping, (London: J. L. Cox and Son, 1834).

[16] Thomas Galloway, “Journal of His Majesty’s Convict Ship, Henry Porcher, Between the eight day of August, 1834 and the twenty first day of January, 1835,” Admiralty and Predecessors: Office of the Director General of the Medical Department of the Navy and Predecessors: Medical Journals (ADM 101, 804 bundles and volumes). Records of Medical and Prisoner of War Departments. Records of the Admiralty, Naval Forces, Royal Marines, Coastguard, and Related Bodies, (The National Archives. Kew, Surrey, England).

[17] “Thomas Galloway R.N.,” Free Setter or Felon, https://www.jenwilletts.com/thomas_galloway_surgeon.html, accessed online 8 February 2020.

[18] Thomas Galloway, “Journal of His Majesty’s Convict Ship, Henry Porcher, Between the eight day of August, 1834 and the twenty first day of January, 1835,” Admiralty and Predecessors: Office of the Director General of the Medical Department of the Navy and Predecessors: Medical Journals (ADM 101, 804 bundles and volumes). Records of Medical and Prisoner of War Departments. Records of the Admiralty, Naval Forces, Royal Marines, Coastguard, and Related Bodies, (The National Archives. Kew, Surrey, England).

[19] Thomas Galloway, “Journal of His Majesty’s Convict Ship, Henry Porcher, Between the eight day of August, 1834 and the twenty first day of January, 1835,” Admiralty and Predecessors: Office of the Director General of the Medical Department of the Navy and Predecessors: Medical Journals (ADM 101, 804 bundles and volumes). Records of Medical and Prisoner of War Departments. Records of the Admiralty, Naval Forces, Royal Marines, Coastguard, and Related Bodies, (The National Archives. Kew, Surrey, England).

[20] Thomas Galloway, “Journal of His Majesty’s Convict Ship, Henry Porcher, Between the eight day of August, 1834 and the twenty first day of January, 1835,” Admiralty and Predecessors: Office of the Director General of the Medical Department of the Navy and Predecessors: Medical Journals (ADM 101, 804 bundles and volumes). Records of Medical and Prisoner of War Departments. Records of the Admiralty, Naval Forces, Royal Marines, Coastguard, and Related Bodies, (The National Archives. Kew, Surrey, England).

[21] Thomas Galloway, “Journal of His Majesty’s Convict Ship, Henry Porcher, Between the eight day of August, 1834 and the twenty first day of January, 1835,” Admiralty and Predecessors: Office of the Director General of the Medical Department of the Navy and Predecessors: Medical Journals (ADM 101, 804 bundles and volumes). Records of Medical and Prisoner of War Departments. Records of the Admiralty, Naval Forces, Royal Marines, Coastguard, and Related Bodies, (The National Archives. Kew, Surrey, England).

[22] Thomas Galloway, “Journal of His Majesty’s Convict Ship, Henry Porcher, Between the eight day of August, 1834 and the twenty first day of January, 1835,” Admiralty and Predecessors: Office of the Director General of the Medical Department of the Navy and Predecessors: Medical Journals (ADM 101, 804 bundles and volumes). Records of Medical and Prisoner of War Departments. Records of the Admiralty, Naval Forces, Royal Marines, Coastguard, and Related Bodies, (The National Archives. Kew, Surrey, England).

[23] Thomas Galloway, “Journal of His Majesty’s Convict Ship, Henry Porcher, Between the eight day of August, 1834 and the twenty first day of January, 1835,” Admiralty and Predecessors: Office of the Director General of the Medical Department of the Navy and Predecessors: Medical Journals (ADM 101, 804 bundles and volumes). Records of Medical and Prisoner of War Departments. Records of the Admiralty, Naval Forces, Royal Marines, Coastguard, and Related Bodies, (The National Archives. Kew, Surrey, England).

[24] Thomas Galloway, “Journal of His Majesty’s Convict Ship, Henry Porcher, Between the eight day of August, 1834 and the twenty first day of January, 1835,” Admiralty and Predecessors: Office of the Director General of the Medical Department of the Navy and Predecessors: Medical Journals (ADM 101, 804 bundles and volumes). Records of Medical and Prisoner of War Departments. Records of the Admiralty, Naval Forces, Royal Marines, Coastguard, and Related Bodies, (The National Archives. Kew, Surrey, England).

[25] Thomas Galloway, “Journal of His Majesty’s Convict Ship, Henry Porcher, Between the eight day of August, 1834 and the twenty first day of January, 1835,” Admiralty and Predecessors: Office of the Director General of the Medical Department of the Navy and Predecessors: Medical Journals (ADM 101, 804 bundles and volumes). Records of Medical and Prisoner of War Departments. Records of the Admiralty, Naval Forces, Royal Marines, Coastguard, and Related Bodies, (The National Archives. Kew, Surrey, England).

[26] Thomas Galloway, “Journal of His Majesty’s Convict Ship, Henry Porcher, Between the eight day of August, 1834 and the twenty first day of January, 1835,” Admiralty and Predecessors: Office of the Director General of the Medical Department of the Navy and Predecessors: Medical Journals (ADM 101, 804 bundles and volumes). Records of Medical and Prisoner of War Departments. Records of the Admiralty, Naval Forces, Royal Marines, Coastguard, and Related Bodies, (The National Archives. Kew, Surrey, England).

[27] Thomas Galloway, “Journal of His Majesty’s Convict Ship, Henry Porcher, Between the eight day of August, 1834 and the twenty first day of January, 1835,” Admiralty and Predecessors: Office of the Director General of the Medical Department of the Navy and Predecessors: Medical Journals (ADM 101, 804 bundles and volumes). Records of Medical and Prisoner of War Departments. Records of the Admiralty, Naval Forces, Royal Marines, Coastguard, and Related Bodies, (The National Archives. Kew, Surrey, England).

[28] “Shipping Intelligence,” The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 – 1842), Saturday 3 January 1835, p. 2. Regarding the Aboriginal endonyms, such as ‘Warrane’ and ‘Kamay’ and their relationship to European exonyms ‘Sydney Cove’ and ‘Botany Bay’ respectively, see Harold Koch and Luise Hercus (eds.), Aboriginal Placenames: Naming and Re-naming the Australian Landscape, (Canberra: ANU E Press, 2009), https://books.google.com.au/books?id=HyHh-OrnRGoC&lpg=PR1&pg=PR1#v=onepage&q&f=false, accessed 10 April 2020. For a general discussion about giving prime position to indigenous endonyms and subordinating European imposed exonyms in both the colonial Australian and colonial American contexts to acknowledge traditional custodianship, as a mark of respect, and to “sound” language via audiation, see Michaela Ann Cameron, “Name-Calling: A Dual Naming Policy,” St. John’s Online, (2020) https://stjohnsonline.org/editorial-policies/name-calling-a-dual-naming-policy/, accessed 10 April 2020, adapted from “Name-Calling: Notes on Terminology,” in Michaela Ann Cameron (Ph.D. Diss.), “Stealing the Turtle’s Voice: A Dual History of Western and Algonquian-Iroquoian Soundways from Creation to Re-creation,” (Sydney: Department of History, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Sydney, 2018), pp. 25–35, http://bit.ly/stealingturtle, accessed 10 April 2020.

[29] The Digital Panopticon (https://www.digitalpanopticon.org/, version 1.2.1), John Williams Life Archive, (ID: obpt18340410-80-defend581), https://www.digitalpanopticon.org/life?id=obpt18340410-80-defend581, accessed 9 February 2020.

[30] “John Williams,” Convict Records, https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/williams/john/35001, accessed online 9 February 2020.

[31] Editor’s note: In alignment with the project’s dual naming policy, precedence has been given to the endonyms of the First Nations of Canada and the new-old name ‘Turtle Island’ for North America, which ignores the European imposed geographical demarcations of “United States’ and “Canada.” For more on the Anishinaabeg, Turtle Island, and using First Nations endonyms in the context of North American history as a form of decolonisation, see “Name-Calling: Notes on Terminology,” in Michaela Ann Cameron (Ph.D. Diss.), “Stealing the Turtle’s Voice: A Dual History of Western and Algonquian-Iroquoian Soundways from Creation to Re-creation,” (Sydney: Department of History, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Sydney, 2018), pp. 25–35, http://bit.ly/stealingturtle, accessed 10 April 2020.

[32] Nancy Gray, “Dumaresq, William John (1793–1868),” Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/dumaresq-william-john-2239/text2447, published first in hardcopy 1966, accessed online 9 February 2020. Editor’s note: For the Aboriginal endonyms ‘Boorumbeelah’ and ‘Bimboorien’ and its recorded relationship to the European exonyms ‘St. Heliers’ and ‘Muswellbrook,’ see “Aboriginal Names of Muswellbrook and District,” The Maitland Weekly Mercury (NSW : 1894 – 1931), Saturday 4 July 1896, p. 11.

[33] Nancy Gray, “Dumaresq, William John (1793–1868),” Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/dumaresq-william-john-2239/text2447, published first in hardcopy 1966, accessed online 9 February 2020

[34] “Baptism of Margaret Leslie, Birth Date: 24 September 1811, Baptism Date: 4 October 1811, Laggan, Inverness, Scotland,” FHL File Number: 990713, Scotland, Births and Baptisms, 1564–1950, (Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013).

[35] “Advertising. The Undermentioned Immigrants…arrived in the Government ship St. George…,” The Sydney Monitor and Commercial Advertiser (NSW: 1838–1841), Friday 23 November 1838, p. 1.

[36] New South Wales Government, Registers of Convicts’ Applications to Marry, Series: 12212; Item: 4/4513; Page: 225, (State Records Authority of New South Wales, Kingswood, New South Wales, Australia).

[37] “Baptism of James Isaac Williams, 5 September 1841, St. Luke, Scone, New South Wales, Australia,” FHL File Number: 991891, Australia, Births and Baptisms, 1792–1981, (Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013).

[38] New South Wales Government, Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages (https://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/), Birth of Elizabeth Williams, Yass, New South Wales, 1842, Registration Number: V18421476 61, (Chippendale NSW: NSW BDM, 2020), https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/lifelink/familyhistory/search?2, accessed 14 May 2020.

[39] “Tickets of Leave. Country of Camden: Berrima,” New South Wales Government Gazette (Sydney, NSW: 1832–1900), Saturday 15 April 1843, p. 539.

[40] New South Wales Government, Inward Passenger Lists, Series: 13278; Reels: 399–560, 2001–2122, 2751, (State Records Authority of New South Wales, Kingswood, New South Wales, Australia); New South Wales Government, Reports of Vessels Arrived (or Shipping Reports), Series: 1291; Reels: 1263–1285, 2851, (State Records Authority of New South Wales, Kingswood, New South Wales, Australia).

[41] New South Wales Government, Publicans’ Licenses Index 1830–1861, NRS: 14401 [4/77]; Reel 5059; Licence 487, (State Records Authority of New South Wales, Kingswood, New South Wales, Australia).

[42] New South Wales Government, “Royal Hotel,” New South Wales State Heritage Register, https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/heritageapp/ViewHeritageItemDetails.aspx?ID=1730039, accessed online 26 February 2020.

[43] E. Flowers, “Innes, Archibald Clunes (1800–1857),” Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/innes-archibald-clunes-2261/text2891, published first in hardcopy 1967, accessed online 26 February 2020.

[44] Bruce Allen, From the Old Country to a New Land, (privately published), n.p.

[45] For the 1846 licence see New South Wales Government, Publicans’ Licenses Index 1830–1861, NRS: 14401 [4/80]; Reel 5060; Licence 501, (State Records Authority of New South Wales, Kingswood, New South Wales, Australia); for the 1847 licence see New South Wales Government, Publicans’ Licenses Index 1830–1861, NRS: 14401 [4/79]; Reel 5061; Licence 144, (State Records Authority of New South Wales, Kingswood, New South Wales, Australia).

[46] “Baptism of Catherine Elizabeth Williams, 5 September 1845, Macquarie County, New South Wales, Australia,” FHL Film Number: 993971, Australia, Births and Baptisms, 1792–1981, (Salt Lake City, Utah: FamilySearch, 2013).

[47] Editors note: This Aboriginal endonym for “Baulkham Hills” was recorded by Reverend William Branwhite Clarke in his diary entry dated 6 November 1840, W. B. Clarke – Papers and Notebooks, 1827–1951, MLMSS 139 / 7, Item 5, Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales, cited in The Hills Shire Council, Traditional Aboriginal Names for the Natural Regions and Features in the Hills Shire, (The Hills, NSW: The Hills Shire Council, Local Studies Information, c. 2009), p. 1, https://www.thehills.nsw.gov.au/files/sharedassets/public/ecm-website-documents/page-documents/library/library-e-resources/traditional_aboriginal_names_baulkham_hills_shire.pdf, accessed 10 April 2020. “Norree” was possibly a corruption of the word nowee, meaning place of trees to make canoes.

[48] Gary John Carter, About That Shout: The History of Pubs in Parramatta, (North Parramatta: G. J. Carter, 2018), p. 26.

[49] “John Pye,” Convict Records, https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/pye/john/94790, accessed online 27 February, 2020.

[50] New South Wales Government, Convicts Index 1791–1873, Item: 4/4411; Reel 1025; Entry No. 48/0199, (State Records Authority of New South Wales, Kingswood, New South Wales, Australia).

[51] New South Wales Government, Publicans’ Licenses Index 1830–1861, NRS: 14401 [4/82]; Reel 5062; Licence 94, (State Records Authority of New South Wales, Kingswood, New South Wales, Australia).

[52] “Petty’s: Honeymoon Hotel of the Crinoline Days,” The Sun (Sydney, NSW: 1910 – 1954), Sunday 2 April 1950, p. 27.

[53] Nancy Gray, “Dumaresq, William John (1793–1868),” Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/dumaresq-william-john-2239/text2447, published first in hardcopy 1966, accessed 27 February 2020.

[54] Bruce Allen, From the Old Country to a New Land, (privately published), n.p.

[55] S. T. Leigh and Co., The Handbook of Sydney and Suburbs, (Sydney: F. Cunningham, 1883), p. 38.

[56] “Petty’s Hotel,” Sydney Architecture, http://sydneyarchitecture.com/GON/GON121.htm, accessed 28 February 2020.

[57] Gary John Carter, About That Shout: The History of Pubs in Parramatta, (North Parramatta: G. J. Carter, 2018), pp. 24–31; “Notice—Williams Family Hotel,” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 – 1954), Tuesday 21 November 1854, p. 1.

[58] “Opening of the Sydney and Parramatta Railway,” Empire (Sydney, NSW: 1850 – 1875), Thursday 27 September 1855, p. 4.

[59] New South Wales Government, Publicans’ Licenses Index 1830–1861, NRS: 14403 [7/1513]; Reel 1242; Licence 614, (State Records Authority of New South Wales, Kingswood, New South Wales, Australia); Ali Williams, “John Williams: Publican,” in John Watson, (ed.), Men of Parramatta, (Parramatta: Parramatta and District Historical Society, 2000), p. 106.

[60] St. John’s Online, (stjohnsonline.org), “Burial of MARGARET WILLIAMS,” https://stjohnsonline.org/burials/year-1858/bur18580803/, accessed 8 March 2020.

[61] Bruce Allen, From the Old Country to a New Land, (privately published), n.p.

[62] “Family Notices. Funeral,” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 – 1954), Monday 2 August 1858, p. 8.

[63] Margaret is buried in the Williams plot, Left Section, Row 23, Memorial G (L.23.G), St. John’s Cemetery, Parramatta. For the transcription from the headstone, see Judith Dunn, The Parramatta Cemeteries: St John’s, (Parramatta: Parramatta and District Historical Society, 1991), p. 101.

[64] “Parramatta Volunteer Fire Brigade,” Empire (Sydney, NSW: 1850 – 1875), Friday 2 November 1860, p. 2.

[65] “Parramatta Volunteer Fire Brigade,” Empire (Sydney, NSW: 1850 – 1875), Friday 2 November 1860, p. 2.

[66] “Parramatta Volunteer Fire Brigade,” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 – 1954), Tuesday 31 January 1860, p. 3.

[67] “Parramatta Volunteer Fire Brigade,” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 – 1954), Tuesday 31 January 1860, p. 3.

[68] “Parramatta Volunteer Fire Brigade,” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 – 1954), Tuesday 31 January 1860, p. 3.

[69] “Parramatta Volunteer Fire Brigade,” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 – 1954), Tuesday 31 January 1860, p. 3.

[70] “Parramatta Volunteer Fire Brigade,” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 – 1954), Friday 6 July 1860, p. 3.

[71] “The Engine House at Parramatta,” Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 – 1875), Wednesday 4 July 1860, p. 8.

[72] “Parramatta Volunteer Fire Brigade—Laying the Foundation Stone of the Engine House,” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 – 1954), Wednesday 4 July 1860, p. 4.

[73] “The Engine House at Parramatta,” Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 – 1875), Wednesday 4 July 1860, p. 8.

[74] “The Engine House at Parramatta,” Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 – 1875), Wednesday 4 July 1860, p. 8.

[75] “James Pye,” Find a Grave, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/83168045/james-pye, accessed online 8 March 2020. Ali Williams, “John Williams: Publican,” in John Watson, (ed.), Men of Parramatta, (Parramatta: Parramatta and District Historical Society, 2000), p. 106.

[76] “Parramatta: Municipal Council—Election of Mayor,” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 – 1954), Saturday 4 January 1862, p. 5.

[77] “Parramatta: Municipal Council—Election of Mayor,” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 – 1954), Saturday 4 January 1862, p. 5.

[78] “Parramatta: Municipal Council—Election of Mayor,” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 – 1954), Saturday 4 January 1862, p. 5.

[79] “Parramatta: Municipal Council—Election of Mayor,” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 – 1954), Saturday 4 January 1862, p. 5.

[80] “Parramatta: Municipal Council—Election of Mayor,” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 – 1954), Saturday 4 January 1862, p. 5.

[81] Ali Williams, “John Williams: Publican,” in John Watson, (ed.), Men of Parramatta, (Parramatta: Parramatta and District Historical Society, 2000), pp. 105–6.

[82] “Parramatta: Municipal Council—Election of Mayor,” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 – 1954), Saturday 4 January 1862, p. 5.

[83] Bruce Allen, From the Old Country to a New Land, (privately published), n.p.

[84] “Advertising. To the Public, and especially his Patrons,” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 – 1954), Saturday 14 February 1863, p. 2.

[85] “Advertising. To the Electors of the Municipality of Parramatta,” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 – 1954), 20 January 1863, p. 1.

[86] “Parramatta,” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 – 1954), Saturday 28 February 1863, p. 5.

[87] “Parramatta,” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 – 1954), Monday 2 March 1863, p. 2.

[88] “Parramatta,” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 – 1954), Monday 2 March 1863, p. 2.

[89] “Parramatta,” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 – 1954), Monday 2 March 1863, p. 2.

[90] “Parramatta,” Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 – 1875), Saturday 7 March 1863, p. 8.

[91] “Parramatta,” Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 – 1875), Saturday 7 March 1863, p. 8.

[92] “Parramatta,” Empire (Sydney, NSW : 1850 – 1875), Saturday 7 March 1863, p. 8.

[93] “Parramatta,” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 – 1954), Tuesday 10 March 1863, p. 3.

[94] “Marriage of John Isaac Williams and Margaret Louisa Moore, 1 July 1864,” Reference Number: p92/pau1/014, Church of England Parish Registers, (London Metropolitan Archives, London, England).

[95] “Marriage of John Isaac Williams and Margaret Louisa Moore, 1 July 1864,” Reference Number: p92/pau1/014, Church of England Parish Registers, (London Metropolitan Archives, London, England).

[96] “Shipping,” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 – 1954), Thursday 8 December 1864, p. 4.

[97] “Mr. John Williams; Port of Departure: London; Port of Arrival: Sydney, New South Wales; Voyage Arrival Date: 8 December 1864; Vessel Name: Blackwall,” New South Wales Government, Inward Passenger Lists, Series: 13278; Reels: 399–560, 2001–2122, 2751, State Records Authority of New South Wales, Kingswood, New South Wales, Australia); New South Wales Government, Reports of Vessels Arrived (or Shipping Reports), Series: 1291; Reels: 1263–1285, 2851, (State Records Authority of New South Wales, Kingswood, New South Wales, Australia).

[98] “Dinner to John Williams, Esq.,” Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Chronicle (NSW: 1860 – 1870), Saturday 21 January 1865, p. 2.

[99] “Dinner to John Williams, Esq.,” Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Chronicle (NSW: 1860 – 1870), Saturday 21 January 1865, p. 2.

[100] New South Wales Government, Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages (https://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/, 2020), “Birth of Margaret Louisa Williams, 1865, Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia,” Registration Number: 13015/1865, (Chippendale NSW: NSW BDM, 2020), https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/lifelink/familyhistory/search?2, accessed 14 May 2020; New South Wales Government, Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages (https://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/, 2020), “Birth of Herbert Williams, 1866, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia,” Registration Number: 1205/1866, (Chippendale NSW: NSW BDM, 2020), https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/lifelink/familyhistory/search?2, accessed 14 May 2020; New South Wales Government, Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages (https://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/, 2020), “Birth of Ernest Williams, 1868, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia,” Registration Number: 325/1868, (Chippendale NSW: NSW BDM, 2020), https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/lifelink/familyhistory/search?2, accessed 14 May 2020; New South Wales Government, Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages (https://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/, 2020), “Birth of Annie A. Williams, 1871, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia,” Registration Number: 2249/1871, (Chippendale NSW: NSW BDM, 2020), https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/lifelink/familyhistory/search?2, accessed 14 May 2020; New South Wales Government, Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages (https://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/, 2020), “Birth of Florence L. M. Williams, 1873, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia,” Registration Number: 1457/1873, (Chippendale NSW: NSW BDM, 2020), https://familyhistory.bdm.nsw.gov.au/lifelink/familyhistory/search?2, accessed 14 May 2020.

[101] Gary John Carter, About That Shout: The History of Pubs in Parramatta, (North Parramatta: G. J. Carter, 2018), p. 29; Tim Barlass, “Incredible Rise from the Hulks,” The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 September 2010, accessed 22 March 2020.

[102] “Country News. Parramatta,” Empire (Sydney, NSW: 1850 – 1875), Saturday 12 April 1873, p. 4.

[103] Ali Williams, “John Williams: Publican,” in John Watson (ed.), Men of Parramatta, (Parramatta: Parramatta and District Historical Society, 2000), p. 107.

[104] “Country News. Parramatta,” Empire (Sydney, NSW: 1850 – 1875), Saturday 12 April 1873, p. 4. Alderman Taylor was elected Mayor, but a Supreme Court challenge led to his removal—”There being no head to the Municipality it becomes wholly inoperative: all its functions are suspended, no rates can be collected, and no corporation work carried on.” “A Municipality Disenfranchised,” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 – 1954), Saturday 5 July 1873, p. 6.

[105] “Country News. Parramatta,” Empire (Sydney, NSW: 1850 – 1875), Saturday 12 April 1873, p. 4.

[106] James is buried in the Williams plot, Left Section, Row 23, Memorial G (L.23.G), St. John’s Cemetery, Parramatta. For the transcription from the headstone, see Judith Dunn, The Parramatta Cemeteries: St John’s, (Parramatta: Parramatta and District Historical Society, 1991), p. 101.

[107] “Burial of [JOHN] WILLIAMS, 8 November 1873, Died: 6 November 1873,” Parish Burial Registers, Textual Records, St. John’s Anglican Church, Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia; John is buried in the Williams plot, Left Section, Row 23, Memorial G (L.23.G), St. John’s Cemetery, Parramatta.

[108] “Town Talk,” Empire (Sydney, NSW: 1850 – 1875), Saturday 8 November 1873, p. 3.

[109] “Sydney,” Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser (Qld.: 1861 – 1908), Saturday 8 November 1873, p. 2.

[110] “Family Notices. Funerals,” The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW: 1842 – 1954), Saturday 8 November 1873, p. 14.

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