The researcher is indebted to Mrs Jean Kilpatrick, the grand-daughter of Mary Cecilia Foote Williams, for her reminiscences of the family’s early history.

The Williams family of special interest to readers of these pages was living on Urgles Farm in the small village of Meavy in the English county of Devon at the time of the 1881 English census. Their household was composed as follows: William (44, b. Walkhampton, Devon, farmer of 36 acres), Cecilia (52, b. Meavy, farmer’s wife), James Richard (20, farmer’s son), John Thomas (18, farm labourer), Arthur (14), Richard Jonas (11), Mark Northmore (11) and Mary Cecilia (7). All of the children were born in Meavy with the exception of Arthur and Richard Jonas whose birthplace is given as Stoke Damerel, Devon.

John Thomas Williams, one of the seven children of William and Cecilia Foote (née Northmore) Williams, emigrated to Australia from Plymouth, Devonshire. He arrived in Brisbane on 8 February 1885 on board the 2,500-ton schooner-rigged steamer New Guinea (Captain TR Mowat Jr), one of 244 immigrants. The vessel, launched only a few months, left Gravesend (London) on the morning of 5 December 1884, travelled via the Suez Canal and, after calling at Thursday Island, Cleveland Bay (Townsville) and Keppel Bay (near Rockhampton), was finally brought up the Brisbane River by the tug Otter on the afternoon of 8 February 1885 to the DL Brown and Company Wharf.

Heading west from Brisbane, John Thomas settled in the fertile Lockyer Valley where he sought employment as a farmer. While there he met Amelia Avis whose parents farmed a property at Ma Ma Creek about 5 km. from Gatton. They were married in Gatton on 13 November 1889 and became the parents of: Mary Cecilia Foote (b. 3 March 1890), Martha Amelia (b. 28 May 1891), William Henry (b. 7 November 1893), Florence Anna (b. 9 March 1896), Alice Winifred (b. 20 February 1898), and Percival John Thomas (b. 23 September 1900).

Sadly, Percival John Thomas Williams died from whooping cough aged but two months on 22 November 1900, his mother’s birthday. His remains were interred in the Cooper’s Plains Cemetery on the same day. The Reverend John Stewart Pollock, the rector of the Sherwood (Oxley) Presbyterian Church, presided; and the two witnesses to the burial were John T Williams and Joseph Avis (probably the boy’s maternal grandfather).

By that time the family had long since established themselves in Rocklea on the south side of Brisbane in a house which backed onto the railway line behind the station. John continued his farming activities on a nearby property along Oxley Creek. However, he retained his links with Gatton; and it was there at the fifth annual ploughing match, held under the auspices of the Lockyer Agricultural and Horticultural Society on 29 August 1901, that he was awarded an inscribed gold medal which he wore proudly on his fob chain.

As their children, all of whom had attended the Rocklea State School, grew up and left home, John and Amelia acquired a small house next door to the Tuckett family. Two members of this family lie buried in the Cooper’s Plains Cemetery—Harry (d. 25 August 1936) and his wife Annie (d. 5 July 1945).

Eventually, John and Amelia moved to a corner property in Muriel Avenue, Rocklea, where they lived out their days in a large Queenslander with a verandah on three sides. There was a stable for Dolly the horse and an ample market garden for John to tend. An enterprising man, John augmented the family farming income by mowing the grass on the Yeerongpilly Golf Links.

At this point it would be well to record some details of Amelia’s background. Her parents, Joseph Avis and Rachel Willingham, were married in the Church of St Andrew-by-the-Wardrobe in Queen Victoria Street, London, on 15 April 1867. Close to Blackfriars Theatre, St Andrew’s was Christopher Wren’s last city church. It has associations with William Shakespeare who bought a house in Ireland Yard in this parish

Joseph and Rachel came to Australia on the Black Ball Line’s 766-ton Young Australia (Captain DR Bolt) which left Gravesend on the afternoon of 12 April 1869 and dropped anchor in Moreton Bay on 13 July 1869, having travelled around the Cape of Good Hope and the southern tip of Tasmania.

Amelia Avis was born in Gatton on 22 November 1869. The Queensland Post Office Directory for 1874 lists a J Avis, squatter, Lockyer’s Creek, Gatton. Her brothers and sisters were: Elizabeth (b. 1868; d. 1 July 1869 towards the end of the voyage from England), Mary Ann (b. 27 June 1871; m. William Kennedy 5 January 1895), Emma (b. 17 December 1873; d. 29 December 1893), Joseph Jr (b. 20 June 1876; m. Ellen Louisa Francis 3 January 1900; d. 14 July 1956), John (b. 24 September 1878; d. 4 April 1962), Eliza (b. 3 August 1880; d. 18 October 1882), Rachel (b. 4 May 1883; m. Jack Naginasingh 19 August 1903; d. 23 June 1964), Florence (known as Florrie, b. 1 August 1885; m. George Cook (date?); d. 30 March 1959), and Louisa (b. 5 October 1886; m. Frederick Henry Bourbon 21 February 1920; d. 10 July 1965).

Joseph Avis, farmer and postmaster, passed away on18 January aged 79 and was laid to rest in the Anglican Cemetery Ma Ma Creek. His wife Rachel, the daughter of John and Ann Willingham, died at her home after a long illness on 18 September 1927 aged 81. Her burial service at the graveside in the Anglican Cemetery at Ma Ma Creek was conducted by the Reverend JD Anderson.

Amelia Williams passed away on 31 July 1938. Her funeral left from the family residence, Muriel Avenue, Rocklea, on the following day for the Mount Gravatt Cemetery (monumental section 4E 8 611). John Thomas Williams died on New Year’s Day 1942; and his remains were interred beside those of his wife on 2 January 1942. In both cases the funeral directors were Cannon and Cripps.