Richard Williams 1847-1921 & Mary Jane Tonkin 1853-1932
Married on 25 Dec 1871 at the Primitive Methodist Chapel, Moonta Mines, South Australia by the Rev. Joseph Warner.
Picture above of Mary Jane Williams (Nee Tonkin)
Picture to the right of the grave site situated in Karrakatta Cemetery
Richard Williams
Second child of Richard & Mary Williams
Born: 17 Feb 1847 at Carnyorth, St Just in Penwith, Cornwall
Baptised: 22 Jul 1849 at St Just in Penwith, Cornwall, England
Died: 2 Nov 1921 at 46 Smyth Road, West Subiaco, Western Australia
Buried: Karrakatta Cemetery, Perth, Western Australia
Siblings: Mary Jane 1845, Thomas 1849, Thomas S. 1852
Occupation: Miner
Mary Jane Tonkin
Child of William Tonkin (1820?-1890) & Margaret Jane Tonkin nee Thomas (1825?-1891)
Born: 10 Sep 1853 Kensington, Adelaide, South Australia
Died: 30 Aug 1932 at 46 Smyth Road, West Subiaco, Western Australia
Buried: Karrakatta Cemetery, Perth, Western Australia
Siblings: (Half siblings: Elizabeth Ann Stevens 1843, Margaret Stevens 1845, Mary Ann Stevens 1845, John Samuel Stevens 1849) Sarah Glibert Tonkin 1851, William Henry Tonkin 1856, Grace Tonkin 1857, Thomasine Tonkin 1859, Emily Tonkin 1860, Richard Tonkin 1862, Emeline Tonkin 1864 & Nicholas Tonkin 1865.
At the age of 11 Richard lost his father. By the age of 14 he was employed as a miner. By the age of 15 he also lost his younger brother in Thomas Sampson Williams. The family must have had a hard time coming to terms with what life had dealt them. A few years later Richard makes his way on his own to Australia as a seventeen year old arriving in Melbourne. His death certificate seems to indicate he was not in the colony of Victoria long and moved to South Australia. Would his mother, Mary have let her remaining young son make the journey unless he was going to meet other family members such as his uncle John Sampson in Burra, South Australia? Was Mary in contact with her brother and sister Christiana Wearne? I suspect this may have been the case but I guess we will never know with certainty.
Known timeline for Richard and Mary as follows:
1871 married at Moonta Mines, South Australia
1877 birth of daughter Mary Jane Williams at their residence in the Wallaroo Mines, South Australia
1891 birth of second daughter Unaitta Myrte Williams at Broken Hill, New South Wales
1899 Richard’s death certificate states he was in Western Australia 22 years -therefore arrived in the state at this time
1903 electoral record for Richard Williams (miner) and Mary Jane Williams (home duties) Picton, Menzies, Western Australia
1906 electoral record for Richard Williams (miner) and Mary Jane Williams (home duties) Picton, Menzies, Western Australia
1910 electoral record for Richard Williams and Mary Jane Williams Onslow Street, Menzies, Western Australia
1917 electoral record for Richard Williams (retired) and Mary Jane Williams (housewife) Goldsmith Road, Claremont, Western Australia
1922 electoral record for Mary Jane Williams (home duties) 25 Smythe Road, West Subiaco, Western Australia
1931 electoral record for Mary Jane Williams (home duties) 46 Smyth Road, West Subiaco, Western Australia
Picture above of Mary Jane Williams with daughter Unaitta Jones and her son Richard.
Picture on left of Mary Jane Williams with dog. Assumed taken at home in Smyth Road, West Perth.
Richard’s birth certificate indicates he was born in Carnyorth on 17 Feb of 1847. Mary signed the certificate with her mark. Certificate reads: Seventeenth February 1847 Carnyorth, St Just – Richard – Boy – Father: Richard Williams – Mother Mary Williams formerly Sampson, Occupation of Father: Miner – The mark of Mary Williams mother Carnyorth, St Just – Twenty Second February 1847 – John Tregear Registrar
The 1851 Census finds Richard at home in North Place, Lafrowda, in the town of St Just in Penwith, Cornwall. At the time Richard was four years of age with his older sister Mary Jane 6 and his younger brother Thomas Sampson Williams 1 month old.
By the time of the 1861 Cornish Census Richard is a teenager of 14 years and finds him working in the tin mines as a miner. His sister Mary Jane is working most probably at the same mine as a tin dresser. Must have been hard times for the family as his father had died four years before this census.
Below is an extract from the passenger list for the ship Red Jacket which left from Liverpool, England and arrived in Melbourne, Australia on 21 Dec 1864. At the bottom of this extract is the entry for Richard Williams whose age is given as 17 and occupation of labourer. The age is a match for our Richard and as he is missing from the Cornish Census of 1871 it is assumed that this is his record of entering Australia.
On Christmas Day 1871 Richard married Mary Jane Tonkin at the Primitive Methodist Chapel in Moonta pictured below (Courtesy State Library
of South Australia B 12600 – photograph taken circa 1910). Inset is a copy of their wedding notice as appeared in the South Australian Register
on Tuesday 2 January 1872 on page 4 TROVE.
A copy of their marriage certificate is given below. One of the witnesses, a John Stephens, was a half brother to Mary.
A copy of Mary’s birth certificate given below.
