William WATERFORD
arrived in NSW as a convict on the Minerva in December 1821. He had been convicted of forgery at the March Assizes in Maidstone, Kent, earlier that year. William was one of the seven children of Gabriel WATERFORD and his wife Ann, all baptised at Limpsfield, Surrey:
- Michael WATERFORD bap. 19 Jun 1785
- Ann WATERFORD bap. 3 Jun 1787
- Phillis WATERFORD bap. 3 May 1789
- Gabriel WATERFORD bap. 4 Mar 1792
- Robert WATERFORD bap. 1 Jun 1794
- Hannah WATERFORD bap. 16 Oct 1796
- William WATERFORD bap. 15 Dec 1799
William's first marriage was to Mary (nee BROWN) GRIFFITHS, a widow, on 15 Apr 1828, in Windsor NSW. Mary died in childbirth the following year.
He then married Margaret BURN on 23 Nov 1829, also at Windsor. Margaret also died in childbirth, early in 1830.
On 16 Oct 1831, in Richmond NSW, John, son of William WATERFORD and Susannah MERRICK, was baptised.
William subsequently married Elizabeth HUNT, on 11 Aug 1834, at Maitland NSW. They had no children, but ran a hotel together until 1856, when Elizabeth was killed in a buggy accident.
They had been planning a trip to Ireland to visit Elizabeth's family. William carried through with this plan on his own. The ship travelled via America, and picked up passengers there. One of these was Eliza Dougherty, who turned out to be a cousin of Elizabeth's, also returning to Ireland. William and Eliza married in Ireland, and their first child William was born there. They came to NSW, where two more children, Hugh and Ellen, were born.
William died on 17 November 1876, and was buried on his property Merotherie.A detailed HTML family tree is available.
