William Williams and Catherine McDonald

William Williams

(1844 - 1897)

and his wife Catherine McDonald

Graziers and Farmers of the Monaro District NSW

William Williams was the youngest child of John Williams and Sarah Nash and was born in 1844 at their "(Head of) Curry Flat" run near Nimmitabel in the Monaro district. Most of his childhood was spent at "Groses Plain", south-east of Jindabyne, until 1863 when he and his brothers George and Edward acquired the lease for the nearby "Bald Hills or the Gullies" run. William spent a few years at the run before moving to the Albury district. He was a boundary rider residing in Jingellick when he married Catherine McDonald in 1871.

Catherine McDonald was the daughter of Hector McDonald and his wife Jessie Kennedy of Gairloch in County Ross, Scotland. Her parents and older siblings emigrated to NSW per the Royal Saxon in 1848, and settled near Goulburn where Catherine and her twin brother Duncan were born in 1853. Some years later the family also settled in the Albury district.

William and Catherine spent the first few years of their marriage residing in the Albury district, before settling at "The Gullies" in the mid-1870's. In the early 1880's William purchased land in or near "The Gullies" run, including freehold land acquired jointly with his brother Edward, and land selected by conditional purchase. Legislative changes in the mid-1880's caused considerable financial difficulties for William and Edward and they were forced to abandon their partnership. William sold his land and relocated to the Jindabyne district and then to Berridale.

William died in 1897 at Cooma. Catherine moved to Albury around the year 1912 where she died in 1919.

This is a brief summary of the chapter relating to William Williams and Catherine McDonald published in Nash: First Fleeters and Founding Families - A Three Generational Biographical History.

The family of William Williams and Catherine McDonald*

1. George Alexander Williams (1872 - 1956) md Mary Love Stewart in 1897.

2. Jessie Ann Williams (1874 - 1960) md Ernest Scarlett in 1898.

3. Amos Edward Williams (1876 - 1967) md Millicent Wheatley in 1910.

4. William Davidson Williams (1879 - 1952) md Mary Elizabeth McPhie in 1908.

5. Mabel Maude Williams (1882 - 1939) md Sidney Thomas Scarlett in 1903.

6. Linda Mary Williams (1885 - 1970) md Du Verney Garnett.

7. Sarah Eliza Williams (1887 - 1976) md Alfred William Woods in 1925.

8. Edith Lillian Williams (1891 - 1990) unmarried.

9. Catherine/Kate McDonald Williams (1894 - 1980) md George A. Colvin.

10. Grace Edna Williams (1897 - 1944) md Fred Ritchie.

* Many of these dates come from registrations of births, deaths and marriages. In some cases the event itself will have occurred late in the previous year.

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