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William Thomas Braidwood
Wilson was born the 9 or 22 Jan 1819 at St. Cuthberts, Edinburgh, Scotland
to James Wilson and Agnes Patterson. He was the second oldest of their ten
children, and on the 19 Jun 1846 he married Janet Dewar Wightman at
Borthwick, Scotland. Their marriage data has also been recorded as 18 Jun
1846. The census of 1851, Crichton, Scotland, lists a William Willson (sic),
Limestone Worker, aged 31. His wife 'Jennet', aged 32, is included as well,
along with 2 children, James aged 1 and Hay aged 3 months. Gwenda Oxley
records that her research uncovered an "... Agnes Patterson Wilson b. 30 Jan
1855, Crichton, Scotland,..(and an) Agnes Patterson Wilson b. 7 Apr 1858.
Was the Scottish birth really that of Hay Dewar Wilson...". Ultimately the
couple produced 6 children we can be reasonably sure of.
How they made the journey to Tasmania is not known, but it is believed they
arrived in Hobart Town in 1855 from Midlothian, Scotland. Lack of original
research on our part contributes to the vagueness of this history. William
and his family settled at Crichton, Mount Seymour. "After spending some
years at the 'Braes', Salt Pans, then owned by his uncle George Wilson,
William Wilson and his family translated to Springfield, (Parattah), also
owned by another uncle John Wilson. It was from this location that William
and Janet's children, who were among the first pupils to attend the Mt.
Seymour school which opened in 1863, walked the long distance to attend
daily classes".
"During the early 1870's, William Wilson acquired the 'Hillside' property
containing 108 acres of undeveloped land, devoid of buildings and fences.
While waiting for the erection of a homestead to accomadate his family, the
Wilson's resided in a dwelling nearby on the 'Woodbanks' holding, another of
George Wilson's extensive land possessions. During 1875 the original
'Hillside' homestead was complete and occupied, it is said that the pit-sawn
timber used in construction being procured from one single gumtree, which at
that early period, grew only yards from the site of the building."
"William Wilson died at 'Hillside' on the 9th Mar 1912, aged 95 years. His
wife Janet had predeceased him on the 14 Jun 1902 aged 83 years." Both are
buried in a single grave at Oatlands Uniting Cemetary.
Notes inside quotes in this page are lifted from an article of unknown
origin, although the second paragraph dealing in part with the Wilson
children attending school echoes/paraphrases a section from A History of the
Lower Midlands by J. S. Weeding.
Jarrah Wilson |
