In response to the
article 'Movers and Stayers' by Mike Robins in
the September issue of the Berkshire Family
Historian, I would like to put forward my
ancestor, William Watkins Waite, as Abingdon's
most travelled son.
William was born at
Abingdon on September 8, 1811, the son of
William Watkins Waite and Martha Edgington. In
1841 William Jnr. was trading as a bookseller in
Norwich where he married Emily Wilson. Their
first child Ellen Mary was born in Norwich on
June 20,1841. Shortly after-wards William and his
family sailed to Canada where Ellen Mary died in
North Pelham, Ontario, on June 7,1843. Four
children were born in Canada between 1844 and
1851 and then the family moved to England.
On August 14 1857
William and his family sailed from Gravesend on
board the 'Bosworth' bound for New Zealand. After
a voyage of 102 days, during which two of
the crew tried to set fire to the ship, they
landed at Port Chalmers, Dunedin. William had
been commissioned to set up a school in the Otago
peninsula in order to educate the children of
Scottish settlers. The children were initially
taught in William's house until a new school-house
was built. Following the formation of a State
Education Board, William and his family again
packed their bags and headed for Australia,
leaving on September 11 1863 on the 'Glencoe'.
On October 4 they landed
at Hobson's Bay, Victoria. Their journey
continued within the state of Victoria, where the
four children became teachers and taught in a
number of outback schools. Emily Waite, William's
wife, died on August 7 1896 at Casterton, aged 84
and her husband on March 31 1899 at Camberwell
aged 87. Two of the children died in Australia,
one returned to New Zealand and one returned to
England.
