Beach, William

DESCRIPTION

NameBeach, WilliamDate of Birth1850Date of Death1935OccupationBlacksmith, farrier, sculler.BiographyWilliam ‘Bill’ Beach b.1851, arrived in Australia from London aboard ‘Lloyds’ in 1855, with his parents Alexander Richard and Mary (nee Gibbons) (married Westminster 1844), and his older sisters, Mary Jane b.1845 and Emma Elizabeth b 1849.

Mary Jane was 21yrs.when her mother died, married John Haywood in 1865 (a year before her mother died) she then married Thomas Cook and died in 1908.

Emma Elizabeth was 17yrs old when her mother died and she left to live with relatives in New Zealand in 1867 a year after her mother died.

William was 16yrs old when his mother died (various stories are told about the time until he married Sarah Duley in 1873, he was 23 yrs.)

Susan who was born in 1856 in N.S.W. was 10yrs old at the time of her mother's death perhaps she lived with the Norris family or did she live with her older sister Mary.

There are various stories written about William's early years. In a newspaper article BILL BEACH VETERAN SCULLER TELLS HIS STORY (September 1930) of arriving in Australia and going to his uncle John Sculpher's farm who kept cows and poultry." We lived beside the Macquarie rivulet".
The Beach family then settled at Andrew McGill’s farm at Albion Park, where Alexander Beach worked as a blacksmith for the McGill’s. He became well known as an ‘animal doctor’ and locals often brought their ailing horses to him for care.

The Beach family home was a slab hut on the original Weston grant (Weston’s Meadows). According to descendants, one day while Mary Beach was washing clothes in the creek, Bill hopped in the wooden wash tub and floated down the rivulet. He was rescued by his Uncle John Sculpher.

William's mother Mary, died in 1866 and shortly afterwards, his father reputedly left the family leaving Susan and William with neighbors.
Alexander Richard married Ann White in 1869 at Wagga and died in 1870 Victoria Australia.

In 1873, William married Sarah Duley and they lived at ‘Beachgrove Farm’, Yallah. Eventually Bill was offered a position as a blacksmith at Brownsville, and they moved to a house near Mullet Creek. He honed his rowing skills here and at Lake Illawarra.

William and Sarah had 12 children –

Mary Emma b.1874 (married William Goldsmith, died 1943, Ryde)
Arnold Edward b.1875 (married Bridget Jordan, died 1941, Richmond)
Edith b.1877 (married Samuel Johnson, died 1952)
Lucy b.1879 (married Sydney Gear, died 1902, Wollongong)
William Alexander b.1881 (married Maude Findlay, died 1937, Sydney)
Harold James b.1883 (married Ellen Stevens, died 1928, Sutherland)
Mabel Peters b.1886 (married William Mathieson, died 1948, Georges River)
Sarah Wentworth b.1887 (married Hector Ross, died 1948, Petersham)
Frank Richard b.1889 (married Maude Pearce, died 1957, Rockdale)
George Hill b.1891 (married Florence Harley)
Harrie b.1893 (married Florence Fountain, died Macquarie Park)
Myra Adeline b.1896 (married William Clifford, died 1944, Wollongong)

William was one of the first Directors of the Illawarra Co-operative Central Dairy, Creamery Road Albion Park Rail in 1899.

William became a professional Australian oarsman. On May 25, 1874, a series of boat races were held on Lake Illawarra. After winning a race with teammate James Duley, William’s love and dedication towards the sport began.

In 1884, he won his first World Champion title, defeating previous winner, Edward Hanlon on Parramatta River. Undefeated, he held his title for three years and three months until his retirement.

William is honoured in the Shellharbour Hall of Fame.

William and Sarah's son, William Alexander, joined the Australian Imperial Forces in 1914 and while in the army invented the rifle periscope. His job before joining the army had been a fitter at the railway department.

Source –
Downes, Yvonne 2014, ‘The Brownsville Blacksmith’.
Tongarra Heritage Files.
Birth Death and Marriage Records.
Shipping Records.
External LinkWilliam Beach the Sculler 1883Beach the Sculler by James McGill JP 1884Mr Beach Interviewed 1884Arrival of William Beach 1886The Sculling Race Between Beach and Hanlan 1887William Beach at Home 1887William Beach Celebrates 72nd Birthday 1922The Champion Boat Race 1887Mrs Thomas Cook 1908Obituary Mrs William Beach 1929Obituary Mrs William Beach 1929Mrs W Beach 1929The Late Mrs Goldsmith 1932Late 'Bill' Beach 1935Death of William Beach 1935Obituary Bill Beach 1935Memorial to W Beach 1935Reminiscences of Illawarra 8 Mar 1935Reminiscences of Illawarra 15 Mar 1935Reminiscences of Illawarra 22 Mar 1935From the Anvil to the Oar 1938Bill Beach Veteran Sculler Tells His Story 1930William Beach Jnr. Rifle Periscope

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William Beach.

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CollectionPeopleFamilySculpherDurrellLocalityDaptoAlbion ParkPersonGrey, JamesClarke, George

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Beach, William