William Price Wall

   Cause of his death was Choleriac Diarrhorea & exhaustion, 6 days.

  General Notes:

The story of how William came to be in Australia and what happened to him there, and details of his known descendants, is recounted in Craig's award-winning book - In the Shadow of Feathertop: a history of the Lives and legacy of George Jones and Margaret Hardie. Read about the book here: http://craig-fullerton.com/product/in-the-shadow-of-feathertop/

___________________________

William came to Australia as a Convict in 1823. He'd had a previous conviction in the Old Bailey for stealing a handkerchief for which he was imprisoned for 3 months and whipped, but another conviction, also for stealing a handkerchief, resulted in him being Transported to Australia for 7 years. A transcript of both these trials follows:
____________________________________________________________________________

616. WILLIAM PRICE WALL was indicted for stealing on the 3d of April , one handkerchief, value 2 s., the goods of Stephen Curtis , from his person .

STEPHEN CURTIS . I am a leather-cutter , and live in Fore-street, Cripplegate. On the 3d of April I was in Redcross-street , and felt something at my pocket; I missed my handkerchief, and upon turning round saw the prisoner and another lad close behind, and the handkerchief at his heels; he must have dropped it, it could have fallen from no other person; it was rather exposed - he appeared distressed.

JAMES TUCKER . I was coming along between nine and ten o'clock in the morning, and saw Curtis seize the prisoner, and saw the prisoner drop the handkerchief.

(Property produced and sworn to.)

Prisoner's Defence. - I throw myself on your mercy.

GUILTY . Aged 19.

Recommended to Mercy.

Confined Three Months , and Whipped .

London Jury, before Mr. Recorder.
______________________________________________________________________________

Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 6.0, 27 December 2011), December 1822, trial of WILLIAM PRICE WALL (t18221204-17).
WILLIAM PRICE WALL, Theft > pocketpicking, 4th December 1822.

17. WILLIAM PRICE WALL was indicted for stealing, on 25th of October , one handkerchief, value 1 s., the goods of John Greensill , from his person .

JOHN GREENSILL . I am a clerk in the Ordnance Office, and live at Islington. On the 25th of October, between one and two o'clock, I was in Ball-alley , walking towards the Bank. I had a silk handkerchief in my pocket - I felt a twitch at it, and upon turning round saw the prisoner putting something into his pocket. Nobody but him wasnear enough to take my handkerchief; I felt and missed it - he ran past me into George-yard, and turned into Lombard-street. I kept calling Stop thief! he was stopped. I merely lost sight of him while turning the corner. I am certain he is the man. The handkerchief was produced - he appeared alone.

WILLIAM HENDERSON . I am shopman to Mr. Carter of Lombard-street. As I came to George-yard, the prisoner rushed by me, and crossed to go up Three King-court, running in a direction from the cry. I pursued, and he was stopped a few yards up the court. I found the handkerchief in his hand, which I gave to the constable with him. He said he had picked nobody's pocket, before any questions were put to him.

JOHN WATSON . I heard the cry of Stop thief, and saw the prisoner running up Three King-court. I was in the court, and stopped till he came up - he said,

"Don't stop me;" I seized him, and saw the handkerchief in his hand. Henderson took it from him.

HENRY TAYLOR . I took the prisoner in charge with the handkerchief.

(Property produced and sworn to.)

Prisoner. I throw myself on your mercy.

GUILTY . Aged 19.

Transported for Life .

Old Bailey Proceedings Online (www.oldbaileyonline.org, version 6.0, 27 December 2011), April 1822, trial of WILLIAM PRICE WALL (t18220417-82).
WILLIAM PRICE WALL, Theft > pocketpicking, 17th April 1822.
_____________________________________________________________________________

Between 1827 and 1832 he was working in various road gangs assigned to build the Great
North Road. Constructed to connect Sydney with Newcastle and the Upper Hunter Valley,
the Great North is regarded as one of Australia's great nineteenth century civil engineering
achievements. Many of the convicts who worked on the Great North Road were hardened repeat
offenders who worked in leg irons in the "iron gangs". William was not one of this group
'96 he is recorded as a member of both a "road party" and a "bridge party" during his time
working on the road. These teams of convict labourers were not constrained by leg irons.
By 1832 William had been a convict for nine years and toiling away on the Great North
Road for five of those years. It would have been a harsh and punishing existence working
on that road day after day through all the seasons. Presumably in March of that year he
decided he'd had enough: the New South Wales Government Gazette recorded that William
had been apprehended after absconding from the Number 23 Road Gang. It's not clear what punishment he received for this transgression, but it can't have been viewed too harshly since he received his Ticket of Leave just a few months later, on 9 October 1832, which allowed him to reside in the Liverpool area. Just a month later it was amended to allow him to live in Parramatta.

On 29 November 1832, William made an application in the Liverpool district to marry Elizabeth Buckley, which was subsequently approved. They married on 29 January 1833 at St Luke's Church of England in Liverpool. The witnesses were Sarah Buckley, the bride's sister, who made her mark (as she was illiterate) and Sarah's future husband, Thomas Pike, both of Liverpool. It is interesting to note that William and Elizabeth had already welcomed their first child into the world, Maria Louisa Wall. She had been born on 4 October 1832 in Parramatta,
just before William received his Ticket of Leave. Elizabeth was just sixteen years old when
Maria was born. Her birth, occurring some seven months after the absconding convict
William had been apprehended, suggests that she might have been conceived when
William was on the run. Sadly, Maria was to die just a couple of weeks after the wedding,
on 13 February 1833 in Parramatta.

According to daughter, Sarah's death certificate they came to Victoria in about 1851 and according to William's it was about 1852 which co-incides with the gold rushes there, and fits with the births of their children. Prior to this they had travelled to California where a gold rush was on and their 2 year old son, also named William Price Wall, died in San Francisco. They returned home soon after.

  Noted events in his life were:

• He worked as a Digger at the time of Edward's birth on 6 Mar 1855 in Sandhurst, now Bendigo, Victoria, Australia.

• He resided at the time of Edward's birth on 6 Mar 1855 in Lower Bendigo, Victoria, Austalia.

• He worked as a Tailor at the time of Frederick's birth on 30 Oct 1861.

• He worked as a Tailor.

• He worked as a Tailor at the time of his death on 6 Feb 1890 in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia.

William married Elizabeth Buckley, daughter of James Buckley and Mary Hitchen, on 29 Jan 1833 in St Lukes C Of E, Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia. (Elizabeth Buckley was born about Oct 1816 in Shaw, Lancashire, England, christened on 16 Feb 1901 in White Hills Cemetery, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia and died on 14 Feb 1901 in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia.). The cause of her death was Chronic Bronchitis, 3 months.

  Marriage Notes:

Witnesses were Sarah Buckley, the bride's sister, who made her mark and Sarah's future husband, Thomas Pike, both of Liverpool.