William Robert Gillard

William Robert Gillard
(1904-1927)

William (Willie/Will) Robert Gillard was the elder of two sons of William Edgar Gillard and Ethel May Hill, and he was the brother of my father. He was born in 1904 (in about April) and died at 22 by drowning in the Swan River. In the word of his brother: '... Will died when he was twenty-two. He was drowned in a yachting accident—just one of those rare occasions—the yacht tipped over and when they came to count heads he was the only one missing'.

This is the earliest photograph of Wm Robert Gillard that exists, taken perhaps around the beginning of 1905. William Edgar is holding his elder son William Robert, while his wife, Ethel May Hill, is holding my infant father, David Michael (born 23 May 1905).

It seems that Will might have been born in Yundamindra in 1904, tho his brother David is recorded as having been born in Perth the next year, thirteen months later. Will's grandfather, William Samuel Hill, had brought his wife (Margaret Roberts Hill) and family (children Beatrice, Leslie, Ethel and Elsie [there is some doubt about whether her name was actually Mary Elizabeth) over from Victoria, in 1899.

Ethel met William Edgar Gillard on the diggings and they got married in 1903, either in Kookynie, according to the book More Lonely Graves of Western Australia or at St Bridget's Wembley, according to DMG.

Here are Will and Davie, already fatherless, and possibly in Victoria, where their mother had to go to survive.

Will's father died when he was two years old. His mother married again, to Flether Hogarth. This may be their wedding photograph. That's Ethel May's father, William Samuel Hill in the centre, with his two grandsons. And I think that's Ethel on our right, and her sister Beatrice Harriet on the left. The two men are unidentified at present, but I'm guessing that's Ethel's new husband, Fletcher Hogarth, next to her, and that the other man standing is her brother Leslie.

David and William are wearing black armbands. Their mother, Ethel May, died around January-March 1919; so David was an orphan at 15. The other two children would be the twins Keith and Ethel, Ethel May's children with Fletcher Hogarth.

Will had to go to work on a farm, possibly at Trayning, prolly as soon as legally possible, the day after he turned 14 - as was the case with his younger brother. Dave mentions that they had a holiday together: "21: Came to Perth met Will who came down from Yundamindra and we had a holiday together." I think this might be the (only) photographic record. That's Will in the middle, with Dave on our right, and an unidentified chap on our left.

Here are the lads with the young ladies they holidayed with (still assuming). I've been told the young lady next to David is his first cousin Ellen Raftis (Nell/Nellie.) I have no information about the other people in the photograph - except of course Will, sitting down front, on our right.

William Robert and his mother Ethel May are buried in the same grave in Karrakatta Cemetery. It's in an area that's been 'renewed', and not only is there no headstone (I'm guessing there never was one) the exact position of the grave is not to be seen, as there has been another burial at ROEC 009. The cemetery records have Ethel May's name spelt incorrectly, as Ethel May Hogartt [sic]. To get this changed, I would have to show them something like birth and/or death certificates.

The 'grantee' of the original plot (which expired 29 Nov 1962) is one Elizabeth Mary Lynch. Our current hypothesis is that she was Ethel May's sister (and was known as 'Elsie' - and I personally remember an 'Auntie Elsie') , and that she had been 'granted' the plot in order to lay to rest the body of (presumably) her son Thomas Mathew [sic] Lynch, aged 0 years, having died 5 November 1912. And then she was kind enough to allow her sister's Ethel's body to be laid to rest in the same grave in 1919, and then Ethel's son Wm Robert's in 1927. Currently, nothing is known precisely about Elsie/Elizabeth Mary. Watch this space.

References
Coate, Yvonne E. & Kevin Coate, More Lonely Graves of Western Australia, Hesperian Press, Carlisle, WA, 2000.
Palmer, Alex, Yundamindra: Its Towns, Mines, People and Station, Hesperian Press, Carlisle, WA, 2006.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Adrian Spall, particularly for information about the Hill family.

New: 17 July, 2009 | Now: 15 November, 2009 | garrygillard[at]gmail.com

	This is the earliest photograph of Wm Robert Gillard that exists, taken perhaps around the beginning of 1905. William Edgar is holding his elder son William Robert, while his wife, Ethel May Hill, is holding my infant father, David Michael (born 23 May 1905). It seems that Will might have been born in Yundamindra in 1904, tho his brother David is recorded as having been born in Perth the next year, thirteen months later. Will's grandfather, William Samuel Hill, had brought his wife (Margaret Roberts Hill) and family (children Beatrice, Leslie, Ethel and Elsie [there is some doubt about whether her name was actually Mary Elizabeth) over from Victoria, in 1899. Ethel met William Edgar Gillard on the diggings and they got married in 1903, either in Kookynie, according to the book More Lonely Graves of Western Australia or at St Bridget's Wembley, according to DMG.
	Here are Will and Davie, already fatherless, and possibly in Victoria, where their mother had to go to survive.
	Will's father died when he was two years old. His mother married again, to Flether Hogarth. This may be their wedding photograph. That's Ethel May's father, William Samuel Hill in the centre, with his two grandsons. And I think that's Ethel on our right, and her sister Beatrice Harriet on the left. The two men are unidentified at present, but I'm guessing that's Ethel's new husband, Fletcher Hogarth, next to her, and that the other man standing is her brother Leslie.
	David and William are wearing black armbands. Their mother, Ethel May, died around January-March 1919; so David was an orphan at 15. The other two children would be the twins Keith and Ethel, Ethel May's children with Fletcher Hogarth.
	Will had to go to work on a farm, possibly at Trayning, prolly as soon as legally possible, the day after he turned 14 - as was the case with his younger brother. Dave mentions that they had a holiday together: "21: Came to Perth met Will who came down from Yundamindra and we had a holiday together." I think this might be the (only) photographic record. That's Will in the middle, with Dave on our right, and an unidentified chap on our left.
	Here are the lads with the young ladies they holidayed with (still assuming). I've been told the young lady next to David is his first cousin Ellen Raftis (Nell/Nellie.) I have no information about the other people in the photograph - except of course Will, sitting down front, on our right.