William Kay was the father of Ethel May Kay who married
George Killion. William’s origins are somewhat of a mystery!
What do we know:
- William married Margaret Dietz on 4 April 1876 at Grafton NSW.
- When his daughter, Ethel Kay was born in January 1882, William was described on her birth certificate as being a 27 year old, Cordial Maker and having been born in Burwood NSW. This places his year of birth at around 1855.
- The birth certificates of his other children and his death certificate place his year of birth in 1852 or 1853.
- Family folklore conveyed by his granddaughter, ‘Poppy’ Maggs nee Allbutt, states that he was born a Kirkpatrick but was raised by people by the name of Kay and adopted their name.
William died on 24 September 1888 at Grafton NSW as a
result of a fall from a horse. He was buried in the Church of England Cemetery
in Grafton.
There is a grave in Grafton cemetery which must be his. The grave
is for a William Kirkpatrick and the inscription reads:
“Sacred to the memory of
William Kirkpatrick, a native of Tasmania, the beloved son of John Kirkpatrick
who died by a fall from a horse, 24 September 1888 aged 36 years”.
This is followed by an
illegible verse.
There is no record of a William Kirkpatrick dying in NSW
in 1888, let alone one who probably died in Grafton (in order to be buried in
Grafton cemetery) and from a fall from horse. This has to be ‘our’ William.
A newspaper article in 1946, refers to William as William
Kay (not Kirkpatrick) and states he was a native of Tasmania (‘Five Generations
Represented’ in The Daily Examiner, 8 May 1946).
A birth record for William has not been found to date.
William’s
father – John Kirkpatrick.
The plot thickens from there. A photo album which
recorded births and deaths in the family, includes the death of a John
Kirkpatrick on 22 August 1895.
The death certificate of this John Kirkpatrick states his
death took place on 21 August 1895 at Don Dorrigo and that he was aged 78. The
certificate states that he was ‘not known to have been married’ and no children
are listed. Members of the Dietz family officiated at the burial.
In a series of articles appearing in the Don Dorrigo
Gazette in 1926, concerning a dispute as to who felled the first cedar on the
Dorrigo, John Kirkpatrick is referred to several times. One of the articles,
states ‘the old hands were always whispering that he had been a bushranger in
New Zealand and Tasmania’ (‘Who Felled the First Tree’ in The Don Dorrigo
Gazette and Guy Fawkes Advocate, 5 June 1926).
John
Kirkpatrick in Tasmania
So the trail leads to Tasmania it seems where it appears
the most likely (or perhaps convenient) candidate to be ‘our’ John Kirkpatrick is a convict who arrived
in Tasmania on the ‘Triton’ in December 1843. This convict was transported under
a sentence of transportation for manslaughter (of a policeman, Thomas Jordan
during an election row in Carlisle, County Cumberland).
This John’s age of 22 when he arrived in 1842 places him
around the same age as ‘our’ John. The convict John’s origin in Carlisle,
County Cumberland (a border county with Scotland) could also verify the family
folklore that William Kay insisted he was ‘Scots to the backbone’. In fact,
Carlisle is known as the ‘Great Border City’.
John’s convict indent records his father as James, mother
Jane and siblings, William, Benjamin and Margaret.
John Kirkpatrick, the convict, received a conditional
pardon in April 1852. In the previous year, he had received government
permission to marry one Barbara McKechnie but the records indicate the marriage
did not proceed.
In April 1852, John married a convict, Maria Collister
who had arrived on the ‘Earl Grey’ in May 1850. While Maria’s convict record
tracks her until 1854, there is then no trace of her that has been found to
date. Was she the mother of William Kay or Kirkpatrick?
