HISTORY OF THE WILLIAMS NAME :

The origins of the ancient name WILLIAMS belong to that rich Celtic tradition that comes from Wales. This surname was derived from the personal name William. This was originally derived from the Old German names Willihelm and Willelm and the Norman form of the French name Guillaume.
Following the Norman Conquest of 1066, William was the most popular personal name in Britain until it was superseded by John.

The Welch WILLIAMS family claims descent from Brychan Brecheiniog who was Lord of Brecknock at the time of King Arthur. The first member of the Welch WILLIAMS family to adopt the surname was Sir Roger Williams of Llangibby Castle who was recorded c1500. Other significant branches of the family claimed Penrhyn Castle in Carnarvon, and Dandreath Castle in Merioneth, and the family held many castles throughout Wales and Cornwall. One of the most important members of the WILLIAMS family was Oliver Cromwell, whose great-grandfather changed his name from Williams to Cromwell during the reign of King Henry VIII.

A number of people bearing the name Williams immigrated to North America in the 1600s. Some of those who landed in Virginia were David Williams, Elizabeth Williams, Henry and Hugh Williams in 1623, and Edward Williams in 1624. Richard Williams landed in Maine in 1630.

Our Williams family including MAY of Cornwall, WALKER and MAY Small numbers by a name refer to personal number in listing eg PAUL 2 WILLIAMS - See 2

GENERATION ONE :

1. ~ ~ ~ JOHN WILLIAMS married MARY JOBE on 14 April 1822 in Perranarworthal, Cornwall, England and their children included:

PAUL ² WILLIAMS, born 1824 in Perranarworthal, Cornwall.

GENERATION TWO:

2. ~ ~ ~ PAUL WILLIAMS (JOHN) was born on 19 December 1824 in Perranarworthal, Cornwall, England. His parents were John Williams and Mary JOBE.  John and Mary had married on 14 April 1822 in Perranarworthal.  Paul married LAVINIA MAY on 30 November 1848 in St Ives, Cornwall.  Lavinia was born on 22 February 1829 and was the daughter of Nicholas MAY and Jane TRELEASE.

Paul worked as a miner in Cornwall until, at the age of 30, he left England to seek a fortune on the Australia gold-fields. He stayed there for eight years, and returned to England in 1862. He could not settle however and in 1864 he left again, this time for Auckland, New Zealand taking his family with him. Paul and Lavinia with sons John Paul, Thomas and Charles arrived in New Zealand on 16 October 1864 aboard the ship "Eaglespeed". Paul returned to Victoria, Australia in 1866 and from there went to South Australia in 1868 where he worked in the mines at Moonta. In 1871 after his return from Australia the family settled in Thames, New Zealand.

Paul died on 9 February 1891 in Thames. Lavinia died on 24 February 1898 in Thames. They were both buried at Shortland Cemetery, Thames.

Children of PAUL WILLIAMS and LAVINIA MAY were:

JOHN PAUL ³ WILLIAMS, born around 1850 in England.

THOMAS ⁴ WILLIAMS, born 26 October 1852 in St Ives, Cornwall, England.

CHARLES ⁵ WILLIAMS, born around 1855 in England.

JANE WILLIAMS, born around 1866. Jane married (christian name unknown) KNEEBONE and children were:

~ HAROLD KNEEBONE, who married Mavis (surname unknown)

~ CLARA KNEEBONE

~ LAURA KNEEBONE

~ LEONARD KNEEBONE

~ THOMAS KNEEBONE

ELLEN WILLIAMS, born around 1870. Ellen married GEORGE WARNE. He was born around 1863 and died on 18 February 1924 in Kingsland, Auckland. Their children were:

~ GEORGE WARNE, who married Nellie (surname unknown) and had three sons.

~ PAUL WARNE

~ JOHN WARNE

~ WALTER WARNE, who married LAURA GRAHAM

EMILY WILLIAMS, who married CHARLES HANLEN. Their children were:

~ ELLA LAVINIA HANLEN, who married DAVID HENRY GRUBB. Ella died on 14 August 1970 in Thames, NZ.

~ CHARLES HANLEN

~ WILLIAM HANLEN

~ VIOLET HANLEN

~ IVY HANLEN

Refer to the family of MAY family of Cornwall for more information about Lavinia's family including TRELEASE and TREWEEK

3. ~ ~ ~ JOHN PAUL WILLIAMS (JOHN > PAUL) was born in 1849 in England. He arrived in New Zealand aboard the ship “Eaglespeed: with his parents and brother Thomas on 16 October 1864. John married LILLIAN (or EMILY) He made an application on 07 March 1888 to the Lands & Deeds Office in Thames to purchase land. In 1915 he was living in Kingsland, Auckland.

Children of JOHN and LILLIAN WILLIAMS were:

JOHN WILLIAMS, born around 1883. John was a Private with Auckland Regiment NZEF during World War One and he died on 6 May 1915. He was buried at Alexandria Military & War Memorial Cemetery in Egypt. (Refer to my Roll of Honour for more details)

PAUL WILLIAMS

LAVINIA WILLIAMS

LILLIAN WILLIAMS

JANET WILLIAMS, who's married name was OFFER

ROSE WILLIAMS, who's married name was BULKIN

JOSEPH WILLIAMS

MABEL WILLIAMS

4. ~ ~ ~ THOMAS WILLIAMS (JOHN > PAUL) was born on 26 October 1852 in St Ives, Cornwall. He arrived in New Zealand aboard the ship "Eaglespeed" with parents and brother John Paul on 16 October 1864. Thomas married ELLEN WALKER on 23 November 1878 and they lived in Auckland for a year after their marriage and later settled in Thames. Ellen was born on 07 February 1857 in Greasley, Nottinghamshire, England and was the daughter of WILLIAM THOMAS WALKER and MARY SYBIL BRAITHWAITE. On 25 November 1878 he applied to the Lands & Deeds Office in Thames to purchase land with his brother-in-law WILLIAM THOMAS WALKER.

Children of THOMAS WILLIAMS and ELLEN WALKER were:

ELLEN LOUISA WILLIAMS, born 05 May 1879 in Thames; died 18 August 1950 in Thames. Ellen married STANLEY THORBURN and they had 3 children:

~ TREVOR ANDREW THORBURN, born 17 March 1911; died in Auckland 03 October 2002

~ SYBIL THORBURN, who married LESLIE HANCOCK

~ ESMA THORBURN, who married WALTER YORK

THOMAS PERCY WILLIAMS, born 11 May 1882 and baptized at Thames Methodist Church on 31 July 1882 died 10 June 1964 at Ranfurly War Veterans Home in Auckland. Percy married NANCY McISAAC. He served in the Army during World War One and after the war ran the Post Office Hotel in Thames. After 1950 he settled in Auckland and ran a boarding house in Nelson St, Auckland. He lived with his niece Sybil in his later years and died on 10 June 1964 in Auckland.

MARY WILLIAMS, born 05 August 1884, Thames; died 26 December 1972, Thames. Mary married married ALEC BATEMAN, son of ROBERT LESSE BATEMAN and they settled in Karaka Creek Road, Thames next-door to Mary' sister Ethel and her husband. Alec was born on 30 June 1884 and died 22 April 1968 in Thames. He was a Butcher as well as a Gold Star Fireman. Son of Mary and Alec was:

~ THOMAS LEA BATEMAN, who married Hazel (surname unknown) around 1956. Lea was an Accountant and worked for the Thames Hospital Board. He died on 24 November 1999 at Tararu Home in Thames.

Mary and Alec were both buried at Totara Cemetery in Thames.

HARRY ⁶ WILLIAMS, born 01 December 1886 in the Kauaeranga Valley, Thames.

RUBY MAY WILLIAMS, born 15 May 1889 in the Kauaeranga Valley, Thames. Ruby drowned in the Kauaeranga River on 08 December 1904 aged 15 years.

ETHEL VICTORIA WILLIAMS, born 16 June 1897 in Thames; died 16 November 1979 in Thames. Ethel married BERT STRANGE on 24 May 1922. He worked for Coakley's Grocer Shop in Thames and he and Ethel lived in Karaka Creek Road, next-door to Mary and Alec. Ethel and Bert had two sons:

~ DESMOND EARL STRANGE, who married Mary (surname unknown) He died on 18 November 1995 in Wellington and was buried at Akatarawa Cemetery in Wellington.

~ THOMAS ROY STRANGE, who married Thelma (surname unknown)

JANE (Tot) WILLIAMS was born on 10 June 1894 in Thames; died 26 October 1983 in Thames. Jane married 1. JOE WATERHOUSE and they had a daughter JOY (born 30 October 1922; died 08 December 1992) Jane married 2 ARCHIBALD OTTO BATEMAN who worked as a Boilerman at Thames Hospital after their marriage. Archie and Jane had two sons:

~ NORMAN NOAH BATEMAN

~ KENNETH RAYMOND BATEMAN, who died 30 July 1991.

Jane and Archie were both cremated and their ashes interred at Totara Cemetery in Thames.

Thomas, Harry, Ruby, Mary (sitting) and Ellen

Thomas & Ellen and family day of Ruby's funeral (8 Dec 1904)

Harry and siblings L-R: Ethel, Harry, Mary, Percy, Jane (Tot) and Ellen (aka Lou) (sitting)

Refer to the WALKER family for more information about Ellen's family

5. ~ ~ ~ CHARLES WILLIAMS (JOHN > PAUL) around 1855 in England. He married Selina BILLINGS.

Children of CHARLES WILLIAMS and Selina BILLINGS were:

JOSEPH CHARLES WILLIAMS, born 1888 and died 27 December 1968 in Auckland.

VIOLET WILLIAMS, who married HERBERT STRONG.

RHODA WILLIAMS, who's married name was DARROW.

FREDERICK WILLIAMS

ALRED WILLIAMS

RITA WILLIAMS

GENERATION THREE:

6. ~ ~ ~ HARRY WILLIAMS (JOHN > PAUL > THOMAS) was born on 01 December 1886 at the Williams homestead in the Kauaeranga Valley, Thames. He attended Old Parawai School in 1892.

Harry was enrolled at the Thames School of Mines in 1906, and the Karangahake School of Mines in 1907. In 1908 his occupation was recorded as an Assayer of Gold, and between 1910 and 1912 he worked at Talisman Consolidated Ltd in Karangahake. Harry received his First-Class Engine-Driver's Certificate on 1 December 1911 and he worked as an Engineer and Engine Driver until 1950. On 15 August 1912 he received his Winding-Engine Driver's Certificate allowing him to drive and have charge of any steam engine. In 1913 Harry was living in Rongotea in the South Island of NZ and received his Electric Winding-Engine Driver's Certificate on 26 August that year. Between 1914 and 1917 he was employed as a Winding-Engine Driver at Blackwater Mines Ltd in Waiuta, Reefton and attended Reefton School of Mines in 1915 coming first in NZ for Metallurgy that year.

Around 1919 Harry settled in Pukemiro, in the Waikato. He was awarded his Second-class Engineer Certificate for Non-steam Ships on 23 November 1920. Harry played the accordian and trombone and in his later years enjoyed working in his vegetable garden and playing indoor bowls.

Harry married MARJORIE MAY on 17 April 1929 at St Marys Anglican Church, Raetihi after a long engagement of seven years. Harry's cousin Tommy Kneebone was his bestman. Marjorie's cousin Merle Harvey was bridesmaid and niece Gwen her flowergirl. Marjorie was born on 24 September 1902 in Raetihi and was the daughter of AUGUSTINE MAY and EMMA PICKFORD. Harry and Marjorie settled in Pukemiro after their marriage and raised four daughters (all still living) Around 1951 the family moved to Takanini in Auckland.

Harry died on 01 April 1970 in Papakura, Auckland and Marjorie on 01 September 1979 in Papatoetoe, Auckland. They were both cremated and their ashes scattered together on 02 September 1989 at the site of the old Williams homestead in the Kaueranga Valley, Thames.

Harry as a young man	Harry & Marjorie's wedding portrait 1929 (above) and at home in (below)	Harry & Marjorie and their three eldest daughters
		Harry & Marjorie (back row) with some of their twelve of their fourteen grandchildren c1964

Refer to the MAY family for more information about Marjorie's family

Please note that in keeping to genealogy publishing protocol I have not included information about later generations including living persons. If you have a family connection please contact me for further information.

> Home ~ ~ ~ > > Walker (including BRAITHWAITE)

> family of Lavinia May (including TRELEASE and TREWEEK)

> family of Marjorie May (including PICKFORD)

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