Great Great Great Grandfather #4 Multi-Cache

Welcome To William Hall - A Waterloo Man #4

beginners Multi Cache series

The Cache is not at the published coordinates

William was born in Bury, Lancashire in1792

He enlisted for unlimited service [for life] in the 23rd Light Dragoons at Warrington, Lancs on 13th October 1812 for Waterloo

On enlistment the following details were listed:

Age - 20 years and 106 days

Height - 5’7

Complexion - dark

Eyes – grey

Hair – dark

Face – long

He was enlisted by “Private Sanders”, who had enlisted in 1810 and was also at Waterloo. William Hall was discharged on 24th November 1817 due to the regiment’s disbandment.

William enlisted to Veterans Battalions, and was posted to Chatham. There his first son, John, was born on 22 April 1826. Not long afterwards, William and his family sailed on the Orpheus to Australia. William was assigned to convict supervision duties in the Newcastle area. The Veterans Battalions were not a success. Many of the men were dissolute and ineffective, more of a problem themselves than a solution to the law and order difficulties of the time. William, however, was a devout Methodist, clean-living, hard-working, devoted to his growing family, and determined to make a go of his new life. When the Battalions were disbanded in 1828, William applied to Governor Darling for a 40 acre land grant at West Maitland. His application was successful, and the family settled at Oakhampton in August 1829. Within a short space of time and with the help of just one convict, William had cleared the heavily-wooded land and begun cultivation.

On 6 June 1850, William became very ill with tetanus. The government doctor, Andrew Liddell, and the Anglican rector, Rev R Chapman, helped him write his will. Although he was literate, William was too sick to sign, so marked the document with a cross. He died the next day.

The Maitland Mercury recorded the following obituary:

At West Maitland, on 7 June, of lockjaw after a brief illness, William Hall, aged 58 years, leaves a widow and five children to mourn their bereavement. Mr Hall was a very old resident in Maitland, and had long been universally respected as a man or worth and piety.

Margaret Hall died almost exactly 10 years later (6 June 1860) and was buried beside William in the Methodist section of the Oakhampton cemetery, along with Agnes Monica Hughes, infant daughter of their daughter Martha. The inscription on their stone reads:

Forgive, blest shade! The tributary tear,

That mourns thy exit from a world like this

Forgive the wish, that would have kept thee here

And stay'd thy progress to a Heav'n of bliss.

By reading the sign/directory the cache can be found within a meter of the final resting place of William and Margaret

please note to be careful where you park