Rowney Family Tree

William was born in 1825 in Bedfordshire, England. He was baptised that year in the parish church at Bletsoe, in Bedfordshire, where his parents resided.

In the 1841 census, William (aged 15) was living with his parents at their home at Whitwick Green, near the village of Bletsoe, in Bedfordshire. He was employed as an agricultural labourer at that time.

At the end of 1844, William emigrated to the Colony of South Australia. He sailed aboard the "Isabella Watson" with his brother Thomas and a man named George ROWNEY, who is thought to have been their distant cousin. William's future wife, Maria FLAVEL, was also travelling with one of her brothers on the same voyage. Maria was originally from the village of Swineshead in Bedfordshire - not too far from where the ROWNEY boys had lived, and some of her siblings were living in the village Riseley just a mile or so from Bletsoe. Maria may have also been living in Riseley by that time. George ROWNEY's family were also living in Riseley. The "Isabella Watson" arrived at Port Adelaide (SA) on 3 Apr 1845, after a journey of about 3ư months.

William married Maria FLAVEL on 30 Nov 1846 at the Holy Trinity Church in Adelaide (SA), this was about 20 months after their arrival in the colony. The length of time between their arrival and marriage probably reduces the likelihood that William and Maria might have known each other prior to leaving England. William was 21 years old at the time of their marriage, and Maria was just 6 days younger than him.

Their first child, Elizabeth, was born in August 1848 at Gilles Plains (SA), which was located about 10km north-east of Adelaide in the foothills of the North Mount Lofty Ranges. Their next child, Mary Ann, was born in October 1850 at Torrens (SA). William's sister Edith and her family arrived from England around this time, and they also lived for a time in the vicinity of Torrens. Torrens does not seem to exist around Adelaide today, although it could be associated with Torrensville (SA), which is an inner suburb near Hindmarsh (SA) on the western outskirts of North Adelaide (SA). The Births Index of South Australia seems to associate it with Torrens Road in the vicinity of Hindmarsh and Bowden (SA).

William and Maria's first son, John, was born in 1853 at Campbelltown (SA), a burgeoning township located a short distance to the south of Gilles Plains, in the North Mount Lofty Ranges area. Another son, Edward, was born the following year, in 1854, also at Campbelltown.

In August 1855, Maria felt it necessary to seek assistance from the South Australian Destitute Asylum. She was living at Campbelltown at that time, and was raising her four children alone. She claimed that her husband was away "on the diggings" and she was unable to support her family. It appears that William did eventually send her £5, which enabled her to get by without relief for a time, however by December 1856 the money had run out and she was forced to ask for help again. By that time she and her four children were living in Bowden. She claimed that William had been away from home for 2ư years by the end of 1856. It is not clear exactly where William had gone mining for that period of time, although it is possible that he may have made his way to the Victorian goldfields along with George ROWNEY and his sister Susan and her family. George ROWNEY appears to have travelled across to join the Victorian gold rush sometime around 1852, and had returned to South Australia by 1856. William seems to have remained with his family until the middle of 1854, so he may have travelled with his sister Susan and her husband Moseley HOWELL who took their family to Victoria around that time.

William must have returned home to South Australia by early 1857 at the latest, and in the following January of 1858, Maria gave birth to their fifth child, Jane, who was again born at Campbelltown. Their family seems to have settled comfortably at Campbelltown from that time, and all their subsequent children were born there. Many of the children later settled in the area themselves. William and Maria's four remaining children were born over the following decade; Louisa in 1860, William (jr) in 1862, Ely in 1864, and finally, Charles in 1867.

William initially supported his family by labouring around the area, however the Campbelltown district became a productive market garden precinct and his family appear to have become successful market gardeners. William and his son Edward began their gardening together at the family's blocks numbered 7, 8, and 9, in Section 310 of Campbelltown. These blocks lie along Lower North East Road. William and Edward bought the land from Mr. Henry TREVENER, a butcher from Payneham. The ROWNEY's house fronted the road, and behind the house was a grass paddock and a carpenter's workshop. A number of William's other children also later continued in the gardening business.

In 1866, when she was 18 years of age, William and Maria's eldest child, Elizabeth, was married to a 25 year old bricklayer named James STOCKER. James was a widower with two young sons when they married. Elizabeth and James had three further children before Elizabeth herself died at just 23 years of age in 1872.

Their next daughter, Mary Ann, was married in 1868, when she was 17 years of age. She married a local market gardener named David GRAY. They raised their family around Campbelltown for a time before selling up their land and moving on. They eventually settled at Macclesfield (SA) sometime around 1884.

Son John was married to Elizabeth BURDEN in 1874. John was also a market gardener around Campbelltown and he and Elizabeth settled permanently in the area to raise their family.

In 1877, son Edward married Ann CASSON. Edward was becoming more focused on his carpentry work than his gardening by this time, and he was also acting as the local undertaker, postmaster, and births, deaths & marriages registrar. He and Ann remained in the Campbelltown area throughout their lives and raised their family there.

Later in 1877, daughter Louisa was married to Charles SMITH in Adelaide. Nothing more is known of Charles and Louisa.

In 1879, daughter Jane gave birth to a girl, Emma, in Campbelltown. The father was not named. In 1883, Jane married her Aunt Edith's step son, John CLAYTON. Jane and John settled around Campbelltown and Gilles Plains and raised their family there.

In January 1884, son William (jr) died at Campbelltown at the age of 21.

Later in 1884, son Ely was married to Alma CLARKE in Goodwood (SA). They do not seem to have had any children. Ely later remarried, to Ethel WEBBER in 1904 at Mount Gambier (SA).

In July 1887, William and Maria's youngest son, Charles, died at the age of just 19. The records state that he died at the Torrens River, so we can perhaps guess that he may have drowned. However it was mid winter, so we cannot be sure of the exact circumstances. He was living at Campbelltown at the time of his death.

William himself died in 1896 at Campbelltown (Payneham) when he was 71 years old. He was buried in the cemetery at Payneham (SA).

Maria died some years later, in 1914, at Campbelltown (Glynde), when she was 89 years of age. She was also buried at Payneham.