1833–1876
William and Louisa’s eldest son — he arranged his father’s funeral, then spent two decades as a Kent Street publican himself, with a wife and eight children.
William’s birth date is independently confirmed by both his mother’s 1838 immigration certificate and a separate NSW baptism/birth index. It was William who arranged his father’s funeral in 1869 — and, unlike his father, he made a long career of hotelkeeping: he held the licence of the Clarence and Richmond Hotel, at 353 Kent Street, from at least 1866, and was still there a decade later, with a wife and “a large family,” when he died at the hotel on 25 January 1876, aged forty-three, “after a long illness, which he bore with Christian fortitude.”1 He was buried at Camperdown Cemetery on 27 January, the burial register recording him as a publican of 353 Kent Street, aged forty-three.2
His wife can now be named: Ann Jane Nash, born in Sydney on 9 July 1835, whom he married in 1854. Between 1857 and 1874 the couple registered eight children at Sydney, all with William as father and “Ann J.” as mother — most still only names in an index, but two of the birth notices already cited above can now be matched to them: the child born in November 1868 was Herbert W. S. Baldock, and the son born in May 1874, six weeks before his father’s licence would have entered its final two years, was Orswald Heden Baldock.3 Ann Jane outlived her husband by more than two decades, dying on 27 December 1897; she too was buried at Camperdown Cemetery.2
Born across nineteen years of William’s licence at the Clarence and Richmond Hotel — the eldest’s birth was not registered until 1857, two years late — most traced no further than their birth registration.
1855–1858
Died an infant
Born 19 February 1855, Sydney; baptised at St Philip’s, parents William Baldock and Ann Jane. Died 29 October 1858, aged three, and was buried at Camperdown Cemetery, Newtown — the first of William and Ann Jane’s children to die.36 A birth registration indexed “George P. Baldock,” 2003/1857, is very likely this same child, his forename misread and his birth registered two years late.
1860–1950
m. Robert Alexander Byron, 1887
On 8 November 1887, at St John’s Church, Darlinghurst, she married Robert Alexander Byron, a postmaster of Elizabeth Street, Ashfield and third son of the late John Byron — her own sister Bertha stood as a witness. Seven children were registered to the couple at Sydney between 1888 and 1901, the family moving house with almost every one: Harold R. (1888) and Victor C. (1891), Elma B. G. (1892) and Leslie E. (1893) all at Ashfield, then Vivian D. (1896) at Sydney, Myra M. C. (1898) at Paddington and Valda M. (1901) at Petersham.78
By 1903 she was on the Petersham electoral roll at 161 Victoria Street, her occupation given as “domestic duties.”9 Already widowed — “relict of the late Robert A. Byron” — she died at her residence, 143 Victoria Street, Lewisham, on 5 January 1950, aged eighty-nine, and was privately cremated at Rookwood the following day. Her death notice named five living children, Harold, Elma (Mrs Ellis), Myra (Mrs Smith), Valda and Esmee, and one already dead, Vivian — but said nothing of Leslie or Victor, and named no “Esmee” among the seven births traced above; what became of the two sons, and where the youngest daughter fits, remains open.10
b. 1862
unmarried
NSW BDM birth registration 1817/1862, Sydney. Still unmarried and still Flora Lavinia Baldock eight decades later, she appears on the Commonwealth electoral roll for the Gosford subdivision at Ettalong Beach across at least five rolls, 1930 to 1946 — aged about eighty-four in the last of them — her occupation given each time as “home duties.”11 In 1930 she shared that address with Herbert Bruce Baldock, a mechanic, and Beryl Margaret Muriel Baldock — not, as first thought, her brother, but her orphaned niece and nephew: their father, her brother Herbert (see below), had died in 1905 when they were barely a year old.12 No death has been found.
b. 1864
m. Frederick William Heden, 1893
On 8 April 1893, at St John’s Pro-Cathedral, Brisbane, she married Frederick William Heden, son of the late Charles Heden of Southampton, England — a surname already sitting in the family, oddly enough: her youngest brother, Orswald Heden Baldock, had been born nineteen years before this wedding. Whether that was coincidence or an older connection between the two families isn’t known.13
By 1906 the couple were living at 140 Bellair Street, Kensington, in Melbourne, Frederick working as an accountant, most recently for the Abbotsford Brewery. His health broke down about a year before his death, and he spent a month at the Royal Park Receiving House; by the middle of 1908 he had been out of work for two or three months, and Amy had been quietly hiding his revolver, fearing what he might do with it. On the afternoon of Tuesday 7 July 1908, while she was out, he found it, and shot himself in their bed. He left a note: “I am broken down and ruined in every way by my own doing. My wife is entirely innocent, and has done all in her power for me… May God have mercy and forgive me, and may God comfort my wife.” The inquest, two days later, returned a verdict of suicide while suffering severe mental depression, brought on by his health and his unemployment. He was forty-two.14
By 1930 Amy was back in Sydney, alone on the electoral roll as Amy Blanche Heden of 164A Bourke Street, Darlinghurst, her occupation given as “cleaner.” She stayed at the same address on rolls through the 1930s and into the 1940s, her occupation eventually recorded as “home duties.”15 No death has yet been found for her.
b. 1866
m. Albert Edmond Boulais, 1898
NSW BDM birth registration 1322/1866, Sydney. On 11 June 1898, at St Matthias’ Church, she married Albert Edmond Boulais, a twenty-nine-year-old joiner of Bowling Alley Point, Robertson — her father recorded on the register as “William Baldock, nil” (i.e. deceased) and her mother as Ann Jane Nash.4
1868–1905
m. Harriett Rosa Kenniwell, 1902
NSW BDM birth registration 2477/1868, Sydney — the son announced in the Sydney Morning Herald of 25 November 1868, born at the Clarence and Richmond Hotel.13 He married Harriett Rosa Kenniwell, a career schoolteacher then posted at Woolwich, on 14 July 1902 (registered 1903, Hunters Hill) — unusually, the marriage is recorded right there on her own Department of Education staff card, since she kept teaching afterwards.16 Two children followed, both registered at Hunters Hill: Beryl Margaret Muriel (1903) and Herbert Bruce (1904). Herbert himself died young, at Petersham on 8 July 1905, not yet thirty-seven, and was buried at Waverley Cemetery, Bronte — his children not yet two years old.17
Harriett kept teaching through her widowhood — Gladesville from 1906, promoted to Class IIa in 1907, and posted to North Ryde in June 1908 — before remarrying, in 1909, Francis Thomas Lucas.1618 She died on 8 December 1955 and was buried at Macquarie Park Cemetery, North Ryde — the very suburb she had been posted to teach in, forty-seven years before. Francis outlived her by six years.19
Both of Herbert and Harriett’s children reached adulthood in Sydney. Beryl Margaret Muriel Baldock married George Percy Samuel Parke, a journalist, in 1930 at Drummoyne; the couple were still together, and travelling first class home to Australia by way of Canada, in 1954.20 Herbert Bruce Baldock married Frederica Beatrice Madden in 1929, at Chatswood; in 1930 he was living with his unmarried aunt, Flora Lavinia Baldock, at Ettalong Beach — solving, at last, the identity of the “Herbert Bruce Baldock” recorded in her household — and by 1943 he was a health officer at Mosman. He died on 13 September 1986, aged eighty-two, survived by Frederica and their children Catherine, Judith and Peter.21
b. 1871
m. William James Burns, 1900
NSW BDM birth registration 687/1871 (indexed “Maride H. G.”). Baptised 26 March 1871, born 2 March, parents William and Ann Baldock of Kent Street, William’s occupation given as publican.5 On 21 March 1900, at Park Presbyterian Church, South Brisbane, she married William James Burns, an engineer and eldest son of the late John Mather Burns of Young, NSW — the notice describing her as “fifth daughter of the late William Baldock, of Sydney,” which fits: counting only the daughters, she was indeed the fifth.22 The couple settled at Rockhampton, Queensland.
Their first child, Jack Eric Burns, was born there on 9 February 1901 and died on 19 or 20 September 1902, not yet two, buried at South Rockhampton Cemetery, Allenstown. A second son, Cecil Frederick Burns, arrived just weeks later, on 30 December 1902.23 Cecil grew up to be a motor driver, married Edith Emma Coyne at St Peter’s Church, East Sydney, on 21 January 1933 — his father still living then, still an engineer — and died on 11 July 1979, buried at Randwick General Cemetery, South Coogee.24 A daughter, Edna Maude Burns, married William Henry Richards, of the A.I.F., at the same church in 1944; by then both her parents were recorded as deceased.25
Maud herself appears on the electoral roll at 1 Younger Avenue, Earlwood, a widow doing home duties; a later roll shows Edna, by then Mrs Richards, still at the same address. No death record for Maud has yet been found.25
1874–1938
bookseller
NSW BDM birth registration 1385/1874, Sydney — the son announced in the Sydney Morning Herald and Empire of May 1874, born at the Clarence and Richmond Hotel.13 He was baptised “Oswald Eden Baldock” at Kent Street on 7 June 1874, the parish register recording his birth as 14 May.26 No marriage has been found for him: by 1937 he was working as a bookseller at 158 Campbell Street, still Oswald Heden Baldock, apparently on his own.27 He died on 2 December 1938, aged sixty-four, and was buried at Rookwood General Cemetery.28
The Record
William Baldock jr, publican, 1833–1876
“Funeral,” Sydney Morning Herald, 10 February 1869, p.8: William Baldock jr arranges his father’s funeral (see above). New South Wales Government Gazette, returns of publicans’ licences, Sydney District, 1866–1871: “Baldock William … Kent-street … Clarence and Richmond Hotel.” Family Notices, Sydney Morning Herald, 20 May 1874, and Empire, 21 May 1874: “BALDOCK.—May 14, at her residence, the Clarence and Richmond Hotel, 353, Kent-street, Mrs. W. Baldock, of a son” (Orswald Heden). A similar birth notice, Sydney Morning Herald, 25 November 1868, records another child (Herbert W. S.) at the same address. Family Notices, Evening News, 25 January 1876, and Sydney Morning Herald, 26 January 1876: “BALDOCK.—On the 25th instant, at his residence, Clarence and Richmond Hotel, 353, Kent-street, William Baldock, after a long illness, which he bore with Christian fortitude, aged 43 years. Leaving an affectionate wife and large family to mourn their loss.” Aged 43 in January 1876 matches a birth of 7 January 1833 almost to the week.
Burials, marriage and death, Ann Jane (Nash) Baldock
Family-tree aggregation: William Baldock, born 7 January 1833, died 25 January 1876, Sydney; buried Camperdown Cemetery, Newtown. NSW BDM marriage index, 1854, Sydney: William Baldock and Ann J. Nash. Family-tree aggregation: Annie Jane Baldock, née Nash, born Sydney 9 July 1835, died 27 December 1897; buried Camperdown Cemetery, Newtown. St Stephen’s parish burial register, Camperdown, 1876: William Baldock, 353 Kent Street, died 25 January, buried 27 January, aged 43, publican.
Children of William and Ann Jane Baldock, NSW BDM birth index
NSW BDM birth registrations, Sydney district, father William Baldock, mother Ann J. (Nash) Baldock: George P. Baldock 2003/1857 (see ref. 6 — almost certainly George Ephraim, born 1855); Louisa E. Baldock 688/1860; Flora L. Baldock 1817/1862; Amy B. Baldock 1587/1864; Bertha J. Baldock 1322/1866; Herbert W. S. Baldock 2477/1868; Maride H. G. Baldock 687/1871; Orswald Heden Baldock 1385/1874.
Marriage of Bertha Jane Baldock and Albert Edmond Boulais, 1898
NSW Register of Marriages, St Matthias’ Church, 11 June 1898 (entry 51): Albert Edmond Boulais, bachelor, joiner, aged 29, of Bowling Alley Point, Robertson, son of Joseph Boulais and Theresa Buttler, and Bertha Jane Baldock, spinster, aged 31, of Sydney, daughter of William Baldock (deceased) and Ann Jane Nash; married according to the rites of the Church of England, witnessed by Maggie Harshman and H. de C.
Baptism of Maud Harriet Gertrude Baldock, 1871
Parish baptism register, entry no. 713: Maude Harriet Gertrude Baldock, born 2 March 1871, baptised 26 March 1871, parents William and Ann Baldock, abode Kent Street, occupation publican.
Baptism and death of George Ephraim Baldock, 1855–1858
NSW baptism index (FamilySearch, FHL film 993965): George Ephraim Baldock, born 19 February 1855, New South Wales, baptised St Philip’s, Sydney, parents William Baldock and Jane Ann [i.e. Ann Jane]. Family-tree aggregation: George Ephraim Baldock, died 29 October 1858, Sydney; buried Camperdown Cemetery, Newtown. NSW BDM death registration, Sydney, 1858 (registration 1279): George E. Baldock, father William, mother Ann J.
Marriage of Louisa Edith Baldock and Robert Alexander Byron, 1887
NSW Register of Marriages, St John’s Church, Darlinghurst, 8 November 1887 (entry 527): Robert Alexander Byron, bachelor, postmaster, full age, of Elizabeth Street, Ashfield, son of John and Jane Byron, and Louisa Edith Baldock, spinster, full age, of 247 Oxford Street, born Sydney, daughter of William and Annie Jane Baldock, m.n. Nash; married according to the rites of the Church of England, witnessed by Alexander Murray and Bertha Baldock (the bride’s sister).
Children of Robert Alexander and Louisa Edith Byron, NSW BDM birth index
NSW BDM birth registrations, father Robert A. Byron, mother Louisa E. (Baldock) Byron: Harold R. Byron 6163/1888, Ashfield; Victor C. Byron 4643/1891, Ashfield; Elma B. G. Byron 4726/1892, Ashfield; Leslie E. Byron 4806/1893, Ashfield; Vivian D. Byron 18566/1896, Sydney; Myra M. C. Byron 24343/1898, Paddington; Valda M. Byron 6563/1901, Petersham.
Louisa Edith Byron on the electoral roll, Petersham, 1903–04
Commonwealth electoral roll, Petersham subdivision, 1903–1904 (entry 601): Byron, Louisa Edith, 161 Victoria Street, occupation domestic duties.
Death and cremation of Louisa (“Louise”) Edith Byron, 1950
Family Notices (newspaper clipping, masthead not preserved), 5 January 1950: "BYRON, Louise Edith. January 5, 1950, at her residence, 143 Victoria Street, Lewisham, relict of the late Robert A. Byron, dear mother of Harold, Elma (Mrs Ellis), Vivian (dec.), Myra (Mrs Smith), Valda, and Esmee, mother-in-law of Elsie (Mrs Ryan), grandmother of Russell, and great-grandmother of Marion and Mavis, aged 89 years."
Flora Lavinia Baldock on the electoral roll, Ettalong Beach, 1930–1946
Commonwealth electoral roll, Subdivision of Gosford, entries for Baldock, Flora Lavinia, Ettalong Beach, occupation home duties: 1930 (No. 250); 1932 (No. 298); 1936 (No. 372); 1937 (No. 405); 1946 (No. 162).
The Ettalong Beach household, 1930
Same 1930 roll, the two entries immediately either side of Flora’s: Baldock, Beryl Margaret Muriel, Ettalong Beach, home duties (No. 249); Baldock, Herbert Bruce, Ettalong Beach, mechanic (No. 251) — identified via NSW BDM birth registrations as the children of Flora’s brother Herbert William Stanley Baldock and his wife Harriett Rosa (Kenniwell): Beryl Margaret Muriel Baldock, 12649/1903, and Herbert Bruce Baldock, 22810/1904, both registered at Hunters Hill. See refs 16–21 below.
Marriage of Amy Blanche Baldock and Frederick William Heden, 1893
Queensland BDM marriage registration B016172/1893, p.1025, St John’s Pro-Cathedral, Brisbane, 8 April 1893: Frederick William Heden and Amy Blanche Baldock.
Frederick William Heden’s death, Kensington, Victoria, 1908
Victorian BDM death registration 10471/1908: Frederick William Heden, died Melbourne, aged 42, son of Charles Heden and Mary Rann; buried Boroondara General Cemetery, Kew. Victorian electoral roll, Division of Maribyrnong, 1906: Heden, Frederick William, accountant, and Heden, Amy Blanche, home duties, both of 140 Bellair Street, Flemington. Victoria Police coronial inquest file: deposition of Constable Frederick Hale, who with Sergeant Moore found the body on the evening of 7 July 1908. “Suicide at Kensington. Accountant Shoots Himself,” Age (Melbourne), 8 July 1908: shot himself that afternoon at 140 Bellair Street, Kensington, having last worked at the Abbotsford Brewery and been out of work two to three months; a year earlier he had spent about a month at the Royal Park Receiving House. “By His Own Hand. Despondent Man Dies. Pathetic Farewell Letter,” Herald (Melbourne), 9 July 1908: Amy Blanche Heden’s evidence that she had hidden the revolver for months “fearing lest he should do himself injury,” and the full text of his note. “Despondent Man’s Suicide,” Argus (Melbourne), 10 July 1908, and “Victoria,” Advertiser (Adelaide), 16 July 1908: the coroner’s verdict, suicide while suffering severe mental depression owing to his health and his being out of work.
Amy Blanche Heden on the electoral roll, Darlinghurst, 1930s–1940s
Commonwealth electoral roll, Subdivision of Darlinghurst West (later West Sydney), entries for Heden, Amy Blanche, 164A Bourke Street: 1930 (No. 3006, cleaner); 1933 (No. 2691, cleaner); 1936 (No. 2733, cleaner); 1939 (No. 2791, cleaner); 1943 (No. 3061, home duties); a later undated roll (No. 2988, home duties). No husband appears alongside her on any of these rolls.
Marriage of Herbert W. S. Baldock and Harriett Rosa Kenniwell, and their children
NSW BDM marriage registration 1229/1903, Hunters Hill: Herbert W. S. Baldock and Harriett R. Kenniwell. NSW Department of Public Instruction staff record card for Harriett Kenniwell (later “Mrs Baldock”): pupil teacher from 6 February 1890 (Fairleigh Street, then Paddington Public Girls’), promoted through Class III (1891), II (1892) and I (1893), postings at Bondi, Waverley Girls’, Sugarloaf, Wapengo and Dalton, temporary duty at Woolwich Public — “Marriage on 1.7. to Mr Herbert Baldock,” 14 July 1902. NSW BDM birth registrations, Hunters Hill: Beryl M. M. Baldock 12649/1903, father Herbert W. S. Baldock, mother Harriett R. Baldock; Herbert B. Baldock 22810/1904, same parents. Sands Sydney Directory: “Baldock Herbert, Mark st, Hunter’s Hill.” NSW Government Gazette, Department of Public Instruction, 18 February 1892: list of pupil teachers promoted by examination, including “Kenniwell Harriett … Bondi … 2.”
Death of Herbert W. S. Baldock, 1905
NSW BDM death registration 10247/1905, Petersham: Herbert W. S. Baldock, father William, mother Jane [i.e. Ann Jane]. Family-tree aggregation: born 1869, died 8 July 1905; buried Waverley Cemetery, Bronte.
Harriett’s later career and second marriage
NSW Department of Public Instruction staff record card (continued): “Instd to act as Reg. Asst at Gladesville,” 10 August 1906; “Promoted to Class IIa (Good Service),” 1 November 1907; “Appted as Asst at North Ryde,” 9 June 1908. NSW BDM marriage registration 6999/1909, Sydney: Francis T. Lucas and Harriett R. Baldock. Commonwealth electoral roll, Subdivision of Hornsby, entries for Lucas, Francis Thomas (no occupation) and Lucas, Harriett Rosa (home duties), 23 Heath Street, Asquith.
Deaths of Harriett Rosa Lucas and Francis Thomas Lucas
NSW probate index: Lucas, Harriett Rosa, file B28995, date of death 8 December 1955, address Asquith, occupation “married woman,” grant 13 April 1956, administrator F. T. Lucas. Family-tree aggregation: buried Macquarie Park Cemetery and Crematorium, North Ryde. Francis Thomas Lucas died 20 April 1961; also buried Macquarie Park.
Beryl Margaret Muriel Baldock / Parke
NSW BDM marriage registration 13871/1930, Drummoyne: George P. S. Parke and Beryl M. M. Baldock. Commonwealth electoral roll, Subdivision of Gordon, 1934: Parke, Beryl Margaret Muriel, and Parke, George Percy Samuel, journalist, both of 35 McIntosh Street. UK outward passenger list, S.S. Empress of Scotland, departed Liverpool 9 July 1954 for Quebec and Montreal: Parke, George, 70, and Parke, Beryl, 51, First Class, intended future residence Australia.
Herbert Bruce Baldock / Madden
NSW BDM marriage registration 16543/1929, Chatswood: Herbert B. Baldock and Frederica B. Madden. Commonwealth electoral roll, Subdivision of Gosford, 1930: Baldock, Herbert Bruce, Ettalong Beach, mechanic. Commonwealth electoral roll, Subdivision of Mosman, 1943: Baldock, Herbert Bruce, health officer, and Baldock, Frederica Beatrice, home duties, both of 46 Hopetoun Avenue. Find a Grave / cemetery record, Macquarie Park Cemetery, North Ryde: Herbert Bruce Baldock, died 13 September 1986, aged 82, “husb. of Frederica Beatrice & father of Catherine, Judith & Peter,” Catholic Lawn, Block 12, Row 8.
Marriage of Maud Harriet Gertrude Baldock and William James Burns, 1900
Queensland BDM marriage registration B000182/1900, p.1026, Park Presbyterian Church, South Brisbane: William James Burns and Maude Harriet Gertrude Baldock. Family Notices (Queensland newspaper clipping, masthead not preserved): "BURNS—BALDOCK.—On the 21st March, at Park Presbyterian Church, South Brisbane, by the Rev. David Mitchell, William James, eldest son of the late John Mather Burns, of Young, N.S.W., to Maude Gertrude, fifth daughter of the late William Baldock, of Sydney."
Jack Eric and Cecil Frederick Burns, Rockhampton, 1901–1902
Queensland BDM birth registration B002534/1901, p.3415: Jack Eric Burns, father William James Burns, mother Maude Harriet Gertrude Baldock. Queensland BDM death registration 004262/1902, p.3414: Jack Burns, father William James Burns, mother Maude Baldock. Cemetery record: Jack Burns, died 19–20 September 1902, buried South Rockhampton Cemetery, Allenstown. Queensland BDM birth registration 008898/1903, p.3407 (born 30 December 1902): Cecil Frederick Burns, father William James Burns, mother Maude Gertrude Baldock.
Marriage and death of Cecil Frederick Burns
NSW Register of Marriages, St Peter’s Church, East Sydney, 21 January 1933 (entry 479): Cecil Frederick Burns, motor driver, bachelor, aged 30, born Rockhampton, Queensland, of 94 Palmer Street, East Sydney, son of William James Burns (engineer) and Maude Gertrude Baldock, married Edith Emma Coyne, domestic duties, spinster, aged 29, born Brisbane, Queensland, of 31 Surrey Street, Darlinghurst, daughter of John Augustine Coyne (motor man) and Lily Jane Andrews; NSW BDM marriage registration 206/1933, Sydney. Cemetery record: Cecil Frederick Burns, died 11 July 1979, buried Randwick General Cemetery, South Coogee.
Marriage of Edna Maude Burns, and the Earlwood household
NSW Register of Marriages, St Peter’s Church, Bourke Street, East Sydney, 9 October 1944 (entry 286): William Henry Richards, of the A.I.F., bachelor, aged 34, born London, England, son of the late Albert Fredrick Richards and the late Julia Morgan, married Edna Maude Burns, manageress, spinster, aged 31, born Sydney, NSW, of Palmer Street, East Sydney, daughter of the late William James Burns and the late Maude Baldock. Commonwealth electoral roll, Subdivision of Earlwood: Burns, Maude Harriett Gertrude, 1 Younger Avenue, home duties; a later roll, same address: Richards, Edna Maude, counter hand. NSW BDM death registration 10925/1974, indexed as Burns, Edna Maude, father William James, mother Maude Gertrude.
Baptism of Oswald Eden Baldock, 1874
Parish baptism register, entry no. 1814: Oswald Eden [Baldock], baptised 7 June 1874, born 14 May 1874, parents William and Jane [i.e. Ann Jane] Baldock, abode Kent Street, occupation publican.
Oswald Heden Baldock on the electoral roll, 1937
Commonwealth electoral roll, Subdivision of Nithsdale, 1937: Baldock, Oswald Heden, 158 Campbell Street, bookseller.
Death of Oswald Heden Baldock, 1938
NSW BDM death registration 21470/1938, Sydney. Cemetery record: Oswald Heden Baldock, born 14 May 1874, Sydney, died 2 December 1938, buried Rookwood General Cemetery.