William T. G. Finn- the blacksmith

William Thomas George Finn was born in Canterbury, England, on 11 September 1847 in Canterbury, Kent, his father, Nathaniel, was 24 and his mother, Fanny, was 18. He was the only son of Nathaniel Finn and Fanny Saffrey. William and his sister Fanny Elizabeth travelled to South Australia with their mother Fanny in 1857. Shortly after arrival, Fanny married their uncle George Finn.

The family lived in Gawler and the Barossa Valley region. William Fin was an industrious man. As a blacksmith, he found work on the Rail. He settled first in Pitchi Ritchi, Hookina and later Beltana. He worked as a blacksmith and a wheelwright. He was a man of some skill as men would order his bullock shoes (or cues) from as far away as NSW.

He married Jane Balhannah Hatfield on 27 October 1868 in South Australia. Jane was the daughter of the convict's Joseph Hatfield and Mary Davis. They had 14 children in 24 years.

Lucinda Eden Finn (1869–1945)

Nathaniel James Finn (1870–1930)

William David Finn (1872–1941)

James Dodd Finn (1875–1930)

Stephen Caldolysh Goldup Finn (1877–1957)

Mildred Frances Finn (1878–1951)

Elijah John Finn (1879–1885)

Alice Jane Finn (1882–1884)

Rachel May Farina Finn (1886–1886)

John Edward Farina Finn (1886–1947)

Joseph Finn (1886–1886)

Florence Jane Finn (1887–1888)

Elizabeth Blanche Finn (1889–1889)

Thomas Edward Finn (1893–1975)

Life in the outback was hard, and children died easily. Six of their children died as infants or young children.

Her brother John (right) lived with them. He was an alcoholic and never married. Jane lived with her brother after the death of William.

One family anecdote of a lost child as recalled by Ethel Hobbs May Ellen Finn's daughter

Little Grandmother (Jane Balhannah) would tell us stories of her childhood in Balhannah - of the beautiful apples and the rain on the hills and the thick trees, how her little brother was lost or stolen and of their mother's grief and how she never gave up looking for him hoping to find some trace of him. She also talked of a sister, Rachel.

Years later, a young man knocked on the door to introduce himself as the little boy who had been lost. His story was that his known father had died and left a letter with his will explaining how he and his wife could never have children and so while he was travelling he had come across this family with a lot of children he decided that they would not miss the little boy. His last wish was that the boy returns to his family to meet them. This he did but explained that they were strangers to him, and as he had his own wife and children, he would not stay. With this visit, the mystery of the missing boy was solved.

Grandmother (Jane Balhannah) came to Pichi Richi to work for the Taylor family, and it was there she met Williams Thomas George Finn, a blacksmith and wheelwright. Their first home was at Pichi Richi, and their first children were born there.

An early train crossing the Waukarie Creek bridge near Woolshed Flat, ca. 1890. Photograph courtesy of the State Library of South Australia. SLSA: B 43223

Pichi Richi must have been a busy little place with a blacksmith shop, wayside inn, brewery and quite a few settler's and worker's homes. Then the railway was built, and there was no more work. Many people moved North. Grandfather took his family to old Hookina. Then eventually to Beltanna, where they spent the last years of their lives. They had a comfortable cottage of pine and pug with slate floors and a blacksmith shed where William and his son John worked. Jane told of a very hot day William passed away. She was ironing, and he told her to put away her work and they would have a rest as the afternoon heat was too much for them. He lay on the wooden miner's couch, and she spread her goatskin rug under the kitchen table. They talked until they dozed off to sleep. When she awoke and went to wake him he had died in a peaceful sleep. She said he was a good husband and worked every day of his life, a kind and gentle father. She lived on at Beltana with her brother John Hatfield until John (presume Hatfield) sold the Home. Jane then went to Quorn to live with May Finn (Kelly)

John (Hatfield) went to live in the Magill home for the Aged, he was a heavy drinker.

William's sister Fanny Elizabeth Finn

William's sister Fanny Elizabeth was 17 years old when she married Josiah Sleep, and they had three children together.

Six years after their marriage, Josiah died, crushed by a roller.

Dr Ayliffe is the same person whose dispute with George Finn ended with George's suicide.

Fanny married John Bott (pictured left) on 5 March 1877 in Eden Valley. They had nine children together and were married for 47 years.

Annie Jane Sleep (1868–1900)

Lucy Ann Sleep (1869–1950)

Louisa Fanny Sleep(1872–1905)

Caroline Mildred Bott (1877–1938)

Lilian May Bott (1879–1951

Alice Cordellia Bott (1881– )

Sidney C Bott (1883– )

Mildred Edith Bott (1883–1883)

John Thomas Bott (1884–1889)

Archie Bott (1894–1894)

Arelin Bott (1894-1894)

Life was hard, yet this family of Finns and their cousins contributed to the development of outback South Australia.

William's son, Nathaniel.

Nathaniel Finn, William's firstborn son, named after William's father, was born in 1870. He was my great-grandfather and the subject of my next post.