The Story of Elizabeth Power of Wyndham  and Henry Wilson of Eden

The other stories supplied by Bryan Power [bryanp2-at-bigpond.com]

   John Power Snr | Thomas Power  | Mary Ann Power | Jane Power | Honorah Power | Elizabeth Power | John Power Jnr | Edward Power | James Power | Henry Power | George Power | Ellen and Charles Power | Bridget Power |  Patrick Power |  

Foreword

This is the tenth story in stage two of a series to record something of the lives of the 15 children of John and Mary Power of Creewah and Wyndham. The stage one story was the recording of John and Mary’s life which can be found on the Monaro Pioneers’ website.

The other twelve stories in stage two are also on that website and they tell of the lives of Elizabeth’s brothers and sisters: William, Thomas, Mary Ann, Jane, Honorah, John, Edward, James, Henry, George, Ellen, Bridget, Charles and Patrick.

Bryan Power
PO Box 610 Gisborne, Vic 3437, (03) 5428 2795 or bryanp2@bigpond.com  

Elizabeth Power

I have very little information about Elizabeth who left the Eden area some time after the birth of her fifth child and then died at the early age of 39. This was an unusual early death for a Power woman as all of Elizabeth’s sisters lived into their 80s and 90s.

 She was the sixth child in the family and the second to be born at “Creewah”, the 16,000 acre squatting run licensed to Conlan & Ryan and supervised by her father John Power. Elizabeth was born on 9 August 1843.

In 1867 she married Henry Wilson in Bega and they had six children – all girls:

1.    Caroline Wilson b  1868

2.    Elizabeth Wilson          1871

3.    Emma Wilson    1874

4.    Amelia Wilson   1876

5.    Louisa Wilson    1878

6.    Susan Wilson     1882

The first five girls were born in Eden but Susan was born in Dungog. On her birth registration her father’s name is recorded as Louis H Wilson. On all of the other registrations he had been simply recorded as ‘Henry’ with the exception of Louisa’s where his name is noted as ‘Henry L’.   

Elizabeth died on 22 July 1883 at Coorein near Dungog after suffering from pleuro pneumonia for about 20 days. She was buried the following day at Hardy’s Flat. All the girls were living at the time of Elizabeth’s death with Susan, the youngest, aged one.

I have not been able to trace the daughters. The only record I have been able to find is an enrolment at the Wyndham Public School for Ellen A Wilson on 14 January 1884. As her age was recorded as 7½ this strongly suggests that she is Amelia. Patrick Power, Elizabeth’s youngest brother, is noted as her guardian.

I have found no records of the other girls coming to Power families, and Mrs Mary Ann Strangwidge, Elizabeth’s niece, never mentioned to me what had happened to the girls. Perhaps they went to relatives of Henry Wilson or to an orphanage.

Mrs Strangwidge indicated that the members of the Power family disapproved of Henry Wilson by describing him to me as “a cruel and drunken man”. Perhaps it was this antagonism that caused him to leave Eden and take Elizabeth and his family to Dungog.