The Wait Family
– Researched and written by Claire Phillips, 1st November 2006
William came to South Australia on the 25th October, 1853 from Somerset, England on board the “Neptune” with his wife Mary (née Snook) and four children: Charlotte 12; Elizabeth 8; Charles 6; and William 3.
They lived on Acklands Hill Road, which in those days crossed the Main Coromandel Valley Road about 300 yards south of today’s position. Five more children were born there – Sarah, Henry, Ann, Cornelius and Walter.
They moved to the southern end of Coromandel Valley opening a butcher shop in 1857. A slaughter yard was built on the adjoining block and stock used to graze on the opposite side of the road on a reserve, which is now the tennis courts and croquet ground.
William on many occasions walked to Adelaide to buy stock. Some of their children worked in the Biscuit Factory.
From information gathered it appears that William leased his butchering business to Robert Daniel Vawser in 1890. The house was developed into the Post Office and general store. Mr. Vawser then bought the business in 1900.
Mary died in 1888 and William died in 1894. Both died of bronchitis and are buried in the Coromandel Valley cemetery.
These were the children born after William and Mary’s arrival in Australia:
Their 5th child Sarah, born 16th May 1855. She lived at home helping her father with his butchering business.
On 27th December 1882 she married Oliver Winn, son of Richard Winn a farmer of Coromandel Valley. They continued farming for several years before taking over the Store and Post Office in Coromandel Valley in 1887.
In 1888 Oliver and Sarah started up a butchering business with the help of her father, William, at the foot of Winn’s Road which we now know as 360 Main Road. A slaughter house was built and the stables were built in 1903 by John Weymouth. In 1911 a shed was built to house a sausage making machine. They carried on a most successful business for over 20 years.
They had two daughters, Beatrice [Daise] born 1883 and Hilda born 1891. Daise worked very hard in her parents’ business. She delivered meat on horseback, side-saddle.
Oliver died as the result of his horse shying. Sarah and Daise continued with the butchering business with the help of Sarah’s nephew William Archibald [Arch] Jones.
In 1916 Arch purchased the business so Sarah and Daise moved to Waits cottage where they lived until Sarah’s death in 1941.
Hilda had died aged 3. Sarah was laid to rest alongside Oliver and baby daughter Hilda in the Coromandel Valley Cemetery.
After Sarah’s death, Daise went to live in Blackwood. She never married. She was secretary of the Coromandel Valley Institute for 13 years.
She laid the Foundation Stone of the vestry at the Coromandel Valley Uniting Church in 1907. She remembered having to pay sixpence for a ride in the first car in Blackwood. She died of heart failure in 1966 at the age of 83 and was buried with her parents and sister in the Coromandel Valley Cemetery.
The 6th child Henry was born on 19 November 1857, but only lived for 5 days. He is buried at the Coromandel Valley Cemetery.
This is the connection between the Wait and Jones families –
The 7th child Ann was born on 13th May 1859 at Coromandel Valley. She married Edwin Elliot Jones on 16th January 1881 at St. Andrews Church in Adelaide.
Edwin was a day labourer, moving from place to place wherever he could find employment.
They lived in the Valley from 1881 to 1883 where William (Arch) my grandfather and Hurtle were born; Angels Gully from 1884 to 1886 where Tim and Ivy were born and then to Lilly Street, Goodwood in 1892 where the twins Stan and Sis were born.
Then tragedy struck the family. Edwin died suddenly of meningitis, leaving eight young children. Then two months later, baby Sis died.
Ann returned to Coromandel Valley to live. She worked hard doing washing and housework to keep her family of seven together.
One by one the family went their own way. One of the children, Ivy took on a Shoe Shop on Coromandel Parade which has recently been restored, uncovering the sign above the shop window. Ann went to live with her until her death in 1945. Both Edwin and Ann are buried in the Coromandel Valley Cemetery.
The 8th child Cornelius was born on 24th June 1861. He worked for a while in the family butchering business. It appears he went to Western Australia to live.
The 9th child Walter was born on 8th July 1864 and is named on the 1st Scholar Roll of the Coromandel Valley Primary School. He married Annie Krachler on 23rd April 1891 at Port Augusta. They came to live in Adelaide in 1894.
They lived at various places in Adelaide where Walter was a butcher. They had eight children.
Their son Edward, their third child, worked as a butcher with his father but was killed during WW1 at Gallipoli. The family then went to live on the corner of Nation Ridge and Wait Roads, Aldgate Valley.
Walter continued as a butcher and also worked for the Railways. Both Walter and Annie are buried in the Coromandel Valley Cemetery.
