Bill and Alice Parry of Gosford

Bill and Alice Parry were the parents of Lena Parry, and my great-grandparents.

William Henry Parry (generally known as Bill) was born at Mangrove Creek in 1855, the eldest child of Griffith Parry Jr and Sarah Jane Watkins. His family moved into Gosford when he was a small child and he grew up on a property on the corner of Mann and Beane Streets which is now the Gosford goods yards. The block was two acres and there was a fresh water stream running close to the house. 

Bill was about 27 when he bought his first property, a two-acre block on the corner of Mann and Erina Street. The Gosford Hotel now stands on part of this property. He later bought the adjoining block, running along Mann Street so he owned the whole block of Mann Street from Erina to Faunce Streets. The blocks ran through to current-day Watt Street, although that was not there until some years later. Bill started work on his land, building a house, blacksmith/wheelwright shop and a hall that could be rented out for events.

Frances Alice Miller was born at Hartley in 1867, the youngest child of Job and Susan Miller.  it seems that she was always known as Alice in her family, but the order of her names changes over the years in official documents. Her father was a contractor working on the building of the western railway and the family moved west as the project progressed. Her father died in Dubbo in 1882 and it is possible her mother and the younger children moved to Sydney or the central coast.  

I have not discovered how or where Bill and Alice met, but they married in 1885 at Burwood. Bill was 30 and Alice 17. By this time it seems that Bill was working as a produce agent, and soon after the wedding he was in serious financial trouble. He claimed that he lost a lot of produce due to spoilage, but he seems to have been a bit liberal with the facts, so it is plausible that he over extended his finances with his building works. The Insolvency Court had to work on the basis of Bill's word, because his financial records were 'lost' overboard while he was travelling to Sydney for the hearing. How inconvenient! He was able to get a license to try to clear his debts and evade full bankruptcy.

Bill and Alice moved to the north coast where Bill found work in the sugar industry, driving sugar trains and possibly working as an engineer at a refinery. Their first two children were born near Grafton and Casino. The family moved back to the Gosford district when Bill finally cleared his insolvency and by 1889 they were living at Ourimbah. Bill again worked as a fireman and engineer at a shipyard for a time, then went farming at Ourimbah.

Around 1894 Bill finally returned to live in his home in Mann Street and he worked for a time as a wheelwright at his workshop in Mann Street. He continued to work as a wheelwright and blacksmith on and off for a number of years while he also dabbled in farming and selling wildflowers harvested from the bush. He bought a property at Kariong and set up a fruit and vegetable farm, but he never completed the house and eventually returned to live in Gosford. He started another vegetable farm closer to town, possibly in Dwyer Street, and by all reports this was a successful venture. We walked to the farm from his home in Erina Street each day.

In his later years, Bill lived largely apart from the rest of his family, preferring to live in a series of rough bush huts that abide by Alice's ideas of tidiness. 

My father, Laurie Ward, was Bill's grandson and remembered visiting him at one or another of his bush camps. There was always a pot of stew steaming near the fire - Bill would eat from it then top it up with more meat or vegetables. But Laurie's mother had always pre-warned her children not to eat any of 'grandfather's stew' - she was clearly worried about her father's hygiene.

Bill returned to live at the Erina Street home in his last months when he was too sick to remain in the bush. He was housed in a room that opened off the back verandah. Laurie's memories again give us a vivid picture of the old man, bedridden, but demanding. He would only drink the water from a particular waterfall on the Mount Penang Road and several times a week, one of his sons or sons-in-law would be sent on horseback to fetch a supply. Even though they tried, they could not substitute any other water and he could always tell if they cheated and used water from a closer waterfall, or from the tank.

Laurie had very fond memories of his grandmother, Alice. His family lived in Dwyer Street Gosford, and the Parry home in Erina Street was almost on their route to school. They would often be tasked with delivering eggs, vegetables or milk on their way to school and on those occasions Alice would insist on smoothing his unruly hair. He carried the warm feeling of her gentle grooming for the rest of his life.

Bill Parry died in 1936 aged 80. Alice remained in the family home, which she shared with her daughter Ethel and son Charles. She died in 1941 aged 73. She was survived by nine of her 13 children and 20 grandchildren.