William's Early Years
William grew up and was apprenticed as a Tinsmith, probably in Liverpool,some 81 miles away from his home town.
On the 30th June 1821 at the age of 18 he enlisted in the 90th FootRegiment (Perthshire). His enlistment papers show the following detailsabout his appearance.
Height on enlistment (age 18) 5ft 9.25in
Height at age 24 5ft 10in
Complexion Fresh
Eyes Grey
Hair Brown
Visage LongAlmost immediately on enlistment, William was sent on active service tothe Mediterranean, where his regiment was quartered in Corfu, capital ofthe seven Ionian Islands. Later he was part of a detachment sent to quellan uprising and keep the peace on another of the islands, Cephalonia.
it was on Cephalonia that he met Mary Dugan, daughter of John Dugan,"Soldier of Regiment", and Mary Fitzgerald. Mary had been born inBarbados, West Indies, in 1808 and on the 5th of May 1827, at the age of19, married Corporal William Litchfield, aged 24, by Rev. George Winnock,Chaplin to the Forces.
six months later, William transfer to the 28th Regiment (NorthGloucestershire) in Corfu on the 25th of November in 1827, presumablybecause the were no vacancies for promotion in his own Regiment. On the25th of December 1827 he was made Sergeant of the 28th Regiment. Hestayed with the regiment in Corfu except for detachments at Vido.
William and Mary's first child, Sarah, was born in Corfu on the 9th ofMarch 1828, and was baptised there by the Rev. Winnock on the 8th ofJune. However baby Sarah must have died as a child, for 8 years later,after the family had moved to Australia, another daughter was christenedSarah.
The records show another birth in the Ionian Islands, Mary Litchfield,abt.1829, but she too died young for death is recorded as 1840 in the NSWDeath Index Records, she would have been 10 or 11 years old.
At the end of 1829 the 28th Regiment returned to England, where it spentthe next 7 years, 5 of them in Dublin. During this period two sons wereborn, George was born in Dublin in 1832 and Frederick, who was probablyolder than Georg, was also born about 1832, according to one document inYorkshire.
After receiving its colours in Dublin the 28th Regiment returned to itsbase in Chatham, Kent, prior to embarking for Australia on convict escortduty. Whilst in Chatham another son William, was born, and was baptisedat the Anglican Church of St Mary the Virgin on the 18th of January 1835.
The Voyage to AustraliaA number of ships were required to transport the whole of the 28thRegiment to Australia, but it seems likely that William and his familysailed on the 404 ton barque "Westmoreland", which sailed from London onthe 9th of March 1835, was off Lands End on the 21st of March and arrivedin Port Jackson on the 15th of July, a journey of 129 days. on board the"Westmoreland" were Major Missitor, Lieutenant Smith, 29 rank and file ofthe 28th Regiment, 8 women, 15 children and 218 male prisoners.
Port MacquarieUpon arrival in Australia a small detachment of the 28th Regiment wasposted to Port Macquarie in 1835 under the command of Lt. C.F.H. Smith,and consisted of "one subaltern, one sergeant and 36 rank and file".Almost certainly that sergeant would have been William Litchfield, who bynow had become a Colour Sergeant, and who was described a "Paymaster inthe Army", a duty consistent with the quartermaster activities of aColour Sergeant.
Transportation of convicts from Britain to Australia ceased in 1840,during the gradual reduction in penal activities many military personnelchanged to civil appointments. Thus its was on the 31st of December in1836 that Sergeant William Litchfield discharged himself obtaining agratuity but no pension. It seems likely that he transferred almostimmediately to the NSW Police Force, for by the time William and Mary'snext child, Sarah, was born on the 13th of December in 1837, he was ChiefConstable of Police for the Port Macquarie Police District.
In this capacity, William Litchfield was proclaimed "Inspector ofDistilleries"and "Inspector of Slaughter Houses" in the issues of the NSWGovernment Gazette, dated Friday 13th October 1843 and Friday 15thDecember 1843.
In an earlier edition of the Government Gazette, 23rd of November 1839,town allotments in Port Macquarie were offered for tender, and WilliamLitchfield was successful in obtaining a lot of 1 rod 13 perches (about athird of an acre) on the corner of Horton and William Street, PortMacquarie, at a cost of 37.20 pounds. The results were published on the6th of May 1840. Here he built a house for the growing family.
Family life in Port MacquarieLife seemed to prosper in Port Macquarie, and by the time William hadbuilt the house on the land he had purchased, Frederick would have beenabout 10, George 9, William 7 and Sarah 5. No information has beenuncovered about their schooling, but its is likely that they attended adenominational school run by the Anglican Church, since 1825, and the inanother new school established by the Presbyterian Church in PortMacquarie between 1841 and 1853. Apart from the special tutors providedfor the Commandant's and officers children in the early days oftransportation, no government schools was established in Port Macquarietill 1867.
Little is known of the family for the next decade, but a contemporarydiary of 1851-52, by Robert Hall, held in the archives of the HastingsDistrict Historical Society in Port Macquarie, has a number of referencesto the Family.
Another 4 Children were born to William and Mary, Alfred who was born in1840 but died at the age of 2 in 1842, Elizabeth born in 1842 and died in1863 aged 21, Alfred (Morton?) born in 1848 and died in 1867 aged 19, andHenry born in 1854. Little research has been done on yet on the twoAlfreds and Elizabeth, though there is a mention of a "Morton Litchfieldattending a funeral" in the Robert Hall diary.
They appear to have been musical as one reference in the Robert Halldiary says that Frederick Litchfield was present at the crowded WesleyanChapel on wet Sunday afternoon (6 June 1852) to lead the assembledcompany in unaccompanied singing.
Another reference shows that in September 1851, George and WilliamLitchfield, aged 19 and 16, were passengers to Sydney on the steamer"Elizabeth Cohen", whose departure from Port was delayed several days bybad weather making the bar at the mouth or the river impassable. MrLitchfield was still Chief Constable, and the whole family attendedchurch to join in the singing.
When Henry was born to William and Mary two years later on the 29th ofApril 1854, Williams occupation was given as "Storekeeper". It thus seemsthat William retired from the Police Force between 1852 and 1854 aftersome 18 years of service at the age of 50.
When William died on the 7th of December 1868 at the the age of 64, hisoccupation was given as "Tin Plate Worker", thus choosing his originaloccupation from the range of activities which he had followed during hislife. In fact at some stage or another nearly all of his sons gave thereoccupation as "Tin Smith" or "Iron Worker", so it appears that Williamapprenticed them all to his own trade.
Mary Litchfield had only predeceased her husband by 6 months, having diedon the 8th of June in 1868 aged 59 years. A single headstone is erectedto the couple's memory in the Methodist section of the New Cemetery atPort Macquarie.
NSW Death IR - 1840/0(V18400459 44B)
- 1840/0(V18401230 24A