This is our family. William was the eldest son of John and Mary Fairhall of
Brede, Sussex. His wife Ann, was a daughter of John and Mary Huntley of Robertsbridge, Sussex. They left England from the port of Gravesend on board the 'Maitland', on 24 June 1838. Both William and Ann were illiterate,so in the Maitland's records their surname was recorded by the shipping clerk and the surgeon as 'Fairall', which was probably as it was spoken. However, some time after they arrived in Australia they apparently adopted the spelling we use today.
With them were their children Thomas, Samuel, Sophy, Charlotte, William, Benjamin and James. An unnamed child was born during the voyage on 21 August 1838, but lived only 10 days. Their first child Mary (born c.1815) remained behind in Sussex, and came to Australia on the "Barhampooter" in 1841, then married William McKnight the following year. William and Anne's son David was born two years after they arrived in Australia.
The arrival of William Fairhall and his family in 1838 has been recorded on the Welcome Wall outside the Australian National Maritime Museum, in Darling Harbour, Sydney, and was unveiled as a part of the original lists on 25 Jan. 1999 by the Governor-General, Sir William Deane. Click on the ANMM logo (above) to view the Welcome Wall web page, and from there you can explore a Virtual Welcome Wall to find our Fairhall listing or other names.
If visiting the Museum, look up the family on the Genealogy Computer terminal and find our inscription on the Welcome Wall in Panel #1, Column #2 at Line #101.
William, (age 49) son of Edward and Grace (nee Offin) of Icklesham, Sussex, and his wife Anna/Hannah (age 46) daughter of William Weller of Icklesham, left Gravesend on 20 October 1838 on board the Juliana. They were accompanied by their children William (with his wife Charlotte, nee Lavender), John, Anne, George, Grace, Valentine, Edward and Ellen.
The Juliana was shipwrecked near Capetown, and the surviving passengers (including William's family) arrived in Australia on 20 May 1839 on board the Morayshire.
This family retained their surname as recorded by the shipping clerk, and have been the base of the major Fairall family name in Australia, settling initially in the southern highlands of New South Wales.
Their history is being traced by several local researchers, and over 3300 descendants have so far been recorded.
John (age 45),was recorded as the son of William of Brede, Sussex. His wife Philadelphia, (age 39), was a daughter of William Masters of Icklesham, Sussex.
Harriet (13) and Philadelphia (9) accompanied them on the Prince Regent, which arrived in Sydney on 20 March 1839. Both girls were Philadelphia's daughters by her previous husband Robert Chester, although they were listed in the ship's records with the surname Fairall.
Harriet married William Radford in Sydney in 1842 (their son Robert died as an infant).
Philadelphia (Phillis) married Thomas Boucher in Sydney (their son Thomas died as an infant) and then Henry Watton.
As yet, nothing more has been discovered about this family, including records of their deaths. It appears there were no further descendants.
John Fairhall was the son of Thomas and his wife Mary Ann (nee Apted), of London, England. He arrived in Port Phillip, Victoria, on board the 'Marco Polo' on 20 December 1856. He married Ellen Maria Upham at Brunswick, and was a school teacher in several locations throughout Victoria. So far, just over 100 descendants have been recorded.
William was born around 1812, reportedly in Sussex (England), and in 1854 married an Irish lass Matilda BALL (then aged 31). To date, we have not been able to identify this William Fairhall's ancestry.
According to Victorian records they had just one child, William, in 1855 at Horsham (Victoria), who achieved success as a photographer in Waratah, Tasmania, but the story from there is, as yet, undiscovered.
William was also born around 1812, apparently in Sussex (England), and he married Isabella WHEATLEY (born Monaghan, Ireland, in 1812) at Launceston, Tasmania in 1850.
William and Isabella had a daughter, Isabella, at Kilmore, Victoria in 1857, and further information is sought on this family.
William was born at Crawley or Cowfold in Sussex, England, and arrived in Melbourne, Australia in 1850. He married Susannah Trotman in Victoria in 1851. The family then migrated to New Zealand and commenced a long line of Fairhalls in that country.
An Extract from Tom Fairhall's notes (1981)