William Lesslie
- Born: 2 Feb 1812, Dunbar, East Lothian, Scotland UK
- Marriage (1): Hephzibah Gordon on 23 Jul 1842 in Sydney, NSW Australia
- Died: 1 Nov 1855, Double Bay, Sydney, NSW Australia at age 43
- Buried: Sydney Burial Ground, at Central Railway Station, Sydney, NSW Australia
Noted events in his life were:
• source. http://www.easystreetretreat.com.au/australianroyalty where it is noted:
William was born into a four-generation shipping family. His uncle, Robert Lesslie had operated in Australian and Pacific waters as a mariner until 1813 and his elder brother Robert was also in the region in the 1830s.
He arrived as Master aboard the ship 'Vansittart', a small sloop. For 20 years he commanded a variety of vessels including the schooners 'Minewa' and 'Falcon' trading in whale products between Port Jackson and New Zealand. After the 'Falcon' was wrecked in a hurricane on the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand, he became master of the barque 'Strathilsa' which traded between Norflok Island, Newcastle New South Wales, Hobart Town and South Australia.
During one of William's New Zealand voyages, Captain Robert Lesslie, William's uncle, met Charles Gordon on Marsden's missionary ship 'Active'. In 1842, William married Charles' daughter Hephzibah and set up home at Dowling Street, Surry Hills.
The following year he became master first of the cutter 'Resolution' and then the brig 'Caroline' trading in general cargo between Port Jackson, Van Diemen's Land and South Australia.
He purchased his own cutter 'Pedlar' in 1844 and traded along the New South Wales coast from the Hunter River to Wollongong but was unfortunately wrecked off Bondi in 1847. A collection of poems and some painting survive to show that the master mariner was also creative.
Because William was a captain and was away at sea for prolonged periods of time, Hephzibah raised their five children with support from her relatives including the Daltons, at her residence in Dowling Street, Surry Hills. Upon William's death in 1855, the family lived at the Gordon property at Double Bay.
William married Hephzibah Gordon, daughter of Charles Moltson Gordon and Mary Jane Brown, on 23 Jul 1842 in Sydney, NSW Australia. (Hephzibah Gordon was born on 9 Feb 1822 in Pitt St, Sydney, NSW Australia, christened on 10 Mar 1822, died on 25 Nov 1899 in Woollahra, Sydney, NSW Australia and was buried in Newtown, Sydney, NSW Australia.)
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