Samuel William (Henry) Woollard

  General Notes:

Graham Woollard notes:
Samuel emigrated to Victoria to try his fortune at the goldfields and was killed in a mine cave-in shortly after marrying leaving one son (William) and a pregnant Elizabeth whose child was to become my ancestor. Elizabeth was the daughter of Irish convicts.

SAMUEL WILLIAM 'HENRY' WOOLLARD (b. 1831)
Henry married Elizabeth Cox in church by licence, the daughter of Robert William Cox born 1800 Waterford, Ireland, died 12th May 1843 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, Lawyer, Convict, Merchants Clerk, Labourer and Catherine Dowling born 1798 County Wicklow, Ireland, died 1858 Glebe, New South Wales, Australia,
Convict. In 1841 Henry lived with his parents at the Ram Inn, Haverhill, Suffolk, England. The marriage was conducted by Oswald J Howell, officiating Minister of St James, and witnessed by Elizabeth Cox and William Robert Cox of Castlereagh Street.
Henry migrated to Victoria on the Diadem arriving in Port Philip Bay, Victoria, Australia, on 29th October 1852 accompanied by his sister Charlotte Louisa Hall and her two children. They were not assisted migrants. Shortly after arriving James travelled to Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, met and married Elizabeth Cox and returned to Victoria. We know that they returned to Sydney in 1858 for the birth of his first son William Robert but was
back in Victoria in 1859. In 1856 he was registered as a miner on the Victorian Electoral Roll under the name of Henry William Woollard. His residence was given as Snake Valley which was a mining area west of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.
His brother\endash in\endash law, Charles Hall, and a former sailor, William Robinson, were also registered as miners at Snake Valley and it seems likely that they formed a team as the three were later mining together at Long Gully, Armstrongs, when a fall of earth took all their lives on 25th July 1859. An inquest was held into their deaths and reported in the Ararat Advertiser on 28th July 1859 as follows;
THE FAMILY OF SAMUEL WILLIAM WOOLLARD
THREE KILLED
It is our painful duty to record a most shocking mining accident which in all our experience on the gold fields stands unequalled in its deplorable consequences. By it three poor miners have been deprived of life, two of them leaving wives and families in a total state of destitution. The three men whose names were Hall, Robinson and Wolland [sic], were, on Monday last, working in the old ground at Armstrongs, near Eaglehawk Gully; Robinson was in the habit of spending his evenings
with a neighbor of the name of Granland, and as on the night in question he did not make his appearance as customary
Granland became uneasy, and ultimately at about twelve o'clock at night he went to the hole where he knew his friend was working, and descending discovered the frightful accident that had taken place; the drive had caved in instantaneously killing two out of the three men, the third, Hall, was partially buried, but in such a manner that although unable to move he was still alive, Assistance was procured, and in about an hour's time the unfortunate man was released; his extremities,
particularly his arms, were so benumbed from pressure that he had lost all feeling in them. When Granland went below he found the arm of the living man projecting from the dirt, and taking hold of it he asked if it belonged to the speaker. Hall replied that it did not, but that it was the hand of one of his mates who was dead, so completely had he lost all feeling in his members. The poor man was released from this awful position and taken up to Granland's tent; he was perfectly conscious
and not in any great pain, but he gradually sunk and expired between five and six o'clock the same morning, being only two or three hours from the time of his release. Previous to his death it was ascertained from him that the accident had occurred at about two o'clock in the afternoon, the ground had, without the least warning, caved in in large quantities, instantly burying Robinson and Wolland [sic]; Hall was working in another part of the drive, but hearing the ground give way he
rushed to the spot and commenced to rescue his mates, but, in a minute, more earth coming down he himself was buried in the way he was found, sufficiently uncovered to breath and speak, but utterly unable to move. In this terrible position he remained for nearly twelve hours expecting death every moment. It is hardly possible to imagine the sufferings of this poor man through those terrible hours of suspense, sufferings which terminated in his death so soon after his release. It
took three or four hours hard work before the bodies of the other two men were recovered from their position, and from the quantity of earth found upon them it was evident that their death must have been almost instantaneous.The drive where the men were working, though of considerable extent, was supported by only three props, there is therefore little wonder that the accident occurred. The depth of the hole was about thirty feet.On Wednesday an inquest was held upon the bodies by Dr.
Macdonald, at the Yam Holes Store, where the following evidence was adduced.William Granland \endash I am a married man residing at Armstrongs diggings; I have seen the bodies shown the jury and identify them as those of William Robinson, Charles Hall and William Wolland [sic]; on Monday the 25th inst,. when about going to bed, my wife remarked to me that William Robinson, who had been in the habit of visiting my tent every night, had not been in, and that she had sent the boy
to his tent to look for him and that he was not at home; I got a light and went to his tent, and not finding him there I went to the hole in which he worked, I called down the hole, and on getting no reply I went down, and when at the bottom called again; on receiving no answer I went into a drive about thirty feet long, and from it through a small hole into another drive, in which, on calling, I got a reply; Charles Hall answered me and asked me to help him out; as he was covered up in the
dirt I found I could give him no assistance alone, so I went off for help; William Peters helped me to dig Hall out; Hall was alive when we got him out; after Hall had been carried to my tent he told me that Wolland [sic] was between where he lay and the shaft and that Robinson was further in the drive; he told me that he had been there from two o'clock the day before; this was about four 0'clock on Tuesday morning; Hall also said that the other two were killed immediately; Hall lived for
about an hour and a half after he got out of the hole; it is my opinion that the hole was not sufficiently propped to render it safe; Robinson was a single man but Wolland [sic] and Hall are married; Robinson had no property, and not even a tent to live in.William Peters deposed \endash I am a miner residing at Armstrongs; I have seen the bodies as shown the jury and identify them as those of Wolland [sic], Hall. and another, which I helped to dig out of a drive on the morning of Tuesday, the 26th instant; I was aroused from my bed on Monday night or Tuesday morning, by a man, to help dig some men out of a hole; on going to the shaft I went down with the last witness, Granland, and helped to dig Charles Hall out; Hall was alive when we got him out; after getting Hall up I went to the Police and told them of the accident; and on my return I again went down the hole and helped to get Wolland [sic] and Robinson out; Wolland [sic] and Robinson were quite dead when we got them out;
I think they were killed instantaneously; I do not think that the ground was sufficiently timbered; I believe that the deceased were very poor; I think that the earth that fell on Hall was about four feet in thickness, and on the other about the same; I worked in the same ground some time previous, and at that time the ground was unsafe; Hall was so completely covered that he was unable to move; from the position in which we found the bodies I think that they were killed without the slightest warning; we found Robinson's face pressed on the shovel now produced, which is covered with blood.John Henry Pascoe deposed \endash I am a miner residing at Armstrongs, I have seen the bodies shown the jury, and identify two of them as those which I helped dig out of a hole on Tuesday, the 26th inst., I went down the shaft, and after working about three hours, a part
of the time in company with Peters, we managed to recover the bodies; They were quite dead when we got them out, and it
THE FAMILY OF SAMUEL WILLIAM WOOLLARD
is my opinion that they could not have lived five minutes after the earth fall; I did not see Hall alive; I do not think that any of the deceased parties possessed any property.John Kean deposed \endash I am of the Police stationed at the Great Western; I have examined the persons of the deceased, but have not been able to find any property; I have every reason to believe that the three were very destitute; I have not been able to find any property about the tents. Not the least painful part of the sad affair is the state of the utter destitution in which the families of two of the men are left. Hall had a wife and four children, and Wolland [sic] one child and a wife shortly expecting again to become a mother. These bereaved families have not the wherewithal to obtain a day's food We are glad to learn that a subscription is being got up for them, in aid of which money will be received by Messrs. Morgan, Smith, of Whir_____e, and Wheelwright, of the Great Western and Armstrong.
On August 19th., 1859, the same paper gave a list of contributors to a fund for the widows; the sum raised was twenty six pounds, fourteen shillings and sixpence.
They lie in an unmarked grave near Armstrong school. His son William Robert was then about fifteen months old and Charles Abraham was born after Samuel William died

  Noted events in his life were:

• Occupation: brewer, miner. ⁹⁸³

• connection. ⁹⁸³

Samuel married Elizabeth Cox, daughter of Robert William Cox and Catherine Dowling, on 20 Apr 1853 in Sydney, NSW Australia.⁹⁸³ (Elizabeth Cox was born on 12 Dec 1835 in Sydney, NSW Australia, christened on 7 May 1837 in Church of England, Sydney, NSW Australia and died on 17 Sep 1908 in Hindmarsh, Victoria Australia ⁹⁸³.)