1828-1895
Father
William Jenkins
Mother
Susan Martin Cannon
Siblings
William, Susan, Sophia Martin, John Thomas
Married
Children
Edward, Ann Maria, Susannah Ruth, Benjamin (died in infancy), Elizabeth, Martha Jane, Benjamin Joseph, Thomas, Laveria, Jane, Catherine, Sophia, Bedelia Mary Ann
Joseph’s Life
Joseph was the son of Welsh farmers, William Jenkins and Susan Martin Cannon, born in Aberdare, Glamorganshire, South Wales.
In 1856 Joseph married Mary Ann Haywood of Shropshire. At the time of their marriage, Mary was a servant and Joseph a Railway Plate Layer and formerly a miner.
Mary and Joseph had their first child, a son, Edward in 1856, then embarked on the voyage to Australia on the ‘Bee’, arriving in Geelong in April, 1857. Joseph was sponsored by Railways as per the ships list as per his previous occupation in Wales. However, the call of the goldrush in Bendigo and Kingower must have been stronger than his obligation to the railways as evidenced by their second child Susan being born in Ararat in October 1857. They had two more children there, Mary Ann and Benjamin. They moved to Kingower, Victoria in 1861 where they resided for the rest of their lives. They had fifteen children, 8 of whom died at as small children or young adults.
The Kingower minefields attracting over 4,000 miners in its hey-day Joseph devoted himself to mining, in 1890 he unearthed two notable nuggets that were reported in the Melbourne Argus and Bendigo advertiser due to the size and weight.
There was difficulty with Joseph’s will, they could not find when he died, however the two witnesses to the will signed affidavits to its content and it was executed. It was noted on the document that Mary Ann only made her mark which throws into doubt her literacy but when you consider that her daughter Bedelia could speak and read Welsh fluently it appears that there may have been a bias towards the English language. Joseph’s estate was quite large for the times over £320 and property.
Authored by Leah Burnheim