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Cpl Roy and the Baptist Cemetery
Stan


Joined: 15 Mar 2006
Posts: 3
Location: Sydney
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Just a probable explanation why William Roy was buried in the Baptist cemetery when he was a Presbyterian.
Parramatta has no general cemetery. There was the large St John's C of E which was established in 1790 and which is about 1 mile from the church of that name. The Presbyterian's and Baptists were granted an acre each for their cemeteries in the 1840s. Though separate and run by their own church trustees until the 1970s, the two cemeteries adjoin one another and have a single perimeter fence, giving the impression of it being a single cemetery and known now as May's Hill cemetery.
After being discharged Roy went to live in Dundee. He worked as a railway porter and in 1882 married Cecilia, daughter of the local railway stationmaster. His brother John suggested they join him in Australia, as the climate may assist his health. That the Roy's were not strict adherents to "The Kirk" was probably exemplified in John being the caretaker of St John's Anglican Church for nearly 10 years. John lived next door to the church in Hunter Street and when William arrived in 1883 he moved in about 8 houses along the street.
Williams daughter Beatrice was born in 1886 and died in 1888. He was a complete invalid by this time and it is likely his spiritual needs, and some financial help was given by St John's and it's parishioners. Also at this time, there was no new ground left in St John's cemetery, so the Anglicans approached the Baptist Church about using the Baptist cemetery to which they agreed. I believe it is likely that the Anglicans purchased the grave site so that Beatrice could be buried there in 1888, so when William was buried there in 1890, he was a Presbyterian in a Baptist cemetery who had an Anglican minister perform his funeral service. John Roy seems to disappear after William's death, there seems to be no record of his death in NSW, so he may have moved back to Scotland. Cecilia remarried in 1892 and died in 1948 aged 92.
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Puzzled ?
Sapper Mason


Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 333
Location: ANGLESEY
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Confused , Dear Stan , Thank you for this link re Pte { Cpl } William Roy DCM 1/24 th , i have lot of information on Roy but you have data which i need to , " expand " on , please contact me via a Private mail and i`ll give you detail ( s ) , one thing that puzzles me is this marriage , according to his death certificate ( which i have ) he indeed marry one Cecilia Butcher when aged c 28 in Dundee Scotland , however according to my records he left Plymouth at 4 pm on the 30 th Nov 1882 , ships compliment , 366 people, of which 10 died on the voyage ! .

He arrived in Watson`s Bay , Sydney on the 1st March 1883 , despite the ship not being granted pratique it was towed to anchorage at Neutral Bay . Records i have indicate he was 27 / 28 when he left in 1882 and each one indicates he was SINGLE ( ? ) .

I don`t have a copy of his wedding certificate nor indeed was aware of a daughter ( ? ) , his age at death is indicated as 35 years and 6 months ( 1890 ) , his place of birth has been a point of debate over many years , in fact it was Portmoak , Nr Loch Leven , an area i know very well as i lived but 6 miles from there , the island in Loch Leven is the place where Mary Queen Of Scots was incarcerated , no bars on her prison as it was known she could not swim and so escape .

He would have been aged c 25 if his age at death was correct at the time of Rorke's Drift . Please contact me by private message and as indicated will be happy to expand things Stan , thanks once again for your input , " Sapper " Wink
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Cpl William Roy DCM
whiteheadalfie


Joined: 24 Oct 2006
Posts: 41
Location: corsham, wilts
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I have recently re-activated my interest in collecting photos of the graves of Rorke's Drift defenders. Knowing that my globe-trotting days are over, I contacted The Friends of May's Hill Cemetery in Australia for any pictures they had of the grave of Cpl William Roy DCM. The exact location of the grave seems to be in doubt but a very nice lady called Dorothy Warwick sent me some photos of the unveiling ceremony of a memorial back in 2013.
I am assured that this method of collecting grave photos is acceptable, especially during lockdown!
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Cpl Roy and the Baptist Cemetery
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