Selected Highlights
William Gillard, a paternal second great-grandfather of Julia Gillard, joined the British Army in 1839 and was in the 46th South Devon Regiment of Infantry. His regiment served in North America, Crimea, Corfu, and the East Indies. Three of his children were born in Ireland, one in England and one in Corfu.
John Mckenzie, a maternal great-grandfather of Julia Gillard, had his name recorded on his son Alexander’s birth certificate as John Drummey Mckenzie. The middle name of Drummey connects the Mckenzie family to the parish of Old Machar in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, where John’s father Daniel Drummey Mckenzie was born.
Julia Eileen Gillard’s father, John Oliver Gillard was born 15 August 1929 in Neath, Glamorgan, Wales, the son of Harold Ralph Gillard, and Edith Mary Badman. John married Moira Mackenzie, 28 December 1957 in the seaport city of Barry, Glamorgan, Wales. Moira also was native Welsh, born in Barry, Glamorgan, Wales on 9 February 1928, the daughter of Alexander Mackenzie and Eileen Margaret Dolton.
John and Moira had two daughters, Alison, born on 16 November 1958, and Julia, born on 29 September 1961. After Julia contracted pneumonia in 1966, doctors recommended that a warmer climate would be beneficial for the child. John and Moira and their young family left their native Wales in 1966 and settled in Adelaide, South Australia.
Glamorgan, in Southeastern Wales, was a centre of industry, iron and coal production and population growth during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The population in Wales grew from 587,000 in 1801 to over 2,012,000 in 1901. Most of the growth occurred in the industrial counties, including Glamorgan and Monmouth. The early twentieth century was a boom period of coal production in Wales.
John Oliver Gillard was born in Glamorgan during a time of economic challenge and transition in Wales. During the worldwide depression in the late 1920s and 1930s, nearly half a million people emigrated from the country. At the same time, a large number of English immigrants settled in the industrial areas of Wales, leading to increased English influence in the region. Wales experienced a gradual reduction in the percentage of native-born Welsh and number of Welsh speakers. Among these English immigrants were John Gillard’s parents, Harold Ralph Gillard and Edith Mary Badman.
After the Second World War, traditional industries in Wales, including coal, suffered decline. The coal fields in South Wales employed a quarter of a million men in 1913; by the 1960s the number had fallen to 75,000. The post-war decline in Welsh industry coincided with a revival of Welsh
culture and nationalism. In 1955, the British Horne Secretary declared Cardiff as the capital of Wales, and by the mid-1960s, administrative steps were taken that over succeeding years would allow greater Welsh self-government. John and Moira’s marriage and the births of their young family occurred during the beginnings of Welsh national and cultural renewal.
John Oliver Gillard’s father, Harold Ralph Gillard, was born on 4 December 1890 in Plymouth, Devonshire, England. His mother, Edith Mary Badman, was born on 18 July 1895 in Worle, Somersetshire, England. Harold and Edith were married on 6 March 1918 in Canton, Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales. On the marriage record, Harold is listed as Harold Ralph Evans. His stepfather, John Thomas Evans, signed the marriage certificate. At the time of Harold and Edith’s marriage, Harold, age twenty-seven, was employed as a dispatch worker, and Edith was a twenty-three-year-old widow.
Interestingly, Edith’s first husband was also surnamed Gillard. Edith married Percy Ernest Gillard on 29 November 1915 in Wick St. Lawrence, Somersetshire, England. Percy Gillard was born in Weston-Super-Mare, Somersetshire, England. Less than a year after Percy and Edith were married, he died on 16 September 1916 in Flanders, France, a casualty of World War I. It is unclear how the family ancestry of Percy Earnest Gillard connects with that of Harold Ralph Gillard, but one would expect some family connection.
Harold Ralph Gillard’s father was Samuel Edward Gillard, born on 19 September 1861 in Buttevant, County Cork, Ireland. By 1885, Samuel had immigrated to Wales, presumably to find work in the growing Welsh industrial region. Samuel married Lucretia Helena Ashman on 3 August 1885 in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales. On 4 April 1900, Samuel Gillard passed away in the Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, Wales, leaving Lucretia a widow with four young children. Their second child, Harold Ralph Gillard, was 10 years old when his father died. His mother later married John Thomas Evans, who proved to be a good stepfather to the children.
Samuel Gillard’s father, William Gillard, was christened in Ruishton, Somersetshire, England, on 15 October 1820. William Gillard joined the British Army in 1839 and served in the 46th South Devon Regiment of Infantry. Samuel’s mother Eliza Brown, was born in 1823, possibly in Clonmel, County Tipperary, Ireland. Eliza died on 9 June 1882 in Taunton, Somersetshire, England. William died in Taunton in 1886.
Edith Mary Badman’s family lived for generations in Somersetshire, located in southwest England. Somersetshire is a rural area of farms and rolling hills. Coal fields in the north part of the country were productive until the 1920s, when production began to wane. Perhaps experience in the coal industry in Somersetshire motivated some residents to migrate to the coal fields in Wales.
Edith’s father, William Badman, was born in September 1863 in Banwell, Somersetshire, England. William immigrated to Wales and lived there for a period of a few years before he married Frances Bennett, an English immigrant, on 19 July 1886 in Newport, Monmouth, Wales. Frances was born on 1 April 1864 in Kingswood, Gloucestershire, England. William and Frances returned to England to reside in Somersetshire, which borders the country of Gloucestershire. All of their ten children, including their fifth child, Edith, were born in Somersetshire. Both William and Frances died in Somersetshire, William in Wick St. Lawrence on 15 February 1937 and Frances in Weston-Super-Mare on 4 December 1937.
William Badman’s father, Benjamin Badman, was born in Yatton, Somersetshire, England, on 3 January 1828. Benjamin married Eliza Gunningham, daughter of John Gunningham and Jane Brown, on 18 April 1857 in Axbridge, Somersetshire. Benjamin’s occupation was listed as “labourer.”
Benjamin Badman’s father, George Badman, was born approximately 1794 in Winscombe, Somersetshire, England. George married Mary Lewis, who was born about 1796. George and Mary lived in Yatton, Somersetshire, where their first four children, including Benjamin, were born. By 1829, George and Mary had moved to Banwell, where their last two children were born. The 1841 census records George and Mary and their family living in Banwell, Somersetshire, England.
Julia Eileen Gillard’s mother, Moira Mackenzie, was born on 9 February 1928 in Barry, Glamorgan, Wales, the daughter of Alexander Mackenzie and Eileen Margaret Dolton. Alexander Mackenzie was born on 16 November 1897 in Barry, Glamorgan, Wales the son of John Mackenzie and Alice Fox, Eileen Margaret Dolton was born in Barry, Glamorgan, Wales on 14 August 1898, the daughter of Edward Dalton and Mary Catherine Power. Alexander and Eileen married on 5 May 1923 in Barry, Glamorgan, Wales. Alexander Mackenzie was a railway man; his occupation is listed in records as engineer and railway booking clerk. Eileen passed away in a hospital in Penarth, Glamorgan, Wales on 30 July 1960. Alexander passed away in a hospital in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales on 14 November 1970.
The Dalton family was native of Glamorgan. In some records, the family’s surname Dolton appears as Dalton. Edward Dalton was born in 1865 in Sully, Glamorgan, Wales. Mary Catherine Power was born on 21 March 1870 in Lancarvan, Glamorgan, Wales. Edward and Mary married on 4 September 1897 in Barry, Glamorgan, Wales. Edward and Mary’s children were all born in Barry. Edward Dalton’s parents were Irish immigrants to Barry. Edward’s father, also named Edward, and his mother, Margaret Organ or Regan, were both of County Tipperary.
John Mckenzie’s name was recorded on his son Alexander’s birth certificate as John Drummey Mckenzie. On other documents, John’s middle name is indicated as Daniel or Donnel. The variations in the middle name are helpful in tracing the family’s ancestry. The middle name of Drummey connects the Mckenzie family to the parish of Old Machar in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, where the name is very common. Daniel and Donnel are interchangeable forms of the same name; Daniel and Drummey are the first and middle names of John’s father. It is interesting to note that John Daniel or Drummey Mckenize had an older brother who died at age six, whose name was John Daniel Mckenzie. This might explain why the middle name Daniel (and variations of the name) was also used by John.
John Mckenzie was born on 7 July 1863 in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England, and the son of Daniel Drummey Mckenzie and Clara Butler. John’s birth certificate is the only record in which his middle name was recorded as Donnel. John married Alice Fox on 1 June 1884 in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England. Alice was born on 15 March 1862 in Chepstow, Monmouth, Wales, the daughter of Joseph Fox and Ann Dead.
Joseph Fox was a native of Somersetshire, England; Ann Dead was born in Bristol, Glourcestershire, England. Joseph and Ann and their families were among the many English who settled in Wales during booming industrial and coal production. Joseph and Ann married on 6 July 1851 in Chepstow, Monmouth, Wales, and spent the rest of their lives in the parish. All of their children were born there. Joseph passed away on 25 March 1886 in Cheptow, Monmouth, Wales and Ann died there on 3 July 1909.
Daniel Drummey Mckenzie was christened on 30 June 1829 in Old Machar Parish, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the son of John Mckenzie and Jane Walker, both of Old Machar. Clara Butler was born in 1831 in Hewelsfield, Gloucestershire, England, and the daughter of William Bulter. The name of Clara’s mother in not known.
Daniel and Clara were married on 26 January 1852 in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England. The family first resided in Bristol where their first three children were born. The family later settled in Chepstow, Monmouth, Wales, where their next two children were born. John Daniel or Drummey Mckenzie was born in Bristol, Gloucestershire, England. Their last four children were born in Chepstow. The 1871 census indicates Danile was a shipwright.
Aberdeen, on the North eastern coast of Scotland, is the ancestral home of the Mckenzies. Today, Aberdeen is known as a major centre for North Sea oil production. In the nineteenth century, Aberdeen’s principal industries were textile mills, paper making, fishing, and shipbuilding. Daniel Drummey Mckenzie likely learned his shipwright trade in his native Aberdeen.
Daniel Drummey Mckenzie’s parents, John Mckenzie and Jane Walker, were married on 17 October 1824 in Old Machar, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. All three of their children were christened in the parish. John Mckenzie’s and Jane Walker’s parents at this point are unknown.
Julia Eileen Gillard has a rich and varied ancestry, with roots that reach from Wales to rural England to the port city of Aberdeen, Scotland, and Tipperary and Cork, Ireland. Ms Gillard’s ancestors experienced the challenges of life and made positive contributions to the nations and societies in which they lived. It has been said that by learning about our ancestors we learn about ourselves. Julia Eileen Gillard should take great pride in her ancestry.