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Newspaper article 1948
Stan


Joined: 15 Mar 2006
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Location: Sydney
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The following article appeared on the frontpage of a suburban Sydney newspaper. "Cumberland Argus 15/8/1948.

Nonagenarian�s Death Recalls Tragedy Of Rorke�s Drift
A link with the massacre of Rorke�s Drift in 1879, during the Zulu War, has been broken by the death at her home in Phillip Street, Parramatta, of Mrs. Cecilia Williamson, aged 92.
Her first husband, ex-Private William Roy, of the 24th Regiment was one of the handful of men who survived the massacre of the regiment by the Zulus.
Wounded during the battle, Roy was a patient in a field hospital which the Zulus set on fire. Despite his wounds he played a leading part in rescue work.
For his gallantry Queen Victoria personally presented him with a medal �For Distinguished Conduct on the Field,� and a Bible inscribed: �Souvenir of Rorke�s Drift, Jan. 22-23, 1879.�
Invalided from the service, Roy married in 1882, at Forfar, Scotland, Cecilia Butchart, youngest daughter of the local stationmaster.
An account of the couple�s arrival in Parramatta, and Roy�s subsequent early death, appeared in the Argus in 1885.
It read:
�The hardships and exposure Roy had been subjected to made sad inroads on an originally robust constitution; and in 1883 at the suggestion of Roy�s brother, John Roy, of Parramatta, he came to this colony in hopes of recruiting his failing health.
�He had not been here two years before his sight, which had been failing some time was entirely lost; and, blind and paralysed, he lingered on till Friday night last, when death released him from his sufferings.
�His remains were interred in the Baptist Cemetery, Parramatta, on Sunday afternoon, two of his old comrades from Sydney being among the little band of mourners who watched the earth deposited over the mortal remains of the departed.�
Mrs. Williamson�s most treasured possession was a reproduction of the famous painting now in the Sydney Art Gallery, showing the escape from the burning hospital. Central figure in the picture is Private Roy carrying a wounded comrade to safety,
In 1892, Mrs Roy married Edward Williamson, of Parramatta, who died in 1920.
A son and two daughters of the marriage survive.
Mrs Williamson was laid to rest in the Baptist Cemetery, Parramatta, on Thursday, beside the ill-fated hero of Rorke�s Drift.
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Newspaper article 1948
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