Hello again Jessie's Mum,
I do have quite a bit of info re William's marriage to Mary Ann Jackson nee Jessop, which occurred only a few weeks after the sudden and suspicious death of William's first wife.
Mary Ann's first husband Thomas Jackson was re-sentenced to life in 1838, and there is no evidence that he ever left Tasmania. When Mary Ann married William Millard, she stated that Thomas had been dead since 1850.
According to Portland historical records, Mary Ann took up with a whaler by the name of John Robson, with whom she had four children, between 1840 and 1846. Two of these children died in infancy; the two girls survived. All these children were registered in Victoria as having John Robson for their father, and "Ann Mary" - no surname mentioned - for their mother.
In 1846, the local Portland newspaper reports that a well-known whaler (not named) had been found with his throat cut; the person who allegedly found him was William Millard. Coincidence? Anyway, there were no more Robson children.
In 1854, Mary Ann registered twins Sarah and William "Jackson", herself the mother, no father named. This William died the next year.
In 1855, it is believed she had a son, Emanuel, whom she did not register. In 1856, there was another William, also named Jackson, this time Mary Ann said the father was Thomas Jackson.
In 1859, there was a daughter Sophia; Mary Ann gave the father as John "Robinson". Sophia died the next year.
In 1863, a son David "Robinson" was born, his father listed as Thomas Robinson! Lastly, Sophia Maria was born in 1865, and she was called Sophia Maria Millard, William listed as the father.
From Sarah to Sophia, i.e. 1850 to 1865, William was still married to his first wife. However I believe that all these children were Millards, especially since all the names given to them were Millard family names - note there was no Thomas or John. So it seems the fact that they belonged to a married man was covered up on most of the birth information.
When Mary Ann and William married, she stated that she was a widow with four children - in fact there were five Millards living - but the Robson children were not mentioned, even though one of them was a witness at the wedding!
So you see, many documents were not quite correct, as people strove to hide any "scandal".
William, his first wife Eliza, Thomas Jackson, and Mary Ann's father James Jessop were all convicts, transported to Port Jackson and Van Diemen's Land for what we would now consider fairly minor crimes.
William also had at least two other brothers transported as convicts, and one other brother who appears to have arrived as a free settler.
If you would like more info, I would be happy to contact you by private email, or if you don't wish to put yourprivate email here, maybe we could swap postal addresses or something?
Regards,
bachelorb
