Hi John,
I too am in Adelaide, but I am not actually a member of the Williams family. My aunt married a Williams, and two generations later, so did my niece. My niece's father-in-law assured me that they were related, but my curiosity was piqued, and I decided to investigate. It turns out that my aunt's husband was descended from Jabez Williams, the fourth child of John Williams and his second wife, Sarah Waitman, while my niece's husband is a descendant of James Williams, the second son of John Williams and his first wife, Elizabeth Bennett.
Because it's not my own family I don't have all the details and relationships in my head and it's a long time since I have looked at it, so I need to get it sorted in my mind.
The 1851 UK Census (taken on the night of 30 March 1851), shows that John Williams was born c.1805 in Wrotham, Kent. (ref: UK Census 1851, Public Record Office Reference HO107, Piece 1612, Folio 569, Page 12, Registration District: Malling, Civil Parish: Wrotham, Address: Beech Wood Platt, Crouch, Wrotham, County: Kent.)
However, John’s great great grand-daughter, Elva Dickinson, nee Williams, researched the Williams Family History and says that John was born at Brynmrwr, Monmouth, Wales, but she does not give her source for this information. Two trees on RootsWeb.com also state that he has born in 1807 in Monmouthshire, Wales, but neither gives a source.
Williams is usually regarded as a Welsh surname, and I remember starting to suspect that John's father might have moved from Wales to Kent, but that's not much help because I can't remember how or why I thought that, and can't see that I made any notes about it (which indicates that is was a suspicion rather than a firm belief).
It is important to note that Elva's approach to family history research is very different from mine. The huge tree she put together was created by gathering information and oral history from family members. I was able to borrow a copy of her tree (in hard copy), and although I found it to be an incredibly useful guide, I have included nothing in mine that cannot be verified by primary sources.
I have notes that two baby boys named John Williams were baptised at Wrotham around the right time to be "our" John:
one, the son of John and Elizabeth, on 3 July 1802, (source:
http://www.findmypast.co.uk – Parish Records Collection baptism – Record Source: Wrotham baptisms 1558-1812; Kent FHS Ref: 6498; Record source: Kent Baptisms; Data provider: Kent Family History Society), and
the other, the son of James and Elizabeth, on 10 November 1805 (source:
http://www.findmypast.co.uk – Parish Records Collection baptism – Record Source: Wrotham baptisms 1558-1812; Kent FHS Ref: 6612; Record source: Kent Baptisms; Data provider: Kent Family History Society).
Of the two, this second one seems somewhat more likely to be "our" John, but the two births are too close together for the baptism records alone to tell us which is the right one. It is also possible that "our" John Williams was baptised somewhere else; or that the relevant baptism register is not currently available online; or that it has been lost, damaged or destroyed in the two centuries since John was born.
I also have a question: do you know what happened to John's third and fourth sons, John, born c.1832, and Thomas, born 1835? I have been able to find baptism records for both (at Borough Green Baptist, Wrotham, Kent), but I can find nothing after their arrival in SA with most of the rest of their family aboard the "Caucasian" (Source:
http://www.archives.sa.gov.au/sites/default/files/GRG35_48_1_52-4_Caucasian.pdf)
cheers,
Jestina
