Hi Noytd
Just signed up....am too looking at W-J line. Not sure if William (solicitor, Tonbridge b. Melbourne) is relevant but hit a block - trying to see if he ties in to a W-J family from Cheshire / Liverpool in mid-late 1800s. Do ou have any background info? e.g. parents, siblings? and how / why he was born in Australia?
Thanks
I can confirm that William Wilding Jones was indeed linked to the Wilding-Jones family that you refer to, but not in a direct way! It can come across as being somewhat complex, so please bear with me and hopefully this will make some sort of sense.
The family "fortune" originated with a successful Liverpool merchant named Richard Wilding (1743-1820). He was married to a woman named Diana Williams, the couple had no children so his fortune ended up being divided between his blood niece Margaret Norris (1789-1856) on the one side, and his wife's family on the other.
Diana was a niece of woman named Maria Longueville (1722-1749). Maria was married to a man named Thomas Jones. This Wilding-Jones family of Cheshire are descended from this particular union. As far as I am aware the Margaret Norris branch had nothing to do with the Longueville (later Wilding-Jones) branch.
William Wilding Jones (1855-1940) was the son of the niece of the husband of Margaret Norris (she had no children). Obviously the name of Wilding (pronounced in my family as Will-ding) came from Richard Wilding. The children of W. Wilding Jones adopted the surname of Wilding-Jones, but this family are now extinct.
I hope this makes sense and helps.