ID Number108384
NameWILLIAMS William Robert
Family NameWILLIAMS
Plot2.K
CemeteryPublic
StatusReinstated Monument after Disinterment for Motorway
Location on the Modern Grid MapJ08 01
Inscription on TombstoneIn affectionate memory of Captain William Robert WILLIAMS, who departed this life 17 March 1890, aged 58. "What I do thou knowest not know, but thou shalt know hereafter. John. XIII.7" And of Mary Ann WILLIAMS, his wife, who departed this life on the 2 June 1920, aged 91.
Description of GraveTapered column in grey polished granite, with incised inscription on pedestal.
Date of Death or Burial*20 Mar, 1890
Public Cemetery Register Number2649
Type of Record Burial
Age58
SexMale
BiographyA shipowner, formerly owner of the Black Diamond line of colliers, William Robert WILLIAMS was born in Gravesend, England, on 5 Mar 1832. His seafaring career began at the age of 12 in England, and he served on coastal trading vessels in Australia from 1856, and between Australia and New Zealand from the 1860s. He prospered in the coal trade from the late 1860s and later owned several steamers and became involved in coalmining operations on the West Coast. While running his line of steamers he had a shipbuilding yard on the Te Aro foreshore. Before his retirement, he sold his ships to the Union Steamship Company. He died of heart disease, survived by his wife Mary Ann and his son, J H WILLIAMS. [Evening Post, 17 Mar 1890]