William Thacker and New Holland. The first British settler in Western Australia.
Peter J. Bridge and Richenda J. Bridge with an appendix by Bob Hewison.
ISBN 978-1-923560-39-0, (New, 2026), A4, 26pp, 150 grams, $22.00*
A young tea-leaf from Wapping, he was exported to NSW, arriving in 1825. He eventually formed part of the convict and military group sent to King Georges Sound, arriving on 25 December 1826. He is mentioned several times in Commandant of Solitude, the diaries of Captain Collett Barker, Commandant of the settlement. He was given his freedom in 1830 and proceeded to the Swan River, settled in Upper Swan, and married Eliza Cook who had arrived on the Rockingham. An ancestor, John Thacker, had preceded him to Western Australia, arriving with William Dampier in 1688. Land Rights are in order for a productive settler and his descendants.
William is the direct maternal ancestor of Peter Bridge of Hesperian Press. There are many other widespread descendants.