Dick (Frank) Williams
Image: Rene Barnes
FatherRichard Cornelius Williams b. 29 Apr 1871, d. 30 Mar 1932
MotherAnna Caroline Larsen b. 4 Nov 1871, d. 28 Sep 1954
Pedigree

Birth, Death, Marriage

Frank Larsen 'Dick' Williams was born on 8 January 1911 in Numurkah, Victoria.1,2,3,4 
He married Violet Alice 'Bub' McDonald on 14 June 1933 in Preston, Victoria.3,5 
He married Norma Everett on 8 October 1949 in East Brunswick, Victoria.6,7 
He died in 1970 in Prahran, Victoria.8 

Family 1

Violet Alice 'Bub' McDonald b. 2 Jul 1908, d. 6 Jan 2008
Child

Family 2

Norma Everett
ChartsLarsen, Laust, descendant chart
Williams, John, descendant chart

Story

Born in Numurkah, for most of his life, Dick (Frank) was a butcher in Mooroopna. His short marriage to Bub McDonald produced one son. Dick later married Norma Everett. He died in Preston aged 59.
 
Frank Larsen Williams was born in Numurkah, Victoria in 1911. He was the sixth child of Anna and Richard. He was known as Dick, probably a reference to his father Richard, and his second name is his mother's family name.2
 
Early Life
Frank and his younger sister Rita were born in Numurkah, while his older siblings were born in Tallygaroopna or Shepparton.
 
Williams Family: Back: May, Freda, Richard, Anna, Roy, Thelma, Lila; Front: Rita & Frank, probably Marionvale, c. 1916
Image: Sue Mountney
Marionvale State School
Most of the Williams children went to Marionvale state school at some stage. Only eldest Roy might have left school before the family moved to Marionvale.9
Marionvale State school no. 2515 was a weatherboard one room school situated on Jubilee Road, Parish of Congupna; it opened Jun 1882
Image: Katandra & District History Group
A 1917 article describes a successful fete in which the Williams family was well represented. Thirteen year old Thelma and 14 yo May had a total of thirteen placements in the events. Events included the Girls' potato race (May 1st, Thelma 3rd), Small boys' race, no. 2 (6 yo Frank 1st), Girls' Siamese race (May and partner 1st, Thelma and partner 2nd), Small girls' race, no. 2 (4 yo Rita 1st), Girls' egg and spoon race (Thelma 1st, May 3rd), Small boys' race no. 3 (Frank 2nd), Skipping (May 1st, Thelma 2nd), Girls' foot race (Thelma 1st), Small boys' race (Frank 3rd), Needle race (Thelma and partner 1st, May and partner 2nd), and Girls' foot race, no. 2 (May 2nd, Thelma 3rd).

The children's favourite Rooster race was won by sixteen year old Lila; here's the newspaper description:
The principal item of the day, from the children's point of view, then took place, viz., the picnic, when racing, skipping, and other games were indulged in, including a single young ladies race after a live rooster. This event caused a great amount of merriment. 10 ladies started, the winner being Miss Lila Williams, the prize being the rooster himself (minus a few feathers obtained by several competitors in their desperate attempt to capture the prize).

The parents took part too with their forty-six year old father Richard claiming the Married gent's race:
Mr R Williams proved the best in the old buffers' race.


Richard also did well the following Friday night at a euchre party and dance fundraiser for the British Red Cross funds when he was the gents winner. At the same event, a cake given and raffled by 17 year old Freda raised 18 shillings (equivalent to about $85 a century later).9
 
Frank and Rita were quite close. Frank was seven years younger than next eldest May, and Rita was only two years younger than Frank. They went to school together on their pony 'Midget', and they played together. Rita said they used to go everywhere together and that 'he was my brother and friend until the day he died'.10
 
Football
Dick played for the Mooroopna Football Club in the late 1920s and early 1930s.
Dick (Frank) Williams
Image: Laurie & Lorraine Phillips
Marriage and Family
Violet Alice McDonald and Frank Larsen Williams were married at Preston Presbyterian church on 14 June 1933. They had one child.3
Bill Hehir, Dick (Frank) Williams, Bub (Alice) McDonald/Williams, Nene (Doris) McDonald, Preston, Jun 1933
Image: Rene Barnes
Dick was two to three years younger than Bub. At the time of their marriage, Bub lived at 501 Bell Street, Preston and Dick lived in Echuca Road, Mooroopna. Witnesses were Bub's brother and sister, Donald and Doris McDonald.3
 
At this point in her life, Bub's brother, father, husband, father-in-law and brother-in-law could all be described as butchers.11,12
 
The family of three lived with Dick's mother Anna in the Echuca Rd house.

Graeme played with the many cousins living nearby. Sometimes his mother or Auntie Pauline would take him on holiday.13,12,11
Graeme Williams
Image: Val Williams
Back: unknown, Val Williams, Graeme Williams; front: possibly Mervyn Norton, unknown, Leon Williams, c. 1940
Image: Val Williams
Val Williams (back left), Anna Williams (Larsen) with Leon Williams, Carmel Johnson (front left), possibly Mervyn Norton (front centre) & Graeme Williams (front right), c. 1940
Image: Val Williams
Bub Williams (McDonald), Pauline Stuart & Graeme Williams (men unknown), c. 1940
Image: Rene Barnes
'Les' behind Don McDonald, Pauline Stuart behind Graeme Williams
Image: Rene Barnes
Dick the Butcher
Dick followed his father into the butchery business. He worked in his brother Roy's 'Williams & Son' butcher shop on the corner of Main and Young Streets, Mooroopna. His father also worked there for a time, as did a butcher by the name of Don McDonald. It has been said that Roy always cut the meat beautifully, especially compared with Don McDonald and Dick who were 'butchers'. Dick often worked at the slaughter yard. He would bring the various meat products back to the butcher shop via horse and dray, to be cut up and prepared for sale.

Frank and Roy would drink Abbott's stout (kept cool with the meat) with lunch after closing the shop on Saturdays.14,3,15,16,17,18
Williams & Son butchers' shop, cnr Main & Young streets, Mooroopna; Roy Williams out front
Image: Laurie & Lorraine Phillips
Williams & Son butchers, Hubert Gemmill (left), Roy Williams (2nd from right), Mooroopna, c. 1925-1947
Image: Laurie & Lorraine Phillips
Unfortunately the marriage only lasted about seven years, with Bub and Graeme leaving around 1940.12,11
 
Bookmaker
Dick Williams was an SP (starting price) bookmaker during his years at the butcher shop, and later a registered bookmaker.19,20,21
 
'Williams' Family Visits
May and Dick and their families visited Thelma and her family in Adelaide in 1940.

Mr and Mrs J Norton and their son [Mervyn], of Mooroopna, accompanied by Mr Frank Williams and his son [Graeme] left on Wednesday morning for a tour to Adelaide by car.

Mr Frank Williams and son, accompanied by Mr and Mrs J Norton and son, have returned from an enjoyable holiday spent in Adelaide, South Australia.22,23

 
Marriage of Frank and Norma
Norma Everett and Frank Larsen Williams were married at the Congregational church in East Brunswick on 8 October 1949. They had no children.

Dick and Norma lived with Dick's mother Anna in the Echuca Rd house.7,6
 
Anna Caroline Williams died of acute pulmonary oedema at Sorrento private hospital in Oakleigh on 28 September 1954, aged 82. She had been ill for at least the previous twelve months with congestive heart failure and arteriosclerosis. She was buried at Mooroopna cemetery on 29 September 1954.24
Mooroopna cemetery
Image: BillionGraves
Mother's Death 
Anna made a will on 9 October 1946. To daughter Rita she leaves £100 and a presentation teapot of Richard's. To daughter-in-law Annie Williams she leaves £20. To son Frank she leaves the Echuca Rd house and property. An advance of £50 to daughter Lila is deemed paid. The balance of the estate is to be distributed to the five daughters.25
 
Linesman
By 1963, Dick was a PMG linesman.26,27
 
Later Years
Frank Larsen Williams died in Prahran in 1970. He is buried at the Mooroopna cemetery.8,28
 

Citations

  1. [S290] Outline Descendant Report for Laust Larsen, descendent report, unpublished, 15 March 2010.
  2. [S146] Edwardian Index Victoria 1902-1913: Indexes to births deaths and marriages in Victoria, CD-ROM, Macbeth Genealogical Services, 1997, Frank Larsen Williams entry, birth registration no. 5818, 1911.
  3. [S156] Frank Larsen Williams and Violet Alice McDonald, marriage certificate no. 5333, 14 June 1933.
  4. [S297] Williams-Howard family tree, computer file, March 2000.
  5. [S270] Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, registry and index, Frank Larsen Williams and Violet Alice McDonald entry, registration no. 5333, 1933.
  6. [S201] 'Popular couple wed', Shepparton Advertiser, 1914-1953, newspaper, Thomas Pettit and William Callender, 14 October 1949, p. 9, viewed 3 October 2018, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/188085495
  7. [S270] Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, registry and index, Frank Larsen Williams and Norma Everett entry, marriage registration no. 28381, 1949.
  8. [S270] Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, registry and index, Frank Larsen Williams entry, death registration no. 8018, 1970.
  9. [S260] 'Marionvale', Goulburn Valley Stock and Property Journal, 1910-1963, newspaper, Horan & Simpson, 11 July 1917, p. 3, viewed 6 December 2017, http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/219831427
  10. [S555] Memories of Rita Johnson, letter, 1987.
  11. [S58] Violet 'Bub' Williams, personal communication, 1 September 1996.
  12. [S21] Lorraine Phillips, personal communication, 17 December 2012.
  13. [S21] Lorraine Phillips, personal communication, 21 August 2012.
  14. [S21] Lorraine Phillips, personal communication, August and September 2012.
  15. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, Commonwealth division of Echuca, Victorian division of Goulburn Valley, subdivision of Mooroopna, 1936.
  16. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, Commonwealth division of Indi, Victorian division of Goulburn Valley, subdivision of Shepparton, 1937.
  17. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, Commonwealth division of Indi, Victorian division of Goulburn Valley, subdivision of Shepparton, 1942.
  18. [S172] Leon Williams, personal communication, 11 June 2000.
  19. [S21] Lorraine Phillips, personal communication, December 1996.
  20. [S494] 'Anna Caroline Williams', VPRS 28 Probate and Administration Files, 484/687, probate, 30 November 1954.
  21. [S172] Leon Williams, personal communication, 3 September 2012.
  22. [S201] 'Paragraphs about people', Shepparton Advertiser, 1914-1953, newspaper, Thomas Pettit and William Callender, 3 June 1940, p. 3, viewed 19 September 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article174613771
  23. [S201] 'Paragraphs about people', Shepparton Advertiser, 1914-1953, newspaper, Thomas Pettit and William Callender, 20 May 1940, p. 3, viewed 19 September 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article174613397
  24. [S407] Anna Caroline Williams, death registration no. 11216, 28 September 1954.
  25. [S493] 'Anna Caroline Williams', VPRS 7591 Wills, 484/687, will, 9 October 1946.
  26. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, Victorian division of Murray, subdivision of Shepparton, 1963.
  27. [S392] Australia, Electoral Rolls 1903-1980, online, Victorian division of Murray, subdivision of Shepparton, 1968.
  28. [S21] Lorraine Phillips, personal communication, 10 May 1996.