William Rixon, born 1868 at Towamba, near Eden, NSW was the eldest son of Thomas Rixon and Jane Laing. He had a relationship with his first-cousin, Ellen Laing, who was born 1875 at Towamba was, the daughter of Donald Laing/Lang (the son of a Scottish convict, James and a Scottish imigrant, Janet) and Sarah Higgins.
They had several children together, including John (born 1897), Bertha Rixon (Bertha Ellen) (1902), Ruby Amelia (1904) and Barney (1906), although John and Bertha’s birth records do not list William as the father. The evidence suggests John was raised by his grandparents, Donald and Sarah, as he was listed on Sarah’s death certificate in 1920.
In 1908, William Rixon married Bertha Ramsay. They had five children: Thomas William (1909), Gladys May (1911), Annie (1914), Bertha Dorothy (1923) and Marcus (1924) and all were born in Victoria. William Rixon died August 22, 1929 in Bairnsdale, Victoria
Hello james, I too am descended from William Rixon(GGF) and Bertha Ramsay(GGM) via Annie(GM).Leslie John Bird(Father)b 30-05-43 dec. 17-10-99. You have done well with your research, i have only just started to dabble into my family history. I agree the ramsay connection makes interesting reading.Regards Stephen
Thanks for your email. It was nice to hear from you. Yes, what an interesting story, and one I only discovered a few years ago in conjunction with another researcher, Kerrie. Both Kerrie and I had been researching the story individually and when we finally met it all came together. We’ve both enjoyed “the chase” of the story of William and Ellen. Then Kerrie had some contact with some people from your branch of the family. Until recently, we couldn’t find a death record for Ellen Lang either, as she used both Lang, Laing and Rixon as her surname at various points in her life. It’d make a good story for a book. By the way, have you seen The Joye Walsh book about James Rixon and Amelia Goodwin? Good luck with your research and if there’s anything I can help you with, don’t hesitate to ask.