Life Story

​

William Wray was born in Scotland about 1820 and married Sarah Brown in Dublin in 1841. The couple sailed to Australia aboard the Regulus, arriving at Point Henry in 1842. They were among the first government-assisted migrants to land there.

 

Soon after the birth of their first son, William was offered work in the Colac district by Hugh Murray. He selected land at the foot of Murray’s Hill and brought Sarah and their baby by bullock wagon to begin a new life. They established their small holding, called Sunnyside, from the bush between neighbouring stations. There, William built a rough slab hut with a dirt floor while Sarah helped wrest a living from the land, harvesting wheat by hand with a sickle.

 

Life was hard but hopeful. Children arrived, though sorrow touched the family early when their little son William died of whooping cough at just six years of age and was buried at Sunnyside.

 

To support his growing family, William formed a bullock team, hauling timber to the Ballarat goldfields, a venture more profitable than stock work. It was demanding and dangerous labour. In the winter of 1857, after returning from one such journey in a delirious state, William died only four days later, aged just 36.

 

An inquest found the cause of death to be apoplexy. His passing came in a week of profound contrasts: as William lay dying, Sarah gave birth to their eighth child, James.

 

At this grave rests a pioneer whose life was brief, but whose courage helped lay the foundations of a family and district that would endure.

 

Research by Jill Judd Story

by Lynette Genua

Narrated by James Bakker
 
© 2026 Colac & District Family History Group Inc. 
All rights reserved. 

​

Life stories have been researched and compiled by the Colac & District Family History Group Inc. and its independent contributors. This material must not be copied or reproduced without permission. AI tools have been used to assist. 

 

For more information, please contact the Colac & District Family History Group Inc.