Among the treasured entries recorded in the Carroll family bible was the birth of Joanna Rosa in Ireland in 1826. She was the sixth of thirteen children born to John and Frances Carroll.
In 1844, eighteen-year-old Joanna married Charles Watkins in London, Charles was a doctor and, in 1849, accepted a position as ship surgeon aboard the Inconstant bound for South Australia.

While Charles’ voyage is documented, exactly when or how Joanna arrived in Australia remains uncertain. By 1854, the couple were living in Victoria where Joanna gave birth in Collingwood.

The growing Watkins family moved frequently throughout the Melbourne district before eventually settling at Woady Yaloak. Over the years Joanna became mother to a large family, balancing the endless demands of colonial motherhood while supporting her husband’s medical career.

In 1861, tragedy struck without warning. Dr Watkins died unexpectedly aged only thirty-nine, leaving Joanna pregnant and solely responsible for eight surviving children, all under sixteen years of age.
Determined to provide stability for her family, Johanna relocated to Colac. Two years later she married William Wyndham, the son of an aristocratic but financially struggling English family.
Together they established a home at Canterbury Cottage where, for a brief period, Joanna again enjoyed the security of family life and the social standing that came with William’s position in the community.

That happiness proved heartbreakingly short-lived. In 1869 Joanna died of heart disease only five weeks after becoming ill. She was just forty-three years old. Her death devastated the family she had held together through years of hardship and loss. For her children, the sudden loss of their mother marked the end of the steady presence that had guided them through their most difficult years.

Research by Merrill O’Donnell
Story by Lynne Johnston

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