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Walter Williams View the Map

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Walter Williams, a Bundjalung man, was born at Bonalbo in the 1890s to Lansbury Williams, a renowned stockman and tracker, and Emily Charles.  Lansbury Williams probably spoke the Gidhabal dialect of Bundjalung.  Walter was also the great-grandson of King Bobby and Queen Jinny Little who both had strong ties to Yulgilbar Station on the Clarence River.  Before taking the job as the tracker at Casino in about 1919, he worked as a bush labourer and horse breaker.  On one occasion, he drove 200 horses to Tabulam before breaking them all.  He was a master horseman.

Walter took over as the Casino tracker from his father-in-law Denny Joseph.  He continued to break horses for the police.  His other main jobs as the tracker were to look for people lost in the bush and trailing herds of lost or stolen cattle.  His tracking career was sadly cut short in 1930 when he suddenly passed away suffering from pneumonia, a condition he had first suffered from in 1919.  He was survived by his wife, Violet Joseph, and four children.[ref]Bundjalung News 01/11/1977; Death Certificate of Walter Williams 1930/005249; Casino and Kyogle Courier and North Coast Advertiser 26 February 1919: 2[/ref]

Walter Williams - Related Languages:

Bundjalung

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