by Narissa Phelps for the Lennox Wave

William Clement, a 23-year-old carpenter, met his future wife aboard the vessel Sir Edward Paget on their voyage to Australia in 1842. Eleanor Ewing was a 21-year-old domestic servant and the couple married just six-months after arrival in Sydney. In 1846, accompanied by two young children, they travelled by schooner to the Northern Rivers, a trip that took a week. These were the earliest years of the district’s settlement and William’s building skills were highly sought-after, as settlers constructed new homes and outbuildings. He worked in Tomki, building a home for Clark Irving, then constructed Lismore House for William Wilson.

About 1864 he became one of North Creek’s early settlers, selecting fifty acres of land at Prospect, close to the property of John Sharpe. He was one of the district’s first cane farmers, starting the Alpha sugar plantation and mill, but also owning oyster leases on the Richmond River. William went on to become Ballina’s first postmaster and first mayor (1883—1885), being described as one of the district’s oldest and most respected residents.

William and Eleanor had eight children, seven of whom survived to adulthood. Theirs was obviously a relationship of deep affection. When Eleanor died in 1890, at the age of 70, William suffered great heartache. A month after his wife’s death, he wrote that his life would soon be over, and he hoped it would not be long before he was beside his dear wife. In the three years that followed, his health declined rapidly and he essentially lost the will to continue alone. He ended his life in 1893, when he was 74-years-old. The couple were reunited in the Pioneer Cemetery at Ballina.

Headstone of William and Eleanor Clement, Pioneer Cemetery Ballina.