The Kidd Family A Family History
The Baldock Family · Alfred & Frances Baldock

Joseph John Baldock Wakely & Elizabeth Brown

1856–1926

Charles Frederick’s younger brother — a country station-master who carried their mother’s maiden name, Baldock, as his own middle name.

Born
1856 · Maitland district, NSW
Died
1926 · Camden, NSW
Married
Elizabeth Brown (m. 14 August 1877, Morpeth)

Joseph John Baldock Wakely was born in 1856, the second son given the name Joseph, after an elder brother of the same name had died in infancy two years before.1 Like Charles Frederick, he made his career in the Post and Telegraph service, rising to station-master. On 14 August 1877, at the residence of the bride’s aunt on High Street, Morpeth, he married Elizabeth Brown, second-eldest daughter of Jacob Brown of Lambton — the notice describing Joseph as “youngest son of the late Charles Samuel Wakely, of Morpeth.”2 The Public Service List of the day records Elizabeth working alongside him as a postal assistant.3

The couple’s eight children were born one after another at whichever country town Joseph was posted to next: Cecil (Newcastle, 1878), Mildred (Warialda, 1880), Herbert (Bingara, 1882), Eunice Evelyn (Bingara, 1884), Frederick (Nymagee, 1887), Muriel (Raymond Terrace, 1889), Adeline (Raymond Terrace, 1892) and Gladys (Raymond Terrace, 1894).4 Herbert did not survive his first year, dying at Bingara in 1883.5

Joseph retired from the Public Service in February 1897, then a telegraph operator at North Sydney.6 By 1913 he and Elizabeth had settled at Camden — where Joseph would later die — with their son Frederick, recorded here as Raymond Frederick, still living with them and working as a labourer; Joseph’s own occupation was once again given as telegraph operator.7 In March 1923 a black pony gelding, three years old, was reported stolen from his paddock near Camden Pound.8

Joseph died in 1926 at Camden, outliving his brother Charles Frederick by nearly two decades.9

The Record

Sources & References

  1. 1

    Birth of Joseph John Baldock Wakely, 1856

    NSW BDM birth registration 5755/1856, district Maitland — Joseph J.B. Wakely, father Charles [S.], mother Frances; named for an elder brother, also Joseph, who had died in 1854 (registration 1991/1854).

  2. 2

    Marriage of Joseph Wakely and Elizabeth Brown, 1877

    “WAKELY—BROWN.—14th inst., at the residence of the bride’s Aunt, High-street, Morpeth, by the Rev. W. Robson, Joseph, youngest son of the late Charles Samuel Wakely, of Morpeth, to Elizabeth, second eldest daughter of Jacob Brown, of Lambton.” Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser, 23 August 1877, p. 1. NSW BDM marriage registration 3546/1877, Morpeth, New South Wales, gives the bride’s surname as “Bronn” — evidently a transcription error for Brown.

  3. 3

    Wakely family in the Post and Telegraph service

    NSW Public Service List, “Section VII”: Wakely, Joseph John Baldock — Station-master, Bingera [Bingara], Electric Telegraphs; Wakeley, Elizabeth — Postal Assistant, Bingera [Bingara], Post Office.

  4. 4

    Births of Joseph and Elizabeth Wakely’s children, 1878–1894

    NSW BDM birth index, father Joseph J.B. [variously J.B., B., John B.], mother Elizabeth: Cecil A.L., 17861/1878, Newcastle; Mildred, 26226/1880, Warialda; Herbert C., 17845/1882, Bingara; Eunice Evelyn, 21117/1884, Bingara; Frederick R., 20908/1887, Nymagee; Muriel, 21144/1889, Raymond Terrace; Adeline, 30422/1892, Raymond Terrace; Gladys L., 28538/1894, Raymond Terrace.

  5. 5

    Death of Herbert C. Wakely, 1883

    NSW BDM death registration 8253/1883, Bingara, New South Wales — Herbert C. Wakely, father Joseph, mother Elizabeth, aged about one year.

  6. 6

    Retirement from the Public Service, 1897

    New South Wales Government Gazette, 16 February 1897, item [7559]: “His Excellency the Governor... has approved of the retirement from the Public Service of Mr. Joseph John Baldock Wakely, Telegraph Operator at North Sydney,—to date from the 31st ultimo.” — Joseph Cook.

  7. 7

    Camden electoral roll, 1913

    Electoral roll, Camden—Camden Polling-Place, 1913, entries 895–897: Wakely, Joseph John Baldock, Camden, telegraph operator; Wakely, Elizabeth, Camden, domestic duties; Wakely, Raymond Frederick, Camden, labourer — probably the “Frederick R.” born at Nymagee in 1887.

  8. 8

    Stolen pony, Camden, 1923

    “Black pony gelding... H B on near shoulder, 13 hands high, 3 years old... Camden Pound, about 12th instant... Joseph Baldock Wakley, Camden.” New South Wales Police Gazette, 21 March 1923, p. 155.

  9. 9

    Death of Joseph John Baldock Wakely, 1926

    NSW BDM death registration 19825/1926, Camden, New South Wales — Joseph J.B. Wakely, father Charles, mother Frances.