Valentine Walliker
Valentine Walliker was born in 1861 in Sturmer, Essex in England. He married Margaret Jane Weatherell from Wolsingham, Durham, in England at the age of 22.
Shortly after their marriage they sailed to Australia on assisted passage via the “Fleur de Lis”, arriving in Brisbane on the 1st of September 1884. Upon arrival in Brisbane, he joined his sister, Laura Walliker and her 3-year-old daughter Alice, having arrived some six days prior on another convoy ship called the “Winston Hall”.
Life in Australia
In the same year as their arrival to Australia, Valentine and Margaret made their way to Victoria and settled in the suburb of Richmond, firstly at 103 Dover Street and then 8 Duke Street. Whilst in Richmond, the pair had three sons - John, Valentine Junior, and George. Unfortunately in 1890, during the birth of their third son, Margaret passed away. Three months later, their infant son also passed away. Margaret and George were buried in the Booroondara Cemetery in Kew.
Valentine was left a widower with two little boys approximately aged two and three years old. He accepted a bricklaying contract for a Mr. Culbertson in late 1894 to undertake laying the brickwork at Mr. Gassies new distillery being built in Wahgunyah (known today as Pfeiffer’s Winery).
Valentine's Death
Valentine was in the Wahgunyah area mere months prior to his tragic death by drowning in the Sunday Creek on the 12th of January 1895. He and two companions had gone down to Sunday Creek later in the afternoon after a hard and hot day working to refresh and cool down. Valentine was a poor swimmer and got into difficulties whilst crossing from bank to bank. He did resurface but quickly disappeared under the water with his companions unsuccessful in their attempts to save him. Sunday Creek was a dangerous area to swim where one year prior, a young man called Wheeler also tragically drowned.
It is not known whether Valentine brought his two young children with him to Wahgunyah at the time of his bricklaying contract, aged approximately 7 and 8 at the time. It would not have been unusual for the children to accompany him, and it is certain that people in the area knew of his circumstances as a widower and father of two small boys. A Mr. Yates from Yates Farm in Wahgunyah organised a collection for the boys to be forwarded to the next of kin to assist and support them after their father's death. The boys were taken in by Valentine’s sister, Laura Walliker Simpson, who resided at Sassafras.
Valentine's Burial and Grave Adoption
Valentine was buried in the Wesleyan section at the Carlyle Cemetery on the 14th of January 1895.
The local Wahgunyah Temperance Society undertook a fundraising collection to assist and financially support the Simpson family to provide for the two boys, as well as seeing to the burial costs for Valentine.
As of 2022 Pfeiffer Wines in Wahgunyah organised for a memorial stone as a tribute to Valentine due to his connection to the winery during his bricklaying contract. To find out more about the Adopt-a-Grave initiative, please click here.