William Telford Davidson and Annie Hardy Skilbeck
 

William was listed in the 1897-98 Wise’s Post Office Directory as ‘Carpenter in Egerton’, and again in 1918 as ‘Carpenter’. On the 1912 Electoral Roll, he is listed as a 'grazier/farmer' in Egerton, living with his wife Annie, and sons William and George, 'labourers'.

Around 1904, along with his brother Robert, William travelled to Pretoria, South Africa, to supervise rebuilding works after the Boer War. Whilst over there, he trained apprentices in the trade of carpentry. It has been said that William was a very poor sailor and suffered from sea sickness the whole trip, losing a fair amount of weight along the way. His seventh child, Alice, was born in 1904 while he was away. Upon their return to Australia, William and Robert worked on the construction of Flinders Street Station, where William was the foreman.

The family lived on and ran the farm known as Daisy Bank in Mt. Egerton, which had belonged to Annie’s parents, the Skilbecks. During his time in Mt. Egerton, he trained cadets in the use of rifles. After the war and eventual closure of the Doch and Doris Hotel, all the old rifles were dumped in the cellars and buried.

One morning in 1918 William went out to collect the cows and bring them in for milking, but while the cows came home, he never did. After searching for him, he was found propped up against a fence having passed away as the result of a sudden heart attack, at the young age of 54.

After William’s death, Annie moved to Loch, in South Gippsland, to live with her son, Joe. She eventually suffered a stroke, and was in a wheelchair and housebound for 9 years before dying in 1946 at the age of 76. William and Annie are both buried at Mt. Egerton Cemetery.