Liddle Family History

Our name was brought to Australia by the descendants of Robert and Margaret Liddle of Coldstream, Berwickshire, Scotland.  Their ancestors had lived for hundreds of years in the England-Scotland “Borders” region.  Then, in the late 1840s and 1850s, their descendants travelled in search of work.  Some travelled north to Edinburgh, some south to Newcastle.  Others, including our branch of the Liddles, travelled much further afield.  I would love to hear from anyone with connections to our family.

Simon Liddle, Melbourne, Australia, 2007

 

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Brief History Robert Liddle married Margaret Young in the Parish of Norham, Northumberland, in 1817.  They spent most of their married life in the small border town of Coldstream on the River Tweed.   Their son, Robert Liddle, was born about 1823 in Coldstream, Berwickshire, Scotland.  He married Isabella Kelly on 12 March 1847 in the Coldstream Parish Church. Following their marriage the couple left the Borders region and moved north to Edinburgh in search of employment.  Five months later the family was living at Dean Bridge in Edinburgh, Midlothian, where son Robert Liddle was born on 11 August 1847.  Later that year, the family was living in North Leith.  In 1852 the Liddle family emigrated to Melbourne, Port Phillip, aboard the ship Wanata.  On arrival in Melbourne the family headed for the Ballarat goldfields and by 1854 Robert was working as a storekeeper in Albion (North Sunshine).  A year later, Robert purchased at auction 230 acres in the parish of Djerriwarrh near Melton where he carried on business as a dairy farmer.  After only four years in Melton, Robert sold his property and purchased the lease of the Springs B pastoral run (Glenrowan) in north-east Victoria in 1859. Robert Liddle died on 15 March 1870 at his home in Glenrowan aged 47 years. Cause of death was chronic gastritis from which he had been ailing for 3 months.  He was buried in the Wangaratta Cemetery on 17 March.

 

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