William Criddle was born 18 November 1804 in in Ightham, Kent. The son of William CRITTAL 1777-1815 and Sarah, nee BRATTON.
William arrived from Tunbridge Wells, Kent on 12th October 1829 at the age of twenty-five, at the time and for many years afterwards he was known as "Crittal ";
The name on his marriage certificate is CRIDDLE and the family were
forever after known as CRIDDLE (see note)
He arrived on the 12 October 1829 in Perth, as an indentured servant, Agriculturalist, with Thomas THOMASETT (this name showing as Thom(p)sett on the passenger list), and their employer was, Alfred STONE, a solicitor and prospective farmer. The three men had shipped in the "Caroline" , which had been chartered by James HENTY to bring his many employees and stock to the Colony.

On the journey CRIDDLE and THOMASETT lived with the other steerage passengers on the lower deck, and amongst them John CHIPPER, Charles GEE and George REWELL, together with their wives and families. Their diet of salt meat and ship biscuits was not varied during the long journey as was that of the passengers in the Cuddy who had the money to pay for extra, and more tasty food.
The latter had Hams, Tongues, Cheeses and salt fish, Soups and Eggs and various Pickles and Spices for disguising the unpalatable Salt Meat.

Three weeks after their arrival in the Colony, Stone was granted a villa site of seven acres on the Canning River and a further 5,230 acres 'in the interior', which he ultimately took up on the Avon.

On this villa grant CRIDDLE and THOMASETT worked at erecting a
primitive stone cottage which was named "Speldhurst "after the parish in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, together with accommodation for themselves.

THOMASETT made himself busy about the cottage while Criddle set about
preparing the ground for the vineyards and orchards that he was to
supervise. The two men barely settled when Thomasett drowned in the
river while shooting ducks.

Within a year of his arrival Stone realized that money was not made easily in the colony and he accepted a position under Governor Stirling as the Sheriff of the colony, or Clerk of the Peace, as he was sometimes referred to. It may have been at this time that Stone released CRIDDLE from his indentures.

By August 1834 he was working as a carpenter for J. PHILLIPS, who had
subleased James Henty's property, Stoke Farm, near Bassendean.
Phillips, like so many others, was feeling the pinch of bad times and he applied to the Commissariat for food for CRIDDLE. To-wards the end of the thirties, and as the Avon settlement began to expand, CRIDDLE found his way over the hills to Toodyay where either as an agricultural labourer or as a carpenter he would have found plenty of employment.

By 1840 CRIDDLE was working at Grassdale, and in that year at Deepdale Farm he married the daughter of William THOMAS and Keziah, nee SAUNDERS, Elizabeth THOMAS, she had been born in 1820 and was known to her family as "Betsy"
Within a few years William's financial position had improved considerably and he was then able to lease a farm of 200 acres on the old Jimperdine Road to Toodyay.

In the census of 1849 CRIDDLE declared that his household, besides his
wife and himself, consisted of two males under twelve years (William
the younger and Tom) two females (Anne and Susan) also under
twelve. He also declared that he possessed 2 horses, 3 horned cattle,
11 swine and six acres of wheat. Another son, Henry was born at
Toodyay in late 1850 and by this time, Criddle's lease on the
Jimperdine Road had expired. When the first winter rains fell in 1852
and Lockier Burges returned to the Avon Valley looking for men and
their families who would be willing to migrate northwards to the Irwin
Valley.

William CRIDDLE went with him taking his wife and 5 children. The
Criddle family remained at the Irwin River until the end of 1859 when
William purchased two sections, totaling 80 acres, on the north front
flats and roughly a mile south-east from the Bootenall Springs. Portion of one section faced Gregory Road, quite near the road William built a three roomed mud brick house. In the garden he planted a Palm Tree.

In the floods of 1862 the house was destroyed. William built another
home, which met a similar fate in 1872. For the third time he built a home from limestone carted from a quarry at Rudd Gully some two
miles to the North, on slightly higher ground to with stand the floods.

Meantime the Palm Tree continued to grow and a hundred years later it
was still thrusting its fonds into the air some forty feet from the ground.

William CRIDDLE died on The 12 May 1875 aged seventy-one. Betsy or 'Granny CRIDDLE' as she was more affectionately known lived until 1909 when she died at the ripe old age of eighty-seven. She had married at 18 and given birth to thirteen children. Mary the first child to be born in the Victoria District died in 1870.

The children of William CRIDDLE and Betsy were:-

1. Anne CRIDDLE Born: 2 May 1842 , Toodyay, and died: 13 Dec 1897, Greenough,
She married (1) John PATIENCE at Lynton (born 1819 in England died 24 September 1870 at Greenough. Arrived in Western Australia 1850 as a convict on the "Scindian'. Lived in Greenough as a Farmer & Shoemaker) on 14 November 1857, at Pt Gregory, WA
She married (2) Thomas HARRISON, son of Stephen and Margaret Harrison. Born in England in 1843. Died at Greenough 15 May 1931. Farmer, Greenough, Western Australia. Arrived WA 1863. On the 19 April 1877 at Greenough.

2. William CRIDDLE Born in Toodyay Western Australia in 1843 and died in Guilford Western Australia on 1 November 1912. He is buried in the Dongara Anglican Cemetery.
He was a Farmer & Grazier in Dongara, Murchison & Gascoyne Districts of Western Australia. He was also an Hotelier at the Dongara Hotel (later the Dominican Convent).
William CRIDDLE was married (1) at Greenough, Western Australia on 19 December 1864 to Mary Anne BUFTON, born 1844 in London, England. Died 1 September 1901 in Dongara, Western Australia. Mary Anne BUFTON was the daughter of William BUFTON 1814-1869 and Hannah, nee WILTSHIRE 1818-1880 who arrived in Western Australia in 1854. They had 13 Children.
William CRIDDLE married (2) Martha REYNOLDS on 25 July 1904. Martha was born at Greenough, Western Australia in 1863. She was the daughter of Peter REYNOLDS and Harriet, nee KENWORTHY, who arrived on the "Berkshire" in 1855. They were farmers and Innkeepers at Greenough, Western Australia. 1 Child


3.Thomas CRIDDLE
born in Toodyay, Western Australia in 1845. He died in Greenough, Western Australia on 21 May 1914, and is buried at the Greenough Central Cemetery. He was a farmer and innkeeper at one time owned the Black Flats Hotel near Bradley's Siding Greenough. Married Mary CONNOLLY 1849-1925 at Greenough on the 24 May 1869.

The children of this marriage were:-
Selena Helena Criddle 1870 ? 1940
John Thomas Criddle 1872 ? 1938
Joseph Alfred CRIDDLE 1874 ? 1937
Robert Criddle 1876 ? 1947
William Ernest Criddle 1878 ? 1949
James Frederick CRIDDLE 1880 ? 1956
Sidney Criddle 1882 ? 1953



4.Susan CRIDDLE 1848-1909. m. David BRAND 1840-1912
married at Greenough, on the 15 September 1869.
David and Susan are both buried at the Dominican Cemetery in Dongara

The children of this marriage were:-

Elizabeth Jane BRAND 1870 ? 1932 m. Horace FAULL
George David BRAND 1871 ? 1952 m Elizabeth Sarah CLARKSON 1875-1952
Isabella BRAND 1873 ? 1947 m. Charles JAMES
William Henry BRAND 1875 ? 1947 m. Annie ROWLAND
Andrew James BRAND 1877 ? 1949 m. Octavia Rosa ROWLAND
Selina BRAND 1879 ? 1955 m. Robert CLARKSON
Fletcher Alderwan BRAND 1881 ? 1947 m. Lola BAYLISS
Albert John BRAND 1883?1952 m. Hilda MITCHELL on 21 Jan. 1911. The parents of Sir David BRAND 1912-1979
Eugenia Maud BRAND 1886 ? 1933 m. Forest Edwin MORRELL
Frederick Thomas BRAND 1888 ? 1953 m. Sarah May HUGHES

5. Henry CRIDDLE born August 1850 at Toodyay and died 1 August 1903 at Greenough. married Frances Maxton DORAN 1855-1934 on the 13 December 1877.
The children of this marriage were:-
Francis Louisa Criddle 1878 ? 1879
Mary Jane Criddle 1880 ? 1882
Agnes Criddle 1882 ? 1885
Elsie Dora Criddle 1883 ?
Arthur Charles Criddle 1886 ? 1952
Elizabeth May Criddle 1888 ?
James Reginald Criddle 1893 ? 1961
Evelyn Maud Criddle 1897 ?


6. Mary CRIDDLE
born 1 August 1852 at Toodyay and died on the 12 November 1873 at Greenough, Western Australia

7. John CRIDDLE
born 20 February 1855 Irwin River and died 14 May 1934 Midland Junction, Murchison, Western Australia m. Esther Jane PELL 1853-1936 at Dongara on the 28 August 1878.

The Children of this marriage were:-
Grace Mary CRIDDLE b: 30 March 1880 Irwin River, d: 8 Dec. 1969 Perth. m. William Albert KENWORTHY 1876-1948 at Minginew on 27 February 1903
Irwin John CRIDDLE b: 4 May 1883 Irwin River. d:20 October 1959 Rivervale, m. Fanny Oliver HERBERT 1889-1926 in Irwin, 31 May 1911
Charles Glynn CRIDDLE b: 24 June 1884 Irwin River d: 7 June 1966 Victoria Park, Perth m. Emily Jane BRANDIS 1882-1953 at Irwin in 1912
Violet Mary May CRIDDLE b: 31 May 1890 Irwin River d: 14 June 1976. m. Arthur Lewis OLIVER 1884-xxxx at Irwin on 19 May 1908
Jack Farris CRIDDLE b: 24 May 1893 Irwin River, d: 26 August 1972 Perth. m. Eileen Rose MIFFLIN 1901-1989 at Perth in 1925.
Ivy Myrtle CRIDDLE b: 25 June 1897 Irwin River d: 20 December 1980. m. Wellman Edward TURNER 1893-1953 at Fremantle in 1937

8. James CRIDDLE
born 19 August 1857 at Bootenall and died 11 March 1927 Nabawa. married Emma PELL, b: 21 January 1859 Toodyay, d: 9 November 1944 Nabawa, Western Australia. at Dongara on the 21 March 1881.

The children of this marriage were:-
Alfred CRIDDLE b: 8 September 1882 Dongara d: 18 February 1957
Sydney James CRIDDLE b: 13 July 1884 Dongara, d: 1 Oct. 1963 Geraldton
Ethel Margaret CRIDDLE b:1884 Dongara, d: 1885 Dongara
stillborn female CRIDDLE b:1885 Dongara d: 1885 Dongara
Herbert Melbourne CRIDDLE b: 29 September 1886 Dongara,
ANZAC killed in Action 27 October 1917 Flanders, Belgium
Beatrice Adelaide CRIDDLE b: 2 October 1888 Dongara d: 16 June 1966 Geraldton.
Horace John CRIDDLE b: 20 February 1890 Dongara d: 18 March 1928 Nabawa,
David CRIDDLE b:1892 Dongara d: 29 December 1974 Geraldton
Arthur George CRIDDLE b: 18 June 1894 Dongara, d:23 February 1958 Perth
Harold CRIDDLE b: 7 March 1896 Dongara, d: 18 March 1976 Narrogin
Edith Mary CRIDDLE b: 14 July 1898 Greenough d: 26 May 1968 Perth
Ina Phyllis CRIDDLE 1900 Dongara d: 8 January 1975 Geraldton
Ivo Philip CRIDDLE 1900 Dongara d: 2 January 1953 Geraldton


9. Sarah CRIDDLE
born 18 June 1859 Greenough and died 31 July 1937 in Perth.m. Robert Francis HOPE 1856-1942 at Dongara on 21 January 1881.

10. Eliza CRIDDLE
born 11 April 1861 Greenough died on the 23 January 1949 buried at Karrakatta Cemetery, Karrakatta. m. Edward Joseph Miles O'CONNOR 1856-1890 at Dongara on 6 November 1889.
One son was born before Edward was killed on 21 May 1890 by the accidental falling of a tree, at the Water Works, at Canning:-
Edward Francis O'CONNOR 1890 ? 1961

11.Emily CRIDDLE
born 21 December 1862 Greenough, died 23 September 1905 Dongara, m. William DOWNES 1859-1936 the son of Edward Bethel DOWNES 1819-1891 and Amelia, nee WILLIAMS 1831-1877 at Dongara in 1882.

The children of this marriage were:-
Emily Elizabeth DOWNES 1883 ? 1883
Edward Alderwin Downes 1885 ? 1958
Daisy Elizabeth DOWNES 1887 ? 1979
Alma Downes 1889 ?
Charles Downes 1891 ? 1947
Arthur DOWNES 1893 ? 1970
William Downes 1896 ? 1896
Herbert Downes 1897 ?
Victor DOWNES 1899 ? 1901
Louis Roy DOWNES 1900 ? 1901
Vida Charlotte DOWNES 1903 ?
Pearl Clyde DOWNES 1904 ?


12.George CRIDDLE
10 October 1864 Greenough, died 25 July 1952 Perth. Western Australia. married Ada DOWNES 1867-1962 Daughter of Edward Bethel Downes 1819-1891 and Amelia, nee WILLIAMS 1831-1877 at Dongara in 1897.

The children of this marriage were:-
Irene Holly CRIDDLE 1898 ?
Daphne Georgine Criddle 1900 ? 1968
Leila Marian CRIDDLE 1902 ? 1924
Frederick Lionel CRIDDLE 1903 ? 1942
Alan George Criddle 1906 ?
Trixie Rita Criddle 1908 ?
Cora Criddle 1910 ?

13.Charles CRIDDLE
born 22 December 1867 Greenough, died 25 April 1886 at Greenough, Western Australia.


14 Phoebe Elisabeth CRIDDLE
born 15 January 1870 Greenough and died 17 February 1960 Subiaco m George CARTER at Dongara in 1893


[NOTE: It was not until 1926 that a person could only change his name by Deed Poll. Before that he could call himself any name he wanted. janilye ]


The photograph below courtesy of the Geraldton Historical Society is William Criddle 1804-1875 and Elizabeth Criddle nee Thomas 1822-1909
Early Pioneers of Greenough, Western Australia