William Richard | story-of-marian-morris

I'm another title

Bill's Story as told by Bill

Bill was born in Amllochh in North Wales on 22nd August, 1943. He grew up with his grandparents, James and Mary Morris in Hollyhead, where Bill loved to skip school and go to work on the local farms on his granddad's tractor. Bill loved coming home from school to the smell of fresh baked bread and cakes.

Sadly his grandparents passed away when he was 12 and he went to live with his mum, Grace, who had married his stepfather, Owen Owen. Together they had given Bill three step brothers and a step sister, whom he hardly remembers. Recently, his youngest brother, Jason Owen, whom Bill had never met, came here on a short visit.

Through misadventure, truanting and petty shoplifting, Bill ended up in juvenile detention until he turned 14 when he entered the Royal Navy as a Boy Seaman and here started a life of roaming the world and finding true love (hee hee) in Australia.

He was stationed at Llangffair PG, near Carnarvon, where he learnt to sail on the sailing ship, The Indefatigable. In the next 18 months he learnt to tie knots, climb the rigging and "all things sailor". When he turned 18, he left the Navy and joined the Merchant Navy which sailed the world carrying products. Bill first sailed out of London on the oil tanker, El Lobo, bound for Venezeuala, then back via the Persian Gulf.

Other places in the world he visited, to name a few, were Brazil, San Francisco and The Great Lakes where his tanker was iced in for weeks. He then transferred to Tramp Steamers which mainly carried products like bulk rice around the world. On one of his voyages, on The Donegal, he dropped off rice in India and headed for Australia.

In 1964, when the ship was docked at Freemantle port near Perth, Western Australia, Bill, now aged 21, jumped ship and other sailors smuggled him onto a local ship and brought him to Melbourne where he began work with the Melbourne Harbour Trust, as an illegal immigrant, dredging Port Phillip Bay and the Yarra River. The truth is, Bill was engaged to a girl in Liverpool and on his return he was to marry and he decided to change his life's direction. Oops!

After about three years, Bill had a very serious accident, where he was flung through the windscreen of his car and through a tram and into a shop window... I KID YOU NOT!!! He almost died and spent months in hospital after losing a kidney in the accident and now has a 5 centimetre scar from his chest to his groin which was ripped apart in the accident.

Oh yes, you ask.... and what about being an illegal immigrant? Yes, he was caught by the police, and after he recovered, believe it or not, when he went to court, the judge gave HIM the choice .... stay in Australia or be deported. Remember the fiance back in Liverpool? He stayed in Australia on a bond for 12months with weekly reports to the local police station... Easy! He said.

After 12 months, Bill immediately headed for the warmer climates north. What

he did NOT do was go back to court to finalise his status as a resident...

but this is another story which unfolded after we married.

You could write a book about Bill's life in Australia, but here is the short version.

Worked in Brisbane at the Weston Biscuits factory filling jam into biscuit bases.
Picked cotton at WeeWaa.
Drove sheep from station to station around Walgett as a jackaroo.
Went to Iron Knob in South Australia where he drove the huge Haul Packs carrying iron ore out of the open cut mines.
Returned to Sydney and began his life with John Fletcher International, where he was a truck driver for many years until the company went broke and he lost all his superannuation for his retirement.
He met and married me in 1974 and we had our wonderful daughter, Sharna, in 1985, but our life together is on another page.
He found a job with Bassett's Demolition where he worked until he retired at 63 because of ill health. Bill went onto a disability pension.
During Bill's life he has had a love affair with dogs. He gave me a pup called Smokie on my first Christmas after we married. Then followed Fred and eventually Mutley and these were also accompanied by our talking cocky called Kojac, called this because he had pulled out all his feathers!
Bill decided it was time to become an Aussie so he became an Australian Citizen in 1983. at Blacktown Council Chambers.
When Bill turned 50, we had the greatest party at our home. Over 8 hours we had a BBQ and food with workmates and relatives and friends and neighbours all attending all through the day.
Doctor's found Bill had Prostate Cancer in November, 2005, in his first ever general check-up from a doctor since we were married. It was an aggressive form but thankfuly was found early and taken out in the following year at Westmead Private Hospital... doctors think this is where he pick up the superbug MRSA which attacked his lungs. He never worked again.
But he did manage to do the trip around Australia he always talked about....well, we got half way before he got too sick to continue.
For the next four years Bill almost lived at Blacktown Hospital, often in intensive care. He has been hospitalised over 50 times since 2007, has been intubated 7 times (for lung infections) which is very rare, had dialysis when his one kidney stopped working and we have been called in 3 times to say goodbye. But God had another reason to keep Bill alive.