Willison Family
| Type of person | Family |
|---|---|
| Principal occupation | Farmer |
| Significant places | Main North Road |
Gilbert Gordon Willison married Alma Adeline Taylor in 1923; they had four children Marjorie, Donald, Nancy and Mollie (see details below). By 1927 Gilbert was farming at ‘Gawler Railway’, which seems to be the term used at the time for the region west of the Gawler Railway Station. Then in 1929 he purchased 16+ acres of farmland at Evanston, it was located at the southern tip of the Gawler region and bounded by Main North Road on its eastern side (Lots 13 & 14 Hundred of Munno Para, previously owned by Kenneth Edmund George Kuhlmann, of Gawler, nurseryman).[1]
The Willison children attended the Gawler Blocks School and then went on to Gawler High; all three daughters received mentions in the Bunyip at various times for ‘topping’ their grade.[2][3][4][5] [citations] Younger sisters Nancy and Mollie played in the original Gumnuts Netball Club in 1946.[6] Son Don was involved in motorcycle sidecar racing and went on to become South Australian Champion in 1954.[7]
Both Willison men served in WWII; father Gilbert in the Citizen Military Forces and son Don in the RAAF (see WWII Personnel). After the war, they both had unfortunate encounters with stray sheep on Main North Road; in 1949 Don was found injured on the road after his motor cycle collided with one, causing him to be taken to the Hutchinson Hospital by Gawler’s ambulance with a broken collar bone, concussion and shock.[8] Then the following year Gilbert hit one when driving his truck.[9]
In 1952, a large house block in the north eastern corner of the farm, facing onto Main North Road, was subdivided off and transferred to daughter Nancy,[10] who had married Eric Arthur Lucas (brother of Cliff Lucas), a WWII veteran (see WWII Personnel). The c1950s house they built is still there in 1925, at the address now known as 32 Willison Avenue (a service road constructed parallel to Main North Road that was named after the family). Nancy was still residing there in 1979.[11]
In 1954 a diagonal strip right across the farm was acquired to enable the construction of the Gawler Bypass. [Certificate of Title 2242/107] The title deed actually records that the portion of land was transferred to “Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second”!
In about the 1950s and 1960s, the Willison family were running a shop on the Main North Road boundary of their property (alongside and just south of daughter Nancy’s new home). A c1950s photograph, shows the shop was in a c1890-1910 stone building, likely the original farmhouse, which had been modified by the addition of large ‘shop windows’. Locals from that era, recall the shop, associated with the Willison and Lucas families, with the residence next door.[12] It is believed to have operated both before and after the construction of the Gawler Bypass[12] (which was completed in 1963).
The location of the shop is now known as 34 Willison Avenue. In 2025 it is the premises of medical business, Gawler Specialists Clinic. Whilst the building has a similar shape and roofline, the southern wall is brick not stone and the chimney doesn't match - it appears to be a more recent building.
In 1973 Gilbert and Alma Willison sold the farm[13] and retired to Sunnyside Drive, Evanston Park.[11] By 1984 the land to the east of the Bypass contained multiple leased shops and in 1986 was purchased by Umanand Prasad and wife Uma Prasad, both doctors,[14] who developed the 104 unit Prasads Motel. In 2025 the former motel, at 1 Main North Road Evanston is Gawler Supportive Care, an accommodation and support facility for individuals with disabilities and mental health challenges. Adjacent businesses include Animalia Vet Clinic (1 Main North Road Evanston).
The former Willison land to the west of the Bypass is still farmland in 2025.
Note, whilst the Willison farm address was technically Main North Road, Evanston, it was generally referred to as Adelaide Road, Gawler in the 1940s.
Click here for photos relating to the Willison Family.
Willison Family Birth, Death & Marriage Information
WILLISON Gilbert Gordon
b. 10 Sep. 1896, Para Hills, SA (Reg. Adelaide 590/5, father ‘William Willison’ & mother ‘Elizabeth Reid’)
m. 1923 Alma Adeline Taylor, SA (Reg. Adelaide 297/785)
Served Citizen Military Forces WWII (Service Number S14731)
d. 1975, Gawler, SA, aged 79 (Reg. SA 305A/8993)
Buried One Tree Hill Cemetery, One Tree Hill, SA (with wife Alma)
TAYLOR Alma Adeline (WILLISON)
b. 19 Feb 1898, One Tree Hill, SA (‘Alma Adelaide Taylor’, Reg. Talunga 618/154, father ‘George Taylor’ & mother ‘Helen Sophia Shillabeer’)
m. 1923 Gilbert Gordon Willison, SA (Reg. Adelaide 297/785)
d. 14 Feb 1993, Gawler, SA, aged 94
Buried One Tree Hill Cemetery, One Tree Hill, SA (with husband Gilbert)
Children of Gilbert Gordon Willison and nee Alma Adeline Taylor
WILLISON Marjorie Helen (DIXON)
b. 1 Sep 1924, North Adelaide, SA
m. William Dick Dixon (d. 1955)
Partner Egon Lensch
d. 24 Sep 2005, aged 81
Buried Willaston Cemetery, Willaston, SA (Plot 2 M 4 – with husband and second partner)
WILLISON Donald Gilbert ‘Don’
b. 21 Sep 1926, North Adelaide, SA (Reg. Adelaide 180A/72, father Gilbert Gordon Willison)
Enlisted WWII 5 Dec 1944 Royal Australian Air Force
Discharged WWII 28 Jun 1946
m. Elizabeth Brennan SHOOLBREAD
d. 6 NOV 1973, Alice Springs, Northern Territory
Cremated Centennial Park, SA
WILLISON Nancy Adeline (LUCAS)
b. Abt. 1930, SA
m. 30 Apr 1949, Eric Arthur Lucas, Tod Street Methodist Church, Gawler
d. 2 Nov 2018, SA, aged 88
WILLISON Mollie Aileen (LEMKE)
b. 29 Mar 1932, SA
d. 27 Jan 2019
Cremated
References
- ↑ Certificate of Title 1397/168
- ↑ (Bunyip 20 Dec 1935) https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/96653986
- ↑ (Bunyip 6 Jan 1939) https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/96702216
- ↑ (Bunyip 28 Aug 1942) https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/96693751
- ↑ (Bunyip 19 May 1944) https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/96865796
- ↑ ‘Original Gumnuts’ (Unknown newspaper 1985) https://www.flickr.com/photos/gawler_history/26494989500
- ↑ (The Sun News-Pictorial 12 Mar 1954) https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/279645036
- ↑ (Bunyip 26 Aug 1949) https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/96857867
- ↑ (Bunyip 26 May 1950) https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/96853038
- ↑ Certificate of Title 1933/164
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Donald Gilbert Willison Probate - Northern Territory, Australia, Probate Index, 1911-1994 via Ancestry
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Gawler History Team Facebook Post (21 Oct 2025) https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1232089635626818&set=a.464667619035694
- ↑ Certificates of Title 3183/189 & 3183/190
- ↑ Certificate of Title 4164/849
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