William Oswald Murray Weidenhofer

William Oswald Murray Weidenhofer (Bill)

Parents

Father	Georg Weidenhofer (1844-01-03 : 1915-12-12)
Mother	Lydia Elizabeth Jacobs (1844-07-06 : 1928-10-06)

Birth/death

Birth	1888-06-29	Woodside, South Australia
Death	1965-12-14	Adelaide, South Australia
Burial		Brighton, South Australia

Marriage/Children

Partner	1917-07-21 : 1941	Gladys Dorette Roberts (1892 : )
Marriage place	Adelaide, South Australia
Marriage notes	Divorced early in 1941
Children	1 Bonnie June Wilcourt (1920-06-21 : )
Children	2 Murray Talmage Wilcourt (1923-07-04 : )
Partner	1941-12-08 :	Kathleen Mary St.Eloy Woods ( : )
Marriage place	Alice Springs, Northern Territory

Residence

Qualifications/Education

William, always known as Bill, was the last of nine children born to Lydia and George Weidenhofer. He was born at Woodside and lived with his family in farming communities at Bow Hill, Geranium and later, the Adelaide suburb of Payneham. His father died at the end of 1915 and in the following year, Bill changed his name to Wilcourt, and enlisted in the A.I.F, as did his three brothers - Charlie, Bert, and Fred, although they retained the name Weidenhofer. Bill served in the 43rd. Battalion and was discharged as a sergeant in 1919.

In 1917, Bill married Gladys Doret Roberts and they had two children Bonnie June, and Murray. Early in 1941, he and Gladys were divorced and in December of that year, Bill married Kathleen Mary St. Eloy Woods in Alice Springs where Kathleen had been matron of the hospital. Also in 1941 at the age of 53, Bill enlisted in the army, and was promoted to Lieutenant, being stationed at Wayville as part of the 4th Military District Ordinance. By 1944, he was discharged from the army, so he and Kathleen took up the licence of the hotel at Minnipa, a small town near Port Lincoln on Eyre Peninsula.

By 1948, Bill was negotiating to buy the Hanson Hotel at Farrell Flat, north of Adelaide. Records show that he wrote to the War Gratuity Board, requesting that he be allotted 200 pounds from his War Gratuity Fund. (In 1945-47, the Federal Government passed Legislation allowing ex-servicemen to apply for a loan to help them establish some form of business in their civilian lives.) It would seem that his request must have been granted, although not without Bill having to give a detailed account of his purchases, which appear to have been furniture and furnishings for the hotel.

Retiring from the hotel, Bill and Kathleen chose to live in the Adelaide suburb of Glengowrie where Bill died, aged 77 in 1965. He was buried in the cemetery of St. Jude's Anglican Church in Brighton, South Australia. A Masonic emblem was attached to the headstone.

From Weidenhofer Families in Australia 1846 - 2004