William F Webber
William F Webber
Date of Birth unknown
Place of Residence St John Street Launceston Tasmania Australia
Spouses Name 1. Harriet Mary Moser; 2. Mary Masterman; 3. Mary Jane Walmsley
Childrens Names 1. Clara & Harriet Bertha; 2. Marian de-Witt & Kathleen Annie; 3. William Hamilton

William F Webber was born at Little Killiow, Kea, Cornwall, England, in 1850. He was baptised on 13 Oct 1850, the sixth of 12 children of John Webber (1816-1883), tin smelter, and Elizabeth Blewett. William married Harriet Mary (or Margaret) Moser and had two daughters. Clara was born before he and his wife arrived in Hobart. She married a Mr Wyatt and lived in Adelaide. Their second child, Bertha, was born in Hobart on 17 Jun 1878 and married Rev. A Hambly, a Methodist minister, in Mar 1906. Harriet died aged 23 on 30 Jun 1878.

After the death of his wife, William moved to the north and established his business in Launceston as a grocer and hop beer manufacturer. He married Mary Masterman, the second daughter of Robert Masterman, on 1 Jul 1885. They had two daughters. Marian (Minnie) was born on 19 Apr 1886 and married John Godfrey. Kathleen (Kathie) was born on 23 Dec 1887. Then again, his wife, aged 40, died soon after childbirth on 16 Jan 1888.

He married Mary Jane Walmsley at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church on 30 Apr 1891. Their son William Hamilton, who was born on 3 Mar 1893, became a musical composer and conductor with cinema and theatre orchestras in Sydney.

William developed a herbal remedy called Vitadatio, and by the turn of the century agents were distributing it throughout the world. He claimed that it cured a multitude of complaints. An advertisement appeared in The Examiner newspaper in Jun 1895 stating that 'All sufferers should use Vitadatio. Sold by all chemists'. The recipe has been published in a book by John Rowland Skemp, Memories of Myrtle Bank, page 95. The family appears to have left Launceston about 1910. William Webber died in England. His widow Mary Jane Webber died aged 88 in Auburn, Victoria, on 20 Jun 1942. See The Examiner 4 Feb 2006, p. 29.

Peter Richardson & David Booth Feb 2006 & Marion Sargent Oct 2011