Biography

William Child Iles 1836–1923

(From the brief history written by his son George Henry Roach Iles)

William Child Iles was born at Fairford, Gloucestershire, England, on 26 April 1836. He was educated at Reading College. At the age of eighteen he enlisted in the army, and was a dispatch rider to Lord Cardigan in the Crimea.

He arrived in Otago aboard the Bosworth in June 1861. After landing in Dunedin he camped alongside the Kaituna Stream before proceeding to the Dunstan diggings, where he worked for some time. He was later employed by Cobb & Co. as a coach and wagon driver, and farmed in the Goodwood district before returning to Dunedin. While living in Dunstan or Clyde, he became a member of the Clyde Band, the first band to be formed in Otago.

Iles was employed as a warder in Dunedin Public Hospital for fourteen years, and later drove coaches for Cobb & Co. from Invercargill to Riverton. He also worked as a warder in "the mental hospital that was at the rear of Otago Boys High School", and as a wagon driver at the Underwood dairy factory when it first opened. In his last years, he was employed by a Mr Cummings.

He was twice married. His first wife was the daughter of William Garthwait, of Invercargill. She died in childbirth. There was one daughter, Nellie, who was adopted by the Garthwaits. Iles’s second wife was Margaret MacArthur of Dipton, Southland. They were married in Knox Church by the Rev. Dr Stuart, who had sailed on the Bosworth with Iles. They had a family of ten. George Henry Roach Iles gives the names and dates of birth of the children as follows: Margaret Wilhimina (sic) (March 1872), Martha Jane (17 July 1872), Charlotte Elisebeth (sic) (27 April 1876), William Arthur (4 June 1877), George Henry Roach (14 Dec 1878), David Albert (20 Sept 1880), Edith Lousia (sic) (9 June 1882), Robert John, Edward James (7 April 1887) and Mabel Rebecca.

Iles was "a highly respected citizen of Dunedin and Invercargill, a firm believer in the old time religion, and a man of his word in both principle and practice". He was one of the first members of the Salvation Army in Dunedin. Although he did not become an officer, he remained a member until the end of his life — a period of some forty years — and when he died he was tendered an Army funeral.

— Other burials recorded at the same site:
Martha Lane (sic) ILES d. 1879,
David Albert ILES d. 1881,
Robert John ILES d. 1886,
and Margaret ILES d. 1903.