According to family history, William Thomas McBride and Elizabeth Brown were married in the Roman Catholic Church, Caltowie, 17 April 1885. However, the official registration of marriage lists them as being married at the Roman Catholic Church in Orroroo on 17 April 1885. Why the discrepancy? Births, deaths and marriages were often recorded at the major centres at the time, and Orroroo was definitely the major centre for that area. William was 28 and Elizabeth was nearly 20 when they married. It is possible the date of notification was the date recorded as the actual marriage. Richard Brown and Sarah Brown, Elizabeth’s elder sister and her first brother, were witnesses. Elizabeth and Sarah were both noted as caring for a parent. It is possible this was their mother Mary, as in a notice in 1918 in The Observer newspaper, Mary was recorded as having long lost her sight. Elizabeth’s sister Ann lost her sight aged 20 as a result of glaucoma, it is possible her mother lost her sight from glaucoma as well.

All of William and Elizabeth’s children were born in the district surrounding Orroroo, mostly in Eurelia. They moved to Carrow near the West Coast in the early 1900s and eventually moved to the Riverland to work on establishing irrigation channels for the newly developed fruit blocks for returned soldiers. The McBride family were one of the families which established Barmera.

ELIZABETH was born 28 June 1866 however, her birth was not registered until 26 June 1869 by a Mr Alfred Seylon of Callington. The birth was registered in Strathalbyn. Callington is east of Mount Barker midway between Mt Barker and Murray Bridge, the family living in this region for about 13 years. Another reference listed Elizabeth’s birth as being “near Paringa” - her father was a miner and the company Paringa Mining was established approximately 4.8Km from Callington, mining copper. This was not the only mine in the area as gold, silver and other copper mines existed. Mining was organised and much work was on offer, however, it was a costly capital exercise and the owners of Paringa went into liquidation in 1872. It is possibly this that prompted a move to Morchard, 12.8 km from Orroroo and about 21.6 km from Eurelia, where her father’s brothers were all working.

WILLIAM was born 29 November 1857 in Bowden, in the town of Hindmarsh, west of the city centre of Adelaide. Brompton and Bowden were established as villages in Hindmarsh around 1840, in an attempt to move semi-skilled and skilled people from the centre of Adelaide which was becoming overcrowded. By the time John and Anna arrived here, the villages of Bowden and Brompton had been established, houses and streets built as well as hotels, churches and many businesses involving manufacturing and distribution. At some point the family moved to the Kapunda area, and this is where John died in 1867 when William was almost 10 years old. His mother, Anna Maria, married Mr Thomas Roach, in July 1869 when William was 11 and half years old. They lived in Eudunda, until William and his brother James left to seek their fortunes in Eurelia.