William MILBURN was born 1837 in Durham, England, son of John MILBURN and Jane GARDINER and he married in 1863 in Victoria to Mary COXON, b. 1845, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England, daughter of George COXON & Mary DODGSON.
William Milburn, Farmer of Bruk Bruk, with 4 school-aged children, living 1 mile N of Carapook was one of the signatures to the 1875 petition aimed at establishing a new school at Carapook. Many of the MILBURN children would have attended school at Carapook. One of them became Nurse N. MILBURN and served in France during WW1 and is named on the Carapook WW1 Honour Roll.
William MILBURN had a brother Thomas MILBURN who settled at Wycheproof in Northern Victoria and another brother Joseph MILBURN who settled near Ballarat, Victoria.
William MILBURN and Mary COXON had the following known family:
- John MILBURN b. 1865, Happy Valley, Vic., d. 1953, Geelong, Vic., m. in 1893 to Maria Annina Catherine SCHMIDT 1859-1945; Lived at Carapook before moving to Geelong, Vic. in 1918
- George MILBURN b. 1866, Wando Vale, S-W Vic., d. 1941, Sydney, NSW, m ..................?;
- Jane Elizabeth MILBURN b. 1867, Casterton, d. 1873, Sandford, Victoria;
- William MILBURN b. 1868, Casterton, S-W Vic., d. 1950, Sydney, NSW, m ..................?;
- Jane Elizabeth MILBURN b. 1869, Casterton, d. 1876, Sandford, Victoria;
- Mary Wilhelmina MILBURN b. 1872, Casterton, Vic., d. 1947, Beecroft, NSW ; served as a nurse in France in WW1 as mentioned below...
- "The Casterton News" (Vic.) Thursday, 25th March 1915.
Attached to the Australian Volunteer Hospital organised by Lady Dudley which is now at the front in France is Nurse Milburn, daughter of Mr W. Milburn, Wando Vale. Nurse Milburn was at Shanghai when she volunteered for service, and on her voyage to Europe passed two vessels that were afterwards sunk by the Emden, before that piratical cruiser met her fate at the hands of the Sydney's crew. The Lady Dudley Australian Hospital has been commended by experts as the best equipped of all the allies' military hospitals and was so described by the Military Insepector as the best he had seen in France.
- "The Casterton News" (Vic.) Monday, 6th August 1917.
Nurse Milburn, daughter of Mr W. Milburn, Jackson street (formerly at Wando Vale) after being on military service in France for 2½ years, reached home on Friday week, and is at present on a visit to her relatives before returning to duty. Seeing that Nurses, equally with soldiers going to the front, are doing honorable and dangerous service for their country, the point has been raised that on return to their home districts, nurses are equally entitled to recognition of their services, given to soldiers in the form of a public "Welcome Home."
- Named on the Carapook S.S. WW1 Honour Roll
- Emily MILBURN b. 1874, Casterton, Victoria, d. 1898, Casterton, S-W Vic.;
- Charles MILBURN b. 1875, Casterton, S-W Vic., d. 1964, Casterton, S-W Vic., m1. Emmiline Frances SOMERVILLE 1884-1915, m2. Eileen Elizabeth COX 1889-1977;
- Elizabeth Jane MILBURN b. 1877, Casterton, S-W Vic., d. 1956, Sydney, NSW;
- Grace MILBURN b. 1879, Casterton, S-W Vic., d. ....., m. S. ANDERSON ............?;
- Frederick MILBURN b. 1882, Casterton, S-W Vic., d. Cunnanulla, QLD, m. 1905, Sydney, NSW to Christina Mary McINTYRE 1879-1969;
- Alice MILBURN b. 1884, Carapook, S-W Vic., d. 1966 Sydney, NSW, m. in 1914 to John E BURLEIGH;
- Walter Coxon MILBURN b. 1886, Casterton, S-W Vic., d. 1942, Wando Bridge, S-W Vic., m. in 1912 to Alice Maud NICHOLLS 1891-1981.