William Alexander Anderson and Mary Eliza Milligan were married in the Holy Trinity Church, North Terrace, on the 23rd July 1844 after a two day walk from Blakiston where Eliza lived with her father. For the walk to Adelaide, which included an overnight stay at the inn known as the 'Mountain Hut', Mary Eliza was chaperoned by her father.
After the marriage the newlyweds returned by horse and cart to Macclesfield where they made their home.
William and Mary Eliza were one of the first families to settle in Macclesfield.

William joined the Victorian Gold Rush in the early 1850s but returned home without success and rented land at Flaxley.
In March 1856 William was granted a slaughtering licence.
In February 1859 a bushfire swept through the property destroying everything they owned. William, Mary Eliza and their children then moved back to Macclesfield where they rented a farm on Meadows Road where William burned charcoal for use in the forges and worked as a blacksmith and farrier.
He also did a lot of fencing in the district and built the saleyards at Macclesfield in the post and rail manner which required much splitting and shaping in the absence of nails and bolts.
William was a versatile colonist being at different times a carpenter, blacksmith, farrier, fencer, charcoal burner and farmer.
One of his most notable contributions to Macclesfield was his family of sixteen children, many of whom married into other Macclesfield families such as the Mott's, McNamara's, Stacey's and Webb's.

William and Mary Eliza's children were:
Melville born 6th May 1845, Mary 1st January 1847, Sarah 10th March 1848, Janet 10th June 1850, Rebekah 22nd May 1851, Ann 2nd May 1852, William 25th October 1853, James 26th November 1854, Henry 23rd May 1856, John 1st August 1857, Margaret 26th April 1859, Samuel 8th September 1860, Matilda 25th June 1862, (Matilda died on the 2nd May 1863 at 10 months old), George 12th August 1864, Alice 21st June 1867 and Alexander 18th February 1869.
William died on the 14th April 1872 at Greenhills, near Macclesfield aged 61. He is buried at Macclesfield St Johns C/E Cemetery.

Death notice:
ANDERSON - In loving memory of Mary Eliza Anderson, who died at Mount Barker, April 26, 1901. Also, William Alexander Anderson, died at Macclesfield, April 14, 1872. - Inserted by their loving son and daughter, George and Alice.

Macclesfield : reflections along the Angas / edited by Jim Faull (2nd ed) : Macclesfield, S. Aust. : Macclesfield Historical Book Committee, 1999

Adelaide Hills On-Line : Macclesfield section