I found a newspaper article on Trove.nal.gov.au from 1941, which writes about some of the names of pioneers in the North of South Australia. It mentions the names of James Heneker (in this article spelt Hennicker). I have recorded it word for word to keep the memories and wording used in those times.
From The Chronicle (Adelaide, SA: 1895-1954)
Long Ago Names of the North
Dear Eleanor Barbour
The stories written to “The Chronicle” competition by various writers were interesting and they brought me many recollections. The one written by CE Roberts takes me back to the north. I remember Charley Roberts quite well. He was one of the old identities. I also remember Mr George Kite another of the old-timers. When I went North in 1879 the name of Roberts was well known in the Blinman district. I believe Charley was the driver of the mail from Blinman to Wooltana and Parachilna, somewhere about 1888 or 1889, or it may have been a year or so later we meet him on the road near Tea Tree Station. He was one that helped to blaze the trail through Pichi Richi and up through the Arkaba and the Wilpena Hills.
I remember the old hands leaving Scott’s Creek with their bullock teams making for the Blinman, which was then experiencing good times. I remember the Prosser Brothers, Thomas Spencer, the Popes, James Hennicker – the latter lost his waggons and their loads in a big flood that came down the Wonoka Creek. These teams travelled by road from Scott’s Creek – now called Dawesley – to the Blinman, which was well over 300 miles by road.
[I can’t be sure if the Thomas Spencer mentioned is a relative. James Heneker’s wife was Mary Ann Spencer, daughter of Joseph Spencer. Joseph and his wife had a son they called Thomas who was born in 1850. James Heneker was living in the Scott’s Creek area in 1850’s, so he would not have been one of the “old-timers” mentioned in the above article. So I am still unsure about this connection.
I have previously written a post on this blog dated 03 June 2014 with further information about James’ experiences with the Wonoka Creek Flood.
I previously worked as a Library Technician at the State Library of South Australia and then Noarlunga Library Services. I was lucky enough to work at the State Library in the Archives department, which is now a separate entity and housed at a suburban site. I've always loved English and Australian history, and began my Heneker family history in about 1980, before the advent of the internet, and now o with so many digitised records online there is a treasure chest of information out there, and it just keeps growing. One of the most wonderful treasures we have here in Australia is the Trove website, the free digitised newspapers of nearly every place in Australia, provided for free by the National Library of Australia. This has opened up so much day to day information for people searching for further information about their ancestors. I chose to write a blog as a way for me to put down a lot of information I had that wasn't necessarily easy to slot into a "family tree" as such. And I wanted to record some of the stories of the Heneker clan, and especially James Heneker (1826-1917) who arrived in South Australia as a 12 year old boy with his family. Like most of us in the genealogy community I have become obsessed and this is a never ending story. The community of bloggers, and also Facebook specialist pages has allowed me and many of us to learn from each other, and to use some of the many amazing tools that are out there now for us to use and enhance our research. My one wish?? dad Neville Laurence Heneker 1929 - 1987, this is for you, for all the things you told me, and the stories you related, often when we were up north in the Flinders Ranges, at Beltana, Hawker, Blinman and many other amazing places. I wish you were here, so I could share all this new information that has come to light. And of course for you Pa (Laurence Douglas Heneker), your stories were incredible and watching you sleep out under the stars at Arkaroola with a rock for your pillow is an image I will never forget. Oh if only we had digital cameras back then...I think of you both every time I write my words and read my books. I love you both.