William James Phelan

William James WJ Phelan (born c.1847-1851) Married 7 Jan. 1871, PMB, Elizabeth Goulden d. of A.M. Goulden. Was a journalist and edited the Gold Fields Mercury at Pilgrim’s Rest at the time of annexation in 1877. Later was editor of Natal Advertiser (1881) and Times of Natal (1885–6) He died in 1886/1887

Marriage: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-D8M7-K75?i=290&cc=...

Over in Pilgrim's Rest in the Eastern Transvaal was another nonconformist Irish newspaper editor. In the mid-1870s, the Gold Fields Mercury was edited by the irascible W.J. Phelan. He was against the government, and it mattered not that that the government in this case was Boer rather than British. Phelan, like Aylward, lacked subtlety, something which made his newspaper interesting and exciting reading. However, also like Aylward, he overstepped the boundaries once too often and found himself imprisoned, albeit for a brief period.

DN: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSQF-D9Z1-9?mode=g&i=1...