The surname Hutchison is of English and Scottish origin. The name is derived from the medieval given name Huchin, a diminutive of Hugh. The surname thus comes to signify 'the son of Hugh'. The name is chiefly a North English one as Hugh was adopted as a Christian name in Scotland where it also became a surname and was adopted in Gaelic as Huisdean or Uisdean.
William Hutchison is our earliest known Hutchison ancestor but we currently have only few details about him and is the subject of further ongoing research. His son William Joseph Hutchison was born at Bowenfels, west of Sydney in 1860, and his wife was recorded as Jane Walkham. He was recorded as a stone mason when son William was married in 1883.
Jane's history has also presented research challenges. It is suspected that the surname is really Walkom or Walcom and that her parents were Charles Walkom and Elizabeth (Stevens) Walkom who emigrated from Cornwall in 1857.
Assisted Immigration records show that:
"The family arrived on the Government Immigant ship Plantagenet. Depositor was Samuel Paul of Richmond. Plantagenet, from Plymouth, with arrived with 334 passengers and there were 4 deaths during the voyage from hydrocephalus, inflammation of lungs, and erysipelas. Among the deaths was 8 year old Mary Walkom."
William and Jane's son, William Joseph Hutchison was born in Bowenfels but by the time he married Mary Ann Malley in 1883 he was working as a carter in Hunter Street Sydney. The family then settled in the Redfern area.