William Charles Wilkes, journalist and editor, was the son of Andrew Robertson Wilkes, reported to be a captain in the East India Company, and his wife, Mary Christmas (nee Burt). While working as a clerk he was sentenced to transportation for life for stealing. Wilkes arrived in Sydney on 21 November 1833. After working for the Police Department in Sydney he was assigned to Surveyor Burnett in 1841 and came to Moreton Bay. He was granted his ticket of leave on 3 February, and worked as a shepherd on Helidon Head Station (near the Darling Downs). There he was an eye witness to an attack by Aborigines on a transport of supplies and the ensuing battle which became known as 'the Battle of One Tree Hill'. In 1844 he wrote a mock heroic poem based on these events, 'The Raid of the Aborigines' which reflected his liberal politics in its satirical treatment of local squatters.
Wilkes wrote for the Moreton Bay Courier and in 1848-1856 became its second editor. He was an active proponent of Separation, a strong advocate for public education and opposed the reintroduction of convict labour. In 1856 he moved to Sydney and joined the literary set of Frank Fowler, Richard Rowe, James Lionel Michael and J. Sheridan Moore (q.q.v.). For several years he contributed a weekly letter to the Moreton Bay Courier under the byline, 'News and Notes by a Sydney Man', and in 1857 briefly edited the shortlived satirical magazine Punch in Sydney. Wilkes also wrote for the Australian Era, the Sydney Dispatch (1859), and Samuel Bennett's Empire (1859-1873), which he reputedly edited at some point. Whilst at the Empire, Wilkes wrote a weekly column titled 'The Flaneur in Sydney', a commentary on local and foreign news that reflected his wit and humanitarian interests. Wilkes also contributed to other Bennett publications, the Australian Town and Country Journal and the Evening News.
In 1865 Wilkes was imprisoned for failing to pay rent. He claimed bouts of severe illness had prevented him earning income at the time. He died of 'softening of the brain' in 1873, survived by his wife, Catherine (nee Connolly), and three daughters. It has been suggested that Wilkes might have been the author 'Jack Bushman', but this remains a matter of speculation.
