If you have read my last post, A Pleasant Distraction, you will understand why October Passing of the Pioneers just got in by the skin of its teeth. Thankfully I had the bones of the post done before “Hamilton Fever” took hold. This month there are the obituaries of a bricklayer, a Gaelic preacher, a disgraced crewman from the General Hewitt, and a member of the Henty family.
David HUTTON: Died 9 October 1875 at Mount Rouse. David Hutton was born in Greenock, Scotland around 1809. He was an engineer by trade and left Scotland in 1833 for Hobart to follow his brothers. One brother, William, saw opportunities in the new colony of Victoria, and David later followed, arriving at Portland in around 1844. He took out a lease on land at Mount Rouse and established Cheviot Hills. David Hutton was a foundation member of the Mt. Rouse Board and served for seven years. A Presbyterian, he was one of those behind the building of a church at Penshurst. He was buried at the Port Fairy Cemetery with other members of his family. Hutton Street in Penshurst is named after David Hutton. Another obituary, published in The Mercury of Hobart, has more on David’s story
Ewan McDONALD: Died 13 October 1891 at Warrion. Ewan McDonald was born around 1808 and first went to the Colac district when he settled on land at Dreeite around 1866. Ewan was a Presbyterian and at one time gave services at the Larpent Presbyterian Church in Gaelic.
John H. DUNN: Died 29 October 1914 at Hamilton. John Dunn was born in Geelong around 1860 and arrived in Hamilton, with his parents, two years later. Like his father, John was a bricklayer and together they built some of Hamilton’s larger buildings. A search for Dunn’s bricklayers found a reference on the Victorian Heritage Database. The home mentioned, in the Church Hill area of Hamilton is well-known to me and was built by William Dunn, when John was still a baby. In later life, John was a member of the Independent Order of Rechabites and the Methodist Church. He married Miss H. Luxton of Macarthur and they had nine children.
James DUNCAN: Died 8 October 1916 at Balmoral. James Duncan was born in Inverness, Scotland in 1837 and he arrived on the Flora McDonald to Portland in 1855. He went to Rocklands, near Balmoral, working as a shepherd. He left the district for Serpentine before returning to Glendinning station as overseer. He later took up the carpentry trade in Balmoral. He married Emily Rogers in 1876 and they had six children.
Elizabeth LEAHY: Died 15 October 1916 at Cavendish. Elizabeth Leahy was born in Adelaide around 1849. Her family came to Victoria to the goldfields of Bendigo and Ballarat, before returning to South Australia, taking up residence at Mt. Gambier. Elizabeth later moved to Lake Bolac and met her future husband, J.H Wallis. They married at Ararat. The couple farmed in the Wimmera, moved back to Ararat before settling at Mooralla around 1910.
Samuel BROWNLAW: Died 13 October 1917 at Tyrendarra. Samuel Brownlaw and his wife, Mary Ann Speechly, arrived on the Severn to Portland in 1856. They first went to Yambuk, before settling at Tyrendarra where they remained. In 1875, Samuel donated land for the Tyrendarra School. Samuel left three sons and three daughters at the time of his death.
John Stevens ANDREW aka John FORSTER: Died 5 October 1918 at Merino Downs. I have touched upon the obituary of John Andrew/Forster before, in the post The General Hewitt. John’s obituary gave me some clues to the names of the crew members that caused unrest during the voyage and those that deserted. John was one of those crew members, explaining his alias. Unfortunately, his obituary speaks of nothing else but that voyage that hung over his head, even after death,
Christina McGREGOR: Died October 1925 at Hamilton. Christina McGregor was born in Inverness, Scotland around 1835. and arrived in Melbourne around 1847 on The Indian. Aboard the schooner The Wave, Christina travelled to Portland. Her next destination, on horseback, was to Satimer Estate near Casterton, owned by her uncle Alexander Davidson. Station life must not have been proper for a young lady as Christina returned to Portland to attend the ladies’ school run by the Misses Allison. It was in Portland she met her future husband, Archibald McDonald, from Condah, where they remained for the rest of the lives.
Phillip Henry THEISINGER: Died October 1942 at Portland. Geelong native, Phillip Theisinger, moved to Portland as a small child and remained there for the rest of his life. He worked as a storeman and was a secretary of the Portland Waterside Worker’s Union. Phillip was also a member of the Portland Citizen’s Band for forty-five years and was a member of the Portland Masonic Lodge. He married Sarah Ann Surrey and they had twelve children, but only three still survived at the time of Phillip’s death.
Henry COWLAND: Died 21 October 1942 at Heywood. Henry Cowland was born in Brixton around 1847. He arrived with his parents to Portland aboard the Severn in 1856. He attended the Butler’s School in Portland until he was twelve and then he obtained work as a contractor at Sandford. He also worked as a fencer and a carrier, carting sleepers for the railway line between Hamilton and Portland.
HENRY COWLAND. OBITUARY. (1942, November 5). Portland Guardian (Vic. : 1876 – 1953), p. 3 Edition: EVENING. Retrieved October 24, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article64382636
Annie DAWKINS: Died 2 October 1942 at Hamilton. Annie Dawkins was born at Glencoe, South Australia around 1866 and travelled to Victoria as a girl with her parents and they settled near Condah. Annie married Henry Dyer Rundell at Condah in 1890. She was a supporter of the Red Cross and did her bit during the two World Wars. She left a family of five children,
Agnes Cecil HENTY: Died 30 October 1945 at Nelson, New Zealand. Agnes Cecil Henty was the 6th daughter of Stephen and Jane Henty and she was born at Portland in 1850. In 1877, she married Edward Stafford Coster in New Zealand and they resided at Canterbury on the South Island. Twenty-five years later Agnes and family moved to Nelson and she remained there until her death aged ninety-five.
Robert Henry HOLLIS: Died October 1946 at Portland. Robert Hollis was born in Tarragal around 1863. His parents moved to Gorae when Robert’s father began work as a stockman for the Henty’s. After some time working as a butcher, Robert turned to farming and at the time of his death he “had a fine dairy farm and orchard property”.
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Western District Families 
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