Charles Douglas Eastaughffe 1800 - 1885.
I am indebted to Megan Eastaughffe from South Australia who supplied most of this information.
Charles Douglas Eastaughffe was born in 1800 in Inverness, Scotland.
His parents were C. D. Eastaughffe (b.1772) and Jessie (b 1776). His parents were married in 1797.
It is unclear when Charles Douglas first arrived in Australia but it seems to have been about 1835, possibly residing in New South Wales originally, according to his obituary. He married Margaret O'Brien on 10 June 1840 (***) in Sydney NSW. Margaret came out to Australia aged 18, on the ship 'Eleanor' on 21 Aug 1841. She came with her brother Michael aged 23. Margaret and Michael came to Australia following the deaths of their parents Denis O'Brien and Margaret Power in 1841. They lived in Newmarket, County Limerick, Ireland. Denis was apparently a farmer.
(***) There is obviously a discrepancy in these dates, ie, the arrival date for Margaret O'Brien is later than the marriage. I will try and find out which dates are correct. Note also that there is a six year gap in the birth dates of the children list below, 1844 - 1849 or 1850. Because of this, I suspect that Charles was married twice.
Charles and Margaret??? had 8 children, **
- Eliza Emily (b.1842, QLD) **
- Ann Alberta (b.13 Oct 1844, QLD, d.1844, QLD)
Joan Henstock sent me the following note. "Some time ago I came across this birth in the NSW index.
Charles Hestaff baptised 1849, parents Charles Hestaff and Margaret O'Brien in R.C. Church at Patrick's Plains in NSW, reference number V18491736 66.
The above looks as if Hestaff could be an alternative spelling for Eastaughffe. If this is a son of Margaret and Charles Eastaughffe he must have died because there was another Charles born in 1862." * (Patrick's Plains is now called Singleton).
- Frederick F (b.1850 QLD, d.1889. Christened 13 April 1853, Parents' abode Wellingrove.)
- Jessie (b.1854 QLD, married 1877 to Thomas Gaven, born 1847, Rahan, Offaly, Ireland, migrated 1862) .
- Alexander Dalby (b.7 May 1857, Dalby, Qld, d.12 May 1857, Dalby)
- Alexander Albert *(b.19 May 1858, Dalby, d.15 Jan 1930, Maryborough, QLD)
- Charles (b.1 April 1862, d.1862)
- Fredrick Clarence (married Elizabeth O'Brien)
* The practice of naming a child after a pre-deceased sibling was common in Celtic cultures, and continued until comparatively recently. But note the name "Fredrick" is listed twice, with both surviving childhood.
** Two correspondents have pointed out the discrepancy in the above list. Eliza Emily is listed in the NSW BDM as Louisa Emily Dobson Eastaughffe b.15/4/1843 Sydney to C.D.Eastaughffe and Naomi West, but she married 1869 as Louisa Emily Dobson.
There is also a NSW marriage of Naomi West & Edward Dobson. I will try and get this clarified with dates and places, and it might be clearer then.
In 1853, Charles was a trooper living in Wellingrove NSW, when he wrote a letter to the Moreton Bay Courier, requesting the public's help in apprehending a bushranger.
1854. Dalby. ( About 210 km west of Brisbane. )
There was a page called "The Dalby Story" on the internet, and I copied it about five years ago. However, I have not been able to find a recent copy of it online. Part of it reads, ...
"Early in 1854, the New South Wales government sent Captain Perry (Assistant Surveyor-General ) to the area to survey a township and when this was accomplished gave the town the name of Dalby after a town of the same name in the Isle of Man. Later the same year, Mr Charles Douglas Eastaughffe arrive with a document under the Seal of the N.S.W. Government officially proclaiming 'Dalby' a township."
Dalby became a municipality in 1863, and the railway was built in 1868.
1859. Queensland became a separate colony.
Charles died on 13 Feb 1885 in Nerang. His death certificate lists his occupation as Mathematical Mechanic. The cause of death was listed as "Inflimation (sic) of Lungs lasting 3 weeks". Megan stated that there is no such condition and it is assumed the cause was pulmonary oedema.
Charles was buried on the 14 Feb 1885 in Nerang.
Details for Jessie came from Mark Barraclough in Brisbane.
barracl@bigpond.net.au
Charles Douglas Eastaughffe (1800 - 1885).
Obituary
of Charles Douglas Eastaughffe.
Frank Eric Eastaughffe. Not completed yet.
