Captain John Dalton (1833 - 1912) was an English sailor. He alongside his seven children were among the first European families to settle into

Nelson Bay, New South Wales Nelson Bay is a significant township of the Port Stephens local government area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located on a bay of the same name on the southern shore of Port Stephens about by road north-east of Ne ...

Early life

Born on 22 October 1833 at Harpham Field House in

Yorkshire, England Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

. He was the eldest child of Thomas and Ann Dalton.

Sailing career

When his father he joined the North Sea Scroop. He worked for Danish transport company transporting transport in both the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

and the

Indian Mutiny The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the fo ...

. He served on S.S Maitland and went on to become captain and sailed between Australia, Newcastle, South Africa, Ireland and Scotland. He became a qualified Master Marnier and sailed between Newcastle and Sydney on the streamer Waratah. S.S Kingsly was a fish and oyster boat which worked between Port Stephens to

Paddy's Markets Paddy's Markets is a commercial enterprise that has two large markets in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Paddy's Markets are located in Haymarket and Flemington and specialise in the sale of fruit, vegetables, fish, clothes and giftware. B ...

Moving to Australia

He earned a living shipping vegetable to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

from the

Hawkesbury River The Hawkesbury River, or Hawkesbury-Nepean River, is a river located northwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, almost encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney. ...

. Then he moved his family to Port Stephens to settle at

Nelson Bay Nelson Bay may refer to: *Nelson Bay, New South Wales *Nelson Bay, Tasmania * Nelson Bay, Alaska *Nelson Bay Cave Nelson Bay Cave also known as Wagenaar's Cave is a Stone Age archaeological site located in the Robberg Nature Reserve on the Ro ...

. In 1882 he built his house Westward Ho on 40 acres at Nelson Bay. On 27 November 1911 he purchased a property in Stockton.

Personal life

He married his first wife Margaret Otto and had a daughter Annie born on 25 September 1878 before Margaret died of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

. As a young man he thrown overboard in Atlantic and never learnt to swim. On 3 July 1882 he married Eliza Jane Cox at the Chapel House in Castlereagh Street, Sydney.{{cite news, date=24 July 1882, title=Family Notices, page=1, newspaper=

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

, issue=13,827, location=New South Wales, Australia, url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13515390, accessdate=8 October 2020, via=National Library of Australia They had six children together. James born on 25 May 1883, John born on 25 May 1885, Frances born 12 July 1887, Eliza (Ida) born on 12 July 1887, Henry (Harry) born on 4 March 1893 and William Dalton born 11 March 1897. On 11 August 1912 he died in Pepitee Pah Private Hospital. He is buried at the Methodist section of Sandgate Cemetery.

References

1833 births 1912 deaths