Charles Hilton Dight (1813 – 9 October 1852) was a
miller
A miller is a person who operates a Gristmill, mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Mill (grinding), Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surname ...
and politician in colonial
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in ...
,
member of the
Victorian Legislative Council
The Victorian Legislative Council (VLC) is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria, Australia, the lower house being the Legislative Assembly. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne. The Legislative Co ...
.
Dight was born near
Richmond, New South Wales
Richmond is a town in New South Wales, in the local government area of the City of Hawkesbury. It is located 19 metres above sea level on the alluvial Hawkesbury River flats, at the foot of the Blue Mountains on the Cumberland Plain. It is abou ...
, son of John Dight, surgeon and farmer, and Hannah, ''née'' Hilton.
Charles and his brother John took up land near
Albury, New South Wales
Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the C ...
around 1837.
The Dights then moved to Melbourne, John Dight senior on 7 November 1838 bought portion 88, Parish of Jika Jika,
County of Bourke. Over the next few years, he constructed a brick mill there and began the production of flour.
[
]
The mill was called ''Ceres'',
located at
Dights Falls
Dights Falls is a rapid and weir on the Yarra River in Melbourne, Victoria, just downstream of the junction with the Merri Creek. At this point the river narrows and is constricted between 800,000-year-old volcanic, basaltic lava flow and a mu ...
. Ownership of the land passed to Charles Dight and his brother John in November 1843. The mill produced flour and had small dynamos, so was the first Victorian hydro-electric plant.
[
Charles Dight was vice-president of the Port Phillip Farmers' Society in 1851 and in November that year was elected to the inaugural Victorian Legislative
Council as member for North Bourke. He held that seat until his death at Yarra Falls on 9 October 1852 (aged 38).]Arthur
Arthur is a common male given name of Brittonic languages, Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. An ...
was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The New South Wales Legislative Assembly is the lower of the two houses of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The upper house is the New South Wales Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament Ho ...
as the member for Windsor
Windsor may refer to:
Places Australia
* Windsor, New South Wales
** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area
* Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland
**Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...
,Singleton
Singleton may refer to:
Sciences, technology Mathematics
* Singleton (mathematics), a set with exactly one element
* Singleton field, used in conformal field theory Computing
* Singleton pattern, a design pattern that allows only one instance ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dight, Charles
Australian flour millers and merchants
1813 births
1852 deaths
Members of the Victorian Legislative Council
19th-century Australian politicians
19th-century Australian businesspeople