Captain Peter Pégus was one of the first European settlers of the

Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just ''Swan River'', was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, an ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. Peter was born to Peter Pégus (senior) in 1786, a wealthy cotton-plantation owner in

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

, after whom Pégus Point on the southern tip of Carriacou is named. In 1806, he served as a Lieutenant with the Royal Tyrone Militia in Ireland. The following year, he transferred to the

Connaught Rangers The Connaught Rangers ("The Devil's Own") was an Ireland, Irish line infantry regiment of the British Army formed by the amalgamation of the 88th Regiment of Foot (Connaught Rangers) (which formed the ''1st Battalion'') and the 94th Regiment of Fo ...

regiment, where he fought against

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

. Peter retired from the army in 1828, and applied for land grants in

, not on the basis of military service, but instead, on the basis of the property he would bring to Australia. Peter's application was successful, and he arrived at the Swan River on 19 October 1829 aboard , with his wife Mary Jane, his younger son William, 2 sheep, 5 servants, and £1,552. He was allowed to select of land, which he did in the area known today as Thornlie. This area was named "Coleraine". However, in 1834, Coleraine was largely destroyed in a bushfire, which ended the settlement. Peter, who had lost much of his wealth, then left for

Van Diemen's land Van Diemen's Land was the colonial name of the island of Tasmania during the European exploration of Australia, European exploration and colonisation of Australia in the 19th century. The Aboriginal Tasmanians, Aboriginal-inhabited island wa ...

per ''Elizabeth'' (a ship also carrying convicts) in March 1836. Following the death of his first wife in 1839, Peter married Mary Sophia Skardon in Launceston in 1840.Public Record Office, Tasmania. Ref: MB 2/39/2p.49d Peter had two sons, Campbell John Pégus, born 1814 in Britain, and William Jeffries Pégus, born 1820 in Glasgow.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pegus, Peter Settlers of Western Australia 1786 births Year of death missing