Rowney Family Tree

John was born in 1845 in the village of Dursley, in Gloucestershire, England. A middle initial "P" has been attributed to John, but is probably mistaken, but if correct, it might be speculated that he could have used his mother's maiden name of "Price" as a second name on occasion. He was the oldest son of Thomas and Ann POULTON. He had one older sister, Elizabeth, and several younger brothers.

In the 1851 census, John (aged 6) was living with his parents and their family in the village of Kingswood, in Gloucestershire. John's father was described as a former farmer at that time.

In 1852 the POULTON family left England and emigrated to the Colony of South Australia. They arrived on 24 Aug 1852, when John would have been 7 years of age. They settled in the village of Bowden (SA), a short distance from North Adelaide (SA), and appear to have remained in that area for sometime afterwards.

John's father died in 1856, leaving his mother to raise their family of six children alone. John was just 11 years old at that time. His sister, Elizabeth, was 13, and his younger brothers ranged from 8 years old, down to baby Ted, who was around 18 months old. It is not known how the family survived after this tragedy, but they do not appear to have become destitute.

Their survival skills were tested again, when their mother died 11 years later, in 1867. John was 22 years old by that time, and most of his siblings were also old enough to support themselves, but none of them had married by that time. The youngest of the brood, Ted, was then 12 years of age.

The first to marry was William, who wed Sarah CUSTANCE in Adelaide in 1869. He was followed by John, just a few weeks later.

John married Dora DOHSE in North Adelaide, in 1869. He was 24 years old and Dora was 23 years of age. Dora was the daughter of German immigrants. She was said to have been born at sea, although apparently it was a couple of years before her family sailed to Australia.

John and Dora appear to have continued living around Bowden after their marriage. Their first child, Alfred, was born there in 1870 and another son, Will, followed in 1871.Then came Arthur in 1873, Amy in 1874, Walter in 1876, and Ernest in 1878. Ernest lived for just 7 weeks. The place of birth of their next child, Frank, does not seem to have been recorded. He was born in 1879. Their daughter Minnie's birth at Dalkey (SA) in 1881, indicates that John and Dora had probably left Bowden by that time.

A number of John's siblings had taken up farms at Dalkey, near Owen (SA), over the years, and John seems to have also had an interest in the area. He was named in the rate assessment book of the District of Dalkey in 1876/77 as the owner of section 342, which at that time consisted of 414 acres of scrubland. It appears that the POULTON family divided their time amongst their interests around Owen and elsewhere during that period. They seem to have also maintained a presence around Adelaide. John and Dora's daughter, May, was born in Adelaide in 1883.

In 1885, their son Walter, who was just short of his ninth birthday, died at Brompton Park (SA), near North Adelaide. The family's place of residence was recorded as Dalkey at that time.

After the farms around Owen were destroyed by floods in successive years in the late 1880's the POULTON clan seem to have gradually given up their properties in the area. A couple of the brothers returned to Adelaide, while others set their sights further afield, attracted by the stories of land opening up in the north-west of Victoria.

John's son Will recalled that their family travelled by wagon overland from Blythe (SA) to take up a farm at Galaquil (Vic) in 1892. The journey took them about thirty days to complete.

After their property at Galaquil was burned out during the scorching summer of 1893, the POULTON brothers headed further north, settling in the district of Cambacanya (Vic), near Hopetoun (Vic). Developing their farms took years of hard work, but they proved successful, and descendants of the family are still in the area today. John later took out a grazing lease on the nearby Pine Plains run, together with the rights for the marginal Wonga Lake run.

The POULTON family reportedly connected Cambacanya and Pine Plains with a single-strand telephone line made of fencing wire. The line was later repositioned between Rainbow (Vic) and Pine Plains. It was removed in 1934 when Pine Plains was connected to the telephone exchange at Baring (Vic).

John POULTON was elected as a foundation Councillor to the Karkarook Shire municipality which was established in the Hopetoun area in 1896. That year he also directed the development of the Hopetoun Showgrounds, and the first show was held there the same year.

The 1903 and 1912 electoral rolls indicate that John and Dora were still farming at Cambacanya at that time. The POULTON family owned Pine Plains until 1917.

John died in Hopetoun in 1918 at the age of 72. He was buried in the Hopetoun Cemetery.

Dora also died there the following year at the age of 73. She was buried with John in the Hopetoun Cemetery.

NOTE: The book 'Hindmarsh Town', by R. PARSONS is cited as a reference mentioning John POULTON.