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John Edward Martin Clifton (1844 - 1912)

John Edward Martin Clifton
Born in Australind, Western Australia, Australiamap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married 11 Mar 1871 in Albany, Western Australia, Australiamap
Died at age 68 in Bunbury, Western Australia, Australiamap
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Profile last modified | Created 5 Feb 2015
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Biography

John Edward Martin Clifton was born on 27 April 1844 in Australind, Western Australia. [1] His parents were Robert Williams Clifton (1817 - 1897) and Christina Grant (Martin) Clifton (1821 - 1909).[2]

He married Ann Emily Anne Emily Fanny Clifton on 11 March 1871 at Albany.[3][4]

He and his wife were second cousins. Their common ancestor was Francis Clifton b 1755. They had six children in thirteen years.

Bunbury Herald (WA : 1892 - 1919), Tuesday 3 December 1912, page 5
The past week will long be remembered in this district as a remarkable period of sad happenings. The Grim Reaper has been an unusually frequent visitant, leaving gaps difficult to fill, though memories that will long remain. Residents had hardly recovered from the first shock of the untimely demise of a comparatively young and highly popular medical practitioner, who, during a residence of only three years or so among us, had entered into the spirit of the place and the ambitions of its citizens, when the sad intelligence came that one of the oldest and most respected of the pioneers of the district, in the person of John Edward Martin Clifton, had passed away.

The deceased, who had been ailing for a fortnight previously, reached such serious case that on Tuesday last he was removed to Nurse Bruton's private hospital. His condition became rapidly worse however, and unavailing recourse was had to a surgical operation, after which there was a surcease of pain, which had previously been most poignant, but the end was unmistakeably near. This happened in the presence of practically all the members of his family, on Saturday morning last. And the end was peace. A long, useful, and arduous career had been brought to a close, and a fine type of an old English stock, a thorough gentleman and a fearless Christian, had been gathered to his fathers.

The Clifton family were at the head of the pioneering movement of the South West. Their name is indelibly associated with its founding and its development. The chief of the transplanted English family was Mr. Marshall Waller Clifton, the 'Governor,' as he was called, of the Australind Land Settlement. He arrived in charge of the first batch of adventurous settlers in the ship Parkfield, over 71 years ago. Sir James Stirling was at that time Governor and Administrator of the Colony. Where now spreads the town of Bunbury the primitive wilderness was relieved only by the presence of two habitations — one on the eminence known as Bury Hill, then in the possession of one Eliot, a progenitor of the present Under-Treasurer of the State, and the other a rude edifice erected on the site where later on was built the store of Mr. Thos. Hayward. The little barque, after its hazard ous voyage of sixteen thousand miles, entered Leschenault Estuary one day in the month of April, in the year 1841, and landed the band of adventurers at Scott's landing, a point on the bank where now stands Beigel's Brewery.

From here these new arrivals on a forlorn and desolate shore proceeded in the ship's boats to the upper waters of the Estuary to enter into possession of the land company's territory. Here, it is safe to say, impressions that had been fanned into fantasy by the prospectus of the company issued in Lon-don, were rudely shattered, for, save for the swarming flocks of indigenous wild fowl, the eye rested upon depressing shal-low wastes of water and shelving strand, wedged in on all sides by green impenetrable scrub. It was in such surround-ings — heartbreaking they must have been — that the founder of the West Australian Cliftons set upon his herculean task, and with him the forbears of families that have since increased and multiplied in worthy and honorable descendants, notably the Houghs, the Clarkes, and the Properjohns. Strange that not so many miles away inland the country held far better opportunities for the settlers, but these were for others in later years.

A landing was effected at the spot where now stands the Rosamel homestead, so long the residence of the gentleman whose demise is now being so generally mourned. Mr. Marshall Waller Clifton, grandfather of the deceased, brought with him a family of sons and daughters numbering ten, among them Robert Wm. Clifton and his bride, the father and mother of John Edward Martin, born some three years later at Alverstoke, Brunswick River, and who, for the greater portion of his life had made Australind his home. Marshall Waller Clifton, being the local head of the land company, selected for his family holdings which he named Rosamel and Alverstoke, the latter on the Brunswick River.

There the deceased grew to sturdy manhood, physically powerful and athletic, but of gentle bearing withal. The direct descendants of the Cliftons soon became a numerous clan, yet in that handful of people and among its slowly increasing community, they maintained and increased the esteem, love and res-pect of their friends and neighbors. They were of gentle blood with hearts of oak. Mostly they have adhered to the hard ways of pioneering and tillage, working within the limits of their outlook, with unswerving purpose and forbearance.

The late J. E. M. Clifton did not actively participate in public matters until advanced in years, when he took a seat on the local governing body of his district— the Brunswick Roads Board — which he held up to the time of his death. He was educated at Bishop's School, Perth, and it wast doubtless here where was implanted the strong religious faith that remained with him through life and the passion for bibliography which with him was almost an obsession. His knowledge of the Bible was unique from the point of view of memorisation alone, and on sacred history he was a powerful controversalist, contending his point with equal selfconsciousness with either clergy or laity. When 27 years of age he espoused the daughter of the late William Cormault Clifton, manager of the P. & O. Steamship Company's branch at Albany, re-turning with his bride to Rosamel, where he resided from thence to practically the day of his death. His wife predeceased him 18 years.[5]

Sources

  1. "Australia Births and Baptisms, 1792-1981", database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XTH5-LWL : 28 January 2020), John Edward Martin Clifton, .
  2.  :BIRTH
    Name: Clifton, John Edward Martin
    Parents: Robert William & Christina Grant
    Place of Birth: Australind
    Registration No 429
    Registration Year: 1844
  3. The Bicentennial dictionary of Western Australians, pre-1829-1888. [compiled by Rica Erickson], https://www.friendsofbattyelibrary.org.au/bicentennial-dictionary
  4.  :MARRIAGE
    Name: John Edward Clifton
    Spouse: Anne Emily Fanny Clifton
    Registration No 3271
    Registration Year: 1871
    Place: Albany
  5. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/87153544
  • http://www.bdm.dotag.wa.gov.au/_apps/pioneersindex/default.aspx
  • Find a Grave, database and images (www.findagrave.com/memorial/41576749/john-edward_martin-clifton : accessed 27 April 2021), memorial page for John Edward Martin Clifton (27 Apr 1844–30 Nov 1912), Find a Grave Memorial ID 41576749, citing Australind Pioneer Cemetery, Bunbury, Bunbury City, Western Australia, Australia ; Maintained by Chandler Joshua Brenner (contributor 50274628) .




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Categories: Australind Pioneer Cemetery, Bunbury, Western Australia