Hi all...
A few years ago I was traveling to Victoria and was about to pass through Wangaratta where I knew my father Ronald Edward Dalton was born in 1934. I knew very little about my family history as my father was essentially estranged from what I believe was a rather large clan of Dalton's who dispersed from Gippsland.
I arrived in Wangaratta around 9 pm and decided to give dad a call and ask what he could tell me about his place of birth or any other recollections he may have. He provided a few sketchy details but was not that much help... and so my wife Michelle and I began our search for some clues the next day. We firstly visited the Wangaratta cemetery armed only with the details of a few distant relatives...my grandfather, Herbert Goldsmith Dalton, his father Frank Dalton. After a search of the records we found a few Dalton's but mostly Catholics which we knew could not be our clan as dad told me we were Church Of England. We asked the curator if there were any other cemeteries in Wangaratta...unfortunately not was the reply.
The fellow did suggest there were cemeteries attached to smaller towns in outlying areas such as Oxley approximately 50 kilometers away and perhaps we could try there. We decided to take the trip and arrived in Oxley a short time later. I stopped the car and surveyed the tiny hamlet that seemed to have a pub...some houses and a few shop fronts and a war memorial park with an obelisk. One thing I did recall dad saying was that my grandfather Herbert Goldsmith Dalton fought in France in he first world war so the first thing I did was approach the memorial to see if his name was anywhere to be seen. In actual fact I didn't really believe I would see his name there and was blown away when I scrolled down the list of names and read Herbert Goldsmith Dalton as one of the men that served and was wounded. Taking a moment to recover from the shock at discovering his name I took a few pics and strolled over to the Pub to ask if there was a local cemetery we could visit.
Michelle and I decided to have lunch and were told the cemetery was a few kilometers down the road in the middle of a few paddocks. There were some old photographs on the wall of the pub so I took an interest and low and behold...there was a picture of Herbert Goldsmith Dalton with his handlebar mustache assisting some others to dig some road works...names recorded on the bottom of the old black and white photograph taken in the 1920's After a wholesome pub lunch and a great feeling of success we ventured to the Oxley cemetery to see if we could locate any of my other clan.
As promised the cemetery was indeed in the middle of paddocks with a small brick fence and old wrought iron gates chained together. Michelle and I spent the next hour surveying the old grave sites with little luck and no sign of any Dalton's.
Then Michelle let out a great squeal of delight as she discovered what was quite a substantial burial plot sealed off with a large wrought iron fence and large stone headstones...William & Martha Dalton and four children were buried in the one enclosure. I was stunned and read further that they came from Barwell, Leistershire England in the mid 19th century. William died in 1897 and Martha in 1907.
Further research found Williams Mother and Father George and Susannah Dalton (Nee Piercy) (Pillars of the Methodist Church) raised a large family in Barwell, Leicestershire, England which included: Joseph Piercy Dalton (B 2 June 1825) George Dalton (B 13 March 1827)
William Dalton (B 29 November 1828) John Dalton (B 13 January 1830) Sarah Piercy Dalton (B 16 September 1831) Mary Anne Dalton (B 5 March 1833) Piercy Dalton (B 24 April 1835) Jabez Dalton (B 1848) and Frederick Dalton (B 1849).
William I believe traveled out to Australia in 1852 on the Oracle with two of his brothers. One of them returned to England after suffering the loss of 4 of his children
. William settled in Oxley Flats and I believe he married Martha Scarborough in Australia even though she was also from the same region in England. One of Martha's prized possessions was a copy of Sutcliffes Commentary which she left in her Will to Joseph Piercy Dalton.
Piercy Dalton decided to move in a different direction to his siblings and departed England with his wife and three children to settle in Canada. Some years later they immigrated to America and the last I can find of his descendants was in the 1940 US Census where 4 of his elderly children lived together in the same house in Virginia USA.
Have been unable to discover anything else apart from a few names of children and Herbert's Father, Frank Dalton who was married to Louisa Jane Goldsmith. Frank and Louisa Jane Dalton (Nee Goldsmith) are buried in the plot next to Martha and William along with two of their children Theophilus and Freda Dalton.
Herbert Goldsmith Dalton's WW1 Records show: As a teenager he served for 4 years in the 16th Light Horse as a senior cadet, joined the Australian Imperial Forces (AIF) at Wangaratta on the 31st May 1916 at 20 years of age with the 3/37 Reinforcements / 2051 / V39726 / A43276. Herbert served in France and was subsequently wounded on the field of battle and repatriated back to Australia.
I have since found that Herbert Goldsmith Dalton also served in the second world war and signed on at the age of 47 on the 27th Feb 1942. He enlisted in Trafalgar, Victoria where he resided and was discharged on the 20th September 1945 with the Rank of Lance Corporal / V367365 / 11th Battalion Volunteer Defence Force Corps.
If anyone has any other information on this Dalton line I would love to hear more and ultimately source William and Martha back to Barwell, Leistershire in England. As far as I have been able to research, there are no records that verify their arrival in Australia or departure from England.
Hope someone can assist.
0407 472 526
