Charles Christian Dutton

Charles Christian Dutton (presumed died 1842) was a pastoralist in South Australia who disappeared, believed murdered by Aboriginals, while droving cattle from Port Lincoln to Adelaide.

Dutton was born in England, a son of John Dutton. In the 1830s he ran a store in Singleton, New South Wales with his brother Henry Pelerin Dutton (c. 1803 – 30 January 1870); the partnership broke up in 1837. H. P. Dutton (for a time reported as "Henry Pelham Dutton"), then ran a property on the nearby (St.) Patrick's Plains, became insolvent in 1844, and took up a pastoral lease in Queensland. Henry was the father of Queensland politician Charles Dutton.

Charles Dutton arrived in South Australia on the Abeona from Hobart in March 1838. He may have gone back to England then returned with his wife Ellen, née White, on the Dorset in January 1839. In Adelaide he was appointed clerk of the Supreme Court, and acted for a time as sheriff.

Dutton pioneered and managed a cattle station named "Pillaworta", near Port Lincoln on the Eyre Peninsula, on behalf of pastoralist Charles Driver. In July 1842 he decided to abandon it through fear of the local Aboriginals, either the Nauo or Barngarla people, who were making hostile raids. Having taken his wife and children back to Adelaide by ship, he picked up a scratch team of Graham, Cox, Haldane and Brown (a former Adelaide policeman) to drove his cattle overland to safety near Adelaide. For the first day they had Lieutenant Hugonin of the 96th Regiment of Foot as an armed escort. Setting forth with 250 cattle in the direction of present Port Augusta, Dutton and his associates were never seen again, and no trace was ever found. All indications are that the entire party of five men were killed by Barngala warriors somewhere near present Whyalla.

...
Wikipedia