Thomas Boutflower Bennett (1808–14 September 1894) was an early colonist of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, remembered as a schoolmaster at J. L. Young's

Adelaide Educational Institution Adelaide Educational Institution was a privately run non-sectarian academy for boys in Adelaide founded in 1852 by John Lorenzo Young.B. K. Hyams'Young, John Lorenzo (1826–1881)' ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Volume 6, Melbourne Uni ...

and at Saint Peter's College. He married Elizabeth (14 January 1811–11 February 1899) and with two children arrived at

Holdfast Bay Holdfast Bay is a small bay in Gulf St Vincent, next to Adelaide, South Australia. Along its shores lie the local government area of the City of Holdfast Bay and the suburbs of Glenelg and Glenelg North The colonial settlement at Holdfast Ba ...

on ''

Somersetshire Somerset ( , ), archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to ...

'' on 24 August 1839.Death of Mrs A. W. Bennett
''South Australian Register'' 21 February 1899 p.5 accessed 26 September 2011
perhaps misprint for E. W. (Elizabeth Wiggins?) He started a distillery on the banks of the

River Torrens The River Torrens (Karrawirra Parri / Karrawirraparri) is the most significant river of the Adelaide Plains. It was one of the main reasons for the siting of the city of Adelaide, capital of South Australia. It flows from its source in the Ad ...

at Klemzig, but was closed down by the Governor

George Grey Sir George Grey, KCB (14 April 1812 – 19 September 1898) was a British soldier, explorer, colonial administrator and writer. He served in a succession of governing positions: Governor of South Australia, twice Governor of New Zealand, Gov ...

. An attempt at sheep farming at Lovely Valley was unsuccessful, so he got a job at Moonta as accountant in the Boord Brothers store, then joined the rush to the

Victorian goldfields The Goldfields region of Victoria is a region commonly used but typically defined in both historical geography and tourism geography (in particular heritage tourism). The region is also known as the Victorian Golden Triangle. Description ...

. In June 1861 he joined the staff of J. L. Young's

, and for 10 years taught English and bookkeeping and assisting in the school's running, then around 1871 when the school transferred to Parkside, took a position with St. Peter's College, perhaps for its greater proximity to his Payneham Road,

Stepney Stepney is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London. Stepney is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name was applied to ...

home. He retired from teaching late 1879 or early 1880. He sold the family house in August 1894, having moved to live with his son in

Port Lincoln Port Lincoln is a city on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of South Australia. Known as Galinyala by the traditional owners, the Barngarla people, it is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, ...

, where he died.

Family

* Ann Eliza Bennett (c. 1835 – 5 November 1889) * Charles Bennett married Sarah (died 19 May 1880) * John William Ogilvie Bennett (11 November 1845 – 28 May 1869) was a member of

B. T. Finniss Boyle Travers Finniss (18 August 1807 – 24 December 1893) was the first premier of South Australia, serving from 24 October 1856 to 20 August 1857. Early life Finniss was born at sea off the Cape of Good Hope, Southern Africa, and lived in ...

's 1864 expedition, and one of his few supporters. During this expedition he shot dead an Aboriginal man, for which he was recalled to Adelaide to stand trial, later exonerated. He returned to the Territory on

George Goyder George Woodroffe Goyder (24 June 1826 – 2 November 1898) was a surveyor in the Colony of South Australia during the latter half of the nineteenth century. He rose rapidly in the civil service, becoming Assistant Surveyor-General by 1856 ...

's 1869 survey expedition to Port Darwin. On 24 May he and a companion William Guy were attacked by aborigines, both being wounded by spears. Bennett died 28 May 1869 after Dr. Peel removed, under chloroform, a section of spear which had penetrated a lung. The wound was sutured but the case considered hopeless by Peel, and given a morphine draught. Bennett and Guy were on a working party with surveyor Richard Randall Knuckey at Fred's Pass on the

Adelaide River The Adelaide River is a river in the Northern Territory of Australia. Course and features The river rises in the Litchfield National Park and flows generally northwards to Clarence Strait, joined by eight tributaries including the west branc ...

on 24 May 1869. They had been left alone in the camp to do their drafting work when the attack occurred. Bennett had been on good terms with them previously and was working on an atlas of Wuna ( Wulna) placenames. He was interred near the top of Fort Hill overlooking the harbour - the first white man to be buried in Darwin. Guy completely recovered from his wounds. * Nathaniel William Ogle Bennett (c. 1850 – 26 August 1882), an officer with H. M. Customs Service. * William Ogle Bennett (21 January 1855 – 7 March 1906), a Government agent in

then Moonta. :N. W. O. Bennett and W. O. Bennett married sisters Rebecca Caroline Raphael and Laura Raphael on 9 June and 4 October 1877 respectively.

Family

References

Further reading