William Gore ELLISTON [35456]

  General Notes:

William was a member of the Freemasons Lodge Hobart admitted 20 Sep 1833


THE LATE MR. WILLIAM GORE ELLISTON.
Mr. Elliston, whose death we noticed yesterday, was an Englishman by birth, and was born in 1798, thus being 74 years of age. He received a good education, but was brought up to no profession. For some time he assisted his father, Robert William Elliston, the actor, who died in 1831. The father was manager of the Drury Lane Theatre for some time, his son William being connected with him, but a large sum of money was lost in the speculation. The subject of our notice for some time managed the Lymington Reading Room, and he used to think it belonged to him, but when his father became in-volved in difficulties, consequent on the Drury Lane failure, the reading room was seized to meet the liabilities.

Mr. Elliston arrived in this colony in 1824, or 46 years ago. He conducted the Longford Hall Grammar School at Longford for some years after his arrival. Having disposed of the school, he purchased the Hobart Town Courier from Dr. Ross, who had conducted it for many years, in 1836, for the sum of £12,000. No doubt the amount looks large, but it was not more than the paper was worth, when it is considered that at that time there was no separate Government printing office, and that the proprietor of the Courier published the Gazette, and did all the other Government work. The venture was a good one, and would probably have made Mr. Elliston a wealthy man, had not one small circumstance turned the tide of fortune away from him. Some short time after he became possessed of the Courier, a duel was fought, in which Capt. Montagu, then Colonial Secretary, and a nephew of Colonel Arthur, and another gentleman were seconds. Both these gentlemen were Justices of the Peace, and a paragraph was published in the Courier advising the removal of both gentlemen from the Commission of the Peace, in consequence of the prominent part they took in the duel. This paragraph proved to be a serious loss to Mr. Elliston, for, not long after, arrangements were made by those in authority to secure the services of a printer from England, and two years from the publication of the paragraph, Mr. Barnard, the present Government printer, arrived in the colony, and Mr. Elliston lost all the Government work. He continued to retain possession of the paper till 1848, when he disposed of it to the Messrs. Best Bros. He then entered into the auctioneering business in this city, but this did not appear to suit him, for in a short time he went to Bridgewater and settled on a farm there, during which he was appointed visiting magistrate of Brighton.

He had previous to this been Mayor of Hobart Town. He was appointed by Sir William Denison to be a member of the Legislative Council in July, 1855, and held his seat until Parliamentary Government was established in the following year. After residing at Bridgewater for some years, Mr. Elliston went to England, where he remained some three years, and on his return, was appointed Usher of the Black Rod, which appointment dates back to the 19th July, 1869. He was also Secretary to the Turkish Bath Company and manager of the Building Society in this city.

The funeral is to take place this afternoon.
Ref: Hobart Mercury.

William Gore Elliston
Birth Date1798
Death Date6 Dec 1872
CemeteryCornelian Bay Cemetery And Crematorium
Burial or Cremation PlaceHobart, Hobart City, Tasmania, Australia

  Research Notes:

They had issue 5 girls and 5 boys.

William married Margaret de VAUX [35457] [MRIN: 12836] on 25 Feb 1832 in Hobart Tasmania. (Margaret de VAUX [35457] was born on 26 Nov 1807 in MDX LND and died on 15 Nov 1873 in Hobart Tasmania.)