Capt Peter PEGUS [26417]

  General Notes:

Capt. Peter Pegus, the natural son of Peter Pegus snr and his Grenadian housekeeper, whose birthdate is variously given as 1780, 1786 or 1787¹ and birthplace as Grenada, was a pioneering settler in Western Australia and then Tasmania, where he was keeper of the Oats Gaol.
Ref: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/lbs/person/view/2146637485.
1. Later research suggests a date between 1771 & 1775. Age given at death 78 in 1853 indicates 1775.

Captain Peter Pégus was one of the first European settlers of the Swan River colony in Western Australia .
Peter was born to Peter Pégus (senior) in 1786, a wealthy cotton-plantation owner in Grenada , after whom Pégus Point on the southern tip of Carriacou is named; in 1806, he served as a Lieutenant with the Royal Tyrone Militia in Ireland. The following year, he transferred to the Connaught Rangers regiment, where he fought against Napoleon in the Peninsular War .
Peter retired from the army in 1828, and applied for land grants in Western Australia, not on the basis of military service, but instead, on the basis of the property he would bring to Australia. Peter's application was successful, and he arrived at the Swan River on 19 October 1829 aboard the Atwick, with his wife Mary Jane, his younger son William, 2 sheep, 5 servants, and £1,552, he was allowed to select 18,000 acres (73 sq km) of land, which he did in the area known today as Thornlie . This area was named "Coleraine". However, in 1834, Coleraine was largely destroyed in a bushfire, which ended the settlement. Peter, who had lost much of his wealth, then left for Van Diemen's land per Elizabeth (a ship also carrying convicts) in March 1836. Following the death of his first wife in 1839, Peter married Mary Sophia Skardon in Launceston in 1840.
Peter had two sons, Campbell John Pégus, born 1814 in Britain, and William Jeffries Pégus, born 1820 in Glasgow.
Ref: Wiki https://wikivisually.com/wiki/Peter_P%C3%A9gus

Peter Pegus
Birth Date: 1773
Birth Place: Grenada
Death Date: 30 Oct 1853
Death Place: Oatlands, Southern Midlands Council, Tasmania, Australia
Cemetery: Oatlands General Cemetery
Findagrave

Obituary
The LATE CAPTAIN PEGUS.-The funeral of this officer, late Governor of the Gaol at Oatlands, took place on Wednesday last, and was most numerously and respectably attended. The deceased officer, who, we regret to say, died in poverty and has left a wife and family without any means of support beyond what may be derived from public subscription, formerly belonged to the 88th Regiment. He was one of forty officers chosen by the late Duke of Wellington to perform Commissariat duties in Spain, and in the year 1812 or 1813 was in charge at Rhenters, near Passages. His Grace the Commander-in-Chief being pressed for quarters was entertained with his staff by Lieut. Pegus, A.D.A.C.G. In December 1813 the gallant 88th arrived at St. Jean de Lutz, the light company 'being then commanded by Lieutenant Pegus. Having obtained his company Captain Pegus commuted his half-pay and emigrated to Swan River, at which colony he was ruined. On arrival in Van Diemen's Land he superintended several road parties, and ultimately was appointed to be Governor of the Gaol at Oatlands, which he held for many years with advantage to the public and credit to himself. "I believe," says the authority from whence we derive our information, " Captain Pegus arrived too late with his regiment to take part in the battle of Waterloo, but that he remained some time in France with the Army. He had also served in the Mediterranean." We believe that a subscription is getting up for the purpose of raising a fund to aid in the support of the bereaved widow, (who is the daughter of a gallant Lieutenant in the navy, lately deceased). We trust that this appeal on behalf of the family of an old Peninsular soldier will find a ready response from the purses of those who, like him, have fearlessly marched on an enemy's front. We believe that Captain Pegus's commission as an ensign will bear date almost as far back as any surviving officer of the Army.
Ref Hobart Courier 7 Nov 1853

Local.
THE LATE CAPTAIN PEGUS\emdash In the late numbers of our colonial newspapers, the recent death of Captain Peter Pegus, is noticed, and from having known him many years, we now deem it proper to say a word or two, in honor of his memory. Captain Pegus joined the 88th (Connaught Rangers) when only sixteen years of age, as an Ensign, and served with it many years. He shared in all the glories of the Peninsular campaigns, in which the "Fauga Ballaghs," in the third division, under Sir. T. Picton, were engaged, including Burgos, where Captain Pegus, then a lieutenant, particularly distinguished himself with the storming parties. After the war and his promotion he sold out, and was one of the first settlers at Swan River, Western Australia, and he also was one of many, who being thrown into the avocations of a settler which he did not understand, he suffered great losses and privations. He ultimately came on to Van Diemen's Land, where through the kindness of Sir John Franklin, he received
a civil appointment, which he held for about sixteen years previous to his death. As an officer, and a gentlemen, a husband, and the father of a large family, we never heard a reproachful remark made upon his conduct, which in this find fault world, unless a man is rich, is something wonderful. "Peace to his manes."
7 Nov 1853
Ref: The Tasmanian Colonist ( Hobart Town) and Courier

Peter married Mary Jane McNAUGHTON [26424] [MRIN: 4962] on 12 Aug 1805 in St Mary Dublin (Church of Ireland). (Mary Jane McNAUGHTON [26424] was born circa 1776 in Ireland and died on 8 Jul 1839 in Launceston Tasmania.)

Peter next married Mary Sophia SKARDON [26493] [MRIN: 4963] in 1840 in Launceston Tasmania. (Mary Sophia SKARDON [26493] was born in 1813 and died on 12 Aug 1896 in Oatlands Tasmania.)