William Trevett Dalwood
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ILLIAM
TREVETT DALWOOD was born in 1834 in the parish of Barwick, in Somerset, England. He was
the second child, and first son, of Caleb and Hannah (née Trevett) DALWOOD. In 1840, when
William was six years old, Caleb and Hannah migrated to South Australia with William and
his three sisters. Shortly after their arrival in the colony, Caleb was a farmer at
Goodwood, and a few years later he became the licensee of the Park Gate Inn, in the same
area. Caleb died suddenly in 1851 at the age of 41, and Hannah took over the licence of
the inn.At the tender age of twenty William had become a property dealer and entrepreneur. Two years after his father's death, William was trading property in the vicinity of the inn. Within a few years he had been involved in more than 40 property deals, some connected with mining, and he was a contractor to the colonial government. Later, William described himself variously as broker, mining agent, and contractor.
In 1855, while still living at Goodwood and stating his occupation as farmer, William married Emma Frearson, daughter of a notable local business family. Over the next 21 years William and Emma had 10 children: Frederic William, Britannia Frances, William, Sylvia, Georgia Blanche, Olive Lavinia, Eva Beatrice, Archibald Bramley, Constance Louise Gertrude and George Trevett Palmerston. One child died in his twenties, one died an infant, and another, along with two of her three daughters, died by the hand of her husband.
William was active in the community from an early age, including participation in the movement which established the (local government) District Council of Mitcham in 1853, when he was 19. He was known for much of his life as Will.
In 1870, at the age of 36, with partner Joseph Darwent,
Will contracted for the construction of the northernmost 600 miles of the Overland Telegraph line. Construction was to progress
south, starting from what we now know as Darwin. This line was to link the Australian
colonies telegraphically to the rest of the world, and its construction was a massive
undertaking. Will's and Joseph's party experienced extreme difficulties with the tropical
weather and the failure of supplies to arrive. The government overseer, William McMinn,
who had been one of the unsuccessful tenderers(!), exercised his government-assigned power
to terminate their contract.
Much controversy followed, including a Supreme Court hearing in which Will took action against the government to try to recover his costs. Darwent went broke and assigned his rights to Will, who claimed that the affair had sent him broke also (he definitely went into huge debt). He was not satisfied with the amount the court awarded, and the case was not finalised until seven years after it all began. A parliamentary Select Committee finally recommended a further payment by the colonial government. It almost certainly was still insufficient to cover his losses.
Will named his last child George Trevett Palmerston. The child was born just three months after Will received the inadequate financial compensation for the aborted Overland Telegraph contract. The name Palmerston was presumably given in honour of the name by which Darwin was then known. This is surprising, as he could well have resented what Palmerston meant to him. Perhaps he gave the child this name as a celebration of his bitter, but limited, victory over the government. His joy was to be short-lived, however, as the child died just three months later.
William Trevett Dalwood died, aged 75 years, in 1909 in North Adelaide,
South Australia, and he was buried in the North Road Cemetery. His grave is unmarked.
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