BILTON, Joseph

Name – BILTON, Joseph
Born – 1849
Died – 24/01/1948
Location – No 64 Methodist Section
Mother – Elizabeth Pain
Father – John Batchelor Bilton

Notes – Joseph was born in July 1849 at Lincolnshire, England and was the son of John and Elizabeth Bilton (nee Pain). He had three sisters, Mary, Helen and Charlotte. His father died before he was two years old and Census records state in 1861 he was living with his mother and sister Charlotte at Cottage 42 Wincby, Lincolnshire.

Joseph left England when he was 21 years old and had already completed a shoemaking apprenticeship. After making the decision to leave England, he took passage to Australia on the Asia as an unassisted passenger. He settled in Victoria and went on to marry Barbara Thompson on the 22nd February, 1877. Their marriage was not a happy one and Joseph filed for divorce which was granted after a messy court case in 1898.

He was a councillor on the Richmond Council. In his election speech for getting into the Richmond Council unopposed in 1905, he stated, He was not going to make any rash statements because if the idea failed, the ratepayer would not be happy with him.

In 1909 Joseph moved to the Tara and The Gums area. Having a political background, he stood for and was elected as the President of the Council here in Tara by 1913. He selected three places on what is now the Surat Development Road at the The Gums. The blocks of land were located on the southern side of the Surat Development Road to the Leichardt Highway.

After meeting Mary Maude Mudge who was a widow with three grown children, Joseph asked her to marry him. Unfortunately, their marriage was destined to be short, as in 1921 Mary was killed in a tragic train accident at Dalby. She is buried in the Dalby cemetery.

Joseph spent the last decades of his life by himself, but was surrounded by people who liked and respected him greatly. In 1914 he is recorded as being the returning officer and also opened a very successful general store in partnership with Mr Fargher. During this time, he also worked his farm. Being a hard worker, he did most of the work on his properties himself.

In 1923 he harvested a very good crop of cotton and was also producing wool. Joseph held positions in the council for many years as well as being a member of various clubs and committees. Because of his great dedication to the community, he was honoured with a street being named after him. The hospital is located in this street.

Tara is where it is today because of the work people like Joseph did for the local community. Joseph died at the very fine age of 99 years. The inscription on his headstone reads, In loving memory of Our Dear Friend Joseph Bilton Died 24th January, 1948. Erected by H & M Ferguson. There are no records of Joseph having had any children of his own.

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