John Eaton 1811-1904 Son of
William Eaton 1769-1858 and Jane Ison LLoyd 1770-1823
Mary Ann Onus 1813-1897 daughter of Joseph Onus 1782-1835 and Ann Elizabeth Eather 1793-1865

Not long after John Eaton married Mary Ann at St.Matthews, Windsor on the 17th of January 1831, they too moved to the Hunter River district as a prelude to more distant interests. John Eaton and his brother Daniel, rode in 1836 to the vicinity of the present town of Inverell and in the same area, closer to the modern town of Moree, Daniel Eaton established at that time his "Binniguy" run on the Gwydir river. John was spending little time at home in his restless search for land. Mary Ann had only one child between 1833 and 1837.

In 1844 the family moved to the Roseberry Run on the Richmond River and ten years later there was yet another wholesale removal, this time to "Teebar", a consolidated property of 58,000 acres, near Maryborough in Queensland. John leased Teebar from Henry Cox Corfield in 1849 and later in 1854 Corfield transfered the property to John Eaton. Henry Cox Corfield's wife Jessie, nee MURRAY 1824-1853 had died in 1853 and he was so affected he felt he could not live on the property again.

John was keen to send the family by ship to Queensland, along with the furniture and personal possessions. However, Mary Ann insisted that the family go overland with him, and family records indicate that it was just as well she did, as the vessel carrying their possessions to Wide Bay was wrecked and all their belongings lost. Life at Teebar was made very difficult by the frequent and determined onslaughts of the aborigines but the area was gradually pacified and the station extended.

John became Mayor of Maryborough in his time there while holding a position on many projects and public establishments.
In 1869 with his son-in-law, the husband of Mary Ann Elizabeth, Walter HAY, John bought a paddle Steamer named "Sir John Young". This vessel was used on the Mary River as a tug, towing loads of sugar cane to the mills.


On one of the later acquisitions, Eatonvale, in 1859, John Eaton built a palatial residence, set overlooking the Mary river. Built from home-made clay bricks and fitted with beautiful rich cedar from James Eather's farm at Dorrigo. He named the home 'Rosehill' and it came complete with ballroom, and on one occasion the Governor of Queensland stayed there when visiting Maryborough.

You can visit Rosehill and tour this beautiful homestead, and still, today in the grounds is the original well, the washouse complete with it's copper. And attached to the washhouse are 'his' and 'her' thunderboxes.

John Eaton owned many properties in the Wide Bay area, he died on 19 June 1904, at Brooweena, Queensland,Australia at age 93
His grave is close to the Teebar homestead at Brooweena in Queensland, Australia

The Brisbane Courier, Tuesday 21 June 1904
DEATH OF AN OLD RESIDENT.
Mr. John Eaton, proprietor of Teebar and other stations in this district, died at the residence of his son-in-law. Mr. R Maitland, of Westwood, on Sunday. The deceased was the oldest pioneer in the district, and was 94 years of age. He was born at Richmond Bottoms, Maitland district, New South Wales. in the year 1810, and leaves some hundreds of descendants, down to tho fifth generation.


Obituary of John Eaton

The Maryborough Chronicle - Tuesday 21st June, 1904

The duty has at last fallen upon us to record with deep regret the death of that splendid old pioneer settler of the Wide Bay district Mr. John Eaton the Squire of Teebar Station at the grand old age of 94 years. The venerable gentleman had only been ailing for a short time and died quietly and peacefully at Westwood the residence of his Son-in-law Mr. Richard Maitland on Sunday night June 19th. Mr. Eaton was in every sense of the word a splendid colonist and one that not merely the district but all Australia might well be proud of. Born at Richmond Bottoms in the Maitland district it is questionable whether any older born Australian colonists were alive at his death. As a boy he worked in Sydney and afterwards had a hard life up country, farming and cattle breeding. About 44 years ago he took up Teebar run and arrived there overland with his wife and family from New South Wales. He had resided there ever since with the exception of some time spent in Maryborough in the early sixties. During his long occupation of Teebar Mr. Eaton carried on grazing pursuits most successfully. He also invested largely in Maryborough property, and was one of the founders of the once famous Eatonvale sugar plantation and factory. In the earlier days Mr. Eaton took a most active interest in the public affairs of Maryborough. He was one of our first aldermen and was the second Mayor of the town succeeding Mr. Henry Palmer our first Mayor, who is still happily with us, in 1861 and holding office to the end of term in 1862. Our esteemed old citizen Mr. C. E. S. Booker was also a member of that first council, and now that Mr. Eaton has gone, he and Mr Palmer alone remain of the original body of aldermen who laid the municipal foundations of the town. I he present council induced Mr. Eaton a year or so ago to have his photograph taken and his portrait now adorns the gallery of past Mayors in the Municipal chamber. Mr. Eaton was a man of fine physique in his prime and enjoyed an iron constitution, hardened by a very rough bush life in his early days. For many years past he had been famed for his wonderfully sustained vitality and energy. At 90 he could go out on his horse all day and muster stock with the best of them; and even up to two years ago it was his habit to ride about and look after his affairs very keenly. His was a green and vigorous old age almost to the last. He had a family of one son and eight daughters, and at the time of his death he was the head of several hundred descendants down to Great-Great- Grand children. Of his family, Mrs. Eaton died about eleven years ago and the only son William at the same time, Two daughters, Mrs. George Walker and Mrs. Hayes also predeceased him by some years. The surviving daughters are Mrs. Thompson, Mrs. G. Thomas (Clifton), Mrs. Gordon, Mrs R. G. Gilbert, Mrs Maitland and Mrs. Ezzy most of who reside in the district and in the neighbourhood of Teebar with their children and their children's children to the fifth generation, an excellent group of settlers on the land, and primary wealth producers. We have lost from our midst a grand old man upright in all his dealings and generous to a fault. His honoured name which strangely enough is not borne by his host of descendants who are the children of his daughters, will ever be indelibly impressed upon the history of the early pioneering days and development of Maryborough and the Wide Bay District. It has been arranged that the funeral shall take place at Teebar on Wednesday afternoon - when the remains of the deceased will be laid beside those of his wife. Mr. Ammenhauser, Undertaker, is proceeding by train to Teebar tomorrow morning, taking the hearse and horses with him.

The Western Champion and General Advertiser for the Central-Western Districts, Monday 19 September 1904

THE will of the late John Eaton, of Westwood, Bompa, grazier, has been
proved at ?29,998,

The Brisbane Courier, Tuesday 15 November 1904
SALE OF LAND
One of the largest attendances of people that his ever attended a public auction sale in Maryborough was witnessed on Saturday morning last at Bryant and Co's auction mart, when a number of properties in the estate of the late John Eaton of Teebar were ofiered for sale, and also some of the personal effects of the de
ceased Bidding was not spirited. Half an acre of land it the corner of Richmond
and Ellena streets opposite the Sydney Hotel on which is erected a small but cher shnop was passed in at ?230. Half an acre facing Adelaide, Alice and Lennox streets was passed in at ?250. The Bid well paddock at Tinana, containing over 600 acres occupied by Mycock and Son which is considered to be one of the best dairying properties in the district had ?2. 5s per acre offered but the owners re quired more. A 300 acre paddock at the Two- mile in the Tinana district was bought by Mycock and Son at 14s. per acre. A 74 acre paddock at the junction of the Tinana Creek and the Mary River was bought by Mr. L. Steindl at ?4 10s. per acre. Seventeen allotments in the original township of Tiaro were bought by Mr. Waracker at ?20 per allotment An area of 1 acre in Owanyilla township was bought by Mr.Geo Pitt foi ?1. A 112 acre paddock fronting the Mary River near Etchell's Falls was bought by Mr. Sorrensen at 18s per acre. The deceased's undivided share in selections at Calgoa sold for ?25


There are no descendants named 'EATON' from John and Mary Ann EATON as his only son, William, died without issue.




The children of John and Mary Ann
Mary M Eaton 1831 ? 1831
Ann Eaton 1833 ? 1924 m. Richard GILES 1812-1876 2. William THOMPSON 1842-1909
Mary Ann Elizabeth Eaton 1835 ? 1870 m. Walter HAY 1833-1907
Jane Eaton 1837 ? 1872 m. John George WALKER 1819-1914
Elizabeth Mary Eaton 1839 ? 1933 m. Boyce James NICHOLS 1832-1879
Susannah Eaton 1842 ? 1937 m. Thomas CORNWELL 1837-1916
Charlotta Eaton 1844 ? 1923 m. William Isaac INMAN 1840-1869 2. Henry GORDON 1840-1923
Infant Eaton 1846 ? 1846
William Eaton 1847 ? 1887 m. Julia CORNWELL 1849-1942 died without issue
Caroline Eaton 1850 ? 1850
Martha Mary Richmond Eaton 1851 ? 1931 m. Richard MAITLAND 1846-1923
Veronica Eaton 1854 ? 1942 m Abraham John EZZY 1851-1921
Euphemia Eaton 1854-1939 m. Robert Grant GILBERT 1842-1900


The photograph below is Rosehill
which was taken on the occasion of the Governor's visit in the 1860s and was donated to the Maryborough Wide Bay & Burnett Historical Society by Kay Gassan