Charles Smart Masterton (1850-1928)

Charles Smart Masterton (1850-1928)

Australian Emigrant

Charles Smart Masterton arrived in Queensland in March 1874, surviving the dis-masting of his ship, the Southern Belle, in a hurricane towards the end of the passage. In 1881, Charles lost his business premises in a fire. The name of his premises, "The Leichhardt Stores", is interesting. The SS Leichhardt passed the Southern Belle after its dismasting, failing to stop, the captain claiming he hadn't seen the stricken vessel. In 1895, he and his family were almost all killed during a flash flood in Port Douglas, Queensland, in which he lost his nine year old son, Charles Junior. The lives of early Australian pioneers could include the severest of trials.

Genealogy

Charles Smart Masterton was the third child and second son of William Masterton, blacksmith, and Jean Smart, who had married in 1837 in Larbert, Stirling, Scotland. Charles emigrated to Australia in November 1873, arriving in Rockhampton, Queensland in March 1874 and married Elizabeth Simpson in 1884. He is part of the large Masterton family from Culross for which details can be found at this link.


The Telegraph

THE SOUTHERN BELLE.

The following is a concise account of the mishap which befell the Southern Belle furnished by one of her late passengers:— At noon of Wednesday the 25th ult. the ship's position was determined by observation to be S. lat. 27.25 E. long. 153.50 The three or four previous days the weather had been very hot and sultry with light winds, which now and then died away into a dead calm. The breeze freshened towards the evening of Wednesday, while clouds began to cover the face of the sky. As the night advanced squalls came on attended with strong gusts of wind and pelting rain. On Thursday morning the wind had increased, and was blowing a steady gale. The sky was one mass of dull leaden gray. The sea also began to rise. As the glass continued to fall, still worse weather was anticipated. The vessel's head had lain almost due north, the wind being from the south and south-west, but owing to the proximity of reefs she was hove-to. The seas which before had hardly told on her, now very often struck her heavily, and towards evening the mainmast had begun to work in its socket.

As a still worse night was anticipated, precautions were taken to lash the mainmast. The ship was now labouring heavily, and many seas swept over her high bulwarks, smashing the port life-boat and another boat, and swamping the cabins on deck. All the crew were out on duty, and several of the male passengers. At about midnight the foretop-gallant went, together with a great lot of canvas. Hardly had the wrecks been cleared when the maintop gallant mast went, and continued to hang on as the storm had increased to a perfect hurricane, and no one would venture up aloft. The mainmast, too, was expected to go every moment. The main top-gallant mast continued to sway from side to side, held on by the wire rigging, and increased the strain on the mast with each movement. Exactly at two p.m. the mainmast itself went with a crash which resembled a near and sharp report of thunder. It broke off from near the deck clean snapt in two, and on examination it was seen that just there a pin had been passed through the centre beam, the mast being a built-up one.

The single women and many of the men thought that the last hour of the doomed vessel had arrived, and fell on their knees in prayer. The fall of the mainmast involved the destruction of the greatest portion of the mizen mast also, and the damage of other boats. The mast rolled clean over the bulwarks, hardly doing them any damage. From this time the gale began to decrease, and towards morning of Friday the head of the vessel was turned towards land with such strips of canvas as were left on such of the stumps as remained standing. The wind abated gradually, till on Saturday morning there was almost a calm. Dreadful reports continued to fly about as to the damage done in the interior of the vessel. The captain and officers— the former well known as Captain Carpenter who has been so often on the west coast to Perth — were indefatigable, and had taken no rest for three nights. At last on Sunday morning we passed north of Keppel Island, and the wind not permitting us to enter the bay, the ship was taken to ten fathoms water, and there anchored.

The captain then called all the passengers aft, and through the Surgeon - Superintendent, Dr. Harricks, told them that their lives were now safe, and at most they would have to suffer two or three days inconvenience. On Sunday night rockets were sent up. On Monday morning a boat's crew were sent on shore 'to make for what appeared to be a squatter's hut, or to go. on to the pilot vessel in Keppel Bay, which was nearly fifty miles distant. The boat's crew, after three unsuccessful efforts finally landed and was all night in search of the squatter's residence. At length by daybreak the next day they found it, and were forwarded on to Rockhampton. Meanwhile, the little steamer Mary, with Commander Roberts, had been searching for the Southern Belle, since Monday, and on Wednesday sighted it. It was at 11 a.m. when the welcome cry, "a steamer" rung through every part of the disabled ship, and everyone rushed to the bulwarks.

The weather being calm the Mary towed us up, and at last, near midnight, we cast anchor safe in Keppel Bay about half a mile from Curtis Island. During our progress we learnt that the boat's crew had arrived at Rockhampton, and that a steamer would soon be sent to us. On Thursday Dr. Salmond, with the Custom-house and other authorities, came on board, and it was stated that on the next day the immigrants would be taken off. The damage done to their boxes and trunks down in the hold was only now found out, and there were some hundreds of them burst and smashed with all their their contents scattered and spoilt. Friday, however, came, and there was still a weary waiting for the steamer. At length on Saturday morning the most part, about 350 were taken off in the Queensland, the remainder to follow in the Mary, after she had received the English mail expected in the Bentan. This steamer came in about 10 p.m., and after the mails had been taken on board the Mary, she went back to the ship, and took off the remaining batch, and proceeded on her way to Rockhampton.

The Telegraph
Brisbane
Wednesday 11th March 1874


The Brisbane Courier

Rockhampton.
[FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.]
January 15.

The Leichhardt Stores, occupied by Mr. Charles Masterton, were destroyed by fire on Saturday night. The building was insured for £300 in the Royal Fire and Life Insurance Company, and the stock for £300 in the City Mutual. The fire was caused by the bursting of a gaspipe in the window.

The Brisbane Courier
Queensland
Monday 17th January 1881


HEAVY FLOODS IN THE NORTH
HOUSES AND FAMILIES SWEPT AWAY.
SIX PERSONS DROWNED.
[BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.]
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PORT DOUGLAS, April 8.
News has just been brought by the Daintree mailman of the loss of six lives there on Friday night. The river rose during the night 8ft. higher than the highest flood previously known. A cottage containing Mrs. Reynolds, Gertie Reynolds, and Lesiie Fischer was swept clean away and smashed up down the river in the scrub, all three persons being drowned.
Charles Masterton, Mrs. Masterton, and family went down the river on the top of their house until it was smashed up, when the boy was killed and Masterton had his leg broken. Mr. and Mrs. Masterton and their baby were twenty-four hours in the trees before they were found.
Almost all the men from the Upper Daintree River were at the post office when the floods rose. They endeavoured to get up to their families, but were unable to do so.
The persons drowned are Mrs. Bridget Reynolds, Gertie Reynolds, Fred King, jun., Leslie Fischer, Charles Masterton, Jun., and a black gin. Most of the people on the river have lost their houses and provisions.
The Customs boat leaves with provisions and a party to search for the un- recovered bodies-namely, those of Mrs. Reynolds and her daughter, Fischer, and Masterton.
Floods have also occurred on the Mossman River, great damage has been done to the crops, and several houses were washed away.

The Brisbane Courier
Queensland
Tuesday 9th April 1895


Morning Bulletin, Rockhampton

PORT DOUGLAS, April 8.

News has been brought by the Daintree mailman of the loss of six lives on Friday night. The river rose during the night eight feet higher than the highest flood ever known, and a cottage, containing three people, named Mrs. Reynolds, Gertie Reynolds, and Leslie Fischer, was swept clean away and smashed up. All three persons were drowned. Another family, Charles Masterton, Mrs. Masterton, and family went down the river on the top of a house until it was smashed, when a boy was killed and Masterton had his leg broken. Mr. and Mrs. Masterton and their baby were twenty-four hours in the trees before they were found. Almost all the men from Upper Daintree were at the Post Office when the floods rose. They endeavoured to get up to their families, but were unable to do so. The persons drowned are Mrs. Bridget Reynolds, Gertrude Reynolds, Frederick King, Junr., Leslie Fischer, Charles Masterton, Junr., and a black gin. Most of the people living near the river lost their houses.

The Customs boat leaves with provisions, and a party is making a search for the unrecovered bodies - namely those of Mrs. Reynolds and Gertrude Reynolds, Fischer, and Masterton.

Floods also occurred at Mossman River, and great damage was done to the crops. Several houses were washed away.

Morning Bulletin
Rockhampton, Queensland
Tuesday 9th April, 1895


The Express and Telegraph, Adelaide

FLOODS IN QUEENSLAND.
SEVERAL LIVES LOST.

Brisbane, April 8.
Reports from the north tell of heavy floods. A telegram from Port Douglas states that heavy rains have fallen there since Friday night, and that the rainfall at the head of the Mossman, Saltwater, and Daintree Rivers has been terrific. Charles Masterton arrived at Port Douglas to-night from Daintree with a broken leg. He reports a disastrous downpour. One of his sons, a daughter of Mrs. Reynolds, two white boys, and a black boy and girl, have been drowned, and the farmers' homes and crops entirely swept away.

Cairns, April 8.
The rainfall on Friday night was 7½ in. All the low lying lands are submerged, and the rice and banana crops have been severely injured.

The Express and Telegraph
Adelaide
Tuesday 9th April, 1895


The Brisbane Courier

THE DAINTREE FLOODS.
LOSS OF SIX LIVES.
A NIGHT OF TERROR.
BRAVE WOMEN AND THEIR CHILDREN.
TWENTY-FOUR HOURS' EXPOSURE.

(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)

Friday, The 5th April, 1895, will long be remembered by the residents of the Daintree River. On the night of that date a south-easterly gale of almost hurricane force, accompanied by a perfect deluge of rain, swept across the district. The river rose to a height far above any hitherto known, and began to subside next day, leaving death and devastation in its path. The first building to feel the tremendous force of the flood was a cottage owned by Mr. H. Fischer, in which were resident at the time Mrs. Reynolds, Miss Gertrude Reynolds, and a little boy, the son of Mr. H. Fischer. During the night the house was swept across the cleared paddock and dashed into the standing scrub, where in the darkness of that awful storm, unseen by any human eye, amid the rending of timber, the crash of falling trees, and the roar of the remorseless river, the three helpless ones were hurried into eternity. The grief of the bereaved relatives when at dawn of day they discovered their loss may be imagined but not described. A search was commenced, and on Sunday morning the body of the younger lady was found by Mr. Fischer lying as if in calm repose, the hands clasped as though in supplication. The body of Mrs. Reynolds was recovered and interred on Monday evening, but the child has not been found.

The next to be alarmed by the encroaching waters was Mrs. F. King, who, unaided (Mr. King being absent at the time), had to care for five helpless little children. Escape from the house being impossible, she piled up the furniture and climbed on to it ; but the flood rose with such rapidity that that refuge became untenable, and the distracted mother, while saving one little boy, underwent the anguish of seeing another drown at her feet while powerless to aid him. Then driven right up under the roof, the rising water at the very lips of the terrified wailing children, Mrs. King, with an energy born of despair, dashed out some of the gable boards with her bare hands and succeeded in placing herself and the surviving children on the ridge-cap of the house which the flood just submerged. Clinging to this place of refuge, benumbed with terror, cold, and exhaustion, they remained through the long hours of darkness till the morning. The house being comparatively sheltered from the rush of the torrent remained firm, and the survivors were rescued soon after daylight.

As terrible an experience was that of Mr. Charles Masterton, who, with his wife, two children, and a little aboriginal girl, who had been reared from a baby as one of their own, was swept down the river on the roof of hîs house, although he had taken every precaution which prudence and foresight could suggest to avert such a catastrophe. Built on an elevated site, his house had two boats moored beside it by strong wire lines : but such was the resistless force of the raging current that boats and house were swept away like straws. Forcing off some sheets of iron, Mr. Masterton placed his wife and children upon the roof, strapping the youngest child, a girl of 3 years of age, across his shoulders. Down the river raced the doomed building at a speed of over ten miles an hour, until it reached the post office on the reserve. Here the flood waters break across a low point clothed with dense high-standing scrub, and straight for this gigantic barrier, then a perfect maelstrom of surging logs, spouting water, and foam, broken tree-tops and tangled vines, Mr. Masterton and his helpless companions were hurried. Deeming destruction inevitable, he and Mrs. Masterton took a tender farewell of each other, and the next instant were precipitated against a tree with a violence that smashed the house into fragments and hurled the occupants amidst the debris. Mrs. Masterton, on coming to the surface, caught a vine and a tree and clung there choking and sobbing, the cruel, turbid waters beating and bruising her and striving to tear her from her hold. Mr. Masterton was struck upon the head and partially stunned, then crushed between a log and a tree, and had his thigh broken. Feeling almost hopeless, but still with heart and hand nerved afresh by feeling his little daughter struggling round his neck, he made a desperate effort, freed himself from the encumbering branches, and, being provided with a stirrup leather, strapped himself and the child to a tree. His son, a bright little lovable fellow 9 years of age, was killed instantly, having his head and hips crushed. The little aboriginal was heard crying for a while, and must then have slipped away and been drowned, as her body was found close to the spot, otherwise uninjured. Owing to no boats being available, the survivors remained in their precarious position for over twenty-four hours, famished, wet, cold, and tormented almost to madness by pain and the stings of insects. They were at length taken across the river, and received with warm hospitality by Mrs. Stewart, of Allanton. Mr. T. Kllkeary's residence was destroyed, and its contents scattered far and wide. Its owner, luckily, was paying a visit to Mr. H. Fischer, and so escaped. The other settlers, unhurt personally, have seen the fruits of their labours swept away in a single night. Banana groves have been levelled with the earth or torn up by the roots ; buildings, crops, and implements destroyed, and horses and cattle whirled away and drowned in one common and widespread ruin.

The Brisbane Courier
Queensland
Tuesday, 23rd April 1895


The Queenslander

MASTERTON.-On the 6th April, at daybreak, on the flooded Daintree, Charlie F.G. Masterton met death with firm lip and steady eye, a brave little Queenslander, aged 9 years and 8 months.

The Queenslander
Brisbane, Queensland
Saturday, 4th May 1895


The Week

Port Douglas.

July 16.

Mr. Charles Masterton, the principal sufferer of the survivors of the last Daintree River flood, who left the hospital two weeks ago on crutches, still is suffering great pains in the thigh, which was broken. He will be obliged to seek the doctor's assistance again.

The Week
Brisbane, Queensland
Friday, 19th July 1895


Port Douglas.

December 2.
Mrs. Masterton, wife of Charles Masterton, who lost her house and home, had her only son drowned and broke her own leg during the last Daintree flood disaster, has left for Townsville, where her husband is in the hospital. It is stated that he will have to undergo another operation, having been found with his thigh broken in two places.
There were splendid rains last week, 3 inches being registered.

The Week
Brisbane, Queensland
Friday, 6th December 1895


The Queenslander

DAINTREE RIVER, February 25.

The Daintree community sustains a decided loss in the departure from the district of Mr. Charles Masterton, one of the pioneer settlers of the river. Mr. Masterton, by sheer energy and perseverance, had carved out of the wilderness a most comfortable and prosperous home when the disastrous flood of '95 devastated his farm, swept away his house, and so injured Mr. Masterton himself that he has never recovered properly to the present time. He leaves accompanied by the best wishes of all the residents of the river.

The Queenslander
Brisbane, Queensland
Saturday 13th March, 1897


Cairns Post

STOCK NOTES.
(By "Tramp.")

DAINTREE RIVER LANDS. Now the long-neglected Daintree River scrubland is creating interest in stock circles, it is worthy of note that many years ago a fine class butter was produced on the River, and Charlie Masterton, one of the early settlers, was a frequent visitor to Port Douglas with his consignments of dairy butter, and Mr. Cal. Walsh (who, in those days, managed Walsh & Co.'s Port Douglas branch) informs me that ninepence per lb. in advance of the price of the imported Southern article was always obtainable. It may also be of interest that Maram grass (a species of Panicum) was introduced in the early days by one, Pentcke, and it obtained a fine hold in all the old clearings, its fattening properties being of a very high order, and some fine steers were produced on its pastures. Incidentally, it may be mentioned that over thirty years ago there was a frequent steam service between Daintree River and Port Douglas, the steamer Bee, with a draught of about six feet, being a frequent visitor to the River for the purpose of loading bananas, and it is sincerely hoped that the various visits undertaken by Tableland settlers will lead to the re-opening of this district, and the conversion of its wilderness into a profitable dairying and fruit-growing centre.

Cairns Post
Queensland
Monday, 23rd January 1922


The Brisbane Courier

Masterton.—The Friends of Mrs. E. S. Masterton and Miss F. E. Masterton, of Ashby, Albion-road, Albion, are respectfully invited to attend the Funeral of their deceased Husband and Father, Charles Smart Masterton, to leave the Funeral Parlour, 544 Queen- street, Petrie Bight, This (Monday) Afternoon, at 3.30 o'clock, for the Toowong Cemetery. Motor service.
JOHN HISLOP & SONS, Funeral Directors.

The Brisbane Courier
Queensland
Monday, 2nd January 1928


DEATHS

MASTERTON - On January 1st, at Ingarfield Private Hospital, Charles Masterton, late of Townsville, dearly beloved husband of Mrs. E. S. Masterton, and father of F. E. Masterton, Brisbane.

At rest.

The Brisbane Courier
Queensland
Thursday, 12th January 1928


The Telegraph

MASTERTON. --Relatives and Friends of Mrs. Elizabeth Sarah Masterton, formerly of Mossman, N.Q., Widow of the late Charles Smart Masterton, are invited to attend her Funeral, to leave the Funeral Chapel, 17 Peel St., South Brisbane, Tomorrow (Wednesday) Afternoon, at 2 o'clock for the Toowong Cemetery.

The Telegraph
Brisbane
Tuesday, 23rd June 1942