Southerton John Aggett

  General Notes:

Southerton and Agnes returned to England after the birth of Southerton John Jnr. And this is where Elizabeth was born. They returned to Australia, arriving on 29 Nov 1862 (on the 'Eastern Empire') departing from Plymouth, and the rest of the children were born in Australia.

Southerton entered the colony as a 'servant', but joined the police force in 1870 at the age of 25. He is credited with being the first trooper in Cessnock and was presented with a silver watch by the people of Cessnock when he left there to take up a position in Gosford, the watch is still in the family possession.

He retired from the force as Senior Constable in 1899 after 25 years service. Southerton also served at Wallabadah and Murrurundi, and took an active part in the pursuit of Thunderbolt the bush ranger and other notorious outlaws. He was also instrumental in bringing to justice many cattle and sheep rustlers.

The graves of Southerton, Joseph and Christopher are in the Bradys Gully Cemetery, Gosford. These have been rrediscovered and landscaped by the local council and Rotary

Southerton married Agnes White on 12 Aug 1859 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.^{1 2} (Agnes White was born about Mar 1840 in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England ^{1 4} and died on 17 Jul 1910 in Gosford, New South Wales, Australia ¹.)