Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), Saturday 14 March 1936, page 10


An Australian Pilgrimage

(By Lucy Webb)

'THE pilgrimage to the grave of the authoress of the 'Song of Australia' (Mrs. Caroline J. Carleton), which took place at Wallaroo vesterday, reminds us that her husband, Charles

James Carleton belonged to a good old English family, and was related to the Earls of Dorchester. Sir Guy Carleton, 1st Earl of Dorchester 1786, was Governor-General of Canada in 1768. In 1911 the Hon. Dudley Carleton, only son of Lady Dorchester, married the only daughter of Lady de Blacquiere. Mrs. Carleton's daughter, named Caroline, too, was born in 1840, and lived with the Rev. James and Mrs. Pollitt at St. Luke's Vicarage, Whitmore square. He was first incumbent of that parish. Caroline Carleton married his son, Henry Martyn Pollitt, named after the great missionary to India. He was subsequently incumbent of All Saints', Hindmarsh, for 33 years, and honorary Canon of St. Peter's Cathedral. A good (and true )story is told of Canon Pollitt when at Hindmarsh. After strenuous efforts to bring a hardened sinner to church, the canon was overjoyed one Sunday morning to find the lost sheep occupying a seat below the lectern. Unfortunately the hymn before the sermon was 'Christian, Seek Not Yet Repose.' which the newly arrived individual imagined was put on for his special edification and warning. So he arose and departed, and the church saw him no more, and not all Canon Pollitfs arguments could persuade him that it was' not a deliberate insult, but a mere coincidence. Canon and Mrs. Pollitt are buried in the Pollitt family vault in West Terrace Cemetery, where the Rev. James and Mrs. Pollitt are also interred. When in England Mrs. Pollitt visited Dorchester House, the ancient home of the Carletons. Her eldest son. Henry Carleton Pollitt, died in Adelaide in 1925. Another son. Mr. Cyril Pollitt, lives at Tanunda; a daughter, Mrs. Mary Carleton Davidson, at Aldgate: and Miss E. M. Pollitt at Waikerie. ? * ? 'ICRS Carleton was the daughter of William ?*??*- Baynes, of Bonner's Hall, near London. She was married at 18. and in 1839 set sail in the Prince Regent with her husband and two children for Adelaide. The voyage was a sad one, as the children died. Mrs. Carleton's only son died young. Her four daughters were Mrs. Pollitt. Mrs. Parker. Mrs. Rhead. and another. Of these Mrs. Rhead was the last survivor. She died at the end of 1934. aged 92. Mrs. William Ray. wife of Dr. Ray, of Glen Osmond, is a grmd-daughter of Mrs. Carleton. Her mother died when 29. of typhoid. Mrs. Carleton herself died in 1874, aged 54. In 1923 Mr. Alex Camercn, a resident of Wallaroo, drew attention to the neglected condition of her grave, and a substantial sum was raised at a community song concert in the Adelaide Town Hall. This sum was further augmented by private subscriptions and gifts of money from relatives. Sufficient was secured not only to renovate the grave, but to erect a handsome obelisk of red polished granite, set in a stone square. A scroll with inscription was beneath. This obelisk, which stands at the entrance to the cemetery, was unveiled on Sunday. November 19. 1923. by the then Mayoress of Wallaroo, Mrs. W. F. Errington.