John Blight

From Hotels of Ballarat
John Blight
Born 1818
Anthony St Jacob, Cornwall, England
Died 19 February 1903
Sulky Gully, Victoria.
Occupation Publican
Years active 1863-1878
Known for Junction Hotel
Royal Standard Hotel
Home town Sulky Gully
Spouse(s) Susan Pulford Powning
Children Louisa Edith (1848-1978)
Jane Watson (1846-1916)
John Ambrose (1849-1925)
Thomas (1851-1933)
Katharine (1856-1935)
Ellen Eliza (1856-1918)

John Blight was a publican in Sulky Gully and Ballarat, Victoria, <1863-1878>.

History[edit | edit source]

John Blight was born in 1818, at Anthony St Jacob, Cornwall, England.[1]

He married Susan Pulford Powning about 1845. They had several children including[1]:

  • Louisa Edith (1848-1878) (Family sources give a birth date of 1848, but her death notice suggests 1852)
  • Jane Watson (1846-1916)
  • John Ambrose (1849-1925)
  • Thomas (1851-1933)
  • Katharine (1856-1935)
  • Ellen Eliza (1856-1918)

In June 1863 the publican's license for the Junction Hotel in Sulky Gully was granted to his wife Susan Blight.[2]

Susan Blight had to construct part of the road outside the hotel, and she wrote to the Creswickshire:

3. From Mrs Blight, of Sulky Gully, requesting that the Board's engineer might inspect the piece of road which she had constructed near her residence.[3]

She wrote to the council suggesting that she be compensated for the cost by having her rates cancelled for the year, which was agreed to in August 1863.[4]

In January 1865 J. Blight was granted a beer license for a building in Sulky Gully.[5]

In February 1865 Blight wrote to the Creswickshire for permission to rename the hotel:

The secretary was directed to inform Mr Blight, of Sulky Gully, that his request to be allowed to change the name of his hotel could not be acceded to.[6]

His daughter Jane was married in October 1866:

On the 29th September, at the residence of the bridegroom, Sulky Gully, Creswick, by the Rev. John Orchard, Mr William Glover, second son of the late Mr George Glover, of Newark, Nottinghamshire, England, to Miss Jane Watson Blight, eldest daughter of Mr John Blight, Sulky Gully, late of Plymouth, Devonshire, England. Home papers please copy.[7]

Blight was a sportsman, and competed in the Creswick Sports in 1871. He was accused of cheating, and wrote a letter to the Ballarat Star to deny the charge:

THE CRESWICK SPORTS. TO THE EDITOR OF THE STAR. SIR, —On looking over Tuesday’s issue of the Star, I perceive in your report of the Creswick sports it says that a great many were of opinion that my walking was anything but fair. Why such a report should have, been given you I am at a loss to say, as neither of the two thoroughly competent judges even hinted at such a thing, neither did I hear a disparaging remark from any of the spectators, but, on the contrary, many congratulated me, and spoke in praise of the manner and style of my walking, and I have always made it a rule if I won or lost to walk fairly and honestly, and I do consider that the remarks were not only unjust to myself, but a slur on the two gentlemen, Messrs J. Orr and W. Boyd, who acted as judges to the said sports. By your inserting the above in your paper, you will oblige John Blight. Sulky Gully, 13th April.[8]

In May 1871 the newspaper reported on Blight's orchard:

Mr J. Blight, Sulky Gully, has shown us a specimen of the second crop of apples which his trees have borne this season. The apples are just about the size of plums and similar in shape. The first crop consisted of very large apples, several weighing over one pound each.[9]

His daughter, Louisa Edith, died in April 1878:

Blight.—On Sunday, 28th April, at Sulky Gully, Louise Edith, the beloved, daughter of John and Susan Blight, aged twenty-six years.[10]
THE Friends of Mr BLIGHT, Sulky Gully, are respectfully invited to follow the remains of his daughter, Louisa Edith, to the place of interment, the Ballarat Old Cemetery. The funeral will move from her father's residence on Wednesday, at 1 o' clock, 1st May, 1878. THOS. ROWELL, Undertaker.[11]

In May 1878 the paper reported that Blight had bought a hotel in Ballarat:

We are requested to draw attention to an advertisement appearing in our columns, announcing that Mr J. Blight, from Sulky Gully, has taken the Royal Standard hotel, Doveton street, which house has been thoroughly renovated.[12]

In July 1878 a picture of his daughter Louisa was reported on in the paper:

Mr Willetts, the well-known photographer of Bridge-street (says the Ballarat Post), has just completed another of his celebrated enlarged photos, in oil, the subject being a portrait of the late Miss Blight, of Sulky Gully. The picture, which is taken from an ordinary carte-de-visite, measures 22in x 17½in, and is mounted and colored in a style that reflects great credit upon Mr Willetts, and affords ample proof of the complete art resources now to be found at his studio. The work has been carried out to the order of the family of the lamented young lady, and cannot fail to be highly prized as a striking memento of her who has passed from amongst them.[13]

His son Thomas was married in September 1881:

On the 20th (?) September, 1881, at the Lutheran Church, Ballarat, by the Rev. Pastor Heyer, Thomas Blight, second son of John and Susan Blight, of Sulky Gully to Mary, second daughter of Gabriel and Katherine Herman, of Skipton Street, Ballarat. Present Address (1931): Leslie Street, Stawell West.[14]

In December 1882 the Mining Board approved the sale of land at Sulky Gully by John Blight and John Ambrose Bright.[15]

Blight died at Sulky Gully on 19 February 1903.[1]

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 O'Leary, John, 'John Blight', Family Tree, ancestry.com, https://www.ancestry.com.au/family-tree/person/tree/21784798/person/28429042263/facts
  2. 1863 'CRESWICK POLICE COURT.', The Star (Ballarat, Vic. : 1855 - 1864), 27 June, p. 4. , viewed 27 Jun 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article72515317
  3. 1863 'BALLARAT DISTRICT ROAD BOARD.', The Star (Ballarat, Vic. : 1855 - 1864), 8 June, p. 3. , viewed 07 Aug 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article72514850
  4. 1863 'EASTERN MUNICIPAL COUNCIL.', The Star (Ballarat, Vic. : 1855 - 1864), 5 August, p. 2. , viewed 07 Aug 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article72516230
  5. 1865 'POLICE.', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 16 January, p. 4. , viewed 19 Nov 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article66059437
  6. 1865 'COUNCIL OF CRESWICKSHIRE.', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 4 February, p. 3. , viewed 07 Aug 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article112884525
  7. 1866 'Family Notices', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 2 October, p. 2. , viewed 07 Aug 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article112858375
  8. 1871 'THE CRESWICK SPORTS.', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 14 April, p. 3. , viewed 07 Aug 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article197561918
  9. 1871 'NEWS AND NOTES.', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 24 May, p. 2. , viewed 07 Aug 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article197562975
  10. 1878 'Family Notices', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 30 April, p. 2. , viewed 07 Aug 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article199323448
  11. 1878 'Family Notices', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 30 April, p. 3. , viewed 07 Aug 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article199323446
  12. 1878 'NEWS AND NOTES', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 7 May, p. 3. , viewed 07 Aug 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article199323644
  13. 1878 'No title', Avoca Mail (Vic. : 1863 - 1900; 1915 - 1918), 2 July, p. 2. , viewed 07 Aug 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article201449681
  14. 1931 'Family Notices', The Horsham Times (Vic. : 1882 - 1954), 18 September, p. 2. , viewed 07 Aug 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article72651800
  15. 1882 'BALLARAT MINING BOARD.', The Ballarat Star (Vic. : 1865 - 1924), 5 December, p. 4. , viewed 07 Aug 2019, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article202700365

External links[edit | edit source]