# Charles Boydell Dutton

Charles Boydell Dutton (16 AUG 1834 – 5 FEB 1904); child of Sophia H Bell; born in West Maitland, New South Wales, Australia; parent of 2 children; died in Tenterfield, New South Wales, Australia.

**Lifespan:** 16 AUG 1834 – 5 FEB 1904

## Parents
- [Sophia H Bell](/p/sophia-h-bell-52484.md) (mother)

## Spouses
- _unknown partner_ — m. 1 JUL 1865

## Children
- [Henry Coley Dutton](/p/henry-coley-dutton-52480.md)
- [Alice Ethel Dutton](/p/alice-ethel-dutton-52490.md)

## Timeline
- 16 AUG 1834 — **Born** at West Maitland, New South Wales, Australia
- FROM 1860 — **Occupation (Pastoralist)** at Queensland, Australia — Squatter and pastoralist in central and western Queensland. With his brother Archibald and his Bell cousins he settled Bauhinia Downs, on a tributary of the Dawson, and managed it for the family. The Bells and the Duttons were among the first applicants for land on the Nive River when the Mitchell district was opened for settlement, and their leases included the site of Tambo township. He was recorded as lessee of Tambo and Nive River in 1860, and the firm acquired Bimerah in 1879. The family later held a house at Toowong, Brisbane, and the Cooredulla estate near Tenterfield, New South Wales, where he died.
- FROM 23 AUG 1883 TO 5 MAY 1888 — **Member for Leichhardt, Queensland Legislative Assembly** at Queensland, Australia — Elected to the Queensland Legislative Assembly for the electoral district of Leichhardt, serving from 23 August 1883 to 5 May 1888. He had contested the new pastoral electorate of Mitchell in 1865 without success, and in 1871 nominated B. D. Morehead for that seat rather than standing himself. He lost his seat at the 1888 general election, standing unsuccessfully again for Leichhardt, and made no further attempt to re-enter politics.
- FROM 13 NOV 1883 TO 30 AUG 1887 — **Secretary for Public Lands, Queensland** at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia — Minister for lands in the First Griffith Ministry, appointed by Samuel Griffith immediately on his election and holding the portfolio from 13 November 1883 to 30 August 1887. He was given responsibility for a comprehensive consolidating land bill which introduced long-sought reforms and has since been known as the 1884 Dutton Act; it went far towards relieving squatters of their exclusive use of land and provided for a land administration board with precise legal status. He embraced Henry George's land nationalisation theories and endeavoured as Secretary for Lands to give them some approximate effect in legislation.
- 1886 — **Director, Royal Bank of Queensland** at Queensland, Australia — Recorded as a director of the Royal Bank of Queensland in 1886. He was also a large shareholder in the Central Queensland Meat Export Company at Lake Creek.
- FROM 30 AUG 1887 TO 12 DEC 1887 — **Secretary for Public Works and Mines, Queensland** at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia — Held the works and mines portfolio in the First Griffith Ministry from 30 August 1887 to 12 December 1887. He had acted as minister for works and mines during the illness of his friend William Miles, and on Miles's death in August 1887 relinquished the lands ministry and took control of mines and works.
- FROM 12 DEC 1887 TO 13 JUN 1888 — **Secretary for Railways, Queensland** at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia — Minister for railways in the First Griffith Ministry from 12 December 1887, when Griffith reformed his government, until 13 June 1888. He had lost his seat at the 1888 general election.
- 5 FEB 1904 — **Died** at Tenterfield, New South Wales, Australia

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