Ernest Eglinton
1848 — 1 October 1921
Ernest Eglinton (2A‑31‑22)
The death of Ernest Eglinton, ex‑police magistrate, occurred on 1 October 1921. He was born in Berkshire, England in 1848 and came to Australia in 1870 with his father, the Rev. William Eglinton, who had charge of a number of Australian parishes. Eglinton became part owner of a station, and in the early 1870s, with the intention of forming another station; he set out with his younger brother from Mitchell Downs towards Cooper's Creek with a mob of cattle, travelling over unknown country for many months.
Shortly afterwards he became a police officer obtaining the rank of Sub‑inspector Second Class in January 1878, and was eventually appointed the first resident police magistrate at Boulia in 1884. He was subsequently mineral warden and police magistrate at Charters Towers, Gympie, and Brisbane. His eventful and strenuous life had told on his health, and in his later years he had suffered from asthma and bronchitis. He succeeded in preparing a number of papers concerning his experiences in the early days.