Francis Dutton

Who was Francis Dutton?

Francis Stacker Dutton CMG was the seventh Premier of South Australia, serving twice, firstly in 1863 and again in 1865.

Dutton was born at Cuxhaven, Germany, where his father was British vice-consul, in 1818. He was educated at Hofwyl College, near Bern in Switzerland, and afterwards at the high school at Bremen in Germany. At 17, he went to Brazil as a junior clerk and was there for about five years, in Bahia and Rio de Janeiro.

In 1839, he joined one of his brothers at Sydney, went overland to Melbourne, and followed mercantile pursuits for about 18 months, He then joined his brother Frederick at Adelaide and in 1842 or early in 1843, discovered copper at Kapunda, 45 miles north of Adelaide. He showed the specimen he had found to Captain Charles Bagot, who produced a similar specimen that his son had found in the same locality. The land was purchased and samples were sent to England, which showed a high percentage of copper. Dutton visited England in 1845 and sold his interest in the mine for a large sum. While in London, he prepared for publication his South Australia and its Mines, a work of 360 pages, a valuable contemporary account of the new colony published in 1846.