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EASTON, WILLIAM ROBERT (1893–1987), surveyor and soldier, was born in Hawthorn, Melbourne,
on 2 July 1893, the son of Frederick Spencer Easton and his wife Anne Louise, nee Pinkerton. His father died in
1895 and the family moved to Western Australia.
Easton attended the Perth Boys’ School until the age of 14 in 1907. After qualifying as a surveyor, he worked in
Western Australia, the Straits Settlements, East Africa and the Panama Canal. He became a Licensed Surveyor in
1914 and returned to Western Australia to commence an Engineering degree. He served in France during the First
World War as a Lieutenant with the First Division, Australian Engineers. In 1919 he joined the Western Australian
Lands and Survey Department and worked as a pastoral inspector. He led an expedition to the Kimberleys in 1921
and later carried out extensive inspections of the central and northern portions of the state. He was associated with
Frank Wise. In 1922 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He also took up a station, Avon
Valley, which his brother ran while he continued surveying.
Easton came to the Northern Territory as its first appointed Surveyor General, as distinct from the former
Chief Surveyors, in 1926. The task was combined with Chairman of the Pastoral Board and Member of the North
Australia Commission. He recognised the needs and requirements of the Territory after extensive inspections and
his knowledge of water supply, railways and harbour matters assisted in an all round developmental approach.
He was surprised how many features existed unnamed in the few maps then current in the Territory. He included
two new names, Pinkerton and Spencer Ranges near Auvergne in the Victoria River District, both hitherto without
names, thus remembering his parents in the local nomenclature. He recognised the need for a local mapping series
across the Territory and instituted a 800 chain series covering 10 sections of the Territory. First published in 1930,
it formed the basis of inherited original named features. With limited staff, the charting of these took years to
complete, reaching to the Second World War period after he had left.
He married Gertrude Maude Styles from an old Territory family and the function was held at Government
House, Darwin, in 1931. He was an independent candidate for the Northern Territory’s House of Representatives
seat in the 1931 federal elections, losing by only 13 votes to Harold Nelson, the sitting member. He was somewhat
disappointed in the Territory and the Commonwealth’s ability to plot a course for more rapid growth there.
He retired from his post in 1932 and farmed at Namban North, near Moora in Western Australia until 1968.
His wife Gertrude died in 1936 but he lived on until his death at the age of 94 in 1986. Gertrude’s surviving sister,
Eileen Fitzer, continued visiting Easton’s sons and daughters in law, Dr Fred Easton and his wife Julie at Nedlands
in Perth, and Bill and Marnie Easton at Merrilnga, Coomberdale, Western Australia, maintaining the Easton/Styles
connection.
In 1956 the Western Australian government renamed the Kwinana Division of the Kimberleys, the Easton
Division, in recognition of his major exploration there in 1921. Whilst his period in the Northern Territory was
limited to six years, the later Payne Fletcher Commission of 1937 recognised the daunting task he had been set.
He had created a framework for local mapping, which provided for important later developments. He had married
a Territorian and maintained his Territory connections.
Northern Territory Times and Gazette, 31 August 1926; Easton family papers, in possession of Dr F Easton, Nedlands, Western Australia;
‘Easton Division’ of the Kimberleys—advice from Surveyor General of Western Australia on renaming, 4 October 1956.
V T O’BRIEN, Vol 2.EATON, CHARLES (1895–1979), born in London, England, on 12 December 1895, was of middle class
background. He joined the British army in 1914 as an infantryman in the London Regiment. After three years in the
army Eaton joined the Royal Flying Corps (later the Royal Air Force) in August 1917, graduating as a Pilot Officer
in October the same year and was posted to a bomber unit. Many missions later in 1918 Eaton was shot down over
Europe, was captured and escaped after a very short time in captivity, subsequently rejoining his unit. During 1919
Eaton was the personal pilot to the then British Prime Minister Lloyd George and the American Vice-President,
during the lead up to and conclusion of the Versailles Peace Treaty enactment.
By the end of 1919 Eaton had left the Royal Air Force and after an interval of six years he joined the Royal
Australian Air Force (RAAF) at No 1 Flying School at Point Cook in August 1925. The next major event that
occurred in Eaton’s life was the search of the lost aviators Anderson and Hitchcock and the Kookaburra in the
Central Australian desert. As Flight Lieutenant Eaton he led a flight of five planes and successfully guided a ground
party to the wreck. For this effort Eaton was awarded the Air Force Cross (AFC) in 1931. Another eventful year
for Eaton was 1938. Now a squadron leader, he accompanied Wing Commander G Jones to Darwin to select a site
for a RAAF base. The inspection party, consisting of C L A Abbott, the Administrator of the Northern Territory,
Jones, Eaton and the district naval officer, selected a site some six kilometres from Darwin. At the time ideal as a
base, it was later to become a town planner’s nightmare as the town’s expansion began to surround it with urban
development.
Promoted to Wing Commander in March 1939, Eaton became commanding officer of 12 (General Purpose)
Squadron, which had two flights, but only seven planes. It was based on the old civil aerodrome, now Ross Smith
Avenue. In March 1940 he led the RAAF contingent of a services work party, which acted as strikebreakers in
unloading coal from SS Montoro at the Darwin wharf. This episode earned him the approval of the Northern
Territory administration and the enduring hostility of the North Australian Workers Union. He was appointed
station commander at the new RAAF base in August 1940. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British
Empire (OBE) on 1 January 1941. Eaton became acting Group Captain in the same month and held his Darwin
post until October 1941 when he was transferred to No 2 SRTS, Wagga. Universally known in Darwin as ‘Moth’,
Eaton was generally liked by his men but was not considered a disciplinarian. Severe friction between Eaton and