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Southport in 1879 and Adelaide River between 1880 and 1882. He left the force in November 1882 and became a
teamster, taking his wife Rose with him on his trips.
By 1897 he was a lighthouse keeper at Point Charles Lighthouse on the Cox Peninsula. His wife and daughters
Mary and Blanche were with him there. In 1901 the Northern Territory Times and Gazette reported that he had
found the lost ‘Bald Hills Copper Mine’ at Daly River and had brought some nice looking specimens to Palmerston
with him when he came in to apply at the Lands Office for two blocks under a mineral licence. At another time he
and Rose were care taking at the Zapopan Mine near Pine Creek.
In 1904 he was captain of the lugger Minniehaha, which he took on charter trips. On one occasion
Messrs Campbell, Howatson and Pearson chartered him for a month to take them to the Victoria River, where
they intended searching for the late Mr Aikman’s discovery of ozocerite. They were successful in finding traces
of Lieutenant J L Stokes’s excavation for water where he found ‘a light substance which would burn freely’, as
noted in his journal. They also visited Aikman’s old camp, where they found portions of a hand drill used by him
and his party.
Bennison and his wife took an interest in public affairs and in 1902 were appointed to the committee to secure
the re-election of C E Herbert as a member of the Legislative Assembly of South Australia.
As a young man he partook of the usual sports but favoured cricket and played for the surveyors among
others.
Bennison died on 29 November 1915 and was buried in the Palmerston Cemetery, Goyder Road, Darwin.
The Reverend Bean conducted the burial and the headstone was made and erected by his friend ‘Old’ Bill Drysdale
from stone quarried at Nightcliff.
Family records.
JOY DAVIS, Vol 2.BENSTEAD, WILLIAM (BILL) (1856–1940) and the BENSTEAD FAMILY, pastoralists and pioneers.
Benstead was born in 1856 and as a young man worked as a cattleman and rough rider in South Australia. He was
appointed Manager of Undoolya Station in Central Australia, not far from the present town of Alice Springs,
in 1877. He travelled from Adelaide to the station with a saddle horse and a packhorse. After five years he returned
to Adelaide to marry his fiancée, Trephina Rains.
Benstead was then appointed Manager of the newly formed Barrow Creek Pastoral Company. He successfully
overlanded thousands of head of stock in mammoth treks to establish the new property. He moved the station
headquarters to Stirling Creek to be nearer the Barrow Creek Telegraph Station, then returned to Adelaide to bring
up his wife, their small son Bertie and his sister in law, Cornelia Rains.
The family travelled from Adelaide to Hergott Springs by train and then for the remaining 1 300 kilometres
with horses and two traps. Trephina drove one trap all the way in an epic six-week journey, even though some of
the horses were unused to harness.
The Bensteads went to the Hermannsburg Lutheran Mission for the birth of their second son, Julian, and also
for the marriage of Cornelia to Overland Telegraph Line inspector Joseph Skinner. In 1889 Benstead bought two
blocks of land in Stuart, later Alice Springs, and built the Stuart Arms Hotel. His daughter Lucelle (Lulu) claimed
to be the first European child born in Stuart in 1891.
A few years later the family sold the hotel and moved to Western Australia. They reached Southern Cross just
before the first gold strike near Coolgardie, where Benstead became the first unofficial Postmaster of Coolgardie
and also worked as a butcher.
Lulu went on to become a well-known professional singer, adopting the name ‘Lucille’. She entertained in
noted concert halls throughout Britain, Europe and North America. She also sang to troops in both world wars,
often at great danger to herself. She died at the age of 92.
The Benstead family moved to England to be near her. Bill became a livestock advisor and travelled the
world extensively. He died in London in 1940 and his wife died two years later. His name is commemorated by
Mount Benstead on Undoolya Station and Benstead Street in Alice Springs.
Family information.
JOSE PETRICK, Vol 2.BERNDT, RONALD MURRAY (RON) (1916–1990), anthropologist, was born at Adelaide, South Australia,
on 14 July 1916, the son of H T Berndt, of German descent. He completed his schooling in Adelaide, his secondary
school being Pulteney Grammar School. Throughout his childhood he showed a keen interest in ethnography,
and he spent many hours in the South Australian Museum, where he was appointed as an Honorary Assistant
Ethnologist from 1939 until 1941.
His particular interest in the culture of Australian Aborigines was kindled by meeting with a remarkable
Aboriginal man called Albert Karloan, of the Yaraldi people. Once he had been introduced to the Aboriginal
culture, and to the problems faced by Aborigines in Australia at the time, Berndt’s life had found its direction, one
that he followed with consistent dedication.
While working at the South Australian Museum, Berndt decided that academic qualifications in anthropology
were essential, and enrolled in the University of Sydney, the only Australian university where a degree course
in anthropology was available at that time, and he remained at Sydney, as a student and research worker, until- It was soon after coming to Sydney University that he met his future wife, Catherine Webb. Catherine was