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                              BOUCAUT

Short FAMILY HISTORY
from part of Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861 - 1954 Tuesday 23 March 1937

There came to Australia in the early days only one family of Boucaut

: four brothers—

Sir James Penn (Premier of the State when the Victor Harbour breakwater was being built),

Hillary (lawyer of Jamestown and founder of the legal firm of Fleming Boucaut and Ashton),

Ray Parkin (explorer and father of Mr. James Hillary), and

Barston (sic) (Bastin) (the youngest of the quartette, who lost his life at the hands of hostile blacks in the Northern Territory).

Penn, the family name of the Boucauts was derived from the fact that they are descendants of the Penn who founded the American State of Pennsylvania.

The family tradition was that of the sea and almost all of Mr. Boucaut's progenitors have led a sea-faring life and followed that of adventure.

His grandfather was the captain of a British man-o-war.

His father, Ray Parkin. Boucaut, was in charge of the "horse express" of the Overland Telegraph Company, and who, with Mr. John Lewis, helped blaze the trail of that communication that linked South Australian headquarters with the Northern Territory. While waiting for the "express" to start, Mr Ray Parkin Boucaut received word that a son. was born to him. That son was James Hillary Boucaut.

On one occasion Mr. Parkin Boucaut rode for 101 hours on horseback through hordes of hostile blacks, from Daly Waters to Tennant's Creek in record time, an achievement that is written on the historical annals of the State's early history.

Seeking a more ' prosaic calling young Hillary Boucaut chose to enter the service of the South Australian Railways. He rose from junior clerk to that of stationmaster in seven years.