Panton Hill is named for Jospeh Anderson Panton who in the 1860’s became the Assistant Commissioner of goldfields in Bendigo. He came to Kingstown with troopers to quell trouble between Chinese and European miners, : restored good relations – Goldrush town renamed Panton Hill in 1859 by grateful people.
Joseph was born in Knockiemil Aberdeenshire Scotland and educated at the Scottish naval and military academy, where he developed his interest in drawing. His uncle, Joseph Anderson, came to Australia in 1834 to the command of Norfolk Island and with his brother General John Anderson took up a grazing lease of 85,000 acres on the Goulburn River which they named Mangalore after John Anderson’s military station in India, and suggested that Joseph should migrate to Australia.
Joseph arrived in Sydney aboard the Thomas Arbuthnot in 1851 and briefly tried farming at Mangalore before trying his hand at gold mining at Mount Alexander. He was appointed as a Commissioner in 1852 to Ballarat.
Different texts have him listed as a protector of the Chinese miners and as one who accused them of poor mining practices and lacking in cleanliness and untrustworthy. Where ever the truth lies he was able to defuse the mood of the miners preventing an uprising of 1000 men against the Chinese miners in July 1854 by recommending a scheme of management of the Chinese which was adopted by Governor Hotham in 1855.
He returned to Scotland for a time and returned to Victoria via the West Australian goldfields to become the warden and police magistrate for the Wood’s Point, Heidelberg and Yarra districts. In 1874 he became police magistrate for the Melbourne District a position he held for 33 years.
Joseph also developed his artistic talents which also led to his organization of the Melbourne Exhibition in 1854 and he became a commissioner for the Melbourne International Exhibition in 1880 and was a founding member of the Victorian Artists Society. His artistic abilities were passed to his daughter Alice. He also found time to partake in geological surveys of Victoria and with his friend Hubert de Castella enjoyed art and wine making. His wines were made from fruit from Epsom and Huntley and gained for him a good reputation as a wine maker.
He died in 1913 and is buried, along with his wife Eleanor, in the St Kilda Cemetery.
