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CAPTAIN JOHN EGGE
John Egge"Captain John Egge" (25 April 1829 - 11 September 1901) was of chinese descent, born in Shanghai, China. He came to Australia in 1849 as a crew member of the vessel under the command of Captain Francis Cadell. John was a pioneer of the riverboat trade.

Contents

 * Early Years
 * Family of John Egge
 * Wentworth Years

Early Years
1849 - 1852 Travelling between Port Adelaide and Melbourne - working for Captain Cadell. 1854 Egge began working on Cadells river-boats. 1856 Cook on the Gundagai. Cook and steward on the Lady Augusta. During his first two years on the river,Egge was known to passengers as John Bull. In 1856 he changed his name by deed poll, selecting a Scandinavian surname. He bought land in Goolwa, South Australia and leased property on Hindmarsh Island, South Australia. It was on the island that he met an English girl, Mary Perring. They where married in 1857

Family of John Egge
John Egge married Mary Perring (1839-1891) on 8 April, 1857 at St. Judes Church of England, Port Elliott, South Australia They had nine children.

James Peter (1862-1862) Richard John (1860-1915   Susan Mary (1864-1947)    Francis James {1866-1950) Edwin David (1870-1947) Ellena Jane (1872-1894) Amelia Adelaide (1873-1945) Maude Lucy (1875-1948) William Frederick (1877-1939)

Wentworth Years
Settled in Wentworth in 1859, at the time he was still working for Captain Cadell. Egge and his wife Mary, started business in Wentworth in a small way, hawking pies and pasties that they baked in camp ovens. Between 1861 and 1863 he opened a bakery and butcher shop. Also kept a Boarding House to cater for the many single men in the area. Between 1866/1867 marked the beginning of his career as a river trader. He chartered his first river-boat the Teviot and carried on a successful hawking business. Next chartered the MOIRA and in 1868 bought his first vessel the Endeavour. During the 1870 flood at Wentworth, Egge took his river boat the Endeavour up the main street and evacuated the townspeople to the Sandhills outside the town. By the early 1870's Egge was established as one of the biggest traders on the Murray-Darling. Over this period he owned and chartered at least six boats and three barges. He ran at various times a general store in Wentworth, as well as a store on the Wharf which supplied station properties with bulk goods and also served as a depot for his boats. He leased or owned four hotels over the years, owned many residences in Wentworth and property in other towns along the rivers. In 1891 he purchased Murrumbidgee and was reconstructed as a grand floating department store and serviced all the stations along the river. Egge was well established as a landowner and river identity, when discriminatory legislation against Chinese had been passed. He suffered for a while from the poll tax laws which required him to pay 10 pounds every time he crossed state boundaries but was eventually granted an exemption when the Governments of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia consented to recognise him as "Australian Merchant". Many religious and social groups, plus school children, benefited by Mr. Egge's generosity in providing his boats for dances and river picnics. His reputation for giving free rides to penniless or stranded bush workers earned himr espect and gratitude and this was repaid during the Shearers' strike of 1894. His was the only river boat to pass unchecked by the Shearers. The drought of the 1890's forced him to cease operations on the river. When he died in 1901 of pneumonia he was 71 years of age. For 41 years he lived in Wentworth, working hard to gaining for himself great respect and esteem. The funeral was held at the Wentworth Cemetery, with flags everywhere at half-mast. Was one of the largest funerals ever seen in Wentworth at that time. A bronze statue of Captain John Egge was unveiled at the Wentworth Wharf on 12 June, 2009, during the 150th Anniversary of Wentworth. Also a lane was been named in his honour.