I thought that John was described simply as an old man in the article that I found about a year ago and have spent hours looking for, vainly trying a MITCHELL, GRIFFITH,DROMANA search on trove in the knowledge that Rebecca Griffith had been a key witness. However, all reports of the inquest record that his name was John Mitchell. Was he the father of Allison Mitchell who married John Townsend?

To ensure that I don't have to search again when I resume, here's the link to the par on page 4 of The Argus on 1-8-1862..
John Mitchell aged about 62

This is almost certainly his death record.

EventDeath Event registration number7534 Registration year1862
Personal information
Family nameMITCHELL Given namesJohn SexUnknown Father's nameGeorge Mother's nameEllen (Oliver) Place of birthSCOT Place of death Age62

John Townsend married Allison Mitchell and her death record states that John Mitchell was her father.
EventDeath Event registration number11498 Registration year1932
Personal information
Family nameTOWNSEND Given namesAllison SexFemale Father's nameMITCHELL John Mother's nameHelen (Scott) Place of birth Place of deathDROMANA Age90

Mary Christina Rowley married William Taylor in 1883 but no death or burial record was found for Mary Christina Taylor. That was because she'd married "Nathaniel James Townsend, son of John Townsend and Alison Mitchell, in 1896 at Vic, AustraliaG and Robert McNab in 1906 at Vic, AustraliaG."
" Family 2: Nathaniel James Townsend b. 1867, d. 23 May 1904
Marriage*: Mary Christina Rowley married Nathaniel James Townsend, son of John Townsend and Alison Mitchell, in 1896 at Vic, AustraliaG.
Florence Mabel Townsend+ b. 1901, d. 1971
Frederick Stanley Townsend b. 1903, d. 1967"
townsend genealogy

The Mount Alexander Mail was rather sloppy in its reporting of the inquest, firstly calling the deceased Joseph Mitchell and then John Mitchell in the finding. Page 3, Mount Alexander Mail,4-8-1862

This would be the death record of John Mitchell's widow, whose christian name was given as Helen in Allison Townsend's death record.
EventDeath Event registration number1277 Registration year1888
Personal information
Family nameMITCHELL Given namesEllen SexUnknown Father's nameScott John Mother's nameHelen (Oliver) Place of birth Place of deathDROMANA Age88 Spouse's family nameMITCHELL Spouse's given namesJohn

As a midwife, Susan Peatey delivered several babies on Jamieson's Special Survey where John Mitchell had probably been farming. Abraham and Rebecca Griffith were living at about Melway 160 H 3,4.) The Survey had the same boundaries as Safety Beach, extending east to Bulldog Creek Rd. In A DREAMTIME OF DROMANA Colin McLear stated that John Bryan married a Miss Mitchell, but as shown in an 1869 insolvency case, his name was actually Peter Watson,(not Bryan Watson as Colin had been told.)
On 3-2-1867, Margaret, and on 27-10-1869 George*, were born to Margaret and Peter Watson.(PINE TREES AND BOX THORNS, Rosalind Peatey.)
* GEORGE'S DEATH NOTICE.
Bryan- On the 23rd January at Warragul,George, eldest son of late J and M Bryan,Dromana, loved brother Margaret (W.A. ) Dunlop (Dromana) Maitland (Apollo Bay) aged 66 years. (Born as George Watson on 27-10-1869.)
(P.1, Argus, 28-1-1936.)

EventBirth Event registration number1829 Registration year1867
Personal information
Family nameWATSON Given namesMargaret SexUnknown Father's namePeter Mother's nameMargaret (Mitchell) Place of birthDROMANA

EventBirth Event registration number21893 Registration year1869
Personal information
Family nameWATSON Given namesGeorge SexUnknown Father's namePeter Mother's nameMargaret (Mitchell) Place of birthDROMANE (Typical careless Victorian BDM typo!)

Unfortunately no death record has been found for Margaret Watson or Margaret Bryan to tie the mother of these two children to John Mitchell and Helen, nee Scott.

Interestingly, the later children, Maitland and Dunlop, were born with WATSON as their surname.

EventBirth Event registration number2028 Registration year1872
Personal information
Family nameWATSON Given namesMaitland SexUnknown Father's namePeter Mother's nameMargaret (Mitchell) Place of birthDROM

EventBirth Event registration number2079 Registration year1877
Personal information
Family nameWATSON Given namesBryan Dunlop SexUnknown Father's namePeter Mother's nameMargaret (Mitchell) Place of birthDROMANA

EventDeath Event registration number20343 Registration year1945
Personal information
Family nameBRYAN Given namesDunlop SexMale Father's nameUNKNOWN Mother's nameUnknown (Unknown) Place of birthDROMANA Place of deathDROMANA Age68

EventDeath Event registration number21172 Registration year1941
Personal information
Family nameBRYAN Given namesMaitland SexMale Father's nameUnknown Mother's nameUnknown (Unknown) Place of birthDROMANA Place of deathCOLAC Age67

On page 74 of A DREAMTIME OF DROMANA, Colin McLear stated that John Bryan succeeded Mary Ann McLear (about 1861) at The Willow on the Survey and later (probably 1869) moved to the top of Arthurs Seat opposite the Head of the Town Common*, accessed by Bryan's Cutting**. He married a Miss Mitchell, member of a family early in the district! That's about the only evidence I'm likely to find that Margaret Watson/Bryan was a daughter of John Mitchell who died in 1862. Colin also mentioned that Dunlop was a bachelor. Maitland's wife died at Colac in 1908 as revealed in a death notice discovered earlier.

EventMarriage Event registration number4597 Registration year1902
Personal information
Family nameBRYAN Given namesMaitland SexUnknown Spouse's family nameCOSTIN Spouse's given namesBertha

EventDeath Event registration number5470 Registration year1908
Personal information
Family nameBRYAN Given namesBertha SexUnknown Father's nameCosten Hy Lazenby Mother's nameElizth (Ward) Place of birth Place of deathColac Age25

*PETER WATSON'S GRANTS OPPOSITE THE HEAD OF THE TOWN COMMON.
Crown allotment 25B, section B Wannaeue,of 82 acres 3 roods 30 perches, purchased from the Crown on 30-10-1895 and fronting the south side of Arthurs Seat Rd from Melway 171J 1 to Heath Lane (the original north end of Main Creek Rd)with its eastern boundary being the northern 70 metres of Heath Lane. Incidentally, to the west of this block was 25A, granted to 84 year old Robert Rowley whose daughter Mary Christina became Mrs William Taylor/ Nathaniel James Townsend/ Robert McNab and because of her second husband reignited my interest in Allison Mitchell.

The wedge-shaped Town Common was in the parish of Kangerong, with its HEAD shaded green in Melway 158 H 12 across Arthurs Seat Rd from the north west corner of Peter Watson's c/a 25B.

Crown allotment 24C of 89 acres 1 rood 7 perches and granted on 21-10-1895, south of 25AB but not fronting Purves or Main Creek Rds, with the second Whites Rd bend near the bottom of Melway 171 G4 forming its south west corner and a 537 metre frontage eastward along Whites Rd.

** BRYAN'S CUTTING. Bryan's cutting, wrongly called O'Brien's Cutting in Sheila Skidmore's THE RED HILL, started as the current Hillview Quarry Rd off Boundary Rd and wound its way up the town common (later called the gravel reserve)between William Grace's "Gracefield" to the west and Robert Caldwell's "Dromana Hill" to the east, MAINLY QUARRY NOW BUT DR WELD'S HERITAGE-LISTED HOUSE IS SHOWN AT THE WEST END OF THE FUTURE DEVON RD.on Melbourne (Ewart) Brindle's sensational map of Dromana pre 1918 which shows part of the cutting with a notation at its uphill extent: TO BRYAN'S HUT.

Finding the death record of their father was not so easy. A trove search for "john bryan, dromana" revealed that he was still alive in 1883, therefore eliminating the need to inspect some of the 44 death records for John Bryan.
IN the Supreme Court of tho Colony of Victoria—In Insolvency.— In the matter of the Insolvency of PETER WATSON, commonly known as John Bryan, of Dromana, in the Colony of Victoria, laborer— Notice is hereby given that the above-named insolvent intends to APPLY to the Chief Commissioner of Insolvent Estates for the Colony of Victoria, at the Insolvent Court House, Queen street, Melbourne, on Friday the 24th day of August next, at the
hour of ten o'clock in the forenoon, that a CERTIFICATE of DISCHARGE under the Insolvency Statute, 1865, may be GRANTED to him.
Dated this 17th day of July,CHARLES FAUSSET, 78 Elizabeth street, Melbourne, Attorney for Insolvent.
(P.4, The Herald, 18-7-1883.)

Ewart Brindle lived on Sunnyside, part of the subdivision of Gracefield and as he was born in 1905, his earliest long term memories (required several decades later when the map was drawn in America) probably dated from about 1910. Therefore John Bryan (or Peter Watson) was possibly still alive at that time.

In the 1900 Shire of Flinders and Kangerong rates, M.G.D (possibly Margaret)Watson was assessed on 147 acres Wannaeue and Peter Watson on 173 acres Wannaeue, both in the central riding which included Dromana, Flinders and the land between them.

There was no mention of either in the 1910 rates, and given their son George Bryan's death at Warragul, the Peter Watson of Drouin in 1906 could have been his father.
Decoration, by St. Laurence, Mr. Peter Watson, Drouin 65 (P.9, The Australasian, 4-8-1906.)

The same man might have been at Iona, (8.8km via Bunyip River Rd south west of Bunyip) by 1909.
THIS DAY. At Half-past Two AT KRAFT'S HOTEL, BUNYIP. W.S. KEAST and Co. and BERNARD MICHAEL (In conjunction) have received Instructions from Mr. Peter Watson, to SELL by PUBLIC AUCTION,
That very rich little farm, containing 75 acres O roods 1 perch, situated about three miles from the Bunyip R.S., and one mile from the Iona P.O. and township; together with the improvements, which consist of a 3 roomed house, kitchen, stabling, sheds &c.(P.2, Argus, 23-1-1909.)

Whether this man was the husband of Margaret nee Mitchell is not proved but it seems that the farm might have been sold because of ill-health, causing retirement; Peter Watson died in Dromana the same year.

EventDeath Event registration number12197 Registration year1909
Personal information
Family nameWATSON Given namesPeter SexUnknown Father's nameUnknown Mother's nameUnknown (Unknown) Place of birth Place of deathDromana Age80

EUREKA
Peter Watson's wife was a sister of John Townsend's wife, Allison, nee Mitchell!
EventDeath Event registration number9360 Registration year1914
Personal information
Family nameWATSON Given namesMargt SexUnknown Father's nameMitchell Jno Mother's nameHellen (Scott) Place of birth Place of deathDromana Age80

ONE MORE THING!
COLIN McLEAR MENTIONED ANOTHER SON, TOM.
EventBirth Event registration number14790 Registration year1864
Personal information
Family nameWATSON Given namesWilliam Thomas SexUnknown Father's namePeter Mother's nameMargaret (Mitchell) Place of birthDROM

Three men named Wm. Thos.Watson were married between 1884 and 1900 but marriage records do not give enough information to confirm if any of them were the above.

There is no death record (with the right parents) for the above with a surname of Watson or Bryan. There is also no death record (under either surname)for George Bryan who died at Warragul in 1936 according to his death notice above.

Mary Ann McLear purchased crown allotment 3 (wrongly stated on page 99 of A DREAMTIME OF DROMANA as c/a 13)of section 2 Kangerong from her business partner, Charles Graves,for 200 pounds on 31-1-1860. Soon after she moved onto the property and was replaced on The Willows (approximately Melway 160 D4 according to the page 27 map)by John Bryan, whom we all know by now was Peter Watson. Within a year he had married Margaret Mitchell.

EventMarriage Event registration number611 Registration year1861
Personal information
Family nameWATSON Given namesPeter SexMale Spouse's family nameMITCHELL Spouse's given namesMargaret

It is likely that the Mitchells lived in between The Willows and the Griffith homestead. Peter probably did a bit of farming but without a jetty it was hard to get produce to market in Melbourne so he was probably working on the timber from dawn to dusk with Margaret carrying out the farming chores and caring for the children. This might explain why she had little time to help her ailing father but the reason was more likely a huge argument, with Margaret's mother leaving her husband. The reason will probably never been known; likewise the reason that Peter was known as John Bryan. Perhaps he was a deserter, absconding from MAITLAND!

JOHN TOWNSEND AND HIS FAMILY.
As Townsend family notices were rare, while there is much information in A DREAMTIME OF DROMANA about John Townsend's occupations there is little genealogical information and even that is confusing, such as the claim on page 84 that Mrs John Townsend was a daughter of Charlie Dyson. I presume that if this was true, she had married a son of John and Allison. See TOWNSEND-DYSON below. John's biography is on page 74 and the only genealogical information is that he was born in 1840 and died in 1918. No marriage record was found for Allison Mitchell.

EventDeath Event registration number8538 Registration year1918
Personal information
Family nameTOWNSEND Given namesJno SexUnknown Father's nameTownsend Jas Mother's nameUnknown (Unknown) Place of birth Place of deathDromana Age78

John does not seem to have been born in Victoria.

Although there is no death record for Allison Mitchell, there is one for John.
EventMarriage Event registration number3297 Registration year1864
Personal information
Family nameTOWNSEND Given namesJohn SexMale Spouse's family nameMITCHELL Spouse's given namesAlison

THEIR CHILDREN. (YEAR OF BIRTH AND REGISTER NUMBER. BORN AT DROMANA UNLESS OTHERWISE STATED.)
1865 Reg. no14930 JOHN*
1867 Reg. no7790 NATHANIEL JAMES
1871 Reg. no5943 GEORGE MITCHELL, TOOTGAROOK**
1873 Reg. no13263 WILLIAM, TOOTGAROOK**
1875 Reg. no19972 HELLEN, TOOTGAROOK
1877 Reg. no25531 ERNEST, TOOTGAROOK
1880 Reg. no12218 ARTHUR, TOOTGAROOK
1886 Reg. no25611 JESSIE
1888 Reg. no10763 SAMUELWATSON***
Unless I'm blind there was no birth record for the third son, Thomas, who died in South Africa aged 62 in 1932 and would have been born in 1869 or 1870. There seems to be a big gap between 1880 and 1886 so there might have been other children.

* It would have been this John Townsend who married Charlie Dyson's daughter (if the claim is true.)No record of a Townsend-Dyson marriage was found.

** William Townsend died at Rye in 1936 and an obituary was written.
WILLIAM TOWNSEND
It stated that he was born at Rosebud (c/a's 31DC Wannaeue, bounded by the freeway, Hove Rd, Rosebud Avenue and Waterfall Gully Rd, and c/a 30B to the south containing Bayview and Mount Arthur Avenues.) Tootgarook (Rye)was a bit farther away from John's grants but there was no mountain to climb in order to register the birth.

George might have been named after the father of Allison's father (see below#), as probably was George Watson, the son of Allison's sister Margaret,(born 27-10-1869 on Jamieson's Special Survey, died 23-1-1936 at Warragul.)

EventDeath Event registration number7534 Registration year1862
Personal information
Family nameMITCHELL Given namesJohn SexUnknown Father's nameGeorge# Mother's nameEllen (Oliver) Place of birthSCOT Place of death Age62

*** Allison Townsend's sister, Margaret had married Peter Watson (also known as John Bryan.)

EventDeath Event registration number11498 Registration year1932
Personal information
Family nameTOWNSEND Given namesAllison SexFemale Father's nameMITCHELL John Mother's nameHelen (Scott) Place of birth Place of deathDROMANA Age90

There does not seem to have been a death notice for Allison but it can be assumed that her death occurred after 16 July 1932.

TOWNSEND.— On the 27th May, at Johannesburg, South Africa, Thomas, third son of Alison and the late John Townsend, of Dromana, aged 62.(P.5, The Age, 16-7-1932.)

DEATH NOTICE OF JAMES NATHANIEL TOWNSEND THE SECOND HUSBAND OF MARY CHRISTINA, NEE ROWLEY.
TOWNSEND.—On the 23rd May, at Dromana, James N , dearly beloved husband of M. C.Townsend, age 36. At rest.
(P.1, Argus, 26-5-1904.)
M.C.Townsend is often mentioned on trove in regard to Dromana and now that we know who she is, it may be possible to find if she was still there or at Rye when she married Robert McNab in 1906.

TOWNSEND-DYSON.
Another loose end was the supposed marriage of John Townsend and Charlie Dyson's daughter. Not having found a marriage record to support the claim, I decided to check Townsend births from 1890 to 1910.

EventBirth Event registration number3089 Registration year1893
Personal information
Family nameTOWNSEND Given namesMarian Allison SexFemale Father's nameThomas Mother's nameChristina I (Dyson) Place of birthDROM

EventBirth Event registration number4309 Registration year1897
Personal information
Family nameTOWNSEND Given namesMartha Emma Thomasin SexUnknown Father's nameThos Mother's nameCtina Isabel (Dyson) Place of birthKEW

There is no death record for Christina Isabelle Townsend from 1897 and only two for Christina Townsend, nee Bird, and another with the mother's name given as Teresa Jane Fillin, it is likely that the mother of the above two children died in South Africa and her husband was Thomas, third son of John Townsend who died aged 62 in 1932 in South Africa as in the death notice in bold type not too far above.

This could be the birth record of Thomas Townsend's future wife. It did not come up in a Christina Isabelle Dyson search so I searched all Dyson birth from 1860 to 1870.
EventBirth Event registration number8258 Registration year1864
Personal information
Family nameDYSON Given namesChristine Isabella SexUnknown Father's nameJohn Mother's nameMary Ann (Singleton) Place of birthDROM

This birth record is included because of a discovery I made when researching my PIONEER BURIALS AT DROMANA. The head of the Dyson family, whom Colin referred to as Charlie, and his son, (CALLED JACK BY COLIN McLEAR) were BOTH named John Charles Dyson.
DYSON Given namesJohn Charles EventBirth Father's name / Spouse's family nameJohn Mother's maiden name / Spouse's given nameMary An (Singleton) Reg. year1863 Reg. no1710

I extended my search up to 1880 and there was no other birth of a Christine/a Isabelle/a Dyson.

The TOWNSEND SURNAME IN AUSTRALIA website provides the following information.
Christina Isabella Dyson
F, b. circa 1870
Birth*: Christina Isabella Dyson was born circa 1870.
Marriage*: She married Thomas Townsend in 1892 at Vic, AustraliaG.
Married Name: As of 1892,her married name was Townsend.
Last Edited: 31 Jan 2008
Family: Thomas Townsend b. c 1870
Marian Allison Townsend b. 1893
Helen Edith May Townsend b. 1894
Martha Emma Thomasina Townsend b. 1897

And by clicking on Thomas Townsend, the same information with the fact that he was born (registered) at Rye (Tootgarook)which comes as no surprise because all children of John and Allison Townsend born between 1871 and 1880 were registered at Tootgarook. This tells us that John was living on his Wannaeue selections by 1870 (or maybe even 1869) when Thomas was born.

Unfortunately Marriage records do not specify the place of marriage OR OTHER INFORMATION SHOWN ON THE CERTIFICATE. John Townsend junior was born in 1864 and only six men of that name married between 1884 when he would have been 20 and 1910 when he would have been 46.
The only Townsend man with the right given name whose spouse had a surname known in the area is shown below. There is no proof that he was the son of John and Allison Townsend born in 1864 and if he was, he certainly didn't marry Charlie Dyson's daughter.

EventMarriage Event registration number3191 Registration year1899
Personal information
Family nameTOWNSEND Given namesJno SexUnknown Spouse's family nameHENDERSON Spouse's given namesMargt Turner