William Robert Fossey Bolton MBE (24 May 1905 – 1973) was a transport businessman and philanthropist, who lived in the Toowoomba area of south-east Queensland, Australia.
His efforts saw the creation of a library and art gallery focused on Australian heritage of European settlement, and his interest in preserving the memory of horse-drawn transport contributed to a museum collection.
A young Bill Bolton was raised in a Brisbane suburb, before some primary school education at the town of Charleville in western Queensland.
In April 1918 the family, now living in the large provincial town of Toowoomba, started to experience financial hardship when the twelve-year-old Bill found the body of his father who had committed suicide.
[3] A scholarship allowed Bolton to attend the Toowoomba Grammar School, and in 1920, he became a junior clerk with the Queensland Government's Lands Department in Brisbane.
[4] Additional to his philanthropic endeavours as a benefactor, Bolton celebrated his Mackay clan heritage and was an inaugural member of the Society of Saint Andrew of Scotland (Queensland branch).
This commenced legal action by the last company secretary George Studdert of Cobb & Co. stage coaches and transport,[5] with a settlement made by Bolton in 1954.
The heavy road haulage firm traded on the name association with the former Cobb & Co.[6] The year 1957 saw the commencement of conflict with the Queensland Government until 1966 with a Privy Council decision against Bolton.