Rutherford Winstan

Rutherford Winstan was a Fortusan politician, who served as the first President of Fortuse.

Early Life
Rutherford Canterbury Winstan was born on the 17th of July in 1761. Winstan was one of the first children born to the settlers of Fortuse.

Construction Career
Winstan began his construction career, building homes and buildings for the new settlement, in 1774 at age 13.

Winstan was part of a team of several men that built Foundation House.

Politics Career
On the 1st of January in 1811, a group of nobleman and important people signed a document declaring Fortuse a country. Winstan was among this group. His signature is visible on the only surviving photo of the document, before it was accidentally destroyed in 1898.

On the 5th of January, 1811, an election was held to choose the first President of Fortuse. All of the men that signed the declaration document were candidates.

Winstan was announced as the President of Fortuse on the 10th of January 1811. This date remains the traditional date on which a new president is announced.

Winstan remained the President for 22 years, winning four seven-yearly elections to remain incumbent.

Death
Rutherford Winstan died of a heart attack on the 27th of August 1832, while on a trip visiting newly settled areas around Streamton. His body was transported back to Hurstville, but was lost crossing the flooded Strateené River near Glaofield.

Remains
A part of Winstan’s arm was recovered three days after his body was lost, near Streamton. It is believed his body was mangled on some rocks at low tide.

The hand was cremated and buried at Knemphis Island, near Fortuse. The island was subsequently renamed Winstan Island at the funeral.

Multiple DNA tests on Winstan’s hand have been done, confirming several times that the hand is Winstan’s.

A skull found in the sediment at the mouth of the Strateené River in 1979 was believed to be Winstan’s, until DNA testing confirmed that it was a deformed cow skull, and was only 70 years old.

Personal Life
Winstan married his long-time girlfriend, Celia Marlow (born 18th August 1763), in 1783. Marlow drowned while crossing State Harbour in 1813.

Winstan married Georgina Clarkson in 1819. After she was involved in a plot to leak information to Leviran, they divorced in 1822, and Clarkson was executed for treason.

Legacy
Winstan is preserved in Fortusan history as the first President.

The Hurstville suburbs of Winstan Island and Winstan Peninsula bear his name.

The Winstan River, which runs through Hurstville, also bears his name.