 Statton was born in Beaconsfield , Tasmania , on 21 October 1890 to Edward Statton , a miner , and his wife Maggie Lavinia ( née Hoskins ) . He was educated at Zeehan State School , before gaining employment as a farmer in Tyenna . Giving his age as twenty @-@ one , Statton married Elsie May Pearce in a Methodist ceremony on 12 September 1907 ; the couple later had a son and two daughters . 
