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FAIRBAIRN, STEPHEN (1862-1938), always known as SteveFairbairn, oarsman and coach,

was the son of George Fairbairn (1815-1895), an early Victorianpioneer who married a Miss Armytage. George Fairbairn came toAdelaide in 1839 but soon afterwards moved to Victoria and became asuccessful pastoralist. He took much interest in the preservationof meat and made many experiments which were not successful. In1878, however, he was associated with Andrew andThomas McIlwraith (q.v.) ofQueensland in sending the first successful cargo of frozen meat toEngland in theStrathleven. He was also one of the earliestto export tallow. He died at Queenscliff, Victoria, on 18 July1895, leaving a family of five sons and a daughter. His eldest son,Sir George Fairbairn (1855-1943), was well-known in his youngerdays as a rowing man, became a leading pastoralist and politicianand was knighted in 1926. Stephen Fairbairn, one of his youngersons born on 25 August 1862, was educated at Wesley College,Melbourne, and Geelong Grammar School, where he was a goodfootballer and cricketer. He went to Jesus College, Cambridge, in1881, and won the hammer throwing and putting the weight at theFreshmen's sports. He was at Cambridge for six years, assisted inbringing the Jesus crew to the head of the river, and rowed forCambridge in 1882, 1883, 1885 and 1886. He mentions in hisautobiography that he also attended one lecture (Fairbairn ofJesus, p. 35). He, however, graduated B.A., became a barristerof the Inner Temple, and returned to Australia where he was engagedas a pastoralist until 1905. Coming to England again he made thecoaching of rowing crews his hobby and revolutionized the style ofrowing. His first principle was that the legs were the strongestpart of the body and that at the beginning of the stroke everythingmust be sacrificed to get a good leg drive. The oarsman must notthink too much about his body but concentrate on correct blademovements, some relaxation of the body is permissible, and on theforward stroke the blade must be kept well clear of the water. Thisis necessarily an inadequate account of a method which Fairbairnhas discussed in detail in four books:Rowing Notes (1926),Slowly Forward (1929),Some Secrets of SuccessfulRowing (1931), andChats on Rowing (1934). He continuedto coach until near the end of his life, and his huge figureperched on a bicycle was continually to be seen on the river banksat Cambridge and London. In 1925 he founded the head of the riverrace at Putney at which anything up to 1000 oarsmen compete. HisautobiographyFairbairn of Jesus, a lively book, appeared in1931 with an excellent portrait by James Quinn. Fairbairn died inEngland on 16 May 1938. He married Nellie Sharwood who survived himwith two sons. He was the most picturesque figure of his time inBritish rowing, and his coaching had an immense influence on thesport not only in Great Britain but on the continent.

For George Fairbairn Sen.,The Argus, Melbourne,21 May 1938; J. T. Critchell and J. Raymond,A History of theFrozen Meat Trade. For Stephen Fairbairn,The Times, 17,18 and 19 May 1938;Fairbairn of Jesus;Who's Who,1938; private information.

FAIRBRIDGE, KINGSLEY OGILVIE (1885-1924), founder of the Fairbridge schools,

was born at Grahamstown, South Africa, on 5 May 1885. Hisfather, Rhys Seymour Fairbridge, was a government land-surveyor. Hewas educated at St Andrew's College, Grahamstown, until he was 11years old, when the family moved to Rhodesia. He had no furtherschooling until he prepared to enter Oxford. At 13 he became aclerk in the Standard Bank of Africa at Umtali, and two years latertried to enlist for the Boer war, then took up market gardening andearly in 1903 visited England. He was away for about 12 months andcould not help being impressed by the contrast between the crowdedcities of England and the open spaces of Rhodesia. On his return heworked for two and a half years for a Mr Freeman who was recruitingnatives for the mines at Johannesburg. He began writing verses andwas pleased to have two poems accepted by theSouth AfricanMagazine. Slowly a scheme was being formulated in his mind tobring poor children from London to South Africa where they could betrained as farmers. He applied to the Rhodes trustees for ascholarship, feeling that once in England he would find ways ofdeveloping his scheme. He was informed by the Rhodes trustees thatif he passed the Oxford entrance examination his application wouldbe favourably considered, and in 1906 he went to England to beprivately coached. Greek was essential and he had never done any.He worked hard at it and succeeded in passing the requiredexamination at the fourth attempt. In October 1908 he enteredExeter College, Oxford, with a Rhodes scholarship. There heobtained his blue for boxing, beating Julian Grenfell twice in thetrials, and made many friends. He began to write on childemigration until he was advised by a friend that speaking might bemore effective. His first rebuff was from the British South AfricaCompany, which informed him that they considered Rhodesia too younga country in which to start child emigration. He was, however,cheered by a favourable answer from the premier ofNewfoundland.

In October 1909 Fairbridge made a speech to the Colonial Club atOxford, and at the end of the meeting a motion was carried thatthose present should form themselves into a society for thefurtherance of child emigration to the colonies. The movement hadbegun. The next two years were spent in trying to interest peoplein the project and collecting money which came in slowly. Heobtained his diploma in forestry, in 1911, and in December of thatyear was married to Ruby Ethel Whitmore who had been encouragingand helping him for some time. In March 1912 they sailed forWestern Australia with a total capital of £2000. A property of 160acres was purchased near Pinjarra about 60 miles south of Perth,and the Western Australian government agreed to help by paying £6for each child towards the cost of the passage money. The firstparty, 13 children aged between 7 and 13, soon arrived, and wasfollowed by another party of 22 boys some months later. Some kindof shelter had to be prepared for them, the utterly neglectedorchard had to be pruned, and the English committee had to besatisfied that every item of expenditure was necessary. Fairbridgeand his wife worked unceasingly and gradually each difficulty wasovercome. But when the war came financial difficulties became verypressing, until a grant was obtained from the Western Australiangovernment which tided the school over the war period. After thewar Fairbridge went to England and so impressed everybody that asum of £27,000 was procured for the development of the school. Amore suitable site of 3200 acres was found and new buildings wereput up. In 1922 the help of the Commonwealth government wassecured, and in 1923, after years of discomfort, Fairbridge and hiswife and family were able to move into a suitable house of theirown. He had, however, suffered much from intermittent bouts ofmalaria and he now found himself often in pain. On 19 July 1924 hedied after an operation. He was survived by his wife and fourchildren. Three years after his death there were over 200 childrenat the school, and in 1935 the number had reached 370. In that yearover 1000 employers applied for the 100 boys ready to go out towork. Other schools have since been established at VancouverIsland, Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, and Molong, New South Wales.

Kingsley Fairbridge was tall, athletic and good-looking with anattractive personality. He had vision and determination and acapacity to make his dreams become realities. His volume of poemsVeld Verse, published in 1909, contains verse of more thanaverage quality, hisAutobiography written with simplicityand charm ends before he was 25. With the never-failing help of hiswife he showed how an emigration farm school for children could besuccessfully carried on at a low cost in money, and thatill-nourished children from the slums could be made healthy,vigorous and worthy citizens of a new land.

The Autobiography of Kingsley Fairbridge; RubyFairbridge,Pinjarra;The Times, 23 July 1924; W.Murdoch,The Argus, 20 March 1937; Rev. A. G. West,TheQuarterly Review, April 1941.

FAIRFAX, JOHN (1804-1877), journalist,

the son of William Fairfax and his wife, Elizabeth Jesson, wasborn at Warwick, England, on 24 October 1804. The family of Fairfaxwas an old one, for many years its members were landed proprietors,but its estates had been lost and William Fairfax at the time ofJohn's birth was in the building and furnishing trade. At the ageof 12 John was apprenticed to a bookseller and printer at Warwick,and when he was 20 went to London where he worked as a compositorin a general printing office and on theMorning Chronicle. Ayear or two later he established himself at Leamington, then agrowing town, as a printer, bookseller and stationer. There, on 31July 1827, he married Sarah Reading, daughter of James and SarahReading. He became the printer of theLeamington SpaCourier, and in 1835 he purchased an interest in another paperThe Leamington Chronicle and Warwickshire Reporter. In 1836he published a letter criticizing the conduct of a local solicitorwho brought an action against him. Though judgment was given forthe defendant the solicitor appealed. Judgment was again given forFairfax but the costs of the actions were so heavy that he wascompelled to go insolvent. There was much sympathy for him and hisfriends offered assistance, but he decided to make a fresh start ina new land, and in May 1838 sailed for Australia in theLadyFitzherbert with his wife and three children, his mother and abrother-in-law. After a trying voyage of about 130 days Sydney wasreached towards the end of September 1838.

Fairfax worked as a compositor for some months, but early in1839 was appointed librarian of the Australian subscription libraryand began his duties on 1 April. The salary was only £100 a yearbut he had free quarters for his family in pleasant surroundings.He found he was able to get some typesetting, and he alsocontributed articles to the various Sydney newspapers. What waspossibly more important was his getting in touch through thelibrary with the best educated men of Sydney with some of whom hebecame friendly. One of these was a member of the staff of theSydney Herald, Charles Kemp, an able and lovable man, withwhom he joined forces to purchase theHerald for the sum of£10,000. The paper was bought on terms, friends helped the two mento find the deposit, and on 8 February 1841 they took control asproprietors. It was an ideal combination for each had qualitiesthat supplemented the other's, they worked in perfect harmony for12 years and firmly established the paper as the leading Australiannewspaper of the day. It was given the fuller title of theSydney Morning Herald in 1842, and in spite of a period ofdepression both partners by 1853 were in prosperous positions. Kempthen decided to retire. The partnership was dissolved in September1853 and Charles the eldest son of Fairfax became a partner. In theprevious year his father had visited England and seeking out hisold creditors repaid every man in full with interest added. UnderFairfax and his sons the paper continually increased in publicfavour, and the great increase of population in the 1850s addedmuch to its prosperity. It was always conservative; G. B. Barton inhisLiterature in New South Wales said in 1866 that itsToryism had "increased in a direct ratio to the Radicalism of theconstitution, and its prosperity in a direct ratio to its Toryism".But this is an overstatement. TheHerald was moved to itspresent site in 1856, and at that date claimed to have the largestcirculation in the "colonial empire". A weekly journal, theSydney Mail, was established, its first number was publishedon 7 July 1860, and it continued to appear until 1938. On 26December 1863 Charles Fairfax, the eldest son and the right handman of Fairfax on the paper, was thrown from his horse and killed.John Fairfax never fully recovered from his son's death, but thework of the newspaper went on. In 1865 Fairfax and his wife againvisited England where the latest newspaper methods were studied.Fairfax became a member of the legislative council in 1874 butnever took an active part in politics. His wife died on 12 August1875 and soon afterwards his own health began to fail. He died atSydney on 16 June 1877.

Fairfax was a sincerely religious man, much interested in theCongregational church. But his paper was kept free from religiousbias, and was in no way responsible for the strong sectarianfeelings which then existed in Sydney: His household was typicallyVictorian in its outlook, but in the newspaper due importance wasgiven to music and the theatre, literature and art. To Fairfax theconduct of the press was a sacred trust and he never betrayed histrust. Of his children his second son, Sir James Reading Fairfax(1834-1919), entered his father's office in 1852 and was admittedas a partner in 1856. When his father died he was in control of thepaper, and in his hands it went from strength to strength. He wasintimately associated with it for 67 years, for a long period hewas theHerald. Like his father he was a religiousman, for a long period was president of the Y.M.C.A., and he didmuch for other social services of the community. He died on 28March 1919. Two of his sons carried on the traditions of the paper,Geoffrey Evan Fairfax (1861-1930) and Sir James Oswald Fairfax(1863-1928). They entered the office on the same day in 1889 andeach had a large share in the conduct of the paper. A third son,Charles Burton Fairfax, retired in 1904 and went to live inEngland. His son Captain J. Griffyth Fairfax, born in 1886, was amember of the house of commons for some years, and has publishedseveral volumes of verse of which a list will be found in E. MorrisMiller'sAustralian Literature. Warwick Oswald Fairfax sonof Sir James Oswald Fairfax born in 1901 became managing directorin 1930.

J. F. Fairfax,The Story of John Fairfax;ACentury of Journalism; C. Brunsdon Fletcher,Journal andProceedings Royal Australian Historical Society, vol. XVII, p.91.

FARJEON, BENJAMIN LEOPOLD (1838-1903), novelist,

the son of Jacob Farjeon and his wife Dinah, formerly Levy, wasborn in London in 1838. Both parents were Jewish by race and faithand were too poor to be able to give their son much education. Whenabout 13 he went to work as printer's boy on theNonconformist, a Christian journal, did much reading, andwas helped in his self-education by a kindly schoolmaster. The boybroke away from the strict faith of his father, and partly on thisaccount decided to go to Australia in 1854. An uncle bought him asteerage passage, and he arrived in Australia practicallypenniless. He obtained work, went to the diggings, and at oncestarted a newspaper. Meeting with hard times he went to New Zealandin 1861, and obtained a position on theOtago Daily Times,the first daily paper established in New Zealand. (Sir) JuliusVogel was editor and part proprietor and Farjeon became manager andsub-editor. In 1865 he published his first book,Shadows on theSnow: a Christmas Story, dedicated it to Charles Dickens, senthim a copy and suggested that he might care to print it inAllthe Year Round. Dickens in May 1866 wrote him a kind butcertainly not encouraging letter, but it was enough for Farjeon,who threw up his excellent prospects in New Zealand and returned toLondon, where in 1870 he made a reputation as a novelist withGrif: a Story of Australian Life. This was followed by about50 other novels which will be found listed in E. Morris Miller'sAustralian Literature. The early books showed Farjeon to bea follower of Dickens, his later were often concerned with crimeand mystery. His seven years in Australia made a deep impression onhim, and many of his books have their setting in that country. Hedied at Hampstead, London, after a short illness on 23 July 1903.He married Margaret, daughter ofJoseph Jefferson (q.v.), whosurvived him with three sons and a daughter. Of the childrenHerbert and Eleanor Farjeon became capable writers, especially inconnexion with the drama, and Harry Farjeon a well-known musicianand composer.

Farjeon was mercurial and unpredictable, except that he couldalways be relied upon to be kind and charitable. This is reflectedin his books, and he was much touched to learn that one of them hadsuggested the founding of homes for orphans in the United States.His books had much popularity in their time, one of them,Grif, was in its seventeenth edition in 1898, but theybelonged to their period and are gradually being forgotten.

Eleanor Farjeon,A Nursery in the Nineties,which gives a charming account of Farjeon's happy married life; E.Morris Miller,Australian Literature;The Times, 24July 1903;Who's Who, 1943;Grove's Dictionary of Musicand Musicians.

FARNELL, JAMES SQUIRE (1827-1888), premier of New South Wales,

was born at Parramatta, New South Wales in 1827. At acomparatively early age he began travelling with stock and learntmuch about his own colony. The gold discoveries in California in1848 led to his visiting America, and he also travelled in NewZealand before finally returning to New South Wales. In 1860 he waselected to the legislative assembly for St Leonards, but lost hisseat at the next election. He was returned at Parramatta in 1864and held the seat for 10 years. He became secretary for lands inthe firstParkes (q.v.)ministry from May 1872 to February 1875, and for a short period wasalso secretary for mines. From December 1876 until October 1877Farnell was an excellent chairman of committees, but towards theend of that year he organized a "Third Party", in November carriedan amendment to the address in reply by two votes, and theRobertson (q.v.) ministryresigned. Farnell succeeded in forming a ministry and on 18December 1877 took office as premier and secretary for lands. InOctober 1878 he brought in a land bill which was defeated on 5December. Farnell resigned and was succeeded by Parkes. When theStuart (q.v.) ministrywas formed in January 1883 Farnell was again secretary for lands,and showed much patience and tact in his management of the landbill which became law in 1884. In the succeedingDibbs (q.v.) ministry formed inOctober 1885 he was minister of justice and representative of theministry in the upper house, but this government lasted only a fewweeks. He was subsequently elected for Redfern in the assembly andrepresented that constituency at the time of his death on 21 August1888.

Farnell was a hard-working legislator who gave much study to theland question and also tried hard for some years to pass a bill forthe regulation of contagious diseases. He declined a knighthood.His wife survived him with 11 children, one of whom, Frank Farnell,was a member of the New South Wales parliament at the time of hisfather's death.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 22 August 1888;Official History of New South Wales; P. Mennell,TheDictionary of Australasian Biography.

FARRELL, JOHN (1851-1904), poet and journalist,

was born at Buenos Aires, South America, on 18 December 1851.His father, Andrew Farrell, left Ireland about 1847 and settled inBuenos Aires as a chemist. Towards the end of 1852 he went toVictoria, Australia, with his wife and children, and engaged firstin gold-digging, and then in carrying, before finally settling downas a farmer. John Farrell was at first educated by his parents andthen at a private school. His mother died before he was 12 yearsold, and thereafter he had little formal education although hisfather encouraged his taste for reading. The boy worked on farms,and when he was 19 obtained a position in a brewery at Bendigo. Hewandered about Australia for some time, went into brewing again,and alternated this occupation with farming for some years. In 1878he published, under the name of John O'Farrell,Ephemera: AnIliad of Albury, a little pamphlet of verse now one of therarest of Australian publications. In 1882Two Stories, aFragmentary Poem was published at Melbourne, and about thisperiod he began to be a regular contributor to theBulletin.He was then working in a brewery at Albury, and in 1883 was apartner in a brewery at Goulburn. He became much interested in thetenets of Henry George after readingProgress and Poverty.In January 1887 a collection of Farrell's verses was published inSydney under the title ofHow He Died and Other Poems whichwas favourably reviewed, and in 1887 he sold his brewery interestsand went to Sydney hoping to obtain employment as a journalist. Hebought a paper, the LithgowEnterprise, but was unable tomake it a financial success, and in 1889 returned to Sydney to edittheAustralian Standard, a single tax paper for whichFarrell did much writing. In October 1889 he began a series ofarticles on George's theories for theDaily Telegraph, andin the following year joined its staff. When Henry George arrivedin Sydney in March he was met by Farrell who accompanied him on hisinland tour. The two men became great friends. In June 1890 Farrellwas appointed editor of the SydneyDaily Telegraph, butfound the responsibility too great and resigned three months later.He continued, however, to be a regular contributor until shortlybefore his death on 8 January 1904. He married in November 1876Eliza Watts, who survived him with seven children. A memorialedition of Farrell's poems was published in 1904 with a memoir byBertram Stevens under the title ofMy Sundowner and otherPoems. This was re-issued in 1905 asHow He Died and otherPoems. The contents differ considerably from those of the 1887volume with the same name.

Farrell as a poet was a precursor of theBulletin schoolof the nineties. Much of his work is no more than vigorous,unpolished popular verse, and Farrell had no illusions about it.His "Australia to England", however, is an example of first rateoccasional verse and contains more than one memorable phrase. Hewas an excellent journalist and a first-rate talker, muchinterested in political economy generally, and the single taxtheory in particular. His attitude to life was sanely humorous. Hewas modest about his own work, thoroughly appreciative of the workof others, generous with his own time and money, and considerateand courteous to all; no literary man of his period was morebeloved.

Bertram Stevens,Memoir in My Sundowner and OtherPoems;Sydney Morning Herald andDaily Telegraph,9 January 1904.

FARRER, WILLIAM JAMES (1845-1906), wheat breeder,

was born near Kendal, Westmoreland, England, on 3 April 1845.His father was a country gentleman who came of a long line ofcomparatively small landowners known as "statesmen". Educated atChrist's Hospital school, where he showed proficiency inmathematics, Farrer went on to Pembroke College, Cambridge, andgraduated B.A. in 1868 as twenty-ninth wrangler in the mathematicaltripos. He began to study medicine, but poor health led to hisseeking a warmer climate and he went to Australia in 1870. He hadintended to settle on the land, and while he was learning somethingabout the country took a position as tutor in the family of GeorgeCampbell of Duntroon station near Queanbeyan. The loss of some ofhis money compelled him to give up his intention of buying land,and in July 1875 he passed the examination for licensed surveyors.He immediately obtained a position with the lands department andfor the next 11 years, except for a visit to England in 1878-9, wascarrying out surveys in New South Wales. In July 1886 he resignedhis position and retired to his home at Lambrigg near Queanbeyan.He had published in 1873Grass and Sheep-farming A Paper:Speculative and Suggestive dealing largely with the suitabilityof various soils for grasses, and the more scientific side ofsheep-farming. This pamphlet showed the bent of his mind, but hehad had little time to follow it up with other investigations. Hehad noted the prevalence of rust in wheat crops, and he becameinterested in the problem of producing wheats of good millingquality which would also be rust-resisting. He obtained samples ofwheat from various parts of the world and set to work crossingthose that appeared to have valuable qualities with the variousvarieties in use in Australia. The problem of rust-resistance was,however, not the only one. He was convinced that it is moreprofitable to the farmer to allow his wheat to become ripe beforeharvesting it, and that it was most important that varieties shouldbe bred that would hold the grain firmly when it is ripe. Atconferences of government officials and experts held in Sydney in1891 and in South Australia in 1892, Farrer contributed valuablepapers dealing with the many problems involved. He kept in touchwith the New South Wales agricultural department, and in 1898 wasappointed wheat experimentalist to the agricultural department at asalary of £350 a year. The smallness of this salary in relation tothe value of the work done has sometimes been commented upon, butFarrer was not thinking about salary, and would never haveattempted to make money out of his discoveries even if he had notjoined the department. He continued experimenting on his own landand at various experimental farms in different districts, and hadthe usual disappointments inseparable from work of this kind. Itwas difficult too for some of the people in authority to understandhow slowly experimental work proceeds. Farrer found it necessary topoint out in theAgricultural Gazette that it takes at leastfour years to fix a type, that when that was done it had to pass ahigh standard of milling excellence, and that another three yearsmust pass before there could be a sufficient stock of seed for afairly wide distribution of it. His own health was uncertain, buthe was so engrossed in his work that he would frequently begin itat 6.30 in the morning. He took up another problem, the resistanceto bunt or smut-ball in wheat, and was able to produce varietiespractically bunt-resistant. He was greatly pleased when thegovernment decided to establish a 200 acre experimental farm nearCowra. He was also much interested in the question of manuring andparticularly in the value of green-manuring. His famous variety ofwheat, Federation, was fixed about the turn of the century, wasmade available to farmers in 1902-3, and soon established itself asthe most popular variety in Australia. He produced several othervarieties that were generally cultivated, but towards the end ofhis life he was over-taxing his strength. He died of heart diseaseon 16 April 1906. He married in 1882 Miss de Salis.

Farrer was a man of wide culture and reading, sensitive andsomewhat reserved in disposition, but generous and sympathetic. Hewas a born experimenter, never losing his enthusiasm, untiring inlabour, thinking only of the work in hand and never of himself. Thevalue of his work to Australia can hardly be overstated, for thoughin course of time all his varieties will be superseded by betterstrains, for many years they added enormously to the value of thewheat crops, and later investigators have owed not a little to hismethods of producing new and valuable varieties. His memory hasbeen perpetuated by the Farrer Memorial Trust, which providesFarrer research scholarships for students wishing to do researchwork in connexion with wheat-growing.

F. B. Guthrie,Department of Agriculture, New SouthWales, Science Bulletin, No. 22,William J. Farrer and theResults of his Work; W. S. Campbell, "An Historical Sketch ofWilliam Farrer's Work", and G. L. Sutton, "The Realization of theAims of William J. Farrer, Wheat Breeder",Report, AustralasianAssociation for Advancement of Science, vol. XIII, p. 525; W.S. Campbell,Journal and Proceedings Royal Australian HistoricalSociety, vol. XIX, pp. 269-85.

FAVENC, ERNEST (c. 1846-1908), explorer and author, [ also refer toErnest FAVENC page at Project GutenbergAustralia]

was born in London in 1845 or 1846, and educated in Germany andEngland. Emigrating to Australia in 1863 he worked for a year inSydney, and then had experience on a station in northernQueensland. He began to write for the press, under the name of"Dramingo" and in 1878 was asked by the proprietor of theQueenslander to organize a party to go out and report on thecountry between Blackall and Darwin. It had been proposed that theQueensland railways should be linked up with Darwin, but not muchwas known of the country to be traversed. In July 1878 Favenc withtwo other white men and an aborigine set out from Blackall, madetheir way to Cork station on the Diamantina, and then proceedednorth-west through unexplored country between the Burke and HerbertRivers to Buchanan's Creek, which was followed for some distance.Striking north the party came to Corella Lagoon. Still keepingnorth they came to Creswell Creek, which was followed for somedistance west. The last permanent water found, named Adderwaterholes, was only 90 miles from the telegraph line. But it wasby now extremely hot and the first attempt to reach the lineresulted in the loss of three horses from want of water. It wasdecided to wait for better weather and, though their rations wererapidly running out, the party succeeded in living on the countryby shooting wild ducks and other birds, and using blue bush andpig-weed as vegetables. In January 1879 some thunderstorms broughtthem welcome water, and Powell Creek station and Darwin werequickly reached. Some good pastoral country was discovered whichhas since been stocked. Four years later Favenc did some usefulexploring in the country to the south of the Gulf of Carpentaria,and he also explored country in the north-west of WesternAustralia.

Favenc was doing a fair amount of journalistic work at this timeand by 1887 settled down to literary work. His first separatepublication had been an interesting little pamphlet,The GreatAustral Plain, which appeared in 1881, in which he discussedthe future of the interior of Australia with much knowledge andgood sense. In 1887 he published a short book onWesternAustralia and in 1888 appeared his excellentHistory ofAustralian Exploration. He collected some of his short storiesfrom periodicalsThe Last of Six: Tales of the AustralTropics in 1893, of which another edition under the title ofTales of the Austral Tropics appeared in 1894.The Secretof the Australian Desert, a short novel, was published in 1895,and was followed byMarooned on Australia andTheMoccasins of Silence, both published in 1896.My Only Murderand other Tales another collection of short stories appeared in1899, a pamphlet on thePhysical Configuration of the AustralianContinent in 1905, and in the same year a collection of hisverseVoices of the Desert, dedicated to his wife. His lastwork,The Explorers of Australia and their Life-work, waspublished in 1908. He had been in broken health for some years andhe died on 14 November of that year.

Favenc was an excellent explorer, resolute yet careful, a bornbushman. His own experiences enabled him to speak with authority inhis two books dealing with the exploration of Australia. He was agood journalist who did much work for theBulletin, hisverse is capable and vigorous, his three romances are stillreadable, and his short stories are always competent andinteresting.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 16 November 1908;The Bulletin, 19 November 1908; E. Morris Miller,Australian Literature; E. Favenc,History of AustralianExploration, pp. 274-6 and 284.

FAWKNER, JOHN PASCOE (1792-1869), pioneer, a founder of Melbourne,

son of John and Hannah Fawkner née Pascoe, was born at London on20 October 1792. He came to Australia with his father and mother inLieut.-colonelCollins's (q.v.) expedition, which attempted a settlement inPort Phillip bay near the present site of Sorrento in October 1803,and went to Tasmania in February 1804. His father, though atransported man, does not appear to have belonged to the criminalclass, he soon obtained a conditional pardon, and his subsequentlife was thoroughly respectable. For some time he had a small farmnear Hobart where his son assisted him. In 1814 the young manbecame a sawmiller and soon afterwards fell into trouble. A letterdated 19 October 1814 fromLieut.-governor Davey (q.v.) to.Lieutenant Jeffreys instructs him that he is to receive on boardJohn Fawkner, "one of those persons who lately absconded from thesettlements after committing some most atrocious robberys anddepredations, and is under sentence of transportation for fiveyears; he proceeds to Sydney for the purpose of being sent to theCoal river during the period of his sentence, and also to break thechain of a very dangerous connexion he has formed in thissettlement". This gives a misleading account of what had occurred.Fawkner's account of this incident, which appears to have beentrue, was that "a party of prisoners, determined to escape, soughthis assistance and that in a moment of foolish sympathy heundertook to help them". (J. Bonwick,Port PhillipSettlement, pp. 281-2).

In 1818 Fawkner was back at Hobart and in 1819 removed toLaunceston where he worked as a baker and bookseller. In 1825 hebecame a timber merchant and at about this time opened the CornwallHotel. In 1829 he was defending people in the lower court as anauthorized "agent" and in the same year became the proprietor ofhis first newspaper theLaunceston Advertiser. In 1835, likeBatman (q.v.) Fawkner wasconsidering the colonization of the Port Phillip district. Hecommunicated his plans to some of his friends and a party was madeup to cross the straits. Fawkner sold seven acres of his land inBrisbane-street, Launceston, bought the schoonerEnterpriseand loaded her with agricultural implements, fruit trees, grain,garden seeds, blankets and tomahawks for the aborigines, and alarge stock of provisions. His party consisted of William Jackson,carpenter, Robert H. Marr, carpenter, J. H. Lancey, master mariner,George Evans, plasterer, and four other employees. TheEnterprise sailed on 27 July 1835 but met bad weather andFawkner became so ill that the vessel returned on 30 July and hewas landed at George Town. TheEnterprise arrived at WesternPort on 8 August and afterwards sailed on to Port Phillip andarrived at the mouth of the Yarra on 20 August. On 29 August thevessel anchored near where is now Spencer-street, Melbourne, andfour days later everything had been put on shore. On the same dayJ. H. Wedge (q.v.) asrepresentative of John Batman arrived from Indented Head andinformed Fawkner's party that they were trespassing on land boughtby Batman from the natives. On the following day they were given acourteous letter repeating this statement and expressing the hopethat they would "see the propriety of selecting a situation thatwill not interfere with the boundaries described in the deed ofconveyance". Wedge had no power to eject the party and indeed, inthe view of the government at Sydney, both parties weretrespassers.

Fawkner arrived on 11 October 1835 an very soon took a leadingpart in the community. On 6 November he occupied the first houseerected in Melbourne and opened a public-house without licence.Soon afterwards he began cultivating land between the river andEmerald Hill, now South Melbourne. But the position of the settlerswas very unsatisfactory as no-one had any security of tenure andthere was no resident magistrate. On 1 June 1836 a public meetingwas held and Fawkner moved resolutions appointing Mr James Simpsonas an arbitrator on all questions except those relating to land,and that all subscribing parties should bind themselves not tocause any action at law against the arbitrator. He also proposedthe resolution askingGovernor Bourke (q.v.) toappoint a resident magistrate, and seconded one pledging themeeting to afford protection to the aborigines. In reply to thepetitionCaptain Lonsdale(q.v.) was appointed police magistrate in September 1836, and hebrought with him a party of surveyors to lay out the town. On 1June 1837 the first sale of crown land was held at Melbourne, andon 1 January 1838 Fawkner published the first newspaper, theMelbourne Advertiser. Seventeen weekly issues appeared, ofwhich the first nine were in manuscript, and the remainder were thefirst printed publications to appear in Melbourne. The paper wassuppressed by Captain Lonsdale because Fawkner had not compliedwith the newspaper act. On 6 February 1839 he published the firstnumber of thePort Phillip Patriot andMelbourneAdvertiser, at first a weekly, but in July it became abi-weekly. The advertisement of Fawkner's hotel which appeared inthe fourth issue throws an interesting light on him. He says littleabout what is usually found at hotels but stresses the mentalpabulum to be expected. "There are provided seven English and fivecolonial weekly newspapers, seven British monthly magazines, threeBritish Quarterly Reviews up to October 1837; a very choiceselection of Books including Novels, Poetry, Theology, History,etc. N.B. A late Encyclopaedia. Any of those works will be free tothe lodgers at the above hotel." Surely no other hotel in the worldever advertised an encyclopaedia among its attractions, but Fawknerreally believed in the value of books and education. On 21 November1840 he published the first number of theGeelongAdvertiser.

In November 1841 Fawkner was appointed one of the first marketcommissioners, and at the first municipal election on 1 December1842 he was elected one of the councillors for the Lonsdale wardand with two intervals was a member for about three years. In 1845largely on account of other people not fulfilling their obligationsto him, Fawkner became insolvent; fortunately half of his farm ofabout 800 acres at Pascoe Vale near Melbourne had been settled onhis wife and he was able to make a fresh start. In a few years hewas again in comfortable monetary circumstances. At theanti-transportation and separation meetings he was a vigorousspeaker. He was elected a member of the first legislative councilin 1851 and continued to sit until shortly before his death. Hewatched closely all matters before the house and spoke frequentlyand with decision. He became an institution in the house andnothing but illness prevented his attendance. He died on 4September 1869.

Fawkner played many parts in his time. He triumphed over hisfirst mistake, and if he never quite became a popular leader heearned the gratitude and respect of the community he served. He wasabstemious in his habits and full of energy; "a short, squat,hard-mouthed little man with a determined chin and a shamblinggait, passionate and fiery in his speech." He was in advance of hisperiod in his demand for education, and when Melbourne was littlemore than a village he could visualize the desirability of aphilharmonic society and a university. He founded what waspractically the first library in Victoria, and some householdrelics, preserved in the historical museum at the public library,Melbourne, suggest that essentially he was a man of culturealthough his outward manners were unpolished. He was quick torealize the needs of his young community and early fought for amagistrate and police, a hospital, water supply, and floodprotection. The respective claims of Fawkner and John Batman to bethe founder of Melbourne are discussed under Batman, but the latterdied about three years after his arrival and for the greater partof that period was a disabled man. Fawkner on the other hand was apower in the land from the beginning and continued to be so for 30years.

Fawkner married Elizabeth Cobb at Hobart in November 1818. Shesurvived him but there were no children. His portrait is in thehistorical collection at the public library, Melbourne.

J. Bonwick,Port Phillip Settlement;Historical Records of Australia, ser. I, vol. VIII; H. G.Turner,History of Victoria; D. Blair,Cyclopaedia ofAustralia; R. D. Boys,First Years at Port Phillip;The Age, 6 September 1869;The Argus, 6 September1869; William Westgarth,Personal Recollections of EarlyMelbourne and Victoria, pp. 65-71; E. Finn,The Chroniclesof Early Melbourne.

FELTON, ALFRED (1831-1904), public benefactor,

was born at Maldon, Essex, on 8 December 1831. He came toVictoria on the shipCalifornia in 1853, no doubt intendingto search for gold, but there is no record of what success he had.In 1857 he was in business in Collins-street, Melbourne, as acommission agent and dealer in merchandise, and in 1859 was animporter and general dealer. Two years later he was in business inSwanston-street, as a wholesale druggist. In 1866 he went intopartnership with F. S. Grimwade and founded the well-known businessof Felton Grimwade and Company, wholesale druggists andmanufacturing chemists. The business grew and as the years went bythe partners acquired interests in associated industries such asMelbourne Glass Bottle Works, and Cuming Smith and Company, makersof artificial manures etc. Felton also had large grazing interestsand he became a rich man. His own wants were few and he nevermarried. He gave away considerable amounts to charity, and formedlarge collections of pictures and books which at times threatenedto push him out of his rooms at the Esplanade Hotel, St Kilda, nearMelbourne. He died there on 8 January 1904.

The net value of Felton's estate was £494,522. When legaciestotalling £58,900 were deducted and probate duties and otherexpenses paid £378,033 remained. The income from this sum was leftto the state, one half to be spent on charities, the other on worksof art to be presented to the national gallery of Victoria. At thetime of Felton's death Melbourne had not completely recovered fromthe financial crisis of 1893. By careful management the value ofthe capital fund has since increased to over £1,000,000 It has beencalculated that the income paid away to charity and for works ofart reached half a million each by 1936. In this way the nationalgallery at Melbourne has been able to acquire works by Van Eyck,Memling, Rembrandt, Titian, Van Dyck, Tiepelo, Corot, Manet,Reynolds, Gainsborough, Turner and many other artists whosepictures would otherwise have been quite beyond its means.

Felton has been described as "a tallish spare man, with pointedbeard and kindly grey eyes". Not a recluse, he liked to mix withhis fellow-men on public occasions, though he had few intimatefriends. His habits were simple and undeviating, his breakfast wasnearly always a whiting, his dinner, chicken. No lunch. "In momentsof exhilaration his excesses seemed to amount to a cigar." He likedto discuss questions of art, and was interested to some degree inmusic. A portrait painted from photographs by Sir John Longstaff isat the national gallery, Melbourne.

Basil Burdett,The Felton Bequests an HistoricalRecord, 1904-1933;Alfred Felton and His ArtBenefactions;Historical Record of the Felton Bequests;W. Russell Grimwade,The Home, January 1926.

FIELD, BARRON (1786-1846), judge and author,

was born on 23 October 1786. His father Henry Field was awell-known London medical man and his brother, Frederick (1801-85),became a distinguished biblical scholar. Field was educated as abarrister and was called to the Inner Temple on 25 June 1814. Hewas a great student of poetry and frequently contributed to thepress, being for a time theatrical critic forThe Times. Hebecame acquainted with Lamb and his circle; Crabb Robinson calledon Field in January 1812 and found Lamb and Leigh Hunt there, andhe records in another place that at Lamb's house on 23 May 1815 hemet Wordsworth, Field, and Talfourd. In the following year Fieldaccepted a commission as judge of the supreme court in New SouthWales, and arrived in Sydney on 24 February 1817.Governor Macquarie (q.v.),writing to Under-secretary Goulburn in April thanked him "formaking me acquainted with Mr Field's character. He appears to beeverything that you say of him and I am very much prejudiced in hisfavour already from his mild modest and conciliating manners, and Iam persuaded he will prove a great acquisition and blessing to thiscolony". Field was soon at work framing the necessary "Rules ofPractice and Regulations for conducting the Proceedings of theCourt". His salary was £800 a year with a residence, governmentservants, and rations for himself.

In 1819 he publishedFirst Fruits of Australian Poetry,the first volume of verse, if it may be called a volume for it hadonly twelve pages, issued in Australia. Lamb reviewed it far tookindly in theExaminer for 16 January 1820. An enlargededition appeared in 1823. Though Field carried out his duties ablyand conscientiously he does not appear to have been able to keephimself clear from the petty squabbles and jealousies of a smallsettlement. An echo of this may be found in the description ofField byJohn Dunmore Lang(q.v.) as a "weak silly man who fancied himself a poet born".Sir Thomas Brisbane(q.v.), writing to Earl Bathurst in January 1824, stated that Field"had embraced every opportunity of falsely and foully slandering meand my government". But Brisbane could be irascible if he thoughthis honour or dignity was touched, and his first ground ofcomplaint appears to have been that "during his first two years inthe colony, Field had never once entered Government House".However, word was already on the way to Brisbane that Field hadbeen recalled, and Lamb, writing at the end of 1824, mentions that"Barron Field is come home from Sydney. He is plump and friendly;his wife really is a very superior woman". Field had been granted apension of £400 a year from 4 February 1824. He was subsequentlyappointed chief justice at Gibraltar. Disraeli called on him therein 1830 and gave an unflattering description of him in a letter tohis sister. In 1836 Crabb Robinson spoke of intending to visit himat Gibraltar, and in 1841 Field printed another small volume ofverse,Spanish Sketches, at the press of the garrisonlibrary there. In 1844 he was back in England writing to CrabbRobinson from Torquay. He died on 11 April 1846.

Field's claim to distinction does not rest entirely on the factthat he wrote the first volume of verse to appear in Australia, healso founded the first savings bank in June 1819. He is spoken ofwith respect in Miss Marion Phillips'sA Colonial Autocracy.He was the B.F. of one of the most famous of Lamb's essays and therecipient of more than one of his delightful letters, whichsuggests that he must have had likeable qualities. His verse has novalue, but he could do better work in prose and had some claims tobe an Elizabethan scholar, his special interest being ThomasHeywood. HisGeographical Memoirs on New South Wales,published in 1825, is an interesting collection of some of theearliest scientific papers relating to Australia.

Historical Records of Australia, ser. I, vols.IX to XII; C. Lamb,Letters; Crabb Robinson,Diary;Marion Phillips,A Colonial Autocracy;Gentleman'sMagazine, 1846. See also Richard Edward's preamble to the 1941reissue ofFirst Fruits of Australian Poetry, and "SomeBibliographical Notes" by George Mackaness inManuscripts,No. 11.

FINCH-HATTON, HAROLD HENEAGE (1856-1904), Imperial federationist,

fourth son of the tenth Earl of Winchelsea, was born on 23August 1856. He was educated at Eton and Balliol College, Oxford,and at 19 years of age went to Queensland. He took up land in theMackay district and later worked on the Nebo goldfields. Returningto England in 1883 he published in 1885 an account of his travelsAdvance Australia! (2nd ed. 1886). It is written in anentertaining way, but his statements about the aborigines and hisviews on Australian politicians must be accepted with caution. Hewas an unsuccessful candidate for the house of commons in 1885,1886 and 1892, but was returned as a conservative for Newark in1895. He resigned in 1898 on account of disagreement with thepolicy of his party. He was one of the founders of the ImperialFederation League, and when the North Queensland Separation Leaguewas formed he was appointed chairman of the London committee. Healso worked for the development of the Pacific route to Australia,and was secretary to the Pacific Telegraph Company for theformation of a line from Vancouver Island to Australia. He diedsuddenly at London on 16 May 1904. He was unmarried.

The Times, 18 May 1904; P. Mennell,TheDictionary of Australasian Biography;Burke's Peerage,etc., 1900.

FINK, THEODORE (1855-1942), politician and educationist,

son of Moses Fink, was born at Guernsey in the Channel Islandson 3 July 1855. Brought to Victoria by his father in 1860 he waseducated at the Flinders School, Geelong, at Geelong College, andat the Church of England Grammar School, Melbourne. He qualified asa solicitor at the university of Melbourne and practised hisprofession successfully. In September 1894 he was elected to theVictorian legislative assembly as member for Jolimont and WestRichmond and held the seat for 10 years. On 5 December 1899 hebecame a minister without portfolio in theMcLean (q.v.) ministry. ThetreasurerWilliamShiels (q.v.) had been in bad health and the intention was thatFink should act as an assistant to him. He, however, objected tosome personal remarks made by Shiels at a public meeting referringto the ministry just displaced, and resigned from the ministry.(The Argus, 21 and 22 Dec. 1894). It was generally felt thathis reasons were insufficient, and his action did harm to hisfuture career as a politician. He supported the federation movementand stood for the house of representatives at the first federalelection in April 1901, but was defeated by William Knox. He stillheld his seat in the Victorian assembly but retired in 1904 andnever afterwards entered politics.

During this period, however, Fink had been doing valuable workin another direction. He was president of the royal commission ontechnical education in 1899-1901 which resulted in reforms inprimary and technical schools, and he was also president of theroyal commission on the university of Melbourne in 1902-4. InAugust 1904 he was thanked by parliament for his services toeducation. Subsequently he was chairman of conferences onapprenticeship in 1906-7 and 1911, chairman of a board of inquiryinto the working-men's college in 1910, vice-president of thecouncil of public education, vice-chairman of the state war councilof Victoria, and chairman of the Commonwealth repatriation boardfor Victoria in 1917-19. In yet another direction he was animportant influence. In his earlier days he had done some writingfor the press and in 1889 became a director of theHeraldandWeekly Times newspapers. A few years later he becamechairman of directors. It was generally believed that Fink was animportant factor in the great improvement that took place in theconduct of theHerald, and that he was largely responsiblefor the appointment of such excellent editors as Guy Innes and(Sir) Keith Murdoch. He retained his interest in the press untilthe end of his long life. He died at Melbourne on 25 April 1942. Hemarried in 1881 Kate, daughter of George Isaacs, who predeceasedhim. He was survived by two sons and two daughters.

Fink was much interested in the arts and literature and waswidely read. In his earlier days he was well-known as an excellentafter-dinner speaker, and his witty speeches at social gatheringsof artists and literary men were much appreciated. Though he wasalso well-known in the business life of Melbourne as a lawyer and apower in the newspaper world, comparatively few people realized thefull value of his educational work. The advance in education inVictoria during the first quarter of the twentieth century wasbased on the report of the commissions over which he presided, andhis recognition of the ability ofFrank Tate (q.v.) led to hisappointment as director of education and the great expansion whichfollowed.

The Cyclopedia of Victoria, 1903;TheArgus andThe Herald, Melbourne, 27 April 1942; personalknowledge.

FINN, EDMUND (1819-1898), pioneer journalist,

was born in Tipperary, Ireland, on 13 January 1819. Originallyeducated for the priesthood he emigrated to Australia and arrivedat Port Phillip in July 1841. He was a tutor in classics for fouryears, and then joined the staff of thePort Phillip Heraldas a general reporter. He was a good journalist and made a point ofknowing everyone and everything that was going on; it was said thathe had held every position on the paper from reporter to editor. In1858 he was appointed clerk of the papers in the legislativecouncil and remained in that position until his retirement in 1886.In 1880 he had published anonymouslyThe "Garryowen"Sketches which were eventually expanded intoThe Chroniclesof Early Melbourne, 1835-1852, published in two large volumesin 1888. Although unfortunately without an index, this is avaluable book and contains a large amount or generally reliableinformation about the early days of Melbourne.

Finn was a genial, kindly man, short in stature and verynear-sighted. He took a great interest in Irish affairs inMelbourne and was for some time president of the St Patrick'sSociety. He died on 4 April 1898. He was married twice and left awidow and children by both marriages. A son, Edmund Finn, theyounger, who died in 1922, was also an author. Among his books wereA Priest's Secret andThe Hordern Mystery, readablebut now quite forgotten short novels.

The Age, Melbourne, 5 April 1898;TheAdvocate, 9 April 1898;Men of the Time in Australia,1878; P. Mennell,The Dictionary of Australasian Biography;P. E. O'Grady,The Victorian Historical Magazine, vol. XV,p. 108;The Herald, Melbourne, 4 August 1945.

FINNISS, BOYLE TRAVERS (1807-1893), pioneer and first premier of South Australia,

was born at sea on 18 August 1807. He was educated at the schoolof the Rev. Charles Parr Burney at Greenwich, and at the RoyalMilitary College, Sandhurst. In May 1825 he became an ensign in the56th Foot, was promoted lieutenant in 1827, and subsequently spentthree years in Mauritius in the department of roads and bridges. In1835 he sold his commission and, having been appointed assistantsurveyor under Colonel Light, arrived in South Australia inSeptember 1836. He supported Light's choice of the site ofAdelaide; his correspondence during the early years shows him tohave been a man of sound judgment and he was an able assistantduring the early surveys. In 1839 he was appointed deputysurveyor-general and in 1843 he became commissioner of police andpolice magistrate. He was made colonial treasurer and registrargeneral in 1847, and in 1851 was nominated to the legislativecouncil by the governorSirHenry Young (q.v.). In 1852 he received the appointment ofcolonial secretary, and in July 1853 had charge of the bill toprovide for two chambers in the South Australian parliament. In theinterim between the departure of Governor Young in December 1854and the arrival ofSirRichard McDonnell (q.v.) in June 1855, Finniss acted asadministrator. The bill of 1853 was not accepted by the Britishgovernment, and a new bill was brought forward in 1855 providingfor two purely elective houses. This received the royal assent in1856. Finniss was elected one of the representatives for the cityof Adelaide and became the first premier and chief secretary ofSouth Australia. There were early difficulties between the twohouses but Finniss during the four months his ministry was insession succeeded in passing measures to deal with waterworks forAdelaide, and the first railway in South Australia. He wastreasurer in theHanson(q.v.) ministry from June 1858 to May 1860 and at the new electionin that year was one of the representatives for Mount Barker. In1864 the South Australian government, desiring to open up theNorthern Territory, organized a survey party under Finniss, givinghim instructions to examine the Adelaide River and the coastline tothe west and east of it. Finniss selected a site for the settlementat the mouth of the Adelaide River but his choice was muchcriticized, he had great trouble with his subordinates, and waseventually recalled. In 1875 he was a member of the forest boardand in the following year was acting auditor general. He retiredfrom the government service in 1881, and spent his leisure inpreparing an interesting but discursiveConstitutional Historyof South Australia which was published in 1886. He died on 24December 1893. Finniss was twice married and left a widow, a sonand two daughters.

Finniss was a man of varied capacity and determined character. Aslow and somewhat prosy public speaker, he was a capableadministrator with a high sense of duty and excellent judgment.

B. T. Finniss,The Constitutional History of SouthAustralia, p. 248; J. H. Heaton,Australian Dictionary ofDates; J. Blacket,History of South Australia; A.Grenfell Price,Founders and Pioneers of South Australia;South Australian Register, 26 December 1893.

FISHER, ANDREW (1862-1928), prime minister of Australia,

son of Robert Fisher, was born at Crosshouse, Ayrshire,Scotland, on 29 August 1862. He was educated at the local school,and as a young man worked as a coal-miner. Emigrating to Australiahe arrived in Queensland in 1885, worked as a miner for some years,read largely in economics and social science, and became a unionleader. In 1893 he was elected to the legislative assembly forGympie, an even-tempered tall young Scotchman, full of hopes forsocial reforms, and fully recognizing the power of the forcesopposed to him. He was secretary for railways and public works intheDawson (q.v.) ministrywhich lasted only a few days in December 1899, and in the followingyear brought in a workers' compensation bill which, however, didnot become law.

At the first federal election held early in 1901 Fisher waselected to the house of representatives for Wide Bay, Queensland,and held the seat until his retirement 15 years later. WhenWatson (q.v.) formed thefirst labour ministry in April 1904, Fisher became minister fortrade and customs, but Watson was defeated less than four monthslater and in 1907 resigned his leadership of the party on accountof failing health. There were men of greater ability than Fisher inthe ranks of labour, but none so safe and dependable, and he waselected leader. In November 1908 he withdrew his support fromDeakin (q.v.) and becameprime minister and treasurer. He brought in a defence act onsimilar lines to Deakin's, but found, in the then state of parties,that it was almost impossible to do really useful work. He wasdisplaced by the so-called fusion government in June 1909, but atthe general election held in April 1910 labour for the first timesecured a majority of the house, and Fisher became prime ministerand treasurer again. During his rather more than three years inoffice much important legislation was passed. The Commonwealth bankwas inaugurated, compulsory military training was introduced, thetranscontinental railway was begun, maternity allowances werebrought in, and the Commonwealth took over the responsibility ofthe Northern Territory from South Australia. These were some of themore important of over 100 acts passed and few parliaments have hada more prolific record. In 1911 Fisher represented Australia at theImperial conference and was made a privy councillor. He visited hisbirthplace, a remarkable homecoming for the man who had left as ayoung miner with no apparent prospects 26 years before, andreturned the honoured prime minister of a great dominion. In theJune 1913 general election labour lost some seats and Fisherresigned, but after the wartime election held in September 1914 hecame back with a working majority. It was during this campaign thathe made his famous declaration that Australia was prepared to spendher "last man and her last shilling". The labour cabinet was notentirely a happy family, Fisher began to feel the strain, andhanded over the leadership to W. M. Hughes in October 1915. Hebecame high commissioner in London in January 1916 and held theposition until 1921. After a visit to Australia he returned toLondon and lived quietly until his death on 22 October 1928. He wassurvived by five sons and one daughter.

Fisher had no great gifts as an orator. He could speak clearlyand vigorously, he was modest, sincere, hardworking and courageous,and he believed that the ideals of his party were for the good ofhumanity. At Australia House he was a little out of his element,for one thing his special gifts did not lie in the direction ofafter-dinner speaking, though he did good work in looking after theinterests of the Australian soldiers. His greatest value toAustralia was the sanity and moderation of his leadership from 1910to 1913. Flushed with success at the polls his party might easilyhave gone to extremes in legislation under a less stableleader.

The Age, Melbourne, 23 October 1928;TheTimes, 23 October 1928; C. A. Bernays,Queensland PoliticsDuring Sixty Years; H. G. Turner,The First Decade of theAustralian Commonwealth;Who's Who, 1928.

FISHER, SIR JAMES HURTLE (c. 1789-1875), pioneer,

son of James Fisher a London architect, was born in 1789 or1790. He studied law and practised as a solicitor in London from1811 to 1832. In 1836 he was appointed resident commissioner inSouth Australia, and sailed for that colony on theBuffaloin July 1836 as representative of the South Australian board ofcommissioners. He arrived withGovernor Hindmarsh (q.v.) on28 December 1836. Unfortunately authority was divided betweenHindmarsh as governor and Fisher as representative of thecommissioners, with the powers of neither clearly defined. It was acontest between a bluff, honest, somewhat tactless man and a shrewdlawyer, and the quarrels that ensued were not entirely creditableto either. There were difficult financial problems and Fisher'smanagement of them was unsatisfactory, though no doubt he was muchhampered by the impossibility of carrying out his instructions.Hindmarsh was recalled and when his successorGawler (q.v.) arrived on 12 October1838 he combined the offices of governor and resident commissioner.Fisher then began private practice in the law, and was subsequentlyfor some years leader of the bar at Adelaide, well known as apainstaking and fighting advocate. He was elected first mayor ofAdelaide in 1840, and between then and 1853 was five timesre-elected to that position. He was chosen a member of thelegislative council in 1853, lost his seat at the next election,but was in the council again in 1855 as a nominee member and wasunanimously elected speaker. He was elected to the council in 1857under the new constitution and was its president for eight years.He retired from his profession about 1860 and from politics in1865, He lived to be 85, retaining his mental faculties to the end,and died on 28 January 1875. He married and was survived by foursons and four daughters. Personally Fisher was a man of ready wit,humour and courtesy, who filled the positions of speaker andpresident with impartiality and distinction. He was knighted in1860.

The South Australian Advertiser, 29 January1875; P. Mennell,The Dictionary of Australasian Biography;A. Grenfell Price,The Foundation and Settlement of SouthAustralia.

FISON, REV. LORIMER (1832-1907), anthropologist,

was born at Barningham, Suffolk, on 9 November 1832. His fatherwas a prosperous landowner, his mother a daughter of the Rev. JohnReynolds, a woman of ability and personality. Fison was sent to agood school at Sheffield, proceeded from there to Cambridge wherehe read with a tutor before becoming a student of Caius College in1855. In the following year he went to Australia and while at thediggings the news of the unexpected death of his father led to hisconversion to active Christianity. He went to Melbourne, joined theMethodist church, and after some further study at the university ofMelbourne offered himself for missionary service in Fiji. He wasordained a minister and sailed for Fiji in 1864. His first term asa missionary, which lasted for seven years, was very successful.The Rev. George Brown in an article in theAustralasianMethodist Missionary Review said that Fison was "one of thebest missionaries whom God has ever given to our church". Hishonesty, kindliness, tact and commonsense were appreciated alike bygovernment officials, white settlers, and the natives themselves.He became much interested in Fijian customs and in 1870 was able togive Lewis H. Morgan, the well-known American ethnologist, someinteresting information relating to the Tongan and Fijian systemsof relationship. This was incorporated as a supplement to part IIIof Morgan'sSystems of Consanguinity and Affinity publishedin 1871. When Fison returned to Australia in that year he beganinvestigating similar problems in connexion with the aborigines.This led to his becoming acquainted withAlfred William Howitt (q.v.)with whom he was afterwards to do such valuable work in Australiananthropology.

Fison returned to Fiji in 1875 and, when the traininginstitution for natives was established, he became its principal.He did excellent work and the effects of his influence on theFijians was long felt. He published a life of ChristAi TukutukuKei Jisu and also wrote a valuable pamphlet on the nativesystem of land tenure in Fiji. This little treatise became aclassic of its kind and was reprinted by the government printer,Fiji, more than 20 years later. Though so far away he continued hisstudy of the Australian aborigines, his preface to Kamilaroimarriage descent and relationships inKamilaroi and Kurnai(1880), by Lorimer Fison and A. W. Howitt is dated Fiji, August1878. The materials for the interesting legends afterwardspublished under the title ofTales from Old Fiji (1904),were also collected about this time.

Fison returned to Australia in 1884 and for most of theremainder of his life lived near Melbourne. From 1888 to 1905 heedited theSpectator and made it one of the best Melbournechurch papers. At the meeting of the Australasian Association forthe Advancement of Science held at Hobart in 1892 he was presidentof the anthropological section, and from the chair, with charmingcandour, pointed out that a theory of the Kurnai system, which hehad worked out with infinite pains inKamilaroi and Kurnai,was "not worth a rush". In 1894 he visited England and attended themeeting of the British association at Oxford. There he met MaxMüller, Professor Tylor and many other distinguished scientists. AtCambridge he became acquainted with Dr afterwards Sir James Frazerwho was much impressed by his frank and manly nature. Fisoncontinued to do a large amount of journalistic work and even whenhe was past 70 years of age had to work very hard to make a bareliving. In 1905 he was granted a civil list pension of £150 a yearby the British government. He had now become very feeble in bodythough his mind retained its keenness. He died on 29 December 1907.Before going to Fiji Fison had married Jane Thomas of Pembroke,Wales, who survived him with two sons and four daughters.

Fison was six feet in height, "a big burly man, powerfully andheavily built, with a jolly good-humoured face, a bluff almostjovial manner, tender-hearted but bubbling over with humour, onwhich the remembrance of his clerical profession, as well as hisdeep, absolutely unaffected piety, perhaps imposed a certainrestraint". (Sir James G. Frazer,Folk Lore, 1909, p. 172.)He was a great missionary, an excellent journalist, and with Howitthe did remarkable pioneer work on the Australian aborigines whichcarries the respect of all scientists and can never be entirelyforgotten.

The Methodist Church of Australasia, Victoria andTasmania, Minutes Seventh Annual Conference, p. 41; Sir J. G.Frazer,Folk Lore, 1909; C. Irving Benson,A Century ofVictorian Methodism;The Victorian Naturalist, April1908, p. 186.

FITCHETT, WILLIAM HENRY (1842-1928), author and educationist,

the son of a schoolmaster, was born in Lincolnshire, England, in1842. He came with his parents to Australia in 1854 and his fatherdied soon after. Fitchett first worked in a quarry near Geelong,then became a jackeroo on a station in Queensland, and largelyself-educated, entered the Methodist ministry in 1866. His firstcharge was at Mortlake, Victoria, and for 16 years he was a circuitminister at Echuca, Bendigo, South Yarra and Hawthorn. He continuedhis studies after entering the ministry and in 1876 took the degreeof B.A. at the university of Melbourne. In 1878 he moved andcarried a resolution at the Methodist conference that a committeeshould be appointed to seriously consider the question of startinga secondary school which would do for girls what Wesley College wasdoing for boys. Nothing was done but in the following year hebecame secretary of a new committee which, after three years work,succeeded in starting the Methodist Ladies' College at Hawthorn.The financial difficulties were great but they were overcome,Fitchett became the first principal and held the position for 46years. Under his guidance it developed into one of the largest andmost successful girls' schools in Australia.

Fitchett at this period had already entered journalism havingduring the seventies, contributed a regular column to theSpectator, the Methodist church paper, signed XYZ. Some timelater he became editor of theSouthern Cross, a Sundaymagazine for the home, and held this position until his death, aperiod of over 40 years. Articles by him appeared in its pages amonth before he died. But what brought him really before thegeneral public was a series of articles which were published in theMelbourneArgus under the title ofDeeds that Won theEmpire. They were collected and published in book form inMelbourne in 1896 and by Smith Elder and Company, London, in 1897.The book eventually ran into 35 editions and about 250,000 copieswere sold. Similar volumes followed in steady succession,Wellington's Men (1900),The Tale of the Great Mutiny(1901),Nelson and his Captains (1902),Fights for theFlag (1909),How England Saved Europe, 4 vols. (1909),The Great Duke, 2 vols. (1911),The New World of theSouth (1913). Interspersed with these were three Volumes offiction,The Commander of the Hirondelle (1904),Ithuriel's Spear (1906),A Pawn in the Game (1908),and four books with a religious interest,The Unrealized Logicof Religion (1905),Wesley and his Century (1906),The Beliefs of Unbelief (1908),Where the HigherCriticism Fails (1922). Other literary work included theeditorships of theAustralasian Review of Reviews, and ofLife a popular magazine, the first number of which appearedin 1904.

These activities were not allowed to interfere with hislife-work. First and foremost he was principal of a great schoolfor girls steadily expanding, with problems continually arisingwhich required his careful attention. His writing was done in theearly hours of the day much of it before breakfast, and theMethodist Church as a whole called for much interest and thought.Towards the end of the nineteenth century it was split into fivesections and many efforts were made to bring a union of them about.In 1895 Fitchett, as president of the conference of 1895, organizeda public demonstration in favour of the union. The question came upagain at successive yearly conferences, but it was difficult toobtain the requisite two-thirds majority. In 1898 union was decidedupon, the necessary act of parliament was passed, and at theconference of 1902 the union was accomplished and Fitchett waselected the first president of the united church. Another of hisinterests was the public library of Victoria of which he was atrustee for 35 years. Working until the last month of his life, hedied after a short illness on 25 May 1928. He married (1) in 1870Clara Shaw who died in 1915 (2) the widow of the Rev. WilliamWilliams who survived him with five sons and one daughter of thefirst marriage. A brother, Dr Frederick Fitchett, C.M.G., was atone time attorney-general of New Zealand, and another brother, DrAlfred Fitchett, was dean of Dunedin, New Zealand.

Fitchett's versatility was remarkable. He was an excellentdebater and leader at church conferences, a preacher ofextraordinary ability with a special appeal to young people, asuccessful administrator of a great girls' school from itsinception to the time when it had a roll of over 700 pupils, afirst-rate man of business, a capable editor of different types ofmagazines, and a competent writer of stories like theCommanderof the Hirondelle. His books on religion are interesting thoughWhere the Higher Criticism Fails, written away from hislibrary, is one of his least worthy books,Wesley and hisCentury is, however, an able piece of work which became atextbook in the leading Methodist theological colleges in theUnited States of America. He had the faults of a man who writes tooquickly, but he made a well-deserved reputation as a great man inhis church, and in his own way he was an almost incomparablejournalist and popular historian.

The Southern Cross, 8 June 1928;TheHerald, Melbourne, 26 May 1928;The Argus, Melbourne, 26May 1928; C. Irving Benson,A Century of VictorianMethodism;The Spectator, 30 May 1928; W. H. Fitchett,40 Years at the Methodist Ladies' College.

FITZGERALD, ROBERT DAVID (1830-1892), writer on orchids,

son of Robert David FitzGerald, a banker, was born at Tralee,Ireland, on 30 November 1830. When a boy he became interested inornithology, continued his study of it while doing a civilengineering course at Queen's College, Cork, and became a goodtaxidermist. He emigrated to Sydney in 1856, and in August of thatyear joined the staff of the lands department. In 1864 while on atrip to Wallis Lake he became much interested in the orchids hefound on its shores. He began studying them, received someassistance from William Carron of the botanic gardens, Sydney, andlater on had some correspondence with Darwin. Several references toFitzGerald will be found in the second edition of Darwin's book onthe fertilization of orchids. FitzGerald became deputysurveyor-general in 1873, and while in this position succeeded inhaving permanently reserved for the public the areas fronting theKatoomba, Leura, and Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains, andreservations were also made in other parts of the country.

In 1875 FitzGerald published the first part of his great book onAustralian Orchids. Other parts were issued at intervals andthe first volume was published in 1882 and dedicated to the memoryof Charles Darwin. In the first part the illustrations were inmonochrome drawn by FitzGerald, but in the second part they beganto be coloured. The intention was merely to reproduce the originalsin facsimile, but FitzGerald had an artist's eye for colour and theillustrations are beautifully done. They were drawn in the sparetime of a busy public servant in a growing department, but in 1884the passing of the crown lands act led to the work of hisdepartment being decentralized. Fifteen district offices werecreated and, on a commission being appointed, of which FitzGeraldwas a member, to inquire into the conduct of the department atSydney, it was found necessary to retire a large number of seniorofficers. This inquiry was a cause of great worry to FitzGerald,his own health became affected, and he retired on a pension in1887. He continued working on his book until his death at Hunter'sHill, Sydney, on 12 August 1892. He married Emily Hunt and wassurvived by three sons and three daughters. His grandson, RobertDavid FitzGerald, born in 1902 became a well-known Australian poet.At the time of FitzGerald's death four parts of his second volumehad been published and a fifth was in preparation . This wascompleted byHenry Deane(q.v.) and Arthur J. Stopps, the lithographer of many of theearlier plates.

FitzGerald was an amiable and versatile man, an excellentdepartmental officer, a surveyor, civil engineer, geologist,ornithologist and botanist of great ability. He will always beremembered for his great work on Australian orchids, and iscommemorated in the following species:--SarcochilusFitzgeraldi,Dracophyllum Fitzgeraldi, andEugeniaFitzgeraldi.

The Sydney Mail, 3 September 1892; Mrs C. A.Messmer,The Victorian Naturalist, April 1932; J. H. Maiden,Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New SouthWales, vol. XLII, p. 102;Proceedings of the Linnean Societyof New South Wales, vol. XXI, p. 827; privateinformation.

FITZGERALD, SIR THOMAS NAGHTEN (1838 1908), surgeon,

son of John FitzGerald of Trinity College, Dublin, was born atTullamore, Ireland, on 1 August 1838. He was educated at St Mary'sCollege, Kingston, and studied for the medical profession atMercer's hospital, Dublin. He passed his examination for licentiateof the Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland, in 1857 and in thefollowing year went to Australia. He arrived in Melbourne on 7 Julyand shortly afterwards was appointed house surgeon to the Melbournehospital. In 1860 he began to practise in Lonsdale-street, where heafterwards established a private hospital, and in the same year hewas elected full surgeon to the Melbourne hospital, a position heheld for over 40 years. His reputation as a surgeon grew steadilyand it eventually spread all over Australia. He was rapid,resourceful and successful in the operations that were possible atthat period, and invented original methods such as the subcutaneousintroduction of gold wire in cases of inguinal hernia and fracturedpatella, special appliances in operating for cleft palate, and anoriginal method in the operation for talipes. To his dexterity asan operator was joined remarkable skill in diagnosis, it seemedalmost to be an extra sense and he could describe the position offragments of a fracture as though he could see it in an X-rayskiagraph. In 1884 FitzGerald visited Ireland and obtained thediploma of fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons. He was twicepresident of the Medical Society of Victoria, and in 1889 waselected president of the Australasian medical congress. In 1900 hewent to the South African war as a consultant surgeon to theImperial forces. An account of his visit was published in theIntercolonial Medical Journal of Australasia for December1900. Soon after his return FitzGerald relinquished much of hisprivate practice and retired from hospital work. His health beganto fail and a voyage to Europe gave him little benefit. He died atsea while on a voyage to Cairns, Queensland, on 8 July 1908. Hemarried Margaret, daughter of James Robertson, who predeceased him,and was survived by three daughters. He was knighted in 1897; C.B.1900.

FitzGerald was slightly below medium height with a fine head andnatural dignity of manner. Though a man of great rapidity ofthought he was not expansive in conversation, and his pupilslearned more from what he did than from what he said. He wasextremely active, played tennis regularly until late in life, anddid much riding and driving. Under the name of T. Naghten he bredand raced horses with some success. His surgical life covered aperiod in which the arts of surgery and medicine wererevolutionized. In an interesting presidential address to theMedical Society of Victoria delivered in January 1900, FitzGeraldreviewed some of the changes that had occurred in the previous 40years. "Will such a difference ever re-occur", he said. "Shall weever again go through such a period of unlearning, such a period ofrelinquishing beliefs, of learning that almost all those remediesin which we at one time had so much faith, were in realitydelusions, more harmful than beneficial." In his own branch he feltthat it was "not until 1874, about 10 years after Lister hadcommenced his experiments, that things began to wake up inoperative surgery . . . In some respects, perhaps no art or sciencehas had so much to unlearn as ours". It was possibly hisrecognition of this that helped to make FitzGerald so great asurgeon. Though he had made a reputation at an early age and hadgained some renown for methods he had himself introduced, herefused to get into a rut, and kept abreast of all the advances insurgical knowledge. At the time of his death two old friends andpupils(Sir) H. B. Allen(q.v.) and (Sir)G. A.Syme (q.v.) wrote appreciations of him and his work in whichboth speak of him as "a genius".

Intercolonial Medical Journal, 1908, p. 379,1900. pp. 1, 549;The Lancet, 18 July, 1908;TheArgus, Melbourne, 10 July 1908;The Cyclopedia ofVictoria, 1903;The Australasian Medical Gazette,August, 1908, p. 428.

FITZGIBBON, EDMOND GERALD (1825-1905), administrator,

third son of Gibbon Carew FitzGibbon, a descendant of the WhiteKnight, was born at Cork, Ireland, in 1825. When about five Yearsold he was taken to London where he was educated privately; henever went to a school. He was employed by a committee of the privycouncil on education, and at one time contemplated entering theAnglican ministry. He emigrated to Australia in 1852 and spentabout a year on the diggings, but coming to Melbourne to meet abrother, he obtained a position as proof reader of the papers ofthe legislative council. In 1854 he entered the office of theMelbourne city council and in 1856 became acting town clerk. Themayor,J. T. Smith(q.v.), was anxious thatJohnRae (q.v.) of Sydney should be the new town clerk, but it wasdecided that the position should be given to FitzGibbon, and heheld it with great ability for 35 years. He studied law and wasadmitted to the bar in 1860, but never practised. His legalknowledge, however, proved useful in the framing of regulations,and he twice appeared at the bar of parliament to argue for billsin which the city council was interested. In the early years of theVictorian constitution the parliamentary machine worked badly, andin 1872 FitzGibbon published a pamphlet,Government byCommittee, which was followed in 1875 byParliamentaryReform, aimed to defeat the party wrangling of the period. In1876 he visited Europe and prepared a report on sewerage, tramways,markets, water and gas supply, which was also published as apamphlet. He had early impressed his personality on the councillorsand one writer of the period summed up the position in a couplet"Of power I shall demand the lion's share. I'll be FitzGibbon; youcan be the mayor". FitzGibbon in fact did not hesitate to rise fromhis chair and courteously set the council right if he found itstraying on to a wrong track. In 1879 at the time of theparliamentary deadlock FitzGibbon published another pamphletWhat Next? and tried to supply the answer with a plan forthe two houses sitting together. In 1891 when the Melbourne andMetropolitan Board of Works was constituted FitzGibbon wasappointed chairman for a period of four years, and in spite of hisadvanced age, he was reappointed for the same term on threeoccasions. In 1904 he was involved in a carriage accident from theeffects of which he never completely recovered; though he continuedto carry on his work until a few weeks before his death in theearly hours of 12 December 1905. He married in 1873 Sarah, daughterof Richard Dawson, who died in 1899. He was survived by five sons.In addition to the pamphlets mentioned, FitzGibbon published in1884 a reply to the theories of Henry George,Essence of"Progress and Poverty", and in 1893 appearedPartyGovernment and Suggestions for Better.

FitzGibbon was a fluent speaker with a masterful personality,which mellowed as he grew older. He was an excellent town clerk andset a standard of absolute integrity in municipal government.Though criticized as chairman of the Melbourne and MetropolitanBoard of Works by a section of the press in Melbourne, his work wasof great value especially in regard to the prevention of thealienation of land in the watersheds. He was created C.M.G. in1892. There is a statue to his memory in the St Kilda-road,Melbourne.

The Argus, Melbourne, 12 December 1905, 15 May1943;The Age, Melbourne, 13 December 1905;Cyclopedia ofVictoria, 1903;Debrett's Peerage, etc., 1905; E. Finn,The Chronicles of Early Melbourne, p. 318.

FITZROY, SIR CHARLES AUGUSTUS (1796-1858), governor of New South Wales,

son of General Lord Charles Fitzroy, second son of the thirdDuke of Grafton, was born on 10 May 1796. He entered the army andwas gazetted lieutenant in 1812 and captain in 1820. He waspromoted lieutenant-colonel in 1825 and made deputyadjutant-general at the Cape of Good Hope. Returning to England hewas elected to the house of commons in 1831. He retired from thearmy, was knighted in 1837, and in the same year appointedlieutenant-governor of Prince Edward Island. Four years later hebecame governor and commander-in-chief of the Leeward Islands. In1845 he was appointed governor of New South Wales. His predecessorSir George Gipps (q.v.) hadbeen a strong governor who had incurred the enmity of many of thecolonists. It is not unlikely that one of the reasons for theappointment of Fitzroy was that he was likely to be moreconciliatory in his methods.

Fitzroy, who had married in 1820 Lady Mary Lennox, daughter ofthe fourth Duke of Richmond, arrived at Sydney with his wife andson George on 2 August 1846. Another son and a daughter arrivedlater. Almost immediately he was asked to use his influence toprocure the disallowance of an act of the Tasmanian legislatureimposing a duty of 15 per cent on products imported from New SouthWales. Fitzroy brought before the British government theadvisability of some superior functionary being appointed, to whomall measures passed by local legislatures should be referred beforebeing assented to. In the long discussion over the separation ofthe Port Phillip district, Fitzroy showed tact and himself favouredbi-cameral legislatures for the new constitutions. The necessity ofsome kind of a federation between the various colonies wasrecognized, and as a step towards this Fitzroy was given acommission in 1850 appointing him governor-general of theAustralian colonies. During his governorship great strides weremade in the development of New South Wales. Transportation ofconvicts ceased, a university was founded at Sydney, a branch ofthe royal mint was established and responsible government wasgranted. Fitzroy terminated his governorship on 17 January 1855.The legislative council passed a complimentary farewell address,but it was not carried unanimously. In December 1847 his wife haddied as the result of a carriage accident, and the subsequentconduct of Fitzroy and his two sons caused some scandal. When theaddress was brought forwardDrLang (q.v.) moved an amendment stating that Fitzroy'sadministration had been "a uniform conspiracy against the rights ofthe people" and ending with a statement "that the moral influencewhich has emanated from government house during his excellency'sterm of office has been deleterious and baneful in the highestdegree". Lang obtained only five supporters, but they includedCharles Cowper (q.v.)andHenry Parkes (q.v.).After Fitzroy's return to England he married Margaret Gordon inDecember 1855. He died at London on 16 February 1858. He wascreated K.C.B. in 1854.

Whatever faults there may have been in Fitzroy's character, hewas an impartial administrator who took much pain in making himselfacquainted with the outlying parts of the colony. He was tactfuland industrious, not afraid to accept responsibility when it wasnecessary, and generally bore his part well in a period of manytransitions.

F. Watson, Introductions to vols. XXV and XXVI,Historical Records of Australia, ser. I, and dispatchestherein;The Official History of New South Wales; P.Mennell,The Dictionary of Australasian Biography;TheGentleman's Magazine, 1858, vol. I, p. 449.

FLEMING, SIR VALENTINE (1809-1884), chief justice of Tasmania,

was the son of Captain Valentine Fleming and his wife Catherine,daughter of John Hunter Gowan. He was born at Ashby-de-la-Zouch,Leicestershire, England, in 1809 and was educated at TrinityCollege, Dublin, where he graduated with honours in 1834. He wascalled to the bar at Gray's Inn in 1838 and was appointedcommissioner of insolvent debtors, Hobart, in 1841. He becamesolicitor-general in 1844, attorney-general in 1848, and chiefjustice of the supreme court of Tasmania in 1854. He retired on apension of £1000 a year at the end of 1869 but was acting chiefjustice from 1872 to 1874, and from March to May 1874 administeredthe government. He died in England on 25 October 1884. He married(1) Elizabeth Oke, daughter of Charles Buckland, and (2) FannyMaria, daughter of William Seccombe, who survived him. He wasknighted in 1856.

The Times, 28 October 1884; P. Mennell,TheDictionary of Australasian Biography; J. Fenton,A Historyof Tasmania;Debrett's Peerage, etc., 1884.

FLETCHER, JOSEPH JAMES (1850-1926), biologist,

was born at Auckland, New Zealand, in 1850. His father, the Rev.Joseph Horner Fletcher (1823-1890), a Methodist clergyman, came toAustralia early in 1861, and, after a term of four years inQueensland, went to Sydney to become principal of NewingtonCollege, from 1865 to 1887. From this school his son went to theuniversity of Sydney and graduated B.A. in 1870 and M.A. in 1876.Between these years he was a master at Wesley College, Melbourne,under ProfessorM. H.Irving (q.v.), in 1876 resigned this position and went toLondon, where he studied biology at a very inspiring period andtook his B.Sc. degree at London university in 1879. In 1881 hedecided to return to Australia, and, before leaving England,prepared aCatalogue of Papers and Works relating to theMammalian orders, Marsupialla and Monotremata, which waspublished in Sydney soon after his arrival in 1881. There were noopenings for young scientists in Sydney at this period, so Fletcherjoined the staff of Newington College where his father was stillprincipal. He was four years at the school and was a successfulteacher, encouraging his pupils to find out things for themselvesinstead of merely trying to remember what their teacher had toldthem. During this period he joined the Linnean Society of New SouthWales, metSir WilliamMacleay (q.v.), and in 1885 was given the position of directorand librarian of the society. This title was afterwards changed tosecretary. He entered on his duties on 1 January 1886 and for over33 years devoted his life to the service of the society. Duringthis period he edited 33 volumes ofProceedings with thegreatest care. He also published in 1892 a selection ofSermons,Addresses and Essays by his father, with a biographical sketch,and in 1893 editedThe Macleay Memorial Volume, for which hewrote an excellent memoir of Macleay. He had done some very goodresearch work in connexion with the embryology of the marsupials,and on Australian earthworms. Later he took up the amphibia, onwhich he eventually became an authority. In January 1900 he waspresident of the biology section at the meeting of the AustralasianAssociation for the Advancement of Science, and chose for thesubject of his address "The Rise and early Progress of ourKnowledge of the Australian Fauna", a work of much value to allinterested in the history of research in the natural history ofAustralia. In addition to being secretary of the Linnean Societyand editor of itsProceedings, Fletcher was an executor ofMacleay's will and he had much work in carrying out the provisionsof it as financial and legal difficulties arose in connexion withthe appointment of a bacteriologist and the foundation of theresearch fellowships. In later years he gave more and more time tobotany, and did important work on acacias, grevilleas andLoranthaceae. On 31 March 1919 he resigned his position assecretary to the Linnean Society and was elected president in 1920and 1921. His address on "The Society's Heritage from theMacleays", a very interesting record, occupies nearly 70 pages involume XLV of theProceedings. After an accident in 1922 hewas much confined to his home for the remainder of his life. Heoverhauled and completed the arranging and labelling of his ownzoological collection in 1923 before presenting it to theAustralian museum, and died suddenly on 15 May 1926, leaving awidow. He was awarded the Clarke Memorial Medal by the RoyalSociety of New South Wales in 1921.

Sir W. Baldwin Spencer,The Proceedings of theLinnean Society of New South Wales, vol. LII, p. XXXIII;ibid, p. V;The Sydney Morning Herald, 17 May1926.

FLINDERS, MATTHEW (1774-1814), captain in the navy, discoverer, [ also refer toMatthew FLINDERS page at ProjectGutenberg Australia]

was born at Donington, Lincolnshire, England, on 16 March 1774.His father Matthew Flinders was a surgeon and a son of a surgeon,his mother's name was originally Susannah Ward. He was educated atthe free school at Donington, which had been founded and endowed byThomas Cowley in 1718, and at the Horbling Grammar School. InOctober 1789 he entered the royal navy having been in his ownwords, "induced to go to sea against the wishes of my friends fromreadingRobinson Crusoe". One friend who tried to restrainhim was his uncle, John Flinders, who had himself been 11 years inthe navy without having reached the rank of lieutenant. Heconcluded his letter of advice by saying that if the boy did decideto join he should study Euclid and the books on navigation of JohnRobertson and Hamilton Moore. It is probable that Flinders's earlystudy of these books helped to make him the excellent cartographerhe subsequently became. Flinders joined his first vessel, theAlert, in October 1789, from her was transferred to theScipio, and in July 1790 he became a midshipman on theBellerophon. In 1791 With his captain's concurrence hejoined theProvidence as midshipman, and served underCaptain William Bligh(q.v.) who was making his second expedition to the South Seas. Oneof the objects of the expedition was to obtain breadfruit-trees forthe West Indies, which was successfully accomplished in January1793. Flinders had opportunities during this voyage of preparingcharts and making astronomical observations, and generally fittinghimself for the tasks he was to undertake later on. On his returnhe reported himself to his former chief, Captain Pasley, on theBellerophon, and rejoined her. On her he took part in thenaval battle fought off Brest on 1 June 1794, generally known inhistory as the glorious First of June. Flinders kept a diary andwrote in it a full and interesting account of this battle. He wasnever afterwards in action; his work was to lie in otherdirections.

In February 1794CaptainJohn Hunter (q.v.) was appointed governor of the infantsettlement at Port Jackson. He sailed in February 1795 on theReliance, and Flinders was on board as a mid- shipman. Onthe same vessel wasGeorgeBass (q.v.) as surgeon, another Lincolnshire man, with whom hebecame very friendly. Both were interested in maritime discovery,and soon after their arrival in Sydney began an exploringexpedition along the coast and up George's River in a small boatcalled theTom Thumb. TheReliance sailed for NorfolkIsland in January 1796, and, when she returned in March, the twomen, accompanied by a boy, made a second survey of the coast southof Sydney. They had bad weather and nearly went down in a gale, butfound the entrance of Port Hacking and were back in Sydney ninedays after their start. Flinders next went on theRelianceto Cape Town to obtain stock for the settlement, and as it wasfound on her return that the vessel was badly in need of repairs hehad to remain on board, while Bass on 3 December 1797 went off onthe voyage during which he discovered Bass Strait. In February 1798the schoonerFrancis was sent by Hunter to rescue somesailors who had been wrecked on the Furneaux Islands, some 15months before. "I sent in the schooner", said Hunter in a dispatch,Lieutenant Flinders of theReliance (a young man wellqualified) in order to give him an opportunity of making whatobservations he could amongst those islands." Flinders was thenbarely 24 years of age. He was away about five weeks, havingdiscovered the Kent group and made a most interesting record of thebird and animal life found on the various islands. He also observedthe strong set of the current westward which made him stronglysuspect that a strait existed, but the terms of his commission didnot allow him to investigate further. On his return to Sydney hediscussed this with Bass who had just completed his famous voyagein a whaleboat which had practically settled the question, but itwas not until September that the friends had an opportunity ofputting it beyond all doubt. Hunter then gave Flinders command oftheNorfolk, a leaky 25-ton sloop. Flinders and Bass werenot inclined to grumble, they gladly received their commission "tosail beyond Furneaux Islands, and, should a strait be found, passthrough it, and return by the south end of Van Diemen's Land". Theystarted at daylight on 7 October 1798, and, having discovered PortDalrymple, sailed through Bass Strait and round Tasmania, arrivingat Sydney again on 12 January 1799. During the voyage much of thecoast was surveyed for the first time, and Flinders's notes rangefrom how best to bring a ship to anchorage in Twofold Bay, to anaccount of meeting Tasmanian aborigines. The discovery of BassStrait, for so it was named after their return, was most importantfor it meant a considerable saving in the duration of ships'voyages from England. Flinders's next voyage along the southerncoast of Queensland did not have important results, and in March1800 he went back to England in theReliance, now in a veryleaky condition. He had been a midshipman when he left five yearsbefore and was now a lieutenant. His work was being recognizedamong the scientists of his time, and he had come especially underthe notice ofSir JosephBanks (q.v.). He dedicated to him hisObservations on theCoasts of Van Diemen's Land, on Bass's Strait, etc., which waspublished in 1801. He also wrote to Banks offering to exploreminutely the whole of the coasts of Australia, provided that thegovernment would give him a proper ship. Banks used his influenceand Earl Spencer the first lord of the admiralty was sympathetic.On 25 January 1801 Flinders was given command of a 334-ton slooptheInvestigator, and on 16 February he was promoted to therank of commander. Unfortunately the ship was an old one and shehad not been long at sea before she became very leaky. She was,however, well stored and Flinders had a specially selected crew of83. Attached to the expedition wereRobert Brown (q.v.) asnaturalist,Ferdinand Bauer(q.v.) botanical draftsman, andWilliam Westall (q.v.)landscape and figure draftsman. It is pleasing to know that thoughEngland and France were then at war, the French minister of marineand colonies issued a passport to Flinders, and, as theInvestigator was on a voyage of discovery which would extendhuman knowledge, French officers were commanded not to interferewith the ship, but on the contrary to assist it if necessary. On 17April 1801, Flinders was married to Ann Chappell, and hoped thathis wife would be allowed to accompany hint on his voyage, but thelords of the admiralty would not agree and he was reluctantlyobliged to leave her in England. He did not receive his sailingorders until 17 July, and it was not until 6 December that hesighted Australia. He immediately began making a complete survey ofthe southern coast. Others had been before him as far as a pointnear the line dividing Western from South Australia, but no one haddone the work so carefully as he was to do it. From this point hewas the first to record the outline of the coast and the map is nowstrewn with the names of people associated with the expedition fromthe first lord of the admiralty downwards. When the well-knownnames gave out he was able to use place names from his nativeLincolnshire. He explored Spencer's Gulf and the Gulf of St Vincentand a few days later, on 8 April 1802, a sail was seen on thehorizon. It proved to beLe Géographe, under the command ofCaptain Nicolas Baudin, part of a scientific expedition sent out bythe French government. The vessels hailed each other and Flindershad a boat hoisted out, and, accompanied by Brown who was a goodFrench scholar, called on the French captain. They had an amicableinterview and Flinders breakfasted with Baudin next morning. A fewdays later Baudin went to Kangaroo Island and Flinders continuedhis survey of the coast. His actual discovery work on this coasthad been completed. Baudin had done the work from the mouth of theMurray eastward to Cape Banks, andCaptain Grant (q.v.) in theLadyNelson had followed the coast farther eastward until the turntowards Port Phillip. Flinders, continuing on his course in badweather, found it prudent to keep well to the south and came uponKing Island, which, however, had been discovered previously. Withbetter weather he headed for the coast again, and on 26 April 1802came to Port Phillip and congratulated himself on a new discovery,only to find on reaching Sydney that it had been discovered 10weeks before by LieutenantJohn Murray (q.v.) who hadsucceeded Grant on theLady Nelson. Flinders carefullyexamined Port Phillip, but his stores were running low and in a fewdays he left for Sydney. He arrived on 9 May having completed oneof the most important voyages of discovery in the history ofAustralia. Moreover he landed his crew in perfect health, aremarkable record in the days when scurvy was so great ascourge.

Flinders wasted no time before continuing his explorations, Afew weeks were spent in refitting theInvestigator, and on22 July he journeyed north making many discoveries as he went. Hepassed through Torres Strait and skirted the coast of the Gulf ofCarpentaria, and, though his vessel was getting into a badcondition, he decided that there would be no more risk incontinuing than in retracing his path. He eventuallycircumnavigated Australia and arrived at Port Jackson on 9 June1803. His ship by now was in so bad a state that had they met withone severe gale it must have foundered. Another vessel had to befound and of those available thePorpoise appeared to be thebest. She was not really a sound ship for exploration purposes, andit was decided that she should go to England with Flinders as apassenger, so that he might put his charts and journals before theadmiralty and endeavour to obtain another more suitable vessel. On17 August 1803 thePorpoise was wrecked about 740 milesnorth of Sydney. Ninety-four survivors were cast upon a smallisland little more than a sandbank. Fortunately a large amount ofthe stores was rescued, and it was decided that Flinders shouldtake the largest boat available and go to Sydney for assistance. Hestarted on 25 August and on his arrival the captain of theRolla which was bound for China agreed to call at the islandand take some of the survivors to Canton. TheFrancis wasalso sent to bring the remainder back to Sydney. Flinders tookcommand of theCumberland, a schooner of only 29 tons, sothat he might sail for London with his charts and papers. Flinderswas joyfully received on his arrival at the island, and with a crewof 10 he parted from the other relieving ships on 11 October andset out on his long cruise of 15,000 miles. He sailed throughTorres Strait across the north of Australia and then south-west forthe Cape of Good Hope. The little ship leaked badly and on 6December 1803 he found that the only prudent course was to make forIle-de-France (Mauritius). On his arrival he discovered that warhad again broken out between England and France, but he had apassport which had been made out by the first consul and the kingof England and hoped that all would be well. General Decaen,however, as governor of the island was not unnaturally suspicious,and first put Flinders under guard and then closely questioned him.Flinders unfortunately became affronted and declined to accept aninvitation to dine with the governor and his wife. It is notimprobable that if Flinders had accepted the invitation and talkedthe position over with the governor, his detention might have beenshort. As Flinders was so uncompromising, if not indeed evenarrogant, General Decaen referred the matter to the Frenchgovernment which meant a probable delay of about 12 months.

Flinders was kept in close confinement at first and his healthsuffered, but on being transferred to what was known as the GardenPrison, a large house standing in two acres of ground, it improvedagain. No word was received from France, Napoleon had becomeemperor and Flinders's case was probably overlooked. He busiedhimself with improving his Latin, playing the flute, making a faircopy of the log of theInvestigator, walking, and playingbilliards. He received much courtesy from visiting French officers,and in August 1805 he was informed that if he wished he could livein the interior of the island. A home was found for him in thehouse of Madame D'Arifat at Wilhelm's Plains. He gave his parolethat he would not go more than two leagues from his house, andconditions were made as pleasant as was possible for a man who wasvirtually a prisoner of war. He became friendly with hisneighbours, was treated with kindness and courtesy, and having beengiven access to his papers, wrote the history of his voyages. Manyefforts were made to bring about his release. A literary andphilosophical society on the island addressed a memorial to theInstitute of France with this object. The governor-general of Indiamade a request to Decaen that Flinders might be released andallowed to go to India, and Rear-Admiral Sir Edward Pellew tried tohave him exchanged for a French officer. The truth may have beenthat Decaen was afraid that Flinders had learned too much about thecondition of the defences of the island, and that if he werereleased a British expedition would have been sent to capture it.Even when he received in July 1807, what was practically an orderof release, he decided as a matter of expediency for the good ofhis country, that he should postpone the carrying out of the order.Flinders might possibly have escaped but he would not break hisparole, and his captivity dragged on. In June 1809 the BritishFleet began to blockade the island, and early in the following yearDecaen recognized that he could not hope to hold it much longer. MrHugh Hope was sent by the governor-general of India to negotiatefor the exchange of prisoners, and on 15 March 1810 Flindersreceived a letter from him informing him that the governor hadagreed to his being liberated. On 7 June he signed a paroleagreeing not to act in any capacity against France during the war,his sword was given him, and on 13 June he sailed for India. He hadbeen a captive for a little under six and a half years. A few dayslater he was transferred to theOtter which was going toCapetown, where he was delayed for some weeks. He arrived inEngland on 23 October 1810, after being away nine years and threemonths, and had an affecting reunion with his wife, who came up toLondon to meet him.

Flinders was well received in England. Banks gave a dinner inhis honour, Bligh took him to see the Duke of Clarence, afterwardsWilliam IV, but he was anxious to get on with his charts, which aremonuments of his unremitting care and knowledge. He completed thetext ofA Voyage to Terra Australis, but his health wasfailing towards the end of 1813, and he lived only long enough tosee the book through the press. The first copy arrived on 18 July1814, the day before he died, his wife placed it on the bed besidehim, but he was not conscious of it. He died on 19 July 1814 at 14London-street, Fitzroy Square, London, and was buried in thegraveyard of St James, Hampstead Road. His grave is not nowtraceable. He was only 40 years of age, but the hardships of hisvoyages and the anxieties of his captivity, had made an old man ofhim. When he was 39 his wife wrote to a friend that he looked 70.He was 5 feet 6 inches in height, spare of frame, butwell-proportioned. He had bright eyes and a commanding, almoststern look, which could not disguise the real kindliness of hischaracter. One of the first things he did on his return was toprocure the release of some French prisoners of war connected withfamilies who had shown him kindness in his own captivity. He tookgreat care of his men and their health, and, though he immortalizedmany of his friends by giving their names to geographical featuresof the coast, he never named anything after himself. He was thefirst to systematically use the name Australia, and after thepublication of his book, the name was gradually adopted, althoughNew Holland was sometimes used up to the middle of the nineteenthcentury. He was a great seaman who successfully brought ships homethat were utterly unseaworthy, and was one of the greatcartographers and discoverers of the world. When he died theapplications of Banks and others for a special pension for thewidow and the daughter that had been born in 1812 were refused. MrsFlinders received no more than the trifling pension of apost-captain's widow until she died in 1852. In 1853 thegovernments of New South Wales and Victoria, not being aware of herdeath, each voted a pension of £100 a year to her with reversion toher daughter, Mrs Petrie. In her letter of thanks, Mrs Petrieexpressed her extreme gratification that the pension would enableher "to educate my young son in a manner worthy of the name hebears Matthew Flinders". That son became Professor Sir WilliamMatthew Flinders Petrie (1853-1942) the distinguished Egyptologist.In 1877 Mrs Petrie presented the manuscript of her father'sNarrative of an Expedition to Furneaux Islands to the publiclibrary of Victoria, and Professor Flinders Petrie also presentedother valuable manuscripts relating to his grandfather to the sameinstitution. The Mitchell Library at Sydney has a most importantcollection of Flinders's manuscripts, including two of the threevolumes of the log of theInvestigator, his private diaryfrom December 1803 to July 1814, and four letter-books 1801-14.Most of these manuscripts were presented by Professor Sir W. M.Flinders Petrie. In addition to Flinders's two published books hewrote a valuable paper "0bservations on the Marine Barometer" whichwas published in thePhilosophical Transactions of the RoyalSociety In 1806. There are three statues of Flinders in Australia.One by W. R. Colton. R.A., stands at the west end of the MitchellLibrary, Sydney, another by C. Web, Gilbert is alongside St Paul'sCathedral, Melbourne, the third is in North Terrace, Adelaide.

Sir Ernest Scott,Life of Matthew Flinders;Historical Records of New South Wales, vols. III to VII;Historical Records of Australia, ser. I, vols. II to V;Flinders's Manuscripts at Public Library, Melbourne; CharlesH. Bertie,Journal Proceedings Royal Australian HistoricalSociety, vol. III, pp. 295-325; Matthew Flinders,A Voyageto Terra Australis.

FOLINGSBY, GEORGE FREDERICK (1828-1891), painter,

was born in the County of Wicklow, Ireland, on 23 August and atthe age of 18 emigrated to Canada. Subsequently he went to NewYork, studied drawing and contributed illustrations to magazines ofthe day. In 1852 he went to Munich and spent two years at thedrawing school of the Royal Academy. He then went to Paris and fora few months was a pupil of Thomas Couture. Returning to Munich heworked for five years under Carl von Piloty. In 1864 his picture"Bunyan in Prison," was purchased by the national gallery ofVictoria. He continued to live at Munich but occasionally exhibitedin Ireland and England; his "The First Lesson" was hung in theRoyal Academy in 1869 and "Lady Jane's Victory over BishopGardener" in 1871. He was awarded medals for historical paintingsat the exhibitions held at Vienna in 1871 and Philadelphia in 1873.In 1879 he left Munich and settled at Melbourne, and becomingdirector of the national gallery in 1882, reorganized the paintingschool. The practice of making copies of pictures was discontinued,and every encouragement was given to working from life. Among hispupils were(Sir) JohnLongstaff (q.v.) and Aby Altson, the winners of the first andsecond travelling scholarships. He died at Melbourne on 4 January1891.

Folingsby was a sound painter of historical pictures andportraits and a good teacher. In addition to "Bunyan in Prison" thenational gallery at Melbourne has his "First Meeting Between HenryVIII and Ann Boleyn" and three portraits. Another portrait by himis at the national gallery at Sydney. He married Clare Wagner, alandscape painter, who predeceased him, and was survived by adaughter.

U. Thieme,Allgemeines Lexikon der BildendenKünstler; W. G. Strickland,Dictionary of Irish Artists;The Argus, 5 January 1891; E. La Touche Armstrong,TheBook of the Public Library, Museums and National Gallery ofVictoria;Catalogue of the National Gallery of Victoria,1894.

FOOTT, MARY HANNAY (1846-1918), poet,

was born at Glasgow on 26 September 1846. Her father, JamesBlack, was a merchant who had married a Miss Grant, and came toAustralia in 1853. Miss Black lived for some years with her parentsnear Melbourne and went to Miss Harper's school. She was afterwardsone of the first students at the Melbourne national galleryschools, and also studied painting underLouis Buvelot (q.v.). In 1874she married Thomas Wade Foott and lived for three years at Bourke,New South Wales. In 1877 her husband took up country in south-westQueensland. One of her poems, "New Country", is descriptive of herown experience, and the next seven years in this country had agreat influence on her writings. Her husband died in 1884 fromover-work and exposure during the drought of that year, and thelosses of stock were so great that Mrs Foott was obliged to sellher interest in the property and move to Toowoomba. In July 1885she went to Rocklea, near Brisbane, and opened a private schoolwhich supported her family. In the same year she published herfirst volumeWhere the Pelican Builds and Other Poems, andbegan to do journalistic work for theQueenslander andBrisbane Courier. In 1887 she joined the staff of theQueenslander and wrote under the pen-name of "LaQuenouille", but several stories also appeared in her own name.These have never been collected.Morna Lee and Other Poems,largely a reprint of her first volume, was published in 1890. MrsFoott continued her literary work for many years at Brisbane, andfrom 1907 at Bundaberg, where she died in September 1918. Heryounger son was killed in action at Passchendaele in September1917, and she was survived by her other son, Brigadier-GeneralCecil Henry Foott, C.B., C.M.G., who was born on 16 January 1876,educated as an engineer, and serving with distinction through thegreat war was six times mentioned in dispatches. He commanded the4th Division A.M.F. 1929-31, and died on 27 June 1942.

Mrs Foott's published verse was small in quantity but usually ofgood quality. One of her poems "Where the Pelican Builds" isincluded in most Australian anthologies.

Information supplied by Brigadier-General Foott;TheArgus, 29 June 1942; W. Morris Miller,AustralianLiterature.

FORBES, SIR FRANCIS (1784-1841), first chief justice of New South Wales,

was born at Bermuda in 1784, the son of Francis Forbes, M.D. Heentered as a student at Lincoln's Inn under Mr Sugden, afterwardsLord St Leonards, and was called to the bar in 1812. He wasappointed attorney and advocate-general at Bermuda in 1813 andreturned to England in 1815. In the following year he was appointedchief justice at Newfoundland and remained there until 1822. Hebecame chief justice of New South Wales in 1823 and arrived atSydney on 5 March 1824. A supreme court was constituted andhenceforth crimes were tried by the chief justice and a jury ofseven officers; and civil issues by the chief justice and twomagistrates acting as assessors, unless both parties desired ajury, in which case the jury was to consist of twelve civilians.Under the new act the chief justice became a member of both theexecutive and legislative councils, and, before any act passed inthe colony became law, he had to certify that it was not opposed tothe law of England. Forbes realized the difficulties that mightarise before he left England and only consented to thisreluctantly. The governor,Sir Thomas Brisbane (q.v.),was most favourably impressed by Forbes, and took occasion in hisdispatches of 1 July and 12 August 1824 to mention that "since thearrival of the chief justice the state of the Colony has assumed anew tone". Forbes had no difficulties with Brisbane, but it was notlong before he came in conflict with the new governor,Sir Ralph Darling (q.v.). It wasproposed to pass acts for the purpose of restraining the liberty ofthe press, and Forbes refused to certify to them as he consideredthey were repugnant to the laws of England. He pointed out hownecessary it was to go carefully, as in the then conditions of thecolony the people looked upon the supreme court as their protectionagainst absolute power. "I had been appointed by Parliament," saidForbes, "to see that the laws of the Empire were not encroachedupon . . . I refused to certify the Governor's Bills because Ithought them repugnant to law . . . What legal right could theGovernor claim to press me further?". After much discussion thewhole matter went to the colonial office whose legal advisers wereof opinion that in refusing to grant his certificate to the act forlicensing newspapers, Forbes was right, and that in regard to thenewspaper stamp act he was wrong. but as there was no reason todoubt that the judge had formed his conclusion honestly, he hadexecuted his duty in acting upon that opinion. Forbes's work hadbeen and continued to be heavy, his controversy with Darling washarassing, and his health became undermined. In February 1834,writing toGovernorBourke (q.v.), he mentioned that during the previous 12 monthshe had not been able to get through the business of an entire termwithout serious illness. On 30 June 1834 he was granted 12 monthsleave of absence, but did not actually leave until April 1836.Before his departure a public meeting was held and he was presentedwith an address which spoke of him in the highest terms. GovernorBourke in his dispatch dated 12 April 1836, in recommending him fora knighthood said, "I believe it would be difficult in the wholerange of Colonial Courts to point out a person on the bench who,from integrity and ability, legal knowledge and devotion to HisMajesty's Service, is better entitled to the honour than chiefjustice Forbes". Another contemporary,R. Therry (q.v.), speaks ofForbes's "imperturbable calmness of temper, acute discriminationand thorough acquaintance with legal principles. The rules andregulations he framed were well adapted for conducting the businessof the Supreme Court. In many of them he anticipated thelegislation of modern times by simplifying pleadings, anddispensing with the costly course of procedure then prevalent inthe Courts of Westminster . . . his main intellectual endowment washis masterly analysis of evidence". Forbes was knighted soon afterhis arrival in England, but early in June 1837, finding his healthno better, resigned his position. A pension of £700 a year wasgiven to him, and he returned to Sydney, where he lived inretirement until his death on 8 November 1841. He married in 1813,Amelia Sophia, daughter of David Grant, who survived him. Two sonsare mentioned in theHistorical Records of Australia.

David Forbes.Memoir of Sir Francis Forbes;Historical Records of Australia, ser. I, vols. XI to XXI; R.Therry,Reminiscences of Thirty Years Residence in New SouthWales and Victoria; C. H. Currey,Journal and ProceedingsRoyal Australian Historical Society, vol. XIX, pp. 73-89;Sydney Morning Herald, 10 November 1841.

FORBES, JAMES (1813-1851), educationist,

son of a farmer, Peter Forbes, and his wife Margaret, was bornin the parish of Leochel-Cushnie, 27 miles from Aberdeen, Scotland,early in 1813. He was educated at a local school and at Aberdeen,and entering King's College, Old Aberdeen university, received thedegree of master of arts in March 1836. On 29 June 1837 he wasordained by the Presbytery of Glasgow and in the following monthsailed for Australia withDrLang (q.v.). They arrived at Sydney in December and in January1838 Forbes was given a passage to Port Phillip, and became thefirst settled minister in Melbourne. The Rev. James Clow was therewhen he arrived, but though Clow took services he did not engage inregular ministerial work. In November 1838 Forbes opened the ScotsChurch and school in Collins-street, West, and in September 1839 amuch larger school was opened in Collins-street East. Soonafterwards it was decided to build a brick church to hold 500people. Forbes was the leading spirit in these activities and forthe next 12 years was constant in his devotion to the educationalneeds of Melbourne. In 1842 a series of seven long letters fromForbes on education appeared in thePort Phillip Gazette.These are reprinted in his biography, and show how thoroughlyForbes had gone into the whole question. He was also interestinghimself in the temperance movement, the foundation of the Melbournehospital, and the founding of a secondary school. It was hoped thata grant of land might be obtained for this school, but the attemptshad to be given up for a period. At the end of 1843 news of thedisruption in the Presbyterian Church in Scotland came toMelbourne. Forbes championed the Free Church party and there wasmuch controversy. In September 1846 he failed to carry a motion insynod expressing sympathy with the Free Church, and shortlyafterwards he resigned his pastorate of Scots Church,Collins-street.

Forbes now became leader of the Free Church party in Melbourne.Many of his congregation went with him and services were held inthe Mechanics' Institute building. In January 1816 he had broughtout thePort Phillip Christian Herald, principallyeducational and religious in its articles. This continued to appearfor over five years. He built another church and school inSwanston-street, and reviving the question of a secondary schoolthe Chalmers' Free Church school in Spring-street was founded. Thisbecame the Melbourne Academy of which Robert Lawson was appointedrector. He arrived on 11 September 1851 but Forbes had died on theprevious 12 August. He had never been a robust man and his neverceasing labours probably had much to do with his early death. Hemarried in 1845 Helen Johanna, daughter of the Rev. J. Clow, whosurvived him with at least one son and one daughter. The MelbourneAcademy grew into the Scotch College, one of the great publicschools of Australia.

Edward Sweetman,Victoria's First PublicEducationist;History of Scotch College, Melbourne; J.Campbell Robinson,The Victorian Historical Magazine, vol.XIII, pp. 115-33, also issued as a pamphlet asMelbourne's FirstSettled Minister.

FORREST, ALEXANDER (1849-1901), explorer, [ also refer toJohn and Alexander FORREST page atProject Gutenberg Australia]

son of William Forrest and younger brother ofJohn Forrest (q.v.), was born inWestern Australia in 1849. He was second in command of hisbrother's expedition in 1870, and proved himself to be a worthylieutenant. In 1871 he was in charge of a party which went about600 miles south-east of Perth and found good country, and in 1874he again did valuable work as first assistant to his brother. In1879 he led a party of eight men from De Grey River to thetelegraph line. The expedition left on 25 February and reachedBeagle Bay on 10 April. The coast was then skirted to the FitzroyRiver which was followed for 240 miles; but Forrest was thenstopped by mountains which appeared to be impenetrable. Heeventually worked round the southern end of the range anddiscovered some valuable country. Good water was found until theVictoria River was reached on 18 August, but great difficultieswere met with before reaching the telegraph line 13 days later.From there they made their way to Palmerston, then the capital ofthe Northern Territory, and they arrived on 7 October. The partywas often in danger of starvation, more than once a packhorse hadto be killed for food, and in the last dash for the telegraph line,Forrest and one companion who had gone on ahead nearly perishedfrom thirst. The two aboriginal assistants were quite helpless forthe last 300 miles of the journey, and one of them never recoveredfrom its effects, and died a few months later. The expedition ranksamong the most valuable pieces of Australian exploration as largetracts of good pasturage were discovered. Forrest'sJournal ofExpedition from De Grey to Port Darwin was published at Perthin 1880. In the same year he married Amy Lennard, who died in 1897.He was elected M.L.A. for West Kimberley in 1890, and held the seatuntil his death on 20 June 1901. He was also mayor of Perth from1893 to 1895 and from 1898 to 1900, and was created C.M.G. in May1901. He was survived by four children.

Forrest was a first-rate explorer, resourceful as a leader, andabsolutely dependable when second in command. His good work inpublic life was somewhat over-shadowed by that of his brother. Amemorial to his memory was erected at Perth.

Alexander Forrest,Journal of Expedition from DeGrey to Port Darwin; John Forrest,Exploration inAustralia; E. Favenc,The History of AustralianExploration; P. Mennell,The Dictionary of AustralasianBiography;Year Book of Australia, 1901 and 1902;TheRegister, Adelaide andThe Argus, Melbourne, 21 June1901.

FORREST, HELENA MABEL CHECKLEY (1872-1935), poet, novelist and journalist,

daughter of James and Margaret Mills. was born near Yandilla,Queensland, on 6 March 1872. She began writing at an early age butdid not publish her first book,The Rose of Forgiveness andother Stories, until 1904. She became well-known as a writer ofverse following the publication of her first volume of poems,Alpha Centauri, which appeared in Melbourne in 1909. Herfirst novelA Bachelor's Wife, was included in the Bookstallseries in 1914.The Green Harper (prose and verse) followedin 1915, andStreets and Gardens, a small collection ofverse, in 1922. In 1924The Wild Moth, a novel, waspublished in London, and was followed by four other novels,Gaming Gods (1926),Hibiscus Heart (1927),ReapingRoses (1928), andWhite Witches (1929).Poems byM. Forrest, a collection of her verse contributions to AustralianEnglish and American magazines, was published at Sydney in 1927.She died at Brisbane after a long illness on 18 March 1935. MrsForrest was twice married and was survived by a daughter.GamingGods was dedicated to the memory of her second husband, JohnForrest. In addition to her work in book form, for the last 30years of her life Mrs Forrest poured out a constant stream of verseand short stories for newspapers and magazines. Probably no otherwoman in Australia ever maintained herself so long by free-lancejournalism. Her verse, though excellent of its kind, was possiblytoo facile to be ranked highly as poetry, though she is representedin several anthologies. Her novels were perhaps little more thanstories written to fulfil the demands of the circulating libraries,but Mrs Forrest was an admirable journalist who lived a life thathad many misfortunes with great industry, ability and courage.

The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, 19 March 1935;The Argus, Melbourne, 19 March 1935 and 6 April 1935;Who's Who in Australia, 1933; E. Morris Miller,Australian Literature.

FORREST, SIR JOHN, first Baron Forrest of Bunbury(1847-1918), explorer and statesman, [ also refer toJohn and Alexander FORREST page atProject Gutenberg Australia]

was born at Bunbury, Western Australia, on 22 August 1847. Hisfather, William Forrest, a son of James Forrest, a writer to thesignet, came from Stonehaven, Kincardineshire, Scotland, arrived inWestern Australia in 1842, and settled near Bunbury. At 12 years ofage John Forrest was sent to the Bishop's School, Perth, theforerunner of Perth high school, and showed ability at his studies.On leaving school in 1863 he studied surveying, and served hisarticles with T. C. Carey the government surveyor of his district.Two years later he entered the survey department of the colonywhere his ability soon marked him out for future work. In 1869 areport was received of some human bones having been discoveredwhich it was thought might be those ofLeichhardt's (q.v.) party.Forrest was selected to lead an expedition in search of them whichleft on 15 April 1869. He had three white-men and two blacks withhim, the route was generally north-easterly from Perth and theneasterly, and they returned after 113 days, having travelled over2000 miles. Some hardships were suffered and they found no remains,but one outcome was Forrest's suggestion that geologists should besent to the interior to investigate indications of the presence ofminerals. It was then proposed that Forrest should lead anotherexpedition from the Murchison River to the Gulf of Carpentaria, butthe project did not receive sufficient support.(Sir) Frederick A. Weld (q.v.),governor of Western Australia, however, suggested that an attemptshould be made to reach Adelaide by way of the south coast. Eyrehad nearly perished in the same country in 1841, but thearrangements for the new expedition were very carefully thoughtout, and though the members of it ran very short of water onseveral occasions the journey, which began on 30 March, was broughtto a successful conclusion on 27 August 1870. Forrest had as secondin command his brother,Alexander [Forrest] (q.v.), andarrangements were made for a vessel to meet them with supplies atEsperance Bay, Israelite Bay and Eucla. The expedition had a greatreception at Adelaide and on Forrest's return to Western Australiahe was granted 5000 acres of land. He visited England during thefollowing year and was awarded the gold medal of the RoyalGeographical Society.

In 1872 Forrest suggested a new expedition which was to startfrom Champion Bay, follow the Murchison River to its source, andthen continue eastwards to the telegraph line across Australia,then nearing completion. The legislative council voted £400 towardsthe cost and Forrest undertook to get subscriptions for anadditional £200 which he considered would be sufficient to financeit. All of his explorations were conducted at a surprisingly lowcost. It happened, however, that some expeditions were beingorganized from the South Australian side, and it was thought betternot to appear to be competing with the other colony, so Forrest'sexpedition was postponed until 1874. He left Perth on 18 March withhis brother Alexander again acting as his lieutenant, four othermen, and 18 packhorses to carry provisions for eight months. Theyfound much difficulty in watering their horses, and Forrestregretted he could not have had camels which would have saved himmany deviations in search of water. They reached the telegraph lineon 27 September with but four horses left for the party of six.Several times they were in danger of death by thirst, but Forrestwas a good bushman and his faithful aboriginal, Windich, who hadaccompanied him on former expeditions, was a great help in findingwater. They arrived at Adelaide on 3 November and received anenthusiastic welcome. Forrest was able to report that there wasgood country to the head of the Murchison, but that the spinifexdesert running to the east would probably never be fit forsettlement. The whole expedition was a remarkably well-managedpiece of exploration. An account of his journeys,Explorationsin Australia, was published in 1875.

In 1876 Forrest was appointed deputy-surveyor-general of WesternAustralia and in 1878-9 acted as commissioner of crown lands with aseat in the executive council. Between 1883 and 1886 he, assurveyor-general, was engaged in settling the Kimberley district,and in the legislative council he succeeded in getting land lawspassed providing that there should be no alienation of land withoutimprovements, and he also introduced the deferred payments system.In 1885 he selected the route of the southern line of railways andworked hard for the introduction of responsible government. When itwas granted in 1890 he was returned unopposed as member for Bunburyin the first legislative assembly. The action of the governor SirWilliam Robinson in sending for Forrest to form the firstgovernment was generally approved, and for a record period of over10 years he continued to be premier. He brought in a vigorouspublic works policy including extensions of the railway andtelegraph systems and important harbour improvements. The franchisewas extended, and free grants of land were made to settlers willingto settle on and work it. With the growth of the gold-miningindustry there came a great increase of population, theopportunities for a leader were there and Forrest proved himself tobe a great leader. One difficulty was the supply of water to thegoldfields. It was realized that tanks and bores could not copewith the demand, and the engineer-in-chief,C. Y. O'Connor (q.v.), broughtforward his scheme for a pipeline 330 miles long. It was fortunatethat the colony had in Forrest a premier who was both courageousand hopeful. In July 1896 an act was passed authorizing a loan of£2,500,000 to provide for the cost of the line. The work was begunin 1898 and in January 1903 the first water reached Coolgardie andKalgoorlie. Though Forrest was in power for so long his task hadmany difficulties. The influx of people from the other states tothe goldfields led to some friction in the colony, the earlierinhabitants feeling that too much attention was being paid to thegoldfields, while the newcomers were satisfied that the prosperityof the colony was due to the mines. Forrest though sometimes calleda dictator could bow to the storm when necessary, and managed thesituation with tact. There was much congestion in the post andtelegraphs and railway services, and time was required to makeimprovements. The population of Western Australia increased by 300per cent between 1889 and 1900 and difficulties of this kind wereinevitable. In the early days of responsible government parliamenthad spent most of its time in the development of a bold loanpolicy, but towards the end of the century federation came more andmore to the fore. Forrest was a member of the convention which metin 1897 and 1898 and at its close he was prepared to recommendWestern Australia to adopt the constitution as it stood. Afterwardshe became less favourable to it, and a select committee of thelegislative assembly reported that Western Australia could notsafely join the Commonwealth unless certain amendments were made inthe constitution. Forrest visited the eastern colonies in January1900 and attended the premiers' conference at Sydney hoping tosecure assent to the amendments. But it was now too late foranything to be done as the other five colonies had accepted theconstitution. There was too a strong federal feeling in WesternAustralia, especially on the goldfields, and Forrest, feeling thatthe advantages outweighed the disadvantages, fought hard for thebill, though some of his colleagues opposed it. At the referendumthere was a large majority for the proposed constitution.

Forrest was elected for Swan electorate in the first federalparliament and held the seat until his death. In the first federalministry he was postmaster-general underBarton (q.v.) and he held officein every subsequent liberal ministry, except the Reid-McLean, aspostmaster-general, minister for defence, minister for home affairsand, for five years altogether, treasurer. In 1907 he was actingprime minister whileDeakin(q.v.) was at the colonial conference, but resigned from thecabinet a few weeks after Deakin's return. He was opposed to whathe considered to be Labour domination, and felt he could no longerkeep his place in a cabinet dependent on Labour support. InSeptember 1911 he was greatly pleased at the announcement in thegovernor-general's speech at the opening of parliament that theconstruction of the railway from Port Augusta to Kalgoorlie was tobe begun. He had strenuously fought for this railway from thebeginning of federation. It was completed towards the end of 1917,and Forrest was a passenger in the first train to go through andthe leading figure at the celebrations of the event at Perth. Hehad been made C.M.G. in 1882, K.C.M.G. in 1891, a privy councillorin 1897, G.C.M.G. in 1901, and on 2 February 1918 he was raised tothe peerage as Baron Forrest of Bunbury, the first native-bornAustralian to attain that honour. A long illness had caused him toresign as treasurer on 21 March, and he left Perth on 27 July forEngland seeking medical advice. He died at sea on 3 September 1918and was buried at Sierra Leone. His remains were afterwards broughtback to Western Australia. In 1876 he married Margaret ElvireHammersley, who survived him. He had no children. His statue is inthe King's Park, Perth.

Forrest did great work in Western Australia both as explorer andstatesman. No prophecy of failure could deter him from going onwith the scheme for supplying the goldfields with water, and hepersevered with the transcontinental railway in spite of thecontinued opposition of the eastern states, until it was brought toa successful conclusion. His courage was unbounded, his optimismwas tempered with common sense, and Western Australia found in himthe man for the hour. There he reigned supreme, but in federalpolitics he was less successful. Possibly he was too much inclinedto look upon his opponents as people to be overcome rather thanconvinced. In the troubled first 10 years of the federal parliamentand the manoeuvring resulting from the presence of three parties inthe house he never gained a large personal following. He was likedby all except possibly the Labour party, with which he foughtstrenuously, and no one begrudged him his reputation for ruggedhonesty. He was physically big, six feet in height and in lateryears 18 stone or more in weight, and he looked at things in a bigway. During his 35 years of political life he was over 26 years inoffice; yet he never intrigued for office. He had faith in himselfand faith in the future of his country, and he will long beremembered as one of the greatest men it has produced.

The West Australian, 5 September 1918; JohnForrest,Explorations in Australia; J. S. Battye,WesternAustralia; Quick and Garran,Annotated Constitution of theAustralian Commonwealth; H. G. Turner,The First Decade ofthe Australian Commonwealth;Burke's Peerage, etc.,1917.

FORSTER, SIR HENRY WILLIAM, BARON FORSTER (1866-1936), governor-general of Australia,

son of Major John Forster, was born on 21 January 1866. He waseducated at Eton and New College, Oxford, played cricket forOxford, Kent and Hampshire, and twice represented the gentlemenagainst the players. He gave up first-class cricket at an early agethough he always kept his interest in the game. In 1890 he marriedRachel Cecily, daughter of the first Lord Montagu of Beaulieu andin 1892 was elected a conservative member for Sevenoaks in thehouse of commons, holding this seat until 1918 when he becamemember for Bromley. Forster was a lord of the treasury from 1902 to1905 and showed ability and wisdom in the difficult position offinancial secretary to the war office from 1915 to 1919. He wasraised to the peerage, as Baron Forster of Lepe in December 1919,and in June 1920 was appointed governor-general of Australia. Hearrived at Melbourne and was sworn in on 6 October 1920, and hispopularity and that of his wife was soon unbounded. He dislikedsnobbery and pretence and appreciated the directness of theAustralians. The countryside appealed to him very much and he wasmuch interested in the bird life. He did not care much for racingbut cricket still retained its interest, and he was able to findtime for some golf and yachting. The period of post-warreconstruction was a somewhat difficult one, but no importantconstitutional question arose during Forster's governorship, and hewas more than equal to the usual calls made upon him. He had losthis two sons in the war, one was killed in action in the first yearand the other died of wounds some months after the war'sconclusion, and he gave much attention to returned Australianwounded in hospitals. He did a great deal of travelling throughoutAustralia, visited the mandated territory of German New Guinea, andafter his return to England in 1925 kept his interest in thedominion. Though in reality of a somewhat diffident nature he was agood debater and generally his public speaking was excellent. Hewas elected president of the M.C.C. in 1918, was made a member ofthe privy council in June 1917 and G.C.M.G. in 1920. He died atLondon on 15 January 1936 and was survived by Lady Forster and twodaughters.

The Times, 16 January 1936;The SydneyMorning Herald, 17 January 1936;The Argus, Melbourne,17 January, 1936;Burke's Peerage, etc., 1935.

FORSTER, WILLIAM (1818-1882), premier of New South Wales, and poet,

son of Dr T. Forster (Aust. Ency.), was born at Madras,India, in 1818. He was brought to Australia when 11 years old andeducated atW. T. Cape's(q.v.) school. He became a squatter, but from 1844 onwardscontributed largely to theAtlas, theEmpire, andother papers. His clever squib in verse, "The Devil and theGovernor", became well-known. When responsible government wasgranted Forster was elected to the first parliament as member forMurray and, though conservative in tendencies, he opposed thenominee upper house and advocated railway construction on a largescale. He did not believe in party government and endeavoured tomaintain an independent position but, when theCharles Cowper (q.v.)government was defeated in 1859, he became leader of a ministrywhich lasted for only a little more than four months. Forster waselected for East Sydney in 1861 and in October 1863 was again askedto form a ministry. He was unable to do so but became colonialsecretary in(Sir) JamesMartin's (q.v.) ministry until February 1865. Though he hadbeen a bitter opponent of(Sir) John Robertson (q.v.) hewas given a seat in Robertson's first cabinet as secretary forlands in October 1868 but retained his portfolio for only threemonths after Charles Cowper became premier in January 1870. InFebruary 1875 he was colonial treasurer in Robertson's thirdministry and a year later was appointed agent-general for New SouthWales in London. After the thirdParkes (q.v.) ministry was formedin December 1878 Forster was recalled on account of a disagreementas to the nature of his duties. He returned to New South Wales, waselected for Gundagai, and was offered and declined the position ofleader of the opposition. He died on 30 October 1882.

Forster in his younger days was a clever journalist but he didnot publish anything in book form until towards the end of hislife. His one work in prose,Political Presentments, whichappeared in London in 1878, includes able discourses on the workingof parliament, the development of democracy in Europe, and thepolitical situation of the time. His volumes in verse wereTheWeirwolf: a Tragedy (1876),The Brothers: a Drama(1877),Midas (1884), works of a vigorous and poetic mind,which in spite of their length can still be read with interest.

Forster was described in his youth as a "sallow, thin, saturnineyoung gentleman". He was not a great orator but was a debater ofability, though his habit of indulging in bitter personalitiesdetracted from the effectiveness of his speeches. He was oncedescribed as "disagreeable in opposition, insufferable as asupporter, and fatal as a colleague" but, however true that mayhave been, it was only one side of his character. A cultured andhonest man, thoroughly aware and disdainful of the tricks andshifts of party government, he tried to hold an independent courseand do what was best for his country. This was appreciated by theconstituencies that elected him to all but one of the parliamentsof his lifetime.

Sydney Morning Herald, 31 October 1882; C. E.Lyne,Life of Sir Henry Parkes; P. Serle,Bibliography ofAustralasian Poetry and Verse.

FORSTER, WILLIAM MARK (1846-1921), philanthropist,

son of Luke Forster, was born at Rothbury, England, on 7 October1846. He came to Melbourne with his parents when he was six yearsold, was educated at St Luke's school, South Melbourne, and onleaving school was employed by a softgoods merchant. When only 16he began business for himself as a commission agent and later as ageneral merchant in Little Bourke-street, Melbourne, where he hadbusiness relations with the Chinese and was much respected andtrusted by them. In 1871 he went to New Zealand and returning threeyears later went into partnership with his father in a saddlerybusiness in Melbourne. About the beginning of 1883 he realized thatmany boys in Melbourne had nothing to occupy their evenings andwere falling into habits of life detrimental to themselves and thecommunity. In February 1883 he invited three boys off the streetsto come to his own home in Canterbury-road, Toorak, Melbourne, tomeet his sons. The evening was a success, other boys were invited,and soon a society was organized which met at St John'sSunday-school. In 1885 this room was no longer available and theclasses were temporarily suspended, but classes were started inother suburbs and an amalgamation was made with a boys' societyconducted by William Groom at North Fitzroy. Forster then gatheredthe newsboys of the city together in a room in LittleCollins-street, and started the Herald Boys' Try Excelsior Class,afterwards known as the City Newsboys' Society. Permissiveoccupancy of a piece of land in Bowen St. was granted and theGordon Institute for Boys was built and the Newsboys' Society wastransferred to it. In 1890 the Gordon Institute was handed over tothe management of Charles D. Barber, and Forster establishedanother Newsboys' Society in a more central position at 192 LittleCollins-street. He looked after this society with great successuntil 1901 and remained a member of committee until his death. Morethan 20 years later its work was being admirably managed by Miss E.C. Onians. Forster's original society made a new start in March1886, Mrs Margaret Hobson of South Yarra having given him someland. £2000 was collected within a few months and a hall built.Other buildings were added in later years, and the institutionbecame in effect a boys' club, largely managed by themselves, withgymnasium, swimming-pool, a library, and many classes, the fees forwhich were of the most trifling nature. Included in these classeswere bookkeeping, shorthand, typewriting, singing, boot-repairing,carpentry, printing, painting and others. Situations were found forboys in town and country, and frail and delicate boys who foundtheir way to the society were often provided for at a country homeat Berwick. Other boys who had come before the police court and hadbeen placed on probation were helped to make a fresh start in lifeand many of these ultimately became respected citizens. Forster'shealth in his later years did not allow him to give so much time tothe society, but he retained his position as honorary leader with aseat on the board of management until his death on 6 June 1921. Hewas twice married, and was survived by five sons and six daughtersof the first marriage, and by his second wife and one son of thismarriage. The work continued after Forster's death and by 1943, 60years after the founding of the society, over 25,000 boys hadpassed through the institution. One of these was the Hon. WilliamSlater, first Australian minister to Soviet Russia. and numberlessothers have justified the work of the founder and his many helpers.Forster himself was a kind-hearted, deeply religious man whobelieved in the efficacy of prayer and perhaps even more firmlybelieved that much could be done by those who would help themselvesand use sound business methods. He was quite unselfseeking andnever advertised himself, but his social work can scarcely beovervalued. A son, W. C. D. Forster, who had been connected withthe movement all his life, was a vice-president of the society atthe time of its jubilee.

Forty-first Annual Report of the William Forster TryBoys' Society, South Yarra, 1924;The Argus, Melbourne,13 February, 1913 and 7 June 1921;The Southern Cross, 17June 1921; private information.

FOVEAUX, JOSEPH, (1765-1846), early administrator,

was born in 1765. When the New' South Wales corps was founded in1789 he was an ensign in the 60th regiment, but on joining thecorps became a lieutenant. He reached the rank of major on 10 June1796 and became acting commandant at Norfolk Island in April 1800and acting lieutenant-governor in the following June. In December,receiving information that there was a plot to murder the officers,he hanged two of the ringleaders.Holt (q.v.) in his memoirs statesthat the men were executed two hours after arrest without anytrial. Evatt in hisRum Rebellion accepts a statement in theBligh (q.v.) papers inthe Mitchell library that the men were "summarily hanged . . .without ever being told their crime, much less confronted withtheir accuser . . . merely upon the private information of avagabond convict". This is not strictly accurate. Foveaux statedthat other information had come to his knowledge when the matterwas brought before the judge-advocate and five other officers allsigned the warrant of condemnation. Foveaux succeeded in satisfyingbothGovernor King (q.v.)and the English authorities that his action was justified. (SeeH.R. of N.S.W., vol. IV, pp. 266, 325 and 688.) Foveaux wassucceeded byCaptain Piper(q.v.) in 1804, sailed to England on 9 September, and did notreturn to New South Wales until the middle of 1808. He took overthe administration of the colony fromMajor Johnston (q.v.) andissued a proclamation dated 31 July to the effect that he was notcompetent to judge between Bligh and the officers who had deposedhim, and would not interfere with thestatus quo until hereceived instructions from the British authorities. His statementthat there would be "the most impartial justice between persons ofevery description" was, however, apparently not intended to applyto Bligh as on 16 August he wrote for Colonel Paterson a completelybiased statement relating to the acts and designs of Bligh, and on4 September 1808 sent similar charges to Viscount Castlereagh.Foveaux apparently accepted without question everything that wassaid by his brother officers. Evatt in hisRum Rebellionbluntly speaks of his "lying", but that is probably going too far.In January 1809 Colonel Paterson took over the administration fromFoveaux who returned to England in April 1810. He received anappointment on the Irish staff in 1811, and was promoted colonel inthat year, major-general in 1814 and lieutenant-general in 1830. Hedied at London on 20 March 1846.

Macquarie (q.v.)described Foveaux as a "man of very superior talents . . . ofstrict honour and integrity" and recommended that he should beappointed lieutenant-governor at Hobart. This opinion, however, wasformed on very short acquaintance. Foveaux's administration atNorfolk Island appears to have been cruel and callous, and hisconduct in connexion with Bligh was more politic than just. His ownjustification of his career may be found in vol. VII of theHistorical Records of New South Wales, pp. 295-9.

Historical Records of New South Wales, vols. IIto VII;Historical Records of Australia, ser. I, vols. II toVII; H. V. Evatt,Rum Rebellion;The Gentleman'sMagazine, May 1846, p. 551;The Times, 21 March 1846; T.C. Croker,Memoirs of Joseph Holt;Journal andProceedings, Royal Australian Historical Society, vol. I. p.215; Ida Lee,The Coming of the British toAustralia.

FOX, EMANUEL PHILLIPS (1865-1915), artist,

was born at Melbourne on 12 March 1865, the son of AlexanderFox, photographer, who had married Rosetta Phillips. The boy'sfirst education was at the model school, Melbourne, which wasfollowed by private tuition, and he then began his art studies atthe national gallery, Melbourne, underG. F. Folingsby (q.v.). Amonghis fellow students were(Sir) John Longstaff (q.v.),Frederick McCubbin(q.v.),David Davies (q.v.)and Rupert Bunny. In 1886 he went to Paris and worked first atJulien's Atelier, where he gained first prize in his year fordesign, and then tinder Gérôme at the Beaux Arts where he wasawarded a first prize for painting. He first exhibited at the Salonin 1890 and in the same year returned to Melbourne. In 1894 he wasawarded a gold medal of the third class at Paris for his "Portraitof My Cousin" now in the national gallery of Victoria. In Melbournehe established a school of art in conjunction withTudor St George Tucker (q.v.),and had a considerable influence as a teacher on Australian art atthis period. In 1901 he was given a commission under the Gilbeebequest to paint an historical picture of "The Landing of CaptainCook" for the Melbourne gallery. One of the conditions of thebequest was that the picture must be painted overseas and Foxaccordingly left for London. In 1905 he married Ethel Carrick anartist of ability. They settled in Paris and in 1908 Fox waselected an associate of the Société Nationale des Beaux Arts. Hereturned to Melbourne on a visit in that year and held a successfulone man show at the Guildhall gallery. Two years later he became afull member of the Société Nationale des Beaux Arts, the firstAustralian artist to attain that honour. He was also exhibitingregularly at the Royal Academy. In 1912 he was elected a member ofthe International Society of Painters and in the same year spentsome time painting in Spain and Algeria. In 1913 he returned toAustralia and held successful one man shows. He died on 8 October1915. Mrs Fox survived him, but there were no children.

Fox was modest, unobtrusive and completely sincere. His drawingwas good, his colour beautiful, and his open-air groups were fullof light and atmosphere. He was much influenced by French paintingat the end of the nineteenth century and fully realized the goodeffect of the impressionists on that period. His portraits wereexcellent, soundly drawn and modelled, and showing greatappreciation of the characters of the sitters. One of the mostdistinguished of Australian artists, he is represented in theLuxembourg gallery, Paris, in the national galleries at Melbourne,Sydney, Adelaide and Perth, and at Canberra.

The Argus, Melbourne, 9 October 1915;TheAge, Melbourne, 22 October 1932; W. Moore,The Story ofAustralian Art;The Book of the Public Library ofVictoria; private information.

FOXTON, JUSTIN FOX GREENLAW (1849-1916), politician,

son of J. G. Foxton, was born at Melbourne on 24 September 1849.He was educated at the Melbourne Church of England Grammar Schooland privately, and went to Brisbane when he was 15. He was articledto M. Thompson, solicitor, at Ipswich and was admitted to the barwhen he was 22. He practised as a solicitor at Stanthorpe, and thencame to Brisbane and went into partnership with his old mentor, J.M. Thompson. In 1883 he was elected to the legislative assembly asmember for Carnarvon and held this seat continuously until 1904. Hewas secretary for public lands in theNelson (q.v.) andByrnes (q.v.) ministries fromMay 1896 to October 1898 and home secretary from October 1898 toDecember 1899 in theDickson (q.v.) ministry, and fromDecember 1899 to April 1903 in thePhilp (q.v.) ministry. He wassecretary for public lands in the same ministry from April toSeptember 1903. Defeated at the 1904 elections he entered federalpolitics as a member for Brisbane in the house of representativesin 1906, and was minister without portfolio in the thirdDeakin (q.v.) ministry from June1909 to April 1910, when he was defeated at the general election.He died at Brisbane on 23 June 1916. He married in 1874 Emily Mary,daughter of the Hon. John Panton, who survived him with two sonsand two daughters. He was created C.M.G. in 1903.

Foxton had many interests. He joined the old volunteer forceswhen a very young man and rose to be brigadier in command of theQueensland field force (Commonwealth military forces). Herepresented Australia at the Imperial conference on naval andmilitary defence of empire in 1909, and was for some time A.D.C. tothe governor-general of Australia. He was keenly interested incricket, was president of the Queensland Cricket Association,chairman of trustees of the Brisbane cricket ground, and a memberof the Australian board of control. He received the certificate ofthe Royal Humane Society of Australia for saving life in 1884 andits bronze medal in 1891. He showed much ability as a politicianand administrator. He brought in a factories and shops act in 1896which showed a distinct advance in humanitarian legislation, andits provisions were further extended in his factories and shops actof 1900. These acts made him justly known as the father of shop andfactory legislation in Queensland.

The Brisbane Courier, 24 June 1916; C A Bernays,Queensland Politics During Sixty Years;Who's Who,1916;Liber Melburniensis, 1937.

FRANC, MAUD JEANnée CONGREVE, MATILDA JANE, MRS E.EVANS (1827-1886), author of religious tales,

was the daughter of Dr Henry Congreve and was born in 1827. Shecame to South Australia in 1852, started a school at Mount Barkerand about the year 1859 married the Rev. E. Evans, a Baptistminister, who died some four years later. In 1860 Mrs Evans openeda school at Angaston which was still in existence in 1868. Shewrote her first story,Marian; or the light of Some One'sHome while she was at Mount Barker and it appears to have beenimmediately successful. The British Museum catalogue records anedition published at Bath in 1860, a second edition was publishedby John Darton and Company in 1861, and another edition publishedby Sampson Low appeared in the same year. She had chosen as apseudonym Maud Jean Franc, but in her later books variations in thespelling of both Maud and Jean appeared. Her second bookVermontVale came out in 1866 and during the next 19 years 13 othervolumes were published. She died in 1886 and was survived by twosons. The elder, Henry Congreve Evans, who died in 1899, was leaderof the staff of theAdelaide Advertiser and author of thelibretto ofImmomeena: an Australian Comic Opera publishedin 1893. The younger, William James Evans, was joint author withhis mother ofChristmas Bells, a collection of short storiespublished in 1882. He also published in 1898Rhymes withoutReason and died in 1904.

The stories of Maud Jean Franc were often reprinted. A collectededition in 13 volumes was published in 1888 and 40 years after, herpublishers, Messrs Sampson Low, stated that they were still selling(The Bookman, Sept. 1928). They are pleasantly told talessomewhat sentimental and rhetorical in style, sincerely religiousand didactic in theme.

The Centenary History of South Australia, p.353; E. Morris Miller,Australian Literature, for a list ofher books see vol. II, p. 602; information from H. R.Purnell.

FRANCIS, JAMES GOODALL (1819-1884), premier of Victoria,

was born in London in 1819 and emigrated to Tasmania in 1834. In1837 he was employed by James Hamilton, a storekeeper at CampbellTown, and three years later was taken into partnership. In October1840 he visited England to see his parents and in 1847, inpartnership with Duncan McPherson, bought the business of Boys andPointer, merchants, at Hobart. In 1853 Francis opened a branch ofthis business at Melbourne and took charge of it himself. He wasappointed a director of the Bank of New South Wales in 1855 and in1857 was elected president of the Melbourne chamber of commerce. Hewas also a director of other companies and was taking a prominentpart in the business life of Melbourne. In 1859 he was elected amember of the legislative assembly for Richmond, and was at onceappointed vice-president of the board of lands and works andcommissioner of public works in theNicholson (q.v.) ministry. Heresigned these positions in September 1860. He was commissioner fortrades and customs in the firstMcCulloch (q.v.), ministry fromJune 1863, to May 1868, and was treasurer in the third McCullochministry from April 1870 until June 1871. WhenDuffy (q.v.) was defeated a yearlater Francis became premier and chief secretary. His Ministrypassed some important legislation during its life of a little morethan two years. Its most important act was one dealing witheducation, free, compulsory and unsectarian, which continued for along period to be the basis of primary education in Victoria. Avigorous railway policy resulted in the building of several newlines of railway at a cost of about £2,250,000. Francis alsoendeavoured to bring in a system to prevent deadlocks between thetwo houses by providing that if a bill had been passed in twosuccessive sessions of the lower house and rejected by the council,it should be brought before a joint meeting of the two houses. Itwas, however, feared by some members that this might eventuallyresult in the assembly losing its control of money bills, and theproposal was carried by only two votes and eventually abandoned.Francis had a severe illness in 1874 and thoughHiginbotham (q.v.) andService (q.v.)together waited on him with a request that he should remain at thehead of the administration, and take leave of absence until hishealth was restored, Francis found it necessary to resign andretire from politics for a time. He visited England with his familyand was away two years. After his return he was elected forWarrnambool in 1878 and retained that seat until his death. He didnot desire office, but was an influence in the house and wasfrequently consulted by individual members. From March to August1880 he was minister without portfolio in the first Serviceministry. His health failed again for the last two years of hislife and he died at Queenscliff on 25 January 1884. He was survivedby his wife and a family which included at least three sons. Hedeclined a knighthood on three occasions.

Francis was a leading figure in Victorian politics for 20 years.When a young man in Tasmania he pluckily grappled with a burglarand was struck on the head with a hatchet. This was the beginningof the ill-health from which he so frequently suffered, and whichprevented him from doing even more important work than he did. Hewas not a good speaker, his style was too parenthetical andinvolved, but he always had a grasp of his subject. He was bluff inmanner but genuinely kind, and his ability and sturdy honesty ofcharacter were recognized by friends and opponents alike.

The Argus, Melbourne, 26 January 1884;TheAge, Melbourne, 26 and 28 January 1884: A. S. Kenyon,TheVictorian Historical Magazine, vol. XV, p. 96; J. H. Heaton,Australian Dictionary of Dates; P. Mennell,TheDictionary of Australasian Biography.

FRANKLIN, JANE, LADY (1792-1875), second wife ofSir JohnFranklin (q.v.),

was the second daughter of John Griffin. a liveryman and later agovernor of the Goldsmith's Company, and his wife Jane Guillemard.There was Huguenot blood on both sides of her family. She was bornin 1792, was well educated, and her father being well-to-do had hereducation completed by much travel on the continent. Her portraitpainted when she was 24 by Miss Romilly at Geneva shows her to havebeen a pretty girl with charm and vivacity. She had been a friendof (Sir) John Franklin's first wife who died early in 1825, and in1828 became engaged to him. They were married on 5 November and in1829 he was knighted. During the next three years she was muchparted from her husband who was on service in the Mediterranean. In1836 he was appointed lieutenant-governor of Tasmania where theyarrived on 6 January 1837.

Lady Franklin at once began to take an interest in the colonyand did a good deal of exploring along the southern and westerncoast. In April 1839 she visited the new settlement at Melbourne,where she received an address signed by 65 of the leading citizenswhich referred to her "character for kindness, benevolence andcharity". With her husband she encouraged the founding of secondaryschools for both boys and girls. In 1841 she visited SouthAustralia and persuaded the governor,Colonel Gawler (q.v.), to set asidesome ground overlooking Spencer Gulf for a monument toFlinders (q.v.). This was set uplater in the year. She had much correspondence with Elizabeth Fryabout the female convicts, and did what she could to amelioratetheir lot. She was accused of using undue influence with herhusband in his official acts but there is no evidence of this. Nodoubt he was glad to have her help in solving his problems, andprobably they collaborated in the founding of the scientificsociety which afterwards developed into the Royal Society ofTasmania. When Franklin was recalled at the end of 1843 they wentfirst to Melbourne and then to England by way of New Zealand.Franklin started on his last voyage in May 1845, and when it wasrealized that he must have come to disaster Lady Franklin devotedherself for many years to trying to ascertain his fate. By 1860 allhad been done that could be done, and for the remainder of her lifeLady Franklin divided her time between living in England andtravelling in all quarters of the world. She died in London on 18July 1875.

Lady Franklin was a woman of unusual character and personality.One of the earliest women in Tasmania who had had the full benefitof education and cultural surroundings, she was both an example anda force, and set a new standard in ways of living to the moreprosperous settlers who were now past the stage of merelystruggling for a living. Her determined efforts, in connexion withwhich she spent a great deal of her own money to discover the fateof her husband, incidentally added much to the world's knowledge ofthe arctic regions.

W. F. Rawnsley,The Life, Diaries and Correspondenceof Jane Lady Franklin; H. D. Traill,The Life of Sir JohnFranklin, R.N.

FRANKLIN, SIR JOHN (1786-1847), fifth governor of Tasmania and arctic explorer, [ also refer toSir John FRANKLIN page at ProjectGutenberg Australia]

was born at Spilsby, Lincolnshire, England, on 15 April 1786. Hewas the fifth son of Willingham Franklin, was educated at thegrammar school at Louth, in the autumn of 1800 became a first-classvolunteer on H.M.S.Polyphemus, and fought at the battle ofCopenhagen at the end of the following March. In July he joined theInvestigator and sailed underCaptain Flinders (q.v.) to thesouth seas. He was cast away on thePorpoise, went to Cantonand returned to England on theEarl Camden in 1804. Hejoined theBellerophon, fought at the battle of Trafalgar asa signal midshipman, and was one of the comparatively few men onthat vessel who escaped without a wound. After some years of patrolwork Franklin, now a lieutenant, fought in actions near New Orleansin the United States in December 1814 and January 1815. After thepeace Franklin spent three years in England and in 1818 sailed ascommander of theTrent in an expedition to the arcticregions. In 1819 in connexion with another expedition under CaptainRoss and Lieutenant Parry, Franklin was instructed to make anoverland journey from the north-western shore of Hudson's Bay andif possible meet Parry as he voyaged westward from the northern endof Baffin's Bay. It was three and a half years before Franklinreturned to England. The account of this wonderful journey will befound in Franklin'sNarrative of a Journey to the Shores of thePolar Sea in the Years 1819, 20, 21 and 22, published in threevolumes in 1823. During his absence he had been promoted to therank of commander and after his return he was made a post-captainand elected a fellow of the Royal Society. In 1823 preparations foranother expedition were made which was to approach the Arctic Oceanby way of the Mackenzie River. It did not start until February 1825and occupied two years and seven months. Franklin reached Englandon 26 September 1827 and published in 1828 hisNarrative of aSecond Expedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea. Thegeographical and scientific reports of this expedition were ofgreat value.

Franklin had married in August 1823, Eleanor Anne Porden, whodied on 22 February 1825, leaving him an infant daughter. In 1828he became engaged to Jane Griffin and they were married on 5November. In the spring of 1829 he was knighted and in the sameyear received the honorary degree of D.C.L. from the university ofOxford. He declined the offer of commissioner of the AustralianCompany in New South Wales at a salary of £2000 a year as he feltit might injure his future prospects in the service. On 23 August1830 he was given the command of H.M.S.Rainbow and sawthree years service in the Mediterranean. In April 1836 he wasappointed lieutenant-governor of Tasmania.

Franklin arrived in Tasmania on 6 January 1837. In the 12 yearsofArthur's (q.v.)administration there had been much progress. The population hadreached 40,000 and revenue and trade had increased enormously. ButArthur had not been popular and, though he had his admirers, agreat many people felt aggrieved by his actions. Two of hisnephews,John Montagu(q.v.), colonial secretary, and Matthew Forster, chief policemagistrate, held very important positions at Hobart and whenFranklin, as was only courteous, made complimentary references tothe work of Arthur it was felt by many people that he had alliedhimself with the "Arthur faction". His private secretary,Captain Alexander Maconochie(q.v.) had strong views on the management of convicts, and on thesebeing made public they were taken as a reflection on the judicialadministration of the colony. Franklin felt obliged to dismiss hisassistant. Thus early Franklin, a kindly and humane man, foundhimself involved in the jealousies and strong feelings that makelife difficult for the governors of small communities. There wasalso a virulent press which did not hesitate to interfere with theprivacies of domestic life or to make the most insulting charges.Franklin showed good sense in connexion with the founding of a highschool at Hobart, resisting Dr Arnold of Rugby's suggestion thatthe principal should be appointed turn and turn about from theAnglican and Presbyterian communions. "Might it not be better,"said Franklin, "to make learning and character the solequalifications?"

During Franklin's period there was much inquiry being made intothe convict system. Franklin believed that the assignment system ifproperly controlled would work well, but this system was abolishedand he loyally endeavoured to have the new regulations carried out.But the changing of these regulations affected the economic life ofthe colony and other troubles arose because a period of high pricesfor grain and live stock had led to extravagant speculation inland. There were difficulties too, in the absence of directtaxation, in squaring the finances of the colony. Franklin did hisbest, but unfortunately came into conflict with the colonialsecretary, John Montagu, a man of ability with a much more subtlemind than Franklin's. At last the governor dismissed Montagu whowent to England and so succeeded in impressing his side of the caseon the colonial authorities that, though Montagu was notreinstated, Franklin was recalled. He did not receive the dispatchrecalling him until 21 August 1843, four days after his successorhad arrived. Lord Stanley's readiness to accept the unconfirmedstatements of Montagu showed little evidence of good judgment, andgenerally Franklin was treated with discourtesy and ingratitude. Heleft Tasmania on 3 November 1843, and on arriving in Englandendeavoured vainly to persuade Stanley to take a more lust view ofhis case. He published privately in 1845Narrative of SomePassages in the History of Van Diemen's Land During the Last ThreeYears of Sir John Franklin's Administration of its Government,which sets out in detail his account of his relations withMontagu.

Franklin left England on his last voyage to the arctic regionsin May 1845, and his last letter to Lady Franklin was written fromWhalefish Island on 1 July. His ships were seen and spoken with bya whaler on 26 July but it was several years before the actual fateof the explorers became known. Franklin died on 11 June 1847. Manyexpeditions were sent to search for or ascertain the fate of themembers of the expedition, at first officially, and afterwards byLady Franklin alone. A document dated 25 April 1848 was found,which gave the date of Franklin's death, and stated the total lossby death had been nine officers and 15 men. It is probable that theremaining members of the expedition died in the winter of thatyear. In addition toLadyFranklin, who is noticed separately, Franklin was survived bythe daughter by his first marriage. Monuments to his memory are atSpilsby, Waterloo Place, London, in Westminster Abbey and atHobart.

Franklin was a man of medium height, in middle life very heavilybuilt. His personality was attractive, he had the bluffstraight-forward honesty associated with sailors, great courage andfortitude and a simple piety and humanity which endeared him to allhis associates and made him one of the great explorers of all time.As a governor he showed sound judgment and conscientiousness, andhad an invaluable influence on the education of the colonists.However, though undoubtedly popular, he had not a nature that couldcope successfully with people less honest and less disinterestedthan himself. In the changing conditions of Tasmania, slowlyemerging from a convict settlement to a constitutional colony, itwas necessary that a man should have more finesse and subtlety tobe completely successful as a governor.

H. D. Traill,The Life of Sir John Franklin,R.N.; A. H. Markham,Life of Sir John Franklin; KathleenFitzpatrick,Journal and Proceedings Royal Australian HistoricalSociety, vol. XXV, pp. 213-26; J. Fenton,A History ofTasmania; R. J. Cyriax,Sir John Franklin's Last ArcticExpedition.

FRENCH, CHARLES (1840-1933), entomologist,

was born at Lewisham, Kent, England, on 10 September 1840. Hisfather died when he was a child and his mother marrying again, theboy was brought to Melbourne in 1852. The family settled atCheltenham, where French began to be interested in natural history.In 1858 he was apprenticed to James Scott, a nurseryman at Hawthornand later on metBaron vonMueller (q.v.). In 1864 Mueller placed French in charge of theglass-house at the botanic gardens, and in 1881 he was madecustodian of the botanical museum. He was appointed first Victoriangovernment entomologist in 1889 and in 1891 published Part I of hisA Handbook of the Destructive Insects of Victoria. Fourother parts were published by 1911. A sixth part dealing withbeneficial insects was completed but has not been published. Frenchwas also the author of some pamphlets, and papers by him werepublished in theVictorian Naturalist and other journals. In1907 he attended the International Conference of Entomologists inLondon, and in 1908 he retired and was succeeded by his son,Charles French, Jun. He had founded the Field Naturalists' Club ofVictoria in 1880. It grew into a flourishing organization andremained a great interest to French during a long retirement. Hedied at Melbourne on 21 May 1933. He was married twice and left awidow, a son and two daughters.

Comparatively little work in entomology had been done inAustralia when French began his researches, and his work in showinghow insect pests could be controlled by the use of sprays was ofgreat value. He also fully realized the value of insectivorousbirds in keeping the balance of nature at a time when there was atendency to look upon all birds as a danger to crops.

E. E. Pescott,The Victorian Naturalist, July1933;ibid, May 1940;The Cyclopedia of Victoria,1903;The Argus, Melbourne, 23 May 1933.

FRIEDENSEN, THOMAS (1879-1931), artist,

was born at Leeds, England, in 1879. He studied at the RoyalCollege of Art, South Kensington, and in 1912 had an exhibit in theblack and white room at the Royal Academy. He also showed awater-colour and two oils at the 1919, 1920 and 1921 exhibitions.He came to Australia in 1921 and was elected an associate of theRoyal Art Society of New South Wales in 1922. He established areputation as an etcher and is represented in the Sydney,Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth galleries. His etchings are soundlydrawn and competent. He returned to Europe in 1930 and died atCannes in the south of France about the beginning of June 1931.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 6 June 1931; W.Moore,The Story of Australian Art; Royal AcademyCatalogues, 1912-21, which spell his name Friedenson.

FROGGATT, WALTER WILSON (1858-1937), entomologist,

son of George W. Froggatt, an English architect, was born atBlackwood, Victoria, on 13 June 1858. His mother was the daughterof Giacomo Chiosso, who came of a noble Italian family. As a childFroggatt, who was delicate, was encouraged by his mother to findinterests in the open air and at an early age began collectinginsects. The family having moved to Bendigo, he was educated at thehigh school, Bendigo, and on leaving school spent four years on theland. In 1880 he went to a goldfield near Milparinka, New SouthWales, and then worked his way northward and through Queensland toMackay, Herberton, Cairns and other parts of the colony. Whereverhe went he kept up his collecting of insects. In 1883 he returnedto Bendigo, worked with his father on a lease near Mount Hope, andabout this period got in touch withCharles French Sen. (q.v.) andBaron von Mueller(q.v.). It was partly through Mueller's good offices that Froggattwas appointed entomologist and assistant zoologist to theexpedition sent to New Guinea in 1885 by the Royal GeographicalSociety of New South Wales. The party left in June 1885 andreturned on 4 December. Early in 1886 Froggatt was engaged byWilliam Macleay (q.v.) asa collector. He at once proceeded to North Queensland and formedlarge collections. In March 1887 he went to north-west Australia,began collecting in the Derby district and later in the more inlandcountry. He returned to Derby after severe attacks of fever andthen went to the Barrier Range to recover his health. Returning tothe coast he took steamer on 22 February 1888 for Fremantle andthence to Sydney, where he arrived on 31 March. He then went toEngland at the invitation of an uncle and gained much experience inEuropean museums and universities. On his return he worked at theMacleay museum until it was transferred to the university, and in1889 was appointed assistant and collector at the Sydneytechnological museum. In the following year the first of a longseries of papers by him was published in theProceedings of theLinnean Society of New South Wales. In 1896 he was appointedgovernment entomologist to the agricultural department of New SouthWales.

Froggatt's work was not confined to entomology, he was also vineinspector and later inspector under the vegetation diseases act. Inthe many papers he was writing at this time there is an increasingtendency for his attention to be given to insect pests. Hepublished in 1907 his work onAustralian Insects, the firstcomprehensive text-book on Australian entomology, and in this yearwas sent abroad to study the best ways of dealing with fruit flies,etc. HisReport on Parasitic and Injurious Insects waspublished by the New South Wales department of agriculture in 1909.In this year he went to the Solomon Islands to report on pestsattacking coconut palms and sugar-cane, and in 1913 went on asimilar mission to the New Hebrides. During the war he spent muchtime on the control of weevils in stored wheat, and in 1922investigated pests attacking banana-trees in Queensland. He retiredfrom the department of agriculture in 1923 but was forestentomologist in the department of forestry until his finalretirement on 31 March 1927. His volume onForest Insects ofAustralia was published in 1923; in the following four yearsmany papers on forest entomology were also published, and in 1927another volume,Forest Insects and Timber Borers, appeared.In his last years he did much writing on popular science in theSydney Morning Herald, in 1933 hisThe Insect Book,the first of a series ,of elementary "Nature Books" for children,was published at Sydney, and in 1935Australian Spiders andTheir Allies appeared. He died at Croydon, New South Wales, on18 March 1937. He married Ann Emily, daughter of John Lewis, in1890, and was survived by a son, John L. Froggatt, entomologist tothe Mandated Territory of New Guinea, and two daughters. One of thedaughters, Gladys Harding Froggatt, was the author ofThe Worldof Little Lives (1916), andMore About the World of LittleLives (1929).

Froggatt was loyal and unselfish, the guide, philosopher andfriend to a long succession of young naturalists. He was a memberof the council of the Linnean Society of New South Wales for aperiod of 40 years and was president from 1911 to 1913. He gaveenthusiastic support to the various scientific societies with whichhe was connected, and was much interested in the planting ofAustralian trees and in gardening generally. He had a finecollection of books on science and general literature. Hiscollection of insects was acquired by the Commonwealth governmentand is now at Canberra. He was a leading Australian entomologistand an untiring worker; Musgrave lists over 300 of his papers inhisBibliography. In addition to his books on entomology,Froggatt also published a volume onSome Useful AustralianBirds in 1921.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 March 1937;Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, vol.LXVII. pp. 77-81; A. Musgrave,Bibliography of AustralianEntomology.

FRY, DOUGLAS (1872-1911), artist,

was born at Ipswich, Suffolk, England, in 1872. He was educatedat Ipswich Grammar School and studied art at Julien's, Paris, andin London. He did some illustrative work in London and in 1899 cameto Australia. He stayed at Melbourne for some time, did somepaintings of horses, and then went on to Sydney where he became amember of the Society of Artists. In 1908 his "Mountain King" waspurchased for the national gallery of New South Wales. He didillustrative work for theLone Hand and exhibited regularlywith the Society of Artists. His reputation was steadily growingwhen he died from pneumonia on 9 July 1911 at the early age of 39.A quiet, rather reserved man, much liked in sporting and artisticcircles, Fry did some of the best animal painting ever done inAustralia. He was much interested in the differing characteristicsof horses and made many studies of them before finishing each work.He was an excellent draughtsman and as a painter quite franklyendeavoured to paint the thing exactly as he saw it, with a highdegree of finish.

L. Lindsay,The Lone Hand, 1 November 1911; W.Moore,The Story of Australian Art;The Sydney MorningHerald, 10 July 1911.

FULLWOOD, ALBERT HENRY (1863-1930), artist,

was born near Birmingham in 1863, and studied art at eveningclasses in that city. He came to Sydney in 1881 and obtained workas a lithographic draughtsman and designer. He joined the ArtSociety of New South Wales in 1884, and shortly afterwards obtaineda position on the staff of thePicturesque Atlas ofAustralia, for which he travelled a good deal in the north anddid many drawings. He afterwards worked on theSydney Mailand other illustrated papers of the time. He kept up his painting,and in 1892 two of his water-colours were purchased for thenational gallery at Sydney. In 1895 he took a leading part informing the Society of Artists at Sydney and was a member of itsfirst council. He returned to Europe in 1900 by way of America,holding on the way a very successful exhibition of his work at NewYork. He made London his headquarters, exhibited at the RoyalAcademy in 1901, 1904, and later years, and also at variousexhibitions in Europe. During the war he was a sergeant in theR.A.M.C. and later an Australian official war artist. He returnedto Sydney in 1920 and worked chiefly in water-colour and etching.He died on 1 October 1930.

Fullwood was a happy-natured man who was in all the artisticmovements of his time, and did sound and capable work in black andwhite, oils, and water-colour. His etchings were on the whole lesssuccessful. He is represented in the national galleries at Sydney,Melbourne and Adelaide, at Dresden and Budapest, and in the warmuseum at Canberra.

B. Stevens,Art in Australia, 8th Number; W.Moore,The Story of Australian Art;The Herald,Melbourne. 18 September 1920;The Sydney Morning Herald, 3October 1930.

FULTON, HENRY (1761-1840), early clergyman and schoolmaster,

was born in 1761. He was educated at a university, graduatedB.A., and towards the close of the eighteenth century was aclergyman in the diocese of Killaloe, Ireland. He became involvedin the insurrection of 1798 and was transported to New South Wales.Though sometimes afterwards referred to as an ex-convict, he wasreally a political prisoner. The bishop of Derry, in a letter tothe archbishop of Canterbury written in August 1807, stated thatFulton "agreed to transport himself for life to Botany Bay"(H.R. of N.S.W., vol. VI, p. 276). He left Ireland with hiswife and son on theMinerva on 24 August 1799, and sharedthe same cabin withJosephHolt (q.v.) (Memoirs of Joseph Holt, vol. II, p. 33).They arrived at Sydney on 11 January 1800. Fulton was conditionallyemancipated in November, and began to conduct services at theHawkesbury on 7 December. In February 1801 he was sent to NorfolkIsland to act as chaplain, in December 1805 he received a pardonfromGovernor King (q.v.),and in the following year he returned to Sydney to take up theduties ofMarsden(q.v.) who had been given leave of absence. At the time of therevolt against Bligh, Fulton stood by him and, showing nodisposition to yield to the officers, was suspended from his officeas chaplain. On 18 May 1808 he wrote to Bligh testifying to hisjustice and impartiality, and in April and July 1808 and on 14February and 23 March 1809, he wrote letters to ViscountCastlereagh giving accounts of what had happened and severelycensuring the conduct of the officers. Immediately after thearrival ofGovernorMacquarie (q.v.) Fulton was reinstated as assistant chaplain.He went to England as a witness at the court martial ofColonel Johnston (q.v.), andreturned to Sydney in 1812. In 1814 he was appointed chaplain atCastlereagh and was made a magistrate. He also established a schooland had for a pupilCharlesTompson (q.v.) who dedicated his volumeWild Notes from theLyre of a Native Minstrel to Fulton. This was the first volumeof verse written by a native-born Australian and published inAustralia. The first poem in the book "Retrospect" hascomplimentary references to Fulton. as a teacher and as a man. In1833 Fulton was still chaplain at Castlereagh, and in that yearpublished a pamphlet of some forty pages entitledStricturesUpon a Letter Lately Written by Roger Therry, Esquire, and in1836 his name appears as a member of a sub-committee at Penrithformed to work against the introduction of the system of nationaleducation then established in Ireland. He died at the parsonage,Castlereagh, on 17 November 1840.

Fulton was a man of the highest character who lost his living inIreland on account of his sympathy for the Irish, and in Australiaagain went against his own interests in supporting Bligh. He wasmarried and had one son and three daughters.

The Sydney Herald, 21 November 1840;Historical Records of N.S.W., vols. IV, VI, VII;Historical Records of Australia, ser. I, vols. III, VI toXI, XIII, XIV, XVIII.

FURPHY, JOSEPH "TOM COLLINS" (1843-1912), novelist, [ also refer toTom COLLINS page at Project GutenbergAustralia]

was born at Yering Station, the site of Yarra Glen, Victoria, on26 September 1843. His father, Samuel Furphy, who had come from thenorth of Ireland with his wife in 1841, was head gardener on thestation. There was no school in the district and at first Josephwas educated by his mother. The only books available were the Bibleand Shakespeare, and at seven years of age Furphy was alreadylearning passages of each by heart. He never forgot them. About1850 the family removed to Kangaroo Ground, and here the parents ofthe district built a school and obtained a master. In 1852 anothermove was made to Kyneton where Samuel Furphy began business as ahay and corn merchant. A few years later he leased a farm and alsobought a threshing plant. This was worked by Joseph and a brotherand both became competent engine-drivers. In 1864 Furphy bought athreshing outfit and travelled the Daylesford and surroundingdistricts. At Glenlyon he met Leonie Germain, a girl of 16, ofFrench extraction, and in 1866 they were married. Soon afterwardshis wife's mother went to New Zealand and Furphy for a time carriedon her farm, but two years later took up a selection nearColbinabbin. The land proved to be poor, and about 1873 he sold outand soon afterwards bought a team of bullocks. He became prosperousas the years went by, but the drought came and he had heavy losses.Some of his bullocks and horses died from pleuro-pneumonia, andabout 1884 he accepted a position in the foundry of his brotherJohn at Shepparton. There he worked for some 20 years doing muchreading and writing in the evenings. In his youth he had writtenmany verses and in December 1867 he had been awarded the firstprize of £3 at the Kyneton. Literary Society for a vigorous set ofverses on "The Death of President Lincoln".

When Miss Kate Baker came to Shepparton as a teacher at thestate school she boarded with Furphy's mother, and having read someof his sketches she suggested that he should write a book.Heartened by her encouragement, a book gradually took shape, andabout the end of April 1897A. G. Stephens (q.v.), whowas then conducting the Red Page of theBulletin, receivedthe huge manuscript ofSuch is Life, Being Certain Extracts fromthe Diary of Tom Collins. Stephens at once recognized its meritbut its size made publication impracticable. It was returned toFurphy who found that a large section, afterwards to be publishedasRigby's Romance, could be cut out. Stephens realized thateven in its reduced form the book was not a commercial proposition,but he succeeded in persuadingArchibald (q.v.) andMacleod (q.v.), the proprietorsof theBulletin, that here was a national Australian bookwhich should be published. It came out in 1903, made very littlestir, and only about one third of the edition was sold. In 1905Furphy gave the manuscript ofRigby's Romance to theBarrier Truth at Broken Hill in which it appeared in serialform. His sons, Felix and Samuel, who had been trained in theiruncle's foundry at Shepparton, went to Western Australia andestablished a foundry at Fremantle. Their parents joined them earlyin 1905, and on 13 September 1912 Joseph Furphy died at Claremont.He was survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter. In 1917 MissBaker purchased the copyright and remaining sheets of theBulletin edition ofSuch is Life, and published asecond edition at Melbourne with a preface by Vance Palmer. Anotheredition abridged by Vance Palmer was published in London in 1937 byJonathan Cape, and a complete edition was brought out, by Angus andRobertson at Sydney in 1944.The Poems of Joseph Furphy,collected and edited by Miss Baker, with a portrait frontispiece,was brought out in 1916, andRigby's Romance was publishedin 1921. Its second edition, published in 1946, included ninechapters omitted from the first edition. A bronze medallion byWallace Anderson is at the state school, Yarra Glen. This school isclose to the site of Furphy's birthplace.

Furphy was a rather tall fair man with blue eyes. When he wentto Sydney whileSuch is Life was being printed, Stephensdescribed him as "a lean, shrewd, proud, modest, kindly man ofsixty". Though in his writings his characters use a great deal ofstrong language and slang, Furphy personally used neither. He was amember of the Church of Christ and sometimes took part in itsservices, but he had none of the narrowness often attributed tomembers of the smaller sects; he was indeed completely charitablein his attitude to all creeds, beliefs and unbeliefs. He had readwidely and his books give a cross section of the minds of thinkingpeople in the second half of the nineteenth century.Such isLife has many discussions in it, enlivened often with the senseof humour that was an essential part of Furphy. His pathos iscompletely true. He believed in the common man and loved him. Hisnarrative style is sometimes a little heavy and wordy, his attemptto suggest the bush vernacular by the use of (adj.) for swearingand other devices are not always successful, but these cavillingsbecome lost in the great sweep of the book, its vigour andoriginality, its human charity, its fundamental Australianism.Rigby's Romance has similar qualities but is not so good,and the volume of poems though it has much good swinging verse init, does not give Furphy the right to be called a poet. Hisreputation rests onSuch is Life which 40 years afterpublication remains one of the really important books in Australianliterature.

E. E. Pescott,The Life Story of Joseph Furphy;A. G. Stephens, preface toRigby's Romance; Vance Palmer,preface to second edition ofSuch is Life; E. Morris Miller,Australian Literature; Miles Franklin in association withKate Baker,Joseph Furphy; private information.

FYSH, SIR PHILIP OAKLEY (1835-1919), premier of Tasmania,

the son of John and Charlotte Fysh, was born at Highbury,London, on 1 March 1835. Educated at the Denmark Hill school, heobtained a position in the office of a merchant with largeAustralian connexions. He emigrated to Tasmania in 1859 andestablished the firm of P. O. Fysh and Company, general merchants,which he carried on successfully until 1894, when he handed overthe business to a son. In 1866 he was elected to the Tasmanianlegislative council and remained a member for six years. In August1873 he was elected to the house of assembly and became treasurerin theKennerley(q.v.) ministry until March 1875, but remained in the cabinet as aminister without portfolio for another 15 months. In June 1877 hebecame leader of the opposition and in August, premier. Losing hisseat at the election held early in 1878 he visited Europe andremained out of politics for six years. In March 1884 he waselected to the legislative council for Buckingham, and in March1887 became premier and colonial secretary in his second ministry,which lasted for more than five years. He was again elected to theassembly and was treasurer inBraddon's (q.v.) ministry fromApril 1894 to December 1898, when he was appointed agent-generalfor Tasmania at London.

Fysh took an important part in the federal movement in Tasmania.He was a representative of his colony at the 1891 and 1897conventions, and was a member of the Australian delegation thatwatched the passing of the federal bill through the ImperialParliament. He returned to Tasmania, was elected a member of thehouse of representatives in the first federal parliament, and was aminister without portfolio in the first ministry from April 1901 toAugust 1903, when he became postmaster-general. He held the sameposition in theDeakin(q.v.) ministry from September 1903 to April 1904. Retiring frompolitics in 1910 he died on 20 December 1919. He was createdK.C.M.G. in January 1896.

Fysh was tall and spare, with a flowing beard. A sound businessman, a director of well-known companies and president of thecentral board of health, Hobart, he was much respected both inTasmania and in the federal house. He may be remembered chiefly forhis consistent work for federation.

The Mercury, Hobart, 20 December 1919;TheAge, Melbourne, 22 December 1919;The Argus, Melbourne,23 December 1919.

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