John Baxter Mather (5 March 1853 – 7 November 1940) was a Scottish born journalist, newspaper proprietor, landscape painter and art critic inSouth Australia.
Mather was born inEdinburgh, Scotland to Thomas S. Mather (c. 1824 – 20 June 1865) and Jessie Mather (c. 1826 – 20 October 1901), and emigrated with his parents to Australia around 1860, settling first inPortland, Victoria.[1] Around 1864 they moved toMount Gambier, South Australia, where after completing his schooling he started working as acompositor for A. F. Laurie and John Watson'sBorder Watch.[2] In 1874 he left Mount Gambier for a time to work as compositor for Lawrie and Fairfax at thePortland Guardian whereJ. F. Archibald was an apprentice. After some initial sparring, the two became friends.[3]
In 1875, he started work atNaracoorte, South Australia for theBorder Watch, running its daughter publication, theNarracoorte Herald, which shortly afterwards he andGeorge Ash acquired. In 1889 they were sued for libel by a wealthysquatter and lost everything they had.[4] A great deal of sympathy was evinced locally for the pair.[5][6]
He moved toAdelaide and found employment withThe Advertiser as a compositor, then joined their literary staff[7] as an art critic, a post he filled for fifteen years. From 1893 to 1899, he contributed drawings to the AdelaideExpress, using the chalk plate method, at which he was particularly adept.[8]
He was at the forefront of process engraving technology; the first in South Australia to do colored monotypes.[8] In 1900 he and Joseph Hanka founded Mather & Hanka's Excelsior Engraving Company of 4Franklin Street, Adelaide, etching chalk plates (a fore-runner of the process plate) then makinghalf-tone plates for printers, includingThe Advertiser. A year later the company was run by Mather and George Mackie[9] By November 1903 the company was known simply as J. B. Mather, Photo-engraver, and ceased operation in late 1910. In 1913 he was employed by theArt Gallery of South Australia, revising the catalogue whichH. P. Gill completed in 1903.[10][11]
He enjoyed writing humorous verse, and contributed occasionally toThe Advertiser, and frequently to the magazineQuiz and its successorQuiz and The Lantern. A few are listed here:
He had two brothers: Alexander Henderson Mather (c. 1861 – 13 June 1942) of Mount Gambier, and George R. J. Mather of Naracoorte. A sister, Margaret married Omar Arthur of Mount Gambier on 17 November 1875. Another sister married J. J. Driscoll of Mount Gambier.
He married Johanna Fraser (c. 1853 – 26 June 1921) in 1880; they lived at 38 Myrtle Street,Prospect, where he died.
^"Obituary".Portland Guardian (Evening ed.). Vic. 7 April 1941. p. 3. Retrieved11 January 2015 – via National Library of Australia. This belated obituary is more complete and accurate than that of theAdvertiser of 8 November 1940
^"Obituary".The Border Watch. Mount Gambier, SA. 9 November 1940. p. 3. Retrieved11 January 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
^George Ash abandoned journalism, studied law and was elected to for the seat ofAlbert, which encompassed Naracoorte and Mount Gambier, in theSouth Australian House of Assembly. He did much in Parliament to remedy the evils of dummyism, of which he had written in theHerald. He died of typhoid a mere five years later.
