Sir Peter Scratchley
Sir Peter Scratchley, c. 1882
Born	(1835-08-24)24 August 1835 Paris, France
Died	2 December 1885(1885-12-02) (aged 50) Near theTerritory of Papua
Buried	Old Charlton cemetery, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Branch	British Army
Service years	1854–1882[1][2]
Rank	Major General
Conflicts	Crimean War Indian Rebellion of 1857
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
Other work	Special Commissioner for Great Britain in New Guinea

Major GeneralSir Peter Henry ScratchleyKCMG (24 August 1835 – 2 December 1885) was special commissioner forGreat Britain inNew Guinea 1884–1885 and defence adviser forAustralia.^[1]

Scratchley was born inParis, the thirteenth child of Dr James Scratchley, who was a soldier in theRoyal Artillery, and his wife Maria,née Roberts.^[1] He was educated in Paris and attended theRoyal Military Academy at Woolwich. After graduating he began his career as an Officer in theRoyal Engineers. Scratchley served in theCrimea andIndian Mutiny and in October 1859 was made a captain. He then had several tours of duty in theAustralian colonies advising on defence. In 1860 he was sent toVictoria to plan a system of defence for that colony, but after working on this for over three years his plan was not adopted as a whole. Scratchley had, however, constructed batteries around the coast ofPort Phillip by expending a comparatively small sum.^[1][2]

Following the withdrawal in 1870 of British garrison troops from Australia, Major General SirWilliam Jervois and then Lieutenant Colonel Scratchley were commissioned by a group of colonies to advise on defence matters. They inspected each colony's defences and produced theJervois-Scratchley reports of 1877. Not surprisingly given their engineering backgrounds and the fear in the colonies of potential enemy fleets, the reports emphasised fortifications against naval attack. The Jervois-Scratchley reports formed the basis of defence planning in Australia andNew Zealand for the next 30 years.^[2]

Among his achievements in Australia were:

• Founding of the Corps of Engineers inVictoria in 1860
• The fort onBare Island, Botany Bay, New South Wales^[3]
• Fort Scratchley, Newcastle, New South Wales
• Fort Lytton, Brisbane, Queensland
• Fort Glanville, South Australia — assisted byAlexander Bain Moncrieff
• Fort Queenscliff, Queenscliff, Victoria

Scratchley retired with the honorary rank ofMajor-General on 1 October 1882, but was still employed as defence adviser for Australia by the Colonial Office. He was appointed special commissioner for Great Britain in New Guinea in 1884, and arrived there in August 1885.Port Moresby was made the seat of government, questions of land tenure and the cultivation of the land were examined, and good relations were established with many of the natives and with the missionaries. Scratchley soon contractedmalaria and died at sea on aboard theGovernor Blackall on 2 December 1885. He was buried inMelbourne and then reinterred to the Old Charlton cemetery inEngland. He left a widow, two daughters and a son.^[2]

Scratchley was created aKnight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George in June 1885.^[1]

Scratchley Road inPort Moresby,Mount Scratchley in theOwen Stanley Range nearKokoda in Papua New Guinea, andFort Scratchley in Newcastle are named in his honour.^[1]

• Kinloch Cooke, C.Peter Scratchley. Australian Defences and New Guinea. Elibron Classics.Compiled from the papers of the late Major-General Sir Peter Scratchley

• 1835 births
• 1885 deaths
• British Army personnel of the Crimean War
• British military personnel of the Indian Rebellion of 1857
• British people in colonial Australia
• Royal Engineers officers
• Knights Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George
• British New Guinea people

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• Use dmy dates from April 2020