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DICTIONARY OF AUSTRALIAN BIOGRAPHY

PERCIVAL SERLE

Angus and Robertson--1949

We-Wy

Main Page and Index of Individuals 
Biographies:
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WEBBER, JOHN (1752-1793),

artist,

son of Abraham Webber, a sculptor, was born in London in 1752. He was educated in Switzerland, and studied painting at Paris. He was appointed topographical artist on the Resolution in 1776 and accompanied Cook (q.v.) on his third voyage. In January 1777 at Adventure Bay he did drawings of "A Man of Van Diemen's Land" and "A Woman of Van Diemen's Land", and he also did many drawings of scenes in New Zealand and the South Sea islands. Returning to England in 1780 he exhibited about 50 works at Royal Academy exhibitions between 1784 and 1792, and was elected an associate of the Royal Academy in 1785 and R.A. in 1791. He confined his work mostly to landscape. Sometimes figures were included as in "A Party from H.M.S. Resolution shooting sea horses", which was shown at the academy in 1784, and his "The Death of Captain Cook" became well known through an engraving of it. Another version of this picture is in the William Dixson gallery at Sydney. He is also represented in the Mitchell library collection, and in the British Museum and other London museums and galleries. He died at London on 29 May 1793.

W. Sandby, The History of the Royal Academy of Arts; Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers; W. Moore, The Story of Australian Art; A. Graves, The Royal Academy Exhibitors.

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WEBBER, WILLIAM THOMAS THORNHILL (1837-1903),

third Anglican bishop of Brisbane,

son of William Webber, a surgeon, was born at Grosvenor-square, London, on 30 January 1837. He was educated at Tonbridge school and afterwards at Norwich under Dr J. Woolley (q.v.). Going on to Pembroke College, Oxford, he graduated B.A. in 1859, M.A. in 1862, and was given the honorary degree of D.D. in 1885. Webber was ordained deacon in 1860, priest in 1861, and was curate of Chiswick 1860-4 and in charge of the church of St John the Evangelist, Red Lion-square, London, from 1864 to 1885. He was a most energetic and successful pastor in a crowded district, during his pastorate a new church, clergyhouse, and school were built, and besides looking after his parish, Webber was on a large number of committees of charitable and educational organizations. From 1882 to 1885 he was also a member of the London school board, and had become one of the best-known clergymen in London. He was appointed bishop of Brisbane in 1885, was consecrated at London on 11 June, and enthroned at Brisbane on 17 November.

Webber threw himself into his work with great energy, but found the huge diocese unwieldy. He visited England to attend the Pan-Anglican synod at Lambeth in 1888, and in 1892 the diocese of Rockhampton was established, which took over a large part of central Queensland. Webber worked hard for religious instruction in state schools, and two diocesan church schools were founded with some success, the high school for girls at Nundah, and St John's school, Brisbane. Much of his time was given to raising funds for a cathedral at Brisbane and before his death over £30,000 was in hand. The foundation-stone was laid in 1901 by the Duke of York, but the building was not begun until some five years later. The site chosen was a commanding one on the heights overlooking Petrie's Bight. Webber visited England again in 1901, and early in 1902 preached by command before King Edward VII at Sandringham. He fell ill during the year and on his return in May 1903 his condition was serious. He died at Brisbane on 3 August 1903.

Webber had a forceful personality and great powers of organization. He was a high churchman but held that both sections of his church could be equally devoted to it, and though a total abstainer he would not force his views on those who disagreed with him. It was held by some that he spent too much time in England and too little in overseeing his country parishes, but Queensland, when he came to it, was a young colony, and Webber felt he was doing a useful work by bringing the need of his diocese for men and money before the Church in England.

The Brisbane Courier, 4 August 1903; Crackford's Clerical Directory, 1903; The Church of England Messenger, Melbourne, August 1903; Jubilee History of Queensland, p. 132.

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WEDGE, JOHN HELDER (1792-1872),

pioneer,

was born in England in 1792. He arrived in Tasmania in 1824 having been given a position in the survey department, and did some useful exploring, especially in the north-west of the island. He joined the Port Phillip Association and in 1835 after Batman (q.v.) had made his famous purchase from the aborigines, resigned his position as assistant surveyor-general, and sailing to Port Phillip, arrived on 7 August 1835 (J. Bonwick, Port Phillip Settlement, p. 249). He surveyed some of the country near the site of Geelong, and going on to the site of Melbourne on 2 September found an encampment formed by members of the party organized by Fawkner (q.v.). Wedge pointed out that they were trespassing on the land of the Port Phillip Association, and then went on to examine the land to the north of the Yarra. Wedge gave this river its name on 13 September. Some 20 years later writing to Bonwick he told him that "on arriving in sight of the river two natives who were with me, pointing to the river, called out 'Yarra Yarra,' which, at the time I imagined to be its name" (Port Phillip Settlement, p. 279). Wedge afterwards sailed to Portland and arrived there on 5 October. He returned almost at once to Port Phillip and learned on 13 October that the association was considering taking action to expel Fawkner's party. Wedge wrote a wise letter to his fellow members, pointing out that any action of this kind would "lead to the most disastrous results" . . . and that the government "under such circumstances would refuse to confirm their title to the land". How much influence this letter may have had is not known, but the expulsion project was abandoned.

When it was finally settled that the association would receive no title to the land bought from the aborigines, Wedge returned to England. He came to Tasmania again in 1843 and became manager of the Christ Church College estate. He also received a grant of 2500 acres of land, grew prosperous in his circumstances, and was generally respected for his high character. In 1855 he was elected a member of the legislative council and successively represented Morven, North Esk, Hobart, and the Huon in that house. He was a member of the Gregson (q.v.) ministry without office from 26 February to 25 April 1857. He retired from politics in 1868 and died on 22 November 1872. He married in 1843, but his wife died young. He had no children. Many of his sketches are reproduced in Bonwick's Port Phillip Settlement and some of his manuscripts are in the public library, Melbourne,

The Mercury, Hobart, 26 November 1872; J. Bonwick Port Phillip Settlement; P. Mennell, The Dictionary of Australasian Biography.

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WEIGALL, ALBERT BYTHESEA (1840-1912),

schoolmaster,

the fourth son of the Rev. Edward Weigall by his wife, Cecelia Bythesea Brome, was born at Nantes, France, on 16 February 1840. His father, known as "the little fighting parson", ruled his home with kindliness and humour, and there was comparatively little of stern discipline and the conventions usually associated with Victorian home life. His son was educated at the grammar school at Macclesfield, where he obtained an excellent classical education tinder the Rev. Thomas Cornish, a man of sound judgment and kindness of heart. In 1858 Weigall went to Brasenose College, Oxford, with a scholarship. He obtained a first class in moderations in 1859 and won the Hulme exhibition in 1861. He worked under Conington and T. H. Green, who writing to him afterwards told him that he was "the first pupil I had who really interested me". Weigall graduated in 1862 with second-class honours in Literae Humaniores, intending to start on a diplomatic career. An illness led to a long sea voyage being recommended, and in 1863 he sailed for Australia to take up an appointment at Scotch College, Melbourne, under Alexander Morrison (q.v.). He stayed at Scotch College for three years and though young and quite inexperienced proved himself to be a good classical master. His attempts in emergencies to take classes in mathematics, however, led to some doubt arising in the boys' minds as to whether he was capable of correctly doing a sum in addition. He was fortunate in having a cousin, Theyre Weigall, in Melbourne, who was able to introduce him to congenial and comparatively influential friends, who were possibly able to help him when he applied for the position of headmaster of the Sydney Grammar School in June 1866. In spite of his youth he was appointed and began his duties in January 1867.

Weigall had no easy task. There had been some friction between the trustees and the previous headmaster, W. J. Stephens, afterwards professor of geology at Sydney university, and Stephens had resigned and taken some of his pupils with him to a new school which he founded. When Sydney Grammar School opened at the beginning of 1867, though there was a staff of nine, there were only 53 boys. Within 10 years the number was nearly 400, which increased to 696 in Weigall's last year of office. He lived for the school, and his life was henceforth bound up in it. In 1893, after 26 years of service, he was given a year's holiday, and after a break down in health in 1904 he was out of harness for another 12 months. In 1909 he was made C.M.G. and he died following an operation on 20 February 1912. He had married in 1868 Ada Frances Raymond, who survived him with four sons and four daughters.

Apart from being a member of the chapter of St Andrew's cathedral, Weigall appears to have had few outside interests and his chief recreation was walking. He knew every boy in his school by name and tried to make a friend of each; it has even been suggested that in the occasional clashes between boys and junior masters he was inclined to side with the boys. Though something of an autocrat, he succeeded in working amicably with his trustees, and though educated in the classical tradition he always realized the importance of mathematics, English and modern languages. But more than all he worked for the development of character and as part of this introduced the prefect system in 1878. He had an almost uncanny knowledge of boys and could lay bare their faults with an accuracy that astounded them, but his fault-finding was small compared with his encouragement, and when dealing with any offence he could always take into consideration the circumstances of the case. He believed in sport, but sport must not be the chief pre-occupation of the school. Personally he was a strange mixture of emotion and shrewdness, and with all his impulsiveness he could be wary and politic. His occasional bursts of temper, his bluntness and dogmatism, were all parts of a big man, as was also his common sense and his strong dislike of blowing his own trumpet. He believed that teaching was the greatest work in the world, and if he never spared his masters he certainly never spared himself. He practically created a great public school and had an immense influence on the characters of the boys who passed through his hands, many of whom afterwards attained great distinction.

M. W. MacCallum, In Memory of Albert Bythesea Weigall; The Sydney Morning Herald, and The Daily Telegraph, 21 February 1912.

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WELD, FREDERICK ALOYSIUS (1823-1891),

governor of Western Australia and Tasmania,

was born at Chideock Manor, Dorset, England, on 9 May 1823. He came of an old Roman Catholic family, his grandfather founded Stonyhurst College, and an uncle became a cardinal. Weld was the son of Humphrey Weld and his wife, Maria Christina, daughter of Charles Lord Clifford of Chudleigh, and was educated at Stonyhurst and at the university of Friburg in Switzerland. In November 1843 he sailed for New Zealand with a land order for too acres, a town lot in the future city of Wellington, and a little capital. He arrived at Wellington harbour on 23 April 1844. He bought a share in a station property with which he had some success, did some exploring, and in 1848 was offered a seat on a proposed nominee council by the governor, Sir George Grey (q.v.). Weld declined this and in 1852 visited England where he published a pamphlet, Hints to Intending Sheep Farmers in New Zealand, which ran into three editions. Returning to New Zealand he found that it had been granted representative government, and at the first election he was elected member for Wairau. In 1860 he became minister for native affairs in the Stafford ministry which resigned in 1861, and in 1864 prime minister. His administration was a short one but it did admirable work in the most difficult circumstances. Weld, however, overworked, his health broke down, and he was compelled to take a long rest. In May 1867 he left for England, and in 1869 published his, Notes on New Zealand Affairs. In March of the same year he was appointed governor of Western Australia. He arrived at Albany on 18 September 1869, and went by land to Perth, partly riding and partly driving.

Western Australia at this time had a population of under 25,000, and nearly everything in the colony was in a primitive state. Much fell on the governor who had often to give decisions on most trifling matters, but during Weld's governorship of about five years, many changes for the better were made. A council of 18 was constituted in 1870, 12 of whom were elected and six nominated, the first steps in the direction of municipal government were taken, an elementary education act was passed, new land regulations were framed, and an agitation for responsible government begun. Weld judged that his wisest course would be to assist this movement and had a bill prepared to establish a constitution for Western Australia. There was much objection to the proposal that the members of the upper house should be nominated, but while the measure was being considered Weld was given the governorship of Tasmania, and after his departure the question was dropped for a long period. He left Western Australia on 6 January 1875, having done excellent work. Though the population had increased very little there had been a great increase of exports, a steam-service along the coast had been established, the commencement of a railway system had been made, and the number of miles of telegraph line had increased from 12 to 900. The governor had also encouraged the explorations of John Forrest (q.v.) and had himself travelled over much of the settled country. He found his task in Tasmania much easier. He made himself familiar with the country, but he had few problems of any difficulty though always glad to give his ministers the benefit of his wide experience. Early in 1880 he was transferred to the Straits Settlements and for seven years was an admirable governor. He left Singapore on 17 October 1887 and lived in retirement at Chideock Manor where he was born. He died there on 20 July 1891 . He married in 1858 Filomena Mary Anne, daughter of Ambrose Lisle March-Phillippe-de Lisle, who survived him with 12 children. He was created C.M.G. in 1875, K.C.M.G. in 1880, G.C.M.G. in 1885.

Weld was a man of fine character and an excellent governor. Western Australia was in a state of stagnation when he arrived and he did much to bring it to life again. Wise, courteous and conciliatory, he could be firm when it was necessary. His administration marks a turning point in the early history of Western Australia.

Alice, Lady Lovat, The Life of Sir Frederick Weld; J. S. Battye, Western Australia, a History; J. H. Heaton, Australian Dictionary of Dates; Burke's Peerage, etc., 1891.

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WENTWORTH, WILLIAM CHARLES (1792-1872),

statesman,

[ also refer to William WENTWORTH page at Project Gutenberg Australia]

was born at Norfolk Island, apparently during the latter part of 1792 (A. C .V. Melbourne, who consulted the Norfolk Island returns at the colonial office). His father was D'Arcy Wentworth, who belonged to an Irish branch of the well-known Wentworth family. There is some doubt about the name of his mother, but there is reason to believe that originally it was Catherine Williams (Melbourne). D'Arcy Wentworth (1762-1827) came originally from the north of Ireland and went to London to study medicine. In 1787 he was charged with highway robbery and acquitted, but in December 1789 he was again charged with the same offence. He was not convicted, but agreed to go to New South Wales, having obtained the position of assistant-surgeon on the Neptune. He arrived at Sydney on 28 June 1790. He was immediately appointed an assistant in the hospital at Norfolk Island, became a superintendent of convicts in 1791, and acted at the same time as assistant-surgeon. He returned to Sydney in 1796, eventually became principal surgeon and superintendent of police, and a magistrate. From the time he arrived in the colony until his death in 1827 his life was free from blame. He laid the foundation of a large fortune as one of the contractors for the building of the "Rum Hospital", known by that name because the builders of it had agreed to erect the building on condition that they were allowed a monopoly of the sale of spirits for three years.

Little is known of the youth of William Charles Wentworth. He was sent at an early age to England to be educated, and his father made unsuccessful efforts through his friend and distant kinsman, Lord Fitzwilliam, to have him admitted to the military academy at Woolwich, or to obtain an appointment in the East India Company's service. He arrived in Sydney again in 1811, and in August 1812 was granted 1750 acres of land. In the following year, with Gregory Blaxland (q.v.) and Lieutenant William Lawson (q.v.), Wentworth crossed the Blue Mountains and found a way to open up the fertile country to the west of them. Many attempts had been made before, but all had failed. Only 17 miles were covered in the first week, but at the end of the third week they saw from Mount York the open country beyond. Wentworth, however, found that the privations he had endured had injured his health, and in 1814 took a voyage to the Friendly Islands to enable him to recover. In 1816 he went to England. His father hoped that he would enter the army, but Wentworth was anxious to study law. In a letter to Lord Fitzwilliam he spoke of acquainting himself "with all the excellence of the British constitution, and hope at some future period to advocate successfully the right of my country to participate in its advantages". It is clear from this letter that Wentworth intended to make the bar a stepping stone to the fulfilment of greater ambitions. He entered at the Inner Temple and began a five years' course of study. At this time he was friendly with John Macarthur (q.v.) and his two sons, and obtained parental consent to a marriage with John Macarthur's daughter. The elder man, however, advised Wentworth to complete his law studies before returning to Sydney, and a subsequent quarrel with the Macarthurs made an end of the proposed marriage. In 1817 Wentworth went to Paris, lived there for more than a year, and obtained a good working knowledge of French while not entirely neglecting his study of the law. In Paris he was in close touch with John Macarthur junior, who suggested that he should write a book on the state of New South Wales, which he practically completed by May 1818. About this time he suffered a great shock. He found in a public letter addressed to Lord Sidmouth by the Hon. H. G. Bennet a statement that his father had gone to New South Wales as a convict. He interviewed Bennet and denied the charges, but from further inquiries he learned that his father had twice been tried for a capital offence. His distress was great but he did what he could. Bennet amended the wording of his pamphlet, and made "a somewhat ambiguous apology in the house of commons", and Wentworth wisely carried the matter no further. His book was published in 1819; its long and cumbrous title will suggest the scope of it--A Statistical, Historical and Political Description of the Colony of New South Wales and its dependent Settlements with a Particular Enumeration of the Advantages which these Colonies offer for Emigration and their Superiority in many Respects over those Possessed by the United States of America. The book contained a remarkable amount of information relating to the colony, with many proposals for the improvement of its government. It went into a second edition in 1820, and the third edition, considerably revised and augmented, appeared in 1824. John Macarthur did not approve of it and objected strongly to Wentworth's estimates of the profits to be made by growing fine wool. Neither did he approve of trial by jury nor ex-convicts being eligible for the proposed houses of parliament, both of which were advocated in Wentworth's book. In 1823 Wentworth became a student at Peterhouse College, Cambridge, and shortly afterwards entered a poem for the Chancellor's gold medal. It was placed second to a poem by Winthrop Mackworth Praed, afterwards to become well-known as one of the most graceful and polished of English minor poets. More than one good judge has questioned this decision. The subject was Australasia and Wentworth not only knew more about his subject, he felt a genuine emotion for it. Apart from a few early anonymous satires this was the only verse written by Wentworth. It was published in 1823 and reprinted 50 years later. Extracts from it have been included in various Australian anthologies. Wentworth was called to the English bar, and having revised and completed the third edition of his book on New South Wales during 1823 he sailed for Sydney and arrived about September 1821.

In England Wentworth had become friendly with Robert Wardell, LL.D. (q.v.). They came to Sydney together and immediately started a paper, the Australian. It was conducted with ability, fought against the colonial office, and demanded an elected legislature. When the new governor, Sir Ralph Darling (q.v.), arrived he soon realized that Wentworth was a force in the community. The case of Sudds and Thompson, two soldiers who had committed a theft so that they might be sentenced to transportation, was seized on by Wentworth and others as a means of harassing the government. The two men had been sentenced to hard labour in irons and Sudds who was ill died. Wentworth in letters to the governor and secretary of state allowed his strong feelings to run away with him, and to some extent defeated his own object by the extravagance of his language. A new constitution act had been passed in 1828, but though minor changes had been made no concession of importance had been made to the views of Wentworth and his party. On 9 February 1830 a draft of a petition to the house of commons was brought before a public meeting. The objects desired by Wentworth's party were trial by jury and a "House of the People's representatives" (The Australian, 10 February 1830). The petition was presented to the house of commons without effect. The agitation was renewed early in 1833, and in May 1835 the Australian Patriotic Association was formed. Wentworth took a leading part, but the fervour of youth had departed, and he was now a rich man, becoming much more conservative in his outlook than when he wrote his book on New South Wales. The exclusives and the emancipists were still at odds but there had been great increases in the number of free settlers coming to the colony. The adoption by the home authorities to some extent of Wakefield's (q.v.) land policy brought the hitherto opposed James Macarthur (q.v. [under entry for John Macarthur]) and Wentworth together, and Wentworth gradually lost his place as the people's leader. Wentworth was not in most circumstances a man of a grasping nature, indeed it is recorded of him that when he bought his estate, Vaucluse, finding he had got it too cheaply he insisted on paying an additional amount. But when seven Maori chiefs arrived in Sydney early in 1840, he made a bargain with them that in consideration of a pension of £200 each, they would sell him 100,000 acres in the North Island and 20,000,000 acres in the South Island. It was an audacious scheme, but though the rights of native races were little recognized in those days, Governor Gipps (q.v.) refused to ratify the bargain. The governor was right in his action, though unwise in denouncing the transaction as a corrupt job, and Wentworth never forgave him.

Wentworth's early labours for the people had at last begun to have effect. Trial by jury had become law in 1838, and the first real step towards representative government was effected in 1842 when a new constitution act was passed. In 1843 writs were issued for the election of 24 members to the legislative council and Wentworth received full credit for his part in the long-awaited reform. At the election held in the middle of 1843 he was returned as one of the members for Sydney. When the council met Wentworth let it be known that he would like the position of speaker, and was much disappointed when even his best friends declined to support his candidature on the ground that it should not be held by a partisan. Wentworth made a long speech in which he admitted there was force in the argument, and that he had been a partisan for the liberty of the press, for trial by jury, and for an elected house of legislature. He argued that McLeay (q.v.) who had been nominated for the position was just as much of a partisan in his way. McLeay, although 77 years of age was elected to the position. Wentworth became leader of the opposition, which included all the elected members, and it was not long before he was in conflict with Governor Sir George Gipps. He identified himself with the cause of the squatters and a bitter struggle ensued. It was not until 1846, when some concessions were made to the squatters, that the agitation temporarily died down. In 1844 a select committee had been appointed to inquire into "General Grievances". The report of this committee gave Wentworth an opportunity of advocating a further development in responsible government. His views on the relations between the colonies and the United Kingdom may have been before their time, but they have practically been adopted in the present century. In the meanwhile all that Wentworth could do at this period was to obtain more control over the colony's revenues. He also took part in improving the state of education, and in bringing in a lien on wool and live stock act, a most useful measure. In 1846 Lord Grey, the new secretary of state for war and the colonies, tried to bring in a new constitution with a system of double elections. District councillors were to be elected who in turn would elect members of the legislative council, which gave Wentworth an opportunity to thunder against it with all his power. It was also proposed to start transportation again and here he had Wentworth's support. Like the other squatters he was, for once, more interested in obtaining cheap labour for his stations than in the general good of the colony. Now he had Robert Lowe (q.v.) and the young Henry Parkes (q.v.) as his opponents. At the 1848 election he faced his constituents with characteristic courage, realizing that he was on the unpopular side. His power and personality carried him to the top of the poll. When yet another constitution act was passed in 1850 the existing legislative council in New South Wales was empowered to enact the constitution of its successor. An attempt was made to divide the representation so that the agricultural and pastoral interests should have a secure majority, and indeed after the election it was found that of the 36 elected members 17 came from agricultural and eight from pastoral constituencies. Wentworth had a hard fight for his Sydney seat. He had become unpopular with the Sydney press, and his speech on the hustings was greeted with groans and hisses. He was apparently unmoved and defended all his actions: "Whether you elect me or not," he said, "is to me personally a matter of no consequence, but it may be a matter of importance to you and to the public . . . if I am rejected--one of two questions will be decided, either I am not deserving of the constituency, or this constituency is not worthy of me. This question cannot be answered by men whose interests and passions are inflamed. It must be referred to a remote tribunal, where all the events and circumstances affecting it will be calmly weighed. It must be referred to the tribunal of posterity, and to that tribunal I fear not to appeal." He was elected the lowest on the poll of the three chosen. He had travelled far from the democratic ideas of his youth, and at the declaration of the poll told the electors that: "He regretted to find that there was a spirit of democracy abroad which was almost daily extending its limits."

Wentworth was far from satisfied with the constitution act of 1850. As leader of the elected members of the council he framed a "declaration and remonstrance" in which the legislative council of New South Wales solemnly protested and declared (1) That the Imperial parliament has no power to tax the people of this colony or to appropriate any monies levied by authority of the colonial legislature, (2) that the revenue arising from public lands is as much the property of the people of this colony as the ordinary revenue, (3) that the customs and all other departments should be in the direct control of the colonial legislature, (4) that except in the case of the governor offices of trust and entolument should be conferred only on the settled inhabitants, (5) that powers of legislation should be conferred upon and exercised by the colonial legislature, and no bills should be reserved for the signification of Her Majesty's pleasure unless they affect the prerogative of the crown, or the general interests of the Empire. Earl Grey's reply to the remonstrance was unsatisfactory, but his successor, Sir John Pakington, was more sympathetic and he advised the council to draft a constitution. A select committee was appointed with Wentworth as chairman and the resulting draft of a constitution was strongly coloured with his views. On 9 August 1853 Wentworth obtained leave to bring in his "Bill to confer a Constitution on New South Wales". It was hotly debated, the chief cause of dissent being the proposal that the upper chamber should consist of members with hereditary claims of membership. "Why," said Wentworth, "if titles are open to all at home should they be denied to the colonists?" The hostility to this proposal was, however, so great that it was abandoned, and in the upshot the upper house became a nominated chamber and the assembly elective. Wentworth's unpopularity with the people increased; as Parkes expressed it nearly 40 years later (Wentworth's) "unwise proposals to secure his handiwork from alteration by those who might come after him, and his hasty and intemperate epithets of 'democrat', 'communist' and 'mob-rule' applied to his opportents made him extremely unpopular with large numbers who had not watched his steady, unwearied, and enlightened labours in championing the main principles of constitutional government. His aversion to the unrestricted franchise, and his desire to tie the hands of the legislature . . . were eagerly seized upon, and his noble contention throughout for the right of the country to dispose of its own lands, impose its own taxes, expend its own revenues, and appoint its own public servants, were lost sight of in the transient fury of opposition". (Parkes, Fifty Years of Australian History, p. 36.) In March 1854 Wentworth with Deas Thomson (q.v.) sailed for England to see the bill through the Imperial parliament. It received the royal assent on 16 July 1855. This was the crowning event of Wentworth's life. But he had realized that with the increase of responsibility must come increase of knowledge. Six years before he had moved for a select committee to consider the institution of a university at Sydney. He brought in a bill for that purpose in 1850, and the first university senate was constituted on 24 December 1850. Wentworth remained in England for some years. In 1853 his constitution committee had advocated a general assembly to make laws in relation to intercolonial questions, but nothing definite had been done. In 1857 Wentworth brought up the question again and prepared a short "enabling bill" which was sent to the colonial office. Copies of the proposals were sent to all the colonies. The time was, however, scarcely ripe and the proposals were allowed to drop. Wentworth returned to New South Wales in 1861 to find political affairs in confusion. (Sir) Charles Cowper's ill-advised attempt to swamp the upper house had resulted in the resignation of many of the other members, and Wentworth was persuaded to become president of a reconstructed legislative council in 1862. He supported a bill providing for an elected upper house. "I never contemplated," he said, "that any ministry would have the audacity to sweep the streets in Sydney in order to attempt to swamp the house . . . and I see no other alternative but to adopt in the constitution of this house some modification or other of the elective principle." The bill was adopted by the legislative council but Cowper allowed it to be dropped. In October 1862 Wentworth went to England, originally on matters of business, but he never returned. He died at Wimborne on 20 March 1872. He married on 26 October 1829 Sarah, daughter of Francis Cox, who survived him with two sons and four daughters. Wentworth's body was brought to Sydney for a public funeral, and was laid in a vault at Vaucluse. The chief justice, Sir James Martin (q.v.), delivered the funeral oration. A portrait is hung in the legislative assembly, his statue is in the great hall of the university of Sydney.

Wentworth was over six feet in height with a Roman head and a massive form. His vehemence and force were not always at once apparent, yet when he set himself to any task it was only a matter of time before it was accomplished. When little more than a youth he took part in a successful piece of exploration, the first crossing of the Blue Mountains. His first published writing, his book on New South Wales, ran into three editions within five years and had much effect on emigration to Australia. Then noticing that Australasia had been selected as the subject for the prize poem at Cambridge he confidently wrote and entered a poem of far greater merit than the average prize poem which, though it did not win the prize, deserved it. Coming back to Australia he established a reputation at the bar as an advocate, and, entering politics, a great reputation as an orator. Yet these all pale before the essential Wentworth, the patriot and lover of his country, though without his power as an orator he could not have achieved his tasks. His voice was powerful, his manner vehement, and once aroused his eloquence carried his hearers away. He was not always perfectly scrupulous in his methods, and his lapses into abuse of his opponents sometimes marred his oratory. But his disposition was really warm and generous, and he was ready to forget quickly his resentments. He had a good knowledge of constitutional law, quick comprehension, and great logical powers united with great force and accuracy of expression. Behind all this was an immense sincerity, the real secret of his power. He passionately felt that trial by jury, a free press, and the right of the colonies to govern themselves were things worth living for and fighting for, and while he fought for these things the sword never dropped from his hand. He was the greatest man of his time and possibly the greatest man in the history of Australia.

A. C. V. Melbourne, William Charles Wentworth; Lewis Deer and John Barr, The Story of William C. Wentworth; K. R. Cramp, William Charles Wentworth, reprinted from Journal and Proceedings Royal Australian Historical Society, vol. IV, p. 389; A. Jose, Builders and Pioneers of Australia; H. M. Green, Wentworth as Orator; G. W. Rusden, History of Australia; A. Patchett Martin, Life and Letters of Viscount Sherbrooke; J. D. Lang, An Historical and Statistical Account of New South Wales; Henry Parkes, Fifty Years in the Making of Australian History; Public Funeral of the late William Charles Wentworth, Sydney, 1873; Historical Records of Australia, ser. I, vols. I-XXI, XXIII-XXVI, ser. III, vols. II, IV, VI, ser. IV, vol. I; Burke's Colonial Gentry, which traces Wentworth's ancestry back to Rogert Wentworth living in Yorkshire in the sixteenth century. The date of W. C. Wentworth's birth differs from that given above, and also the maiden name of his mother.

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WEST, REV. JOHN (1809-1873),

historian and journalist,

was born in England in 1809. He entered the Congregational ministry in 1829 and after working in England for some years, offered his services to the Colonial Missionary Society. He was sent to Launceston at the beginning of 1839, established a church, and there laboured for over 15 years. He took much interest in the convict question and originated at Launceston the anti-transportation league. In February 1851, with W. P. Weston (q.v.) as his fellow delegate, he attended a conference at Melbourne where "The League and Solemn Engagement of the Australian Colonies" was adopted. This organization was largely responsible for the putting an end of transportation to Tasmania and the eastern colonies of Australia. In 1852 he published his History of Tasmania in two volumes, an interesting and able piece of work. Having met John Fairfax (q.v.) at Sydney in April 1851, he contributed a series of letters to the Sydney Morning Herald on the question of the union of the Australian colonies. The first of these appeared on 30 January and the eighteenth and last on 8 September 1854. Nearly 50 years later Quick (q.v.) and Garran, in their historical introduction to their Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth, spoke of these letters as having "dealt convincingly with the need of union". Fairfax realized that West would be a valuable aid to his paper and early in 1854 offered him the editorship. West, however, was doubtful as to whether he should give up his pastorate to undertake secular work, and only consented to do so after the matter had been referred to the Rev. R. Fletcher of Melbourne. He, however, insisted on remaining at Launceston until a suitable successor was found five months later. He was to do much clerical work in the future but always refused to accept any remuneration for it. In November 1854 he became the first editor of the Sydney Morning Herald definitely appointed to that position. He held it for 19 years with much ability and a strong sense of the responsibility of his trust. A scurrilous attack on his character by the Rev. J. Dunmore Lang (q.v.) which was printed in the Empire was so specific that it could not be treated with contempt, and West felt compelled to bring an action for libel. He was awarded £100 damages which was promptly paid to a public charity. He died suddenly on 11 December 1873. He married and was survived by children. Apart from his History of Tasmania his only separate publications were a few lectures and sermons.

Personally West was a man of the highest character, philosophically and judicially minded, always using his influence for the good of the people.

A Century of Journalism; Correspondence respecting the libel action West v Hanson and Bennett; J. Fenton, A History of Tasmania; The Sydney Morning Herald, 13 December 1873.

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WESTALL, WILLIAM (1781-1850),

artist,

was born at Hertford, England, on 12 October 1781. He was a student at the Royal Academy school when he was selected to be landscape painter on the Investigator under Flinders (q.v.), which sailed from Spithead on 18 July 1801. For two years he made many drawings while on the Investigator, but transferring to the Porpoise, was wrecked off the coast of Queensland on a coral reef, to be rescued eight weeks later. He went on to China in the Rolla, from there went to Bombay, and thence to England where he arrived in 1805. A few months later he went to Madeira and then to Jamaica before returning to England, where he at once began exhibiting at the exhibitions of the Royal Academy, and from 1810 with the Old Water-Colour Society. Flinders' A Voyage to Terra Australis, published in 1814, had nine excellent large plates after Westall's drawings, and besides painting in both oil and water-colour, Westall did a large amount of book illustrations. His Views of Australian Scenery, published in 1814, is, however, merely a reprint of the plates in Flinders's volume. He was elected an A.R.A. in 1812, but though a fairly frequent exhibitor until towards the end of his life, he never became a full academician. He met with a severe accident in 1847 which greatly affected his health, and he died at London on 22 January 1850. A large collection of his drawings is in the library of the Royal Empire Society, London.

Memoir by his son, Robert Westall, The Art Journal, 1850; J. L. Roget, The History of the Old Water-Colour Society, which gives a list of books illustrated by Westall (vol. I, pp. 283-4); W. Moore, The Story of Australian Art.

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WESTGARTH, WILLIAM (1815-1889),

early Victorian merchant and historian,

son of John Westgarth, surveyor-general of customs for Scotland, was born at Edinburgh, in June 1815. He was educated at the high schools at Leith and Edinburgh, and at Dr Bruce's school at Newcastle-on-Tyne. He then entered the office of G. Young and Company of Leith, who were engaged in the Australian trade, and realizing the possibilities of the new land, decided to emigrate to Australia. He arrived in Melbourne, then a town of three or four thousand inhabitants, in December 1840. How close it still was to primitive conditions may be realized from the fact, that about four years later Westgarth saw an aboriginal corroboree in which 700 natives took part, on a spot little more than a mile to the north of the present general post office. He went into business as a merchant and general importer, and the firm was later in Market-street under the name of Westgarth, Ross and Spowers. Westgarth was in every movement for the advancement of Melbourne and the Port Phillip district. He became a member of the national board of education, in 1850 was elected to represent Melbourne in the legislative council of New South Wales, and he took an important part in the separation movement. It was he who originated the idea that the hoofs of the bullocks should settle the boundary question. If they showed that the droves were heading north, that country should remain in New South Wales, if south it should become part of the new colony.

When the new colony was constituted Westgarth headed the poll for Melbourne at the election for the legislative council. He had had many activities during the previous 10 years. In 1842 he was one of the founders of the Melbourne Mechanics' Institute, afterwards the Athenaeum; he had done much writing, beginning in 1845 with a half-yearly Report Commercial Statistical and General on the District of Port Phillip, followed in 1846 by a pamphlet, A Report on the Condition, Capabilities and Prospects of the Australian Aborigines, and in 1848 by Australia Felix, A Historical and Descriptive Account of the Settlement of Port Phillip. In 1851 he founded the Melbourne Chamber of Commerce and was elected its first president. He visited England in 1853 and brought out another version of his last book under the title Victoria; late Australia Felix. Soon after his return to Australia in 1854 he was appointed a member of the commission of inquiry to go into the circumstances of the Eureka rebellion. Westgarth was elected chairman and showed much tact in his conduct of the inquiry. The commission recommended a general amnesty to the prisoners, who, however, were tried and acquitted.

In 1857 Westgarth went to England, settled in London, and as William Westgarth and Company began business as colonial agents and brokers. He established a great reputation as the adviser of various colonial governments floating loans in London, and was continually consulted during the next 30 years. The finding of gold in Victoria having entirely altered the conditions, Westgarth published a fresh book on the colony, Victoria and the Australian Gold Mines in 1857. In 1861 he published Australia its Rise, Progress and Present Conditions, largely based on articles written by him for the Encyclopedia Britannica, and in 1864 he brought out his fourth book on Victoria, The Colony of Victoria; its Social and Political Institutions. In the preface to this he stated that though he had written four times on this subject, each volume had been a fresh work, written without even opening the pages of the previous volumes. He also wrote some pamphlets on economic and social subjects, and edited in 1863, Tracks of McKinlay and Party across Australia. Another piece of editing was a volume of Essays, dealing with the reconstruction of London and the housing of the poor which appeared in 1886. For many years he endeavoured to form a chamber of commerce in London, and at last succeeded in getting sufficient support in 1881. He revisited Australia in 1888 and was everywhere welcomed. When the Melbourne international exhibition was opened he walked in the procession through the avenue of nations alongside Mr Francis Henty, then the sole survivor of the brotherhood who founded Victoria. As a result of his visit two volumes appeared Personal Recollections of Early Melbourne and Victoria, in 1888, and Half a Century of Australasian Progress, in 1889. Returning to Great Britain Westgarth died suddenly at Edinburgh on 28 October 1889. He married in 1853 and left a widow and two daughters.

Good-looking, quiet and genial, Westgarth was a man of much energy and sagacity, who inspired complete confidence. He did remarkably able work as a Victorian pioneer, as an historian of his period, and as a financial adviser in London.

The Argus, Melbourne, 30 October 1889; The Times, 31 October 1889; W. Westgarth, Personal Records (sic) [ should be 'Recollections'--Ed.] of Early Melbourne and prefaces to other volumes; H. G. Turner, A History of the Colony of Victoria.

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WESTON, WILLIAM PRITCHARD (1804-1888),

premier of Tasmania,

was born at Shoreditch, England, in 1804. About 1830 he emigrated to Tasmania, purchased a property near Longford, and lived there for several years. He also received a grant of 2500 acres. He was made a magistrate and with the Rev. John West (q.v.) took a prominent part in the formation of the anti-transportation league which between 1849 and 1853 had an important influence in the success of this movement. In September 1856 he was elected to the first Tasmanian house of assembly, and in April 1857 formed a ministry. In May the ministry was re-constructed with Francis Smith (q.v.) as premier, Weston remaining in the cabinet without portfolio. In November 1860 Weston became premier for the second time but resigned at the end of July 1861, and did not hold office again. He was successful financially, retired in 1870, and went to live in Victoria. He died at St Kilda a suburb of Melbourne, on 21 February 1888, and was survived by a son and five daughters.

The Mercury, Hobart, 22 and 23 February 1888; The Launceston Examiner, 23 February 1888; J. Fenton, A History of Tasmania.

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WHITE, SIR CYRIL BRUDENELL BINGHAM (1876-1940),

general, chief of staff, A.I.F.,

son of John Warren White, a former army officer from the north of Ireland, was born at St Arnaud, Victoria, on 23 September 1876. He was educated at a normal school at Brisbane and at Eton School, Nundah, Queensland, and entered a bank at the age of 16. Three years later he joined the Queensland permanent artillery and served during the South African war as a subaltern. After his return to Australia he remained in the army, and in 1904 was appointed aide-de-camp to Major-general Edward Hutton. In 1906 White was chosen to go to England and study for two years at the British staff college at Camberley, where his work so impressed the British authorities that the war office requested that he might be lent for a further period. As a result White was employed for three years in training regular troops in England. Returning to Australia he became director of military operations, and was acting-chief of the general staff at the outbreak of the 1914-18 war. He was then a major and went overseas as chief of staff to General Bridges in Egypt and at Gallipoli. In November 1915 it was realized that the troops would have to be withdrawn, and White brought in periods of silence to avert suspicion of the quietness that would follow the evacuation of most of the troops, and drew up the plan for it. Various suggestions were made, one being that there should be a preliminary offensive, and another that a system of defensive mines should be organized. But White felt the important thing was not to arouse the suspicions of the enemy, and that this could best be done by keeping the general conditions perfectly normal. He was allowed to have his way and the evacuation from Gallipoli which followed, perfectly timed and in every way successful, was completed on 20 December 1915.

In February 1916 White became chief of staff to General Birdwood in Egypt, and shortly afterwards his claims to divisional command were considered, but it was felt that he was too valuable as a staff officer to be spared. In the following month he went with Birdwood to France. He was attached to Birdwood, who became G.O.C., A.I.F., in September, for the remainder of the war, and had a great influence on the development of the A.I.F. It was Birdwood's capacity for leadership and White's for organization, that did so much in making the A.I.F. a really efficient instrument of war. In the various operations for the remainder of the year White more than once intervened on the side of caution. It was not from any lack of courage, but his grasp of detail enabled him to see probabilities of disaster not apparent to more impulsive commanders. In the battle for the Pozières plateau at the end of July he allowed the confidence of others to bear down his own misgivings, but after this failure, when Haig was finding fault with Birdwood and White, he stood up to Haig and pointed out that whatever mistakes had been made, the coinmander-in-chief had been misinformed in several particulars, which White then proceeded to particularize. Haig was so impressed that when he had finished he put his hand on White's shoulder and said, "I dare say you're right, young man." During 1917 the value of the Australian troops was being more and more appreciated, but among the troops themselves there was some feeling that they were being too often sacrificed through the mistakes of the higher command. By September White had become convinced that as far as possible piecemeal operations must be avoided, that too great advances should not be attempted, and that there must be a proper use of artillery barrage. These tactics were successfully applied in the Menin-road battle on 20 September, and in subsequent thrusts. Early in 1918 White, realizing the difficulties of repatriation at the end of the war, raised the problem of what would have to be done while the men were waiting for shipping. This led to the educational scheme afterwards adopted. In May Birdwood and White, at the request of General Rawlinson, prepared plans for an offensive but these were shelved in the meanwhile. When General Birdwood was given command of the fifth army the choice of his successor in command of the Australian corps lay between Monash (q.v.) and White. Monash was White's senior and, though White's reputation stood very high, it was impossible to pass over so capable and successful an officer as Monash. White was given the important position of chief of the general staff of Birdwood's army. It was a happy combination, for though Birdwood was a great leader of men he was less interested in organization, and White had a genius for it.

After the war White returned to Australia with the rank of major-general and was chief of general staff until 1922. He was chairman of the Commonwealth public service board from 1923 to 1928, and after his retirement was well known in business circles in Melbourne as a director of several important financial companies. In March 1940 he was called upon to become chief of staff again, but most unfortunately was killed in an aeroplane crash at Canberra on 13 August 1940. He married in 1905 Ethel, daughter of Walter Davidson, who survived him with two sons and two daughters. He was created C.B. in 1916; C.M.G., 1918; K.C.M.G., 1919; K.C.V.O., 1920; and K.C.B., 1927.

White was a man of great personal charm whose pleasant manner did not suggest his real strength. He was quite unselfseeking, completely loyal to his superiors and to his men. He had had an excellent training, he had great powers of work and a quick brain; his remarkable grasp of essentials enabled him to give prompt decisions on all problems whether of organization or tactics. These were some of the qualities that made him as chief of staff one of the great soldiers of the 1914-18 war. To some he was a greater soldier than Monash who himself described him as "far and away the ablest soldier Australia had ever turned out", but their work was scarcely comparable. It may truly be said of White that though apparently little in touch with the junior officers and men in the ranks, no single man did more to mould the A.I.F.

The Official History of Australia in the War, 1914-1918, vols. I to VI; The Times, 14 August 1940; The Argus and The Age, Melbourne, 14 August 1940; Debrett's Peerage, etc., 1940.

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WHITE, JAMES (1862-1918),

sculptor,

was born at Edinburgh in 1862, and came to Australia while a young man. He won the Wynne prize at Sydney in 1902 and executed a large number of statues and memorials in Australia, including the Queen Victoria memorial and the Fitzgibbon statue at Melbourne, statues of George Bass, Daniel Henry Deniehy, Sir John Robertson and W. B. Dalley at Sydney, the John McDouall Stuart statue at Adelaide, South African war memorials at Perth and Ballarat and statues of Queen Victoria and George Lansell at Bendigo. In spite of this long list White was by no means a distinguished sculptor. He came to Australia when there were few sculptors there of ability, and it must be presumed that his sketch models were better than his finished works, as in later years he more than once obtained important commissions in competition with better men. He died in 1918. His head of an Australian aboriginal is at the national gallery at Sydney.

W. Moore, The Story of Australian Art; Catalogue of the National Art Gallery of N.S.W.

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WHITE, JOHN (c. 1750-1832),

chief surgeon to the first fleet,

[ also refer to John WHITE page at Project Gutenberg Australia]

is stated to have been born in Sussex in 1750, but as we find him described in 1786 as "a young man" (H.R. of N.S.W., vol. I, part 2, p. 25), the correct date was possibly somewhat later. He was appointed a surgeon's mate in the navy in 1778, in 1780 was promoted surgeon, and in 1786 held that rank on H.M.S. Irresistible. On 24 October of that year he was appointed surgeon-general of New South Wales. In March 1787 he joined the first fleet of transports at Plymouth, and found that the convicts had been living for some time on salt meat, a bad preparation for a long voyage. He succeeded in getting supplies of fresh meat and vegetables for them, and in arranging that they should be allowed up on deck in relays to obtain fresh air. His sensible and humane treatment was probably the reason why the number of convicts who died during the voyage was not greater. After the fleet arrived in January 1788, White organized a hospital, but was much handicapped by the shortage of medical necessaries. He became interested in the flora and fauna of the new country and early in 1790 published in London, his Journal of a Voyage to New South Wales. This had 65 copper-plate engravings of birds, animals, and botanical specimens, and during the next five years was translated into German and French. White afterwards became pessimistic about the future of the settlement and, having obtained leave of absence, sailed for England on 17 December 1794. Early in 1796 William Balmain, his assistant, who had taken over his duties, applied for the full salary of principal surgeon, and in May 1797 a government order stated that Balmain had been appointed to that position in the room of John White who had resigned. For the next four years White was a surgeon on the Royal William, and for 20 years he was stationed first at Sheerness and then at Chatham dockyard. He retired on a pension in 1820, and died at Worthing, Sussex, on 20 February 1832.

D. Anderson, John White; Surgeon-General to the First Fleet; Historical Records of Australia, ser. I, vols. I and II; G. Mackaness, Admiral Arthur Phillip; G. B. Barton, History of New South Wales, vol. I.

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WHITEHEAD, CHARLES (1804-1862),

novelist,

was born in London in 1804, the son of a wine merchant. He received a good education and entered a commercial office as a clerk. His first literary work was a long poem, The Solitary, published in 1831, which was followed by a large amount of miscellaneous writing including Richard Savage, his finest novel, published in 1842, The Earl of Essex, an historical romance (1843), and many short stories. He was a friend of Dickens, Thackeray, and other well-known men of letters of the period. He unfortunately gave way to drink and in 1857 left for Melbourne, probably hoping that he would be able to make a fresh start there. A shy scholarly-looking man with undoubted ability, he was in no way fitted for the colonial life of the period. While in Australia he wrote a little for the press but published nothing in book form, and though befriended by James Smith (q.v.) and others he was obliged to apply for admittance to the Melbourne benevolent asylum in February 1862. A few months later he was picked up exhausted in one of the streets and taken to the Melbourne hospital, where he died on 5 July 1862. His wife came with him to Victoria but predeceased him.

Mackenzie Bell, Charles Whitehead: A Forgotten Genius, which gives a list of his writings; A. H. Miles, The Poets and the Poetry of the Century, Keats to Lytton.

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WHYTE, JAMES (1820-1882),

premier of Tasmania,

son of George Whyte, was born near Greenlaw, Scotland, in March 1820. His mother was a cousin of Thomas Pringle, the poet, secretary to the Anti-Slavery Society. Whyte came to Tasmania with his parents in 1832, and six years later took some sheep to Victoria and settled near Portland. He afterwards was partner in a station at Clunes where the Port Phillip gold mine was discovered, from which he drew large royalties. He returned to Tasmania in 1853 and was elected a member of the legislative council for Pembroke in September 1856. He became a minister without office in Gregson's (q.v.) ministry in February 1857, and for some years was chairman of committees in the council. On 20 January 1863 he became premier and colonial secretary and held office until 24 November 1866. Whyte and the colonial treasurer, Charles Meredith (q.v.) were the first to go on ministerial tours, and as a result vigorous efforts were made to open up the country by constructing roads and bridges. The ministry was defeated because its policy included an income and property tax. In 1869 Whyte succeeded in passing a scab act, and when he retired from politics in 1876 became its chief inspector. The act was very unpopular at first, but owners of sheep later realized the value of it. In 1881 Whyte was able to report that the sheep of Tasmania were free from scab disease, a most important gain to the pastoral industry and the whole colony. He died at Hobart on 20 August 1882 and was survived by his only son.

The Mercury, Hobart, 22 August 1882; J. Fenton, A History of Tasmania.

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WILKIE, LESLIE ANDREW (1879-1935),

artist,

was born at Melbourne, on 27 June 1879. He was the son of David Wilkie and a grand-nephew of Sir David Wilkie. He was educated at Brunswick College and in 1896 entered the national gallery school at Melbourne under L. Bernard Hall (q.v.). He came first into notice in 1902 when he showed some very promising work at the Victorian Artists' Society exhibition. He went to Europe in 1904 for further study, and after his return to Australia was appointed acting master of the drawing school at Melbourne while F. McCubbin (q.v.) was away on leave. He was elected a member of the council of the Victorian Artists' Society, and after the foundation of the Australian Art Association was its honorary secretary for three years. In September 1926 he was appointed curator of the art gallery of South Australia at Adelaide and proved himself a most efficient and painstaking officer. He died at Adelaide on 4 September 1935. He married Nani Tunnock, who died in 1930, and was survived by a daughter.

Wilkie was modest and retiring and never gave the impression of being in robust health. He was a good draughtsman and there were beautiful passages in his work, but though a competent painter he scarcely fulfilled his early promise. He was at his best as a portrait painter. Examples of his work are in the national galleries at Adelaide and Sydney, and he is also represented in the Australian war museum and the Commonwealth collection at Canberra.

The Herald, Melbourne, 13 November 1920; The Advertiser, Adelaide, 5 September 1935; Art in Australia, seventh No.; W. Moore, The Story of Australian Art; personal knowledge.

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WILKINSON, CHARLES SMITH (1843-1891),

geologist,

was born at Pottersbury, Northamptonshire, England, on 22 August 1843. He was the fourth son of David Wilkinson, C.E., who was associated with Stephenson in the production of early locomotives. The family settled in Melbourne in 1852, and the boy was educated at a private school conducted by the Rev. T. P. Fenner. At 16 he was given a position in the geological survey office and in 1861 he became a field assistant to Richard Daintree (q.v.) with whom he was associated in the survey of part of southern Victoria. In 1863 he was sent to explore the Cape Otway country and in 1866 succeeded Daintree when the latter left for Queensland. Two years later Wilkinson's health broke down, he resigned from the survey, and spent the next four years at Wagga Wagga in New South Wales. He passed the examination for licensed surveyor in 1872, and was sent by the surveyor-general of New South Wales to the new tin-mining district in New England, New South Wales, on which he reported, and in 1874 he was appointed geological surveyor. In 1875 he was transferred to the mines department with the title of geological surveyor in charge. The systematical geological survey of New South Wales was begun under his direction, and much valuable work was done. In 1876 he was elected a fellow of the Geological Society of London and in 1881 a fellow of the Linnean Society. In 1883 and 1884 he was president of the Linnean Society of New South Wales and in 1887 president of the Royal Society of New South Wales. He died after a short illness on 26 August 1891. He was survived by his wife and two children. His Notes on the Geology of New South Wales was published by the mines department in 1882, and about 80 of his reports and papers are listed in the Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales for 1892, p. 9.

Wilkinson gained the respect and affection of all who knew him. He was an excellent man of science who did good work in connexion with the mining industry, and was the first to suggest to the government the possibility of finding subterranean water in western New South Wales. The first bore was put down under his direction. The fine collection of minerals in the Sydney geological survey museum was founded and largely brought together by him.

H. C. Russell, Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 1892, p. 6; The Sydney Morning Herald, 27 August 1891; J. H. Heaton, Australian Dictionary of Dates; The Geological Magazine, 1891, pp. 571-3.

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WILLIAMSON, FRANK SAMUEL (1865-1936),

poet,

was born at Melbourne on 19 January 1865. He was educated at the Scotch College, Melbourne, and was for some years a teacher in secondary schools in Melbourne and Sydney, but occasional bouts of intemperance made it difficult for him to keep his positions. He had the reputation of being an excellent master, especially in English. In later years he was attached to the education department of Victoria and taught in a large number of small country schools. As a young man he had written verse of small merit, but in middle life for a short period he appears to have been inspired by the scenery of his native country to do better work which he polished with great care. In 1912 his one volume of poems, Purple and Gold, appeared. Some of the poems in this volume have the true touch and have been deservedly included in several anthologies of Australian verse. He retired from the education department at 65. He had been granted a Commonwealth literary pension, he had some good friends, and he spent the rest of his life in Melbourne not unhappily. Beyond a few newspaper articles and an occasional set of verses Williamson appears to have done no other writing. He died at the Melbourne hospital on 6 February 1936. He was unmarried.

The first edition of Purple and Gold had some unfortunate misprints, but these were corrected in a second and enlarged edition published in 1940 with a portrait.

Personal knowledge; letter from Williamson; Melbourne Hospital records; Young Victoria, June 1881; Sir John Latham, Introduction to second edition of Purple and Gold.

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WILLIAMSON, JAMES CASSIUS (1845-1913),

actor and theatrical manager,

was born at Mercer, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., on 26 August 1845. His father was a doctor of Irish descent, his mother's forefathers had come from Scotland. He received a good education at primary and high schools and his family having moved to Milwaukee, he began to act there in private theatricals. When he was 16 he obtained an engagement at the local theatre, and a year later was playing in Canada. In 1863 he found his way to New York, obtained an engagement in Wallack's company, then the best in the United States, and became the general utility man. On one occasion he learned and played the part of Sir Lucins O'Trigger at 24 hours' notice. His next engagement was at the old Broadway theatre as principal comedian, and in 1871 he was given a high salary to go to San Francisco. There he met Maggie Moore (q.v.) and was married to her in 1873. He went to Australia in 1874 and opened at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne in Struck Oil, which proved to be an immediate success. Williamson went to India in 1875 and in the following year opened in London with Struck 0i1, and had a long season. This was followed by two or three years in the United States, and in 1879 he again came to Australia and opened in Pinafore, in which he played Sir Joseph Porter. He had not intended to become a theatrical manager, but the suggestion was made by Messrs Arthur Garner and George Musgrove (q.v.) that they should enter into partnership with him. The association of these men under the name of Williamson, Garner and Musgrove continued for nine years, and it became the leading theatrical firm in Australia. During the next 30 years, with various changes in his partners, Williamson was to introduce to the Australian public such famous people as Genevieve Ward, Bernhardt, Margaret Anglin, Albani, Ada Crossley, Melba, Kyrle Bellew and Mrs Browne Potter, Charles Warner, the Gaiety Company with Fred Leslie and Nellie Farren, J. L. Toole, Cuyler Hastings, Oscar Asche, and a host of others. In his later years, Williamson lived at Sydney, but made many visits to Europe in connexion with his work. He began to take a less strenuous part in management in 1907, and in 1911 the organization was converted into a company under the name of J. C. Williamson Ltd. He died in Paris on 6 July 1913. He was survived by his second wife, originally Mary Weir, and two daughters.

Williamson was a versatile actor, but excelled in comedy. In addition to the parts already mentioned he played Sim in Wild Oats, Dick Swiveller, Rip Van Winkle, Matthew Vanderkoopen in La Cigale, and many others. His Jan Stofel in Struck Oil was played so often that he became identified with the part, and this character gave him every opportunity to show his great talent. As a manager he had the faculty of engaging the loyalty of his subordinates and showed excellent judgment in the selection of plays and artists. His immense experience enabled him to be of great service to the producer. He would sometimes attend rehearsals and his judgment was unerring in finding the weak places and suggesting improvements. He was prudent, cautious, far-sighted, and had great powers of organization. It was the combination of these qualities that made him the leading theatrical manager of his time in Australia.

J. C. Williamson's Life Story; The Argus, Melbourne, 8 July 1913; Nellie Stewart, My Life Story.

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WILLIS, JOHN WALPOLE (1793-1877),

judge,

second son of Captain William Willis, was born on 4 January 1793, and educated at the Charterhouse and Trinity Hall, Cambridge. He was called to the English bar and practised as a chancery barrister. In 1820-1 he published his Pleadings in Equity, and in 1827 A Practical Treatise on the Duties and Responsibilities of Trustees. In that year he was appointed a puisne judge of the King's bench in upper Canada. Within a few months Willis fell foul of the attorney-general, J. B. Robinson, a very experienced official, and took the most unusual course of stating in court that Robinson had neglected his duty and that he would feel it necessary "to make a representation on the subject to his majesty's government". He also took a strong stand on the question of the legality of the court as then constituted, and this led in June 1828 to Willis being removed from his position by the lieutenant-governor, Sir Peregrine Maitland. He proceeded to England in July, and the question was referred to the privy council which ruled against Willis. His conduct was treated as an error of judgment and he was given another appointment as a judge in Demerara, British Guiana. He returned to England in 1836 and was soon afterwards made a judge of the supreme court of New South Wales. He arrived in Sydney on 3 November 1837. He was at first on good terms with Sir J. Dowling (q.v.) who a few months later became chief justice, but in 1839 differences arose, and on one occasion Willis in open court made observations which were taken as a reflection on the chief justice. He also brought forward the question whether the chief justice had forfeited his office by acting as judge of the admiralty court. Matters came to such a pass that in March 1840 the governor, Sir George Gipps (q.v.), arranged that Willis should be appointed resident judge at Melbourne. In Melbourne he came in conflict with the press, the legal fraternity, and members of the public. In October 1842 Gipps stated in a dispatch that "differences have again broken out between Mr J. Walpole Willis . . . and the judges of the supreme court of Sydney" and that "for many months the town of Melbourne has been kept in a state of continued excitement by the proceedings of Mr Justice Willis and the extraordinary nature of the harangues, which he is in the habit of delivering from the bench". In February 1843 Gipps recommended to Lord Stanley that Willis should be removed from his position. Willis left Melbourne for London in the same month and appealed to the English government. In August 1846 the privy council reversed the order for his dismissal on technical grounds, and he was awarded the arrears of his salary to that date. Willis then offered his resignation, but this was not accepted and his commission was revoked. This course was taken because otherwise it might not have been understood that the order was reversed not as being "unjust in itself, but only as having been made in an improper manner" (H.R. of A., ser. I, vol. XXV, p. 208.) Willis was never given any other position. He published in 1850 a volume On the Government of the British Colonies, and afterwards lived in retirement in the west of England. He died on 10 September 1877. He was married. twice, (1) to Lady Mary Isabella Lyon, and (2) to Ann Susanna Kent, daughter of Colonel Thomas Henry Bund. He was survived by a son by the first marriage, and by a son and two daughters by the second marriage.

Willis was an able man vain about his knowledge of the law, and a stickler for its dignities. He was a great fighter and had the courage of his convictions, and this made him many friends in his disagreements with his colleagues and the governors he worked under. But he had little control of his temper, and it appears to have been impossible to find any way of working in harmony with him.

W. Kingsford, The History of Canada, vol. X; The Historical Records of Australia, ser. I, vols. XIX to XXV; G. B. Vasey, The Victorian Historical Magazine, vol. I; pp. 36-49; The Times, 19 September 1877; British Museum Catalogue.

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WILLOUGHBY, HOWARD (1839-1908),

journalist,

was born at Birmingham, England, on 19 June 1839. He wag educated at primary schools at Birming ham and London and came to Melbourne in 1857. He continued his education there, and in 1861 joined the staff of the Age newspaper as a junior reporter. About a year later he transferred to the Argus and was soon given important work. He became the first Australian war correspondent, accompanied the troops under General Cameron in the campaign against the Maoris, and wrote brilliant descriptions of the fighting. Returning to Melbourne he was sent to Western Australia to report on the convict system. A series of letters from Willoughby appeared in the Argus and were published in a pamphlet of 64 pages in 1865, Transportation. The British Convict in Western Australia. His conclusions were that the sending of further convicts would be bad for Australia and should be resisted, and that from the British point of view it was comparatively useless and wastefully expensive. His pamphlet probably influenced the decision a few years later that no more convicts would be transported. From 1866 to 1869, Willoughby was a member of the first Victorian Hansard staff, and in the latter year was appointed editor of the Melbourne Daily Telegraph. He conducted this paper with ability until 1877, when he joined the Argus staff again as chief of the news department and leader writer. He fought valiantly for the constitutional party in opposition to Berry (q.v.), and his column every week, "Above the Speaker" by "Timotheous", was a remarkable piece of journalism which never failed to be interesting. He was made chief political leader writer in 1882 and conducted a strong campaign in favour of federation. A selection of his writings in the Argus on this subject was published with additions in 1891 under the title Australian Federation its Aims and its Possibilities. Willoughby had given much study to the subject and was frequently consulted when the drafting of federal bills was in progress. In 1898 he was appointed editor of the Argus but an illness in January 1903 compelled his resignation. He continued, however, to make occasional contributions to the paper until shortly before his death on 19 March 1908. He married in 1870, Emily Frances, daughter of Henry Jones, who survived him with one son and two daughters. In addition to the works already mentioned he was the author of The Critic in Church, published anonymously in 1872, and Australian Pictures, published in 1886.

Willoughby was among the greatest of Australian journalists. A tremendous worker who had little time for hobbies or pastimes, he wrote with good humour and without venom; and even during the bitter period at the end of the eighteen seventies he was admired as a writer and as a man by both his followers and his opponents.

The Argus, Melbourne, 20 March 1908; P. Mennell, The Dictionary of Australasian Biography.

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WILLS, WILLIAM JOHN (1834-1861),

explorer,

[ also refer to William John WILLS page at Project Gutenberg Australia]

was born at Totnes, Devonshire, England, on 5 January 1834, the son of William Wills a surgeon. He was educated at a grammar school at Ashburton. Early in 1852 he began studying medicine but later in the year sailed with a brother to Australia. He had first some experience on the land, then began studying surveying, and in 1857 was in charge of a field party. In November 1858 he received an appointment at the Melbourne observatory. He was making good progress as an astronomer, but in the middle of 1860 was given the third position in the Burke (q.v.) and Wills exploring expedition. He had not sought this, having joined as surveyor and astronomer. On the defection of Landells, the second in command, he was given his position. An account of their journey and successful crossing of the continent will be found under Burke, Robert O'Hara. Wills proved himself to be a most loyal lieutenant to his leader, and it is to his diary that we owe our knowledge of what occurred. Burke was a man of 40, used to authority, while Wills was only 27, and though a better bushman was disinclined to press his views too much. When Burke and his two companions returned to Cooper's Creek, Wills wished to take the track towards Menindie which would have been by far the better course. He, however, loyally went with Burke to the south-west, and after suffering great hardships died after their return to Cooper's Creek about the end of June 1861.

Wills was a man of fine character and great courage as his last letter to his father shows. Had Burke taken his advice at Cooper's Creek in all probability the three explorers would have been saved. In addition to the statue by Summers (q.v.) in memory of the two explorers near parliament house, Melbourne, there is a monument to Wills at Totnes, Devonshire.

W. Wills, A Successful Exploration through the Interior of Australia; Andrew Jackson, Robert O'Hara Bourke; The Exploring Expedition, Diary of Burke and Wills, Howitt's Journal and Dispatches, Melbourne, The Age Office; F. Clune, Dig.

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WILLSON, ROBERT WILLIAM (1794-1866),

Roman Catholic bishop of Hobart,

was born at Lincoln, England, on 11 December 1794. His father, a builder, belonged to the Church of England, but became a Roman Catholic late in life, his mother was a devout Catholic. Willson received a fair school education and it was intended that he should become a farmer. In his twentieth year he decided to enter a religious life as a lay brother, but was advised by Bishop Milner to study for the priesthood. He entered the College of Old Oscott in 1816, was ordained priest in December 1824, and was sent to Nottingham. When he arrived there was a small chapel that would hold 150 people with difficulty, and as the congregation was increasing, Willson found a good site and built a spacious church, which was completed in 1828. He began to take special interest in the prisons and the lunatic asylum, was placed on the boards of the county hospital and the lunatic asylum, and personally visited the inmates and obtained much influence over them. During the cholera epidemic in 1832 he worked with the greatest courage among the patients, and about this period the corporation presented him with the freedom of Nottingham. His congregation continued to increase, and he decided that a large church must be built on a worthy site. Gradually the group of buildings which eventually became the cathedral of St Barnabas with adjacent schools and convent came into being. He found time to edit and contribute an introductory address to W. L. Stone's A Complete Refutation of Maria Monk's Atrocious Plot concerning the Hotel Dieu Convent in Montreal, but he was always too busy a man to do much writing. Early in 1842 he was appointed bishop to the new see of Hobart, Tasmania. Efforts were made to have his services retained in England, but in January 1844 he sailed for Australia and he arrived at Hobart on 11 May.

Willson was faced with a difficulty directly he landed. He had made a condition on accepting the see that the Rev. J. J. Therry (q.v.) should be transferred from Hobart where he was in charge to another see. This had not been done and Willson removed Therry from office. He also understood that the church was unencumbered by debt but found that there was a considerable debt. In August he went to Sydney to confer with Archbishop Polding (q.v.) on these matters, but 14 years were to elapse before a satisfactory arrangement was agreed to. On his return from Sydney Willson began his important work of the amelioration of the conditions of the 30,000 convicts then in Tasmania. At the end of 1846 he sailed for England and his evidence before the committee then sitting on the convict system made a deep impression. He returned to Hobart in December 1847 and hearing that conditions at Norfolk Island were rather worse than better, determined to see for himself. After his visit he wrote a strong recommendation to Governor Denison (q.v.) that the penal settlement on the island should be abandoned as soon as possible. He made practical and valuable recommendations for reforms to be made in the meanwhile. It was some years before the settlement was given up, but his untiring determination brought about many reforms in the treatment of the prisoners. Another interest was the treatment of patients with mental troubles, and he succeeded in bringing about much improvement in asylums or as he preferred to call them, hospitals. He was among the earliest to recognize how much might be done by using proper treatment in the curing of mental diseases.

These activities were not allowed to interfere with the conduct of his church work. Schools were opened, a library was established, churches were built. All this was done without rousing the sectarian feeling which was rife on the mainland of Australia. Indeed, in 1853, when Willson after an illness was advised to take a voyage to Europe, among the many addresses presented to him none touched him more than one signed by a large number of well-known residents who did not belong to his church. He returned to Hobart early in 1855, but he began to feel his years and in 1859 applied for a coadjutor. In February 1865 Willson left for Europe. On the voyage he was struck down by paralysis from which he never fully recovered. He went to live among his friends at Nottingham and died there on 30 June 1866.

Willson was a man of great humanity and benevolence who had one fault--he could not compromise. He was sorely tried by the weakness of Archbishop Polding in not transferring Therry from Tasmania as had been arranged, and there is a temptation to think that he should have been able to deal more kindly with Therry. But if Willson seemed too rigid on this question, in all other matters he was a shining example to everyone in the colony, and the value of his self-sacrificing work for the convicts and the insane can hardly be over-stated.

W. B. Ullathorne, Memoir of Bishop Willson; T. Kelsh, Personal Recollections of the Right Reverend Robert William Willson, D.D.; Eris O'Brien, Life and Letters of Archpriest John Joseph Therry; H. N. Birt, Benedictine Pioneers in Australia; P. F. Moran, History of the Catholic Church in Australasia.

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WILMOT, FRANK LESLIE THOMSON "FURNLEY MAURICE" (1881-1942),

poet,

son of Henry William Wilmot, ironmonger, a pioneer of the socialist movement in Victoria, and his wife, Elizabeth Mary Hind, was born at Richmond, a suburb of Melbourne, on 6 April 1881. Both his parents were born in Australia. He was educated at the North Fitzroy state school and in 1895 obtained employment at Cole's Book Arcade, Melbourne. He gradually rose in this service, and when the business was finally wound up by the executors of the Cole estate in 1929, held the position of manager. He began contributing verse to the Tocsin, a Melbourne Labour paper, before he was 20, and later much of it was accepted by the Bulletin and other periodicals. His first separate publication, Some Verses by Frank Wilmot, appeared in 1903, and attracted little notice. Another little volume, Some More Verses, was printed in 1904 but was suppressed before publication. Some years later a few copies of this volume were discovered which found their way into collectors' hands. Finding at one stage that his work was being persistently rejected Wilmot adopted the pseudonym of "Furnley Maurice", and his poems thereafter were published either anonymously or under this pseudonym. In 1913 a slim, well printed volume, Unconditioned Songs, published anonymously, attracted some attention. A few of the poems, written very much in the language of common life, were obviously experimental and not always successful, but discerning readers of verse realized that a writer had arrived who was not only musical, he had something to say. That what he had to say was important was shown in his next publication, To God: from the Weary Nations, which came out in 1917. Revised and with a slightly altered title "To God: from the Warring Nations" the poem was later reprinted in Eyes of Vigilance, but in the meantime an entirely different piece of work, The Bay and Padie Book: Kiddie Songs, had come out (first ed. 1917, third ed. 1926). This volume was meant especially for young children, and few writers in this medium have been so successful. In Eyes of Vigilance, which appeared in 1920, Wilmot printed some of his best work, and in Arrows of Longing, published in 1921, he gathered together most of his uncollected work up to that date. In 1925 The Gully, a poem of about 200 lines, was published in a limited edition, with decorations by the author which suggest that had Wilmot taken up painting he might have had success as an artist.

In 1929 Wilmot had to find fresh means of making a living. He had of course made very little from his poetry. On leaving Cole's Book Arcade he bought its circulating library and carried it on for about three years, also doing some bookselling. It did not pay well and early in 1932 he applied for the position of manager of the Melbourne University Press and was appointed. He carried on the press with great success until the time of his death. It was not only that he expanded its activities very much, he made it pay. And though much of the work published was naturally educational, the press during his period published other important books and incidentally set a high standard in technical production. Though working very hard during the period after leaving Cole's, Wilmot still found time to do original work. The Gully and Other Verses, published in 1929, was the most even in quality of his volumes, and Melbourne Odes which appeared in 1934 showed that he had nothing to learn from the younger poets. This volume contained the centenary ode for which he was awarded a prize of £50 in 1934. He had a serious operation in this year for appendicitis, which apparently was not completely successful, as another operation was necessary about a year later. On his recovery he continued working hard, always hoping that he might have a few years of leisure in which to do original work. In 1940 he was chosen to deliver the first course of lectures on Australian literature at the university of Melbourne under the Commonwealth scheme. He died suddenly at Melbourne on 22 February 1942. He married in 1910 Ida, daughter of C. F. Meeking, who survived him with two sons. In addition to the works mentioned Wilmot published in 1922, Romance, a collection of essays in prose, which though somewhat slight are excellently written. He wrote the verses and some of the prose in Here is Faery, published in 1915, and a few single poems were issued separately. These will be found listed in Miller's Australian Literature. Among them was an essay in satire, Odes for a Curse-Speaking Choir I. Ottawar! An Ode to Humbug. He also wrote short stories and some plays, two or three of which were staged by amateurs. He collaborated with Percival Serle and R. H. Croll in the production of An Australasian Anthology, and with Professor Cowling in Australian Essays. In 1940 appeared Path to Parnassus Anthology for Schools, a charming selection of English and Australian poems with an illuminating introduction. A selection from his poetry was published in 1944.

In his youth Wilmot, who was above medium height, was slim and good-looking. He had a feeling for craftsmanship, was a good amateur printer and a good handy man, he felt that if a thing was worth doing it was worth doing well. He had much appreciation of wit, humour and satire, felt deeply and expressed himself strongly, had a wide knowledge and much appreciation of good literature and music, and was always ready to welcome originality of thought or technique. Of his generosity of temper one example may be given. A. G. Stephens (q.v.) did not like Wilmot's work and wrote it down. After Stephens died Wilmot spent both time and money in endeavouring to arrange for a memorial to his one-time critic. He was perfectly sincere and straightforward. People occasionally, found him blunt or even sardonic, and though fundamentally kindly, he did not cultivate the habit of saying the pleasant thing. Yet seeking nothing and claiming nothing for himself, he gained the affection of all who were associated with him. He disliked intensely facile and cheap effects, but was always glad to appreciate and help honest and thoughtful work. On the advisory board of the Commonwealth Literary Fund his work was invaluable, for he not only had the technical side of book production at his fingers' ends, he was a wise and cautious critic. As a poet he was a combination of the traditional and the adventurous; only time can determine his exact place in Australian literature but it should surely be a high one.

Personal knowledge; information from family; Vance Palmer, Frank Wilmot; B. M. Ramsden, The Australian Quarterly, June 1943, p. 108; E. Morris Miller, Australian Literature; Elzevir, The Argus, Melbourne, 2 February 1935.

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WILMOT, SIR JOHN EARDLEY EARDLEY- (1783-1847),

governor of Tasmania,

son of John Wilmot and grandson of Sir John Eardley Wilmot, chief justice of the court of common pleas, was born in England on 21 February 1783. He was educated at Harrow and was called to the bar in 1806 (Dict. Nat. Biog.), was created a baronet in 1821, and in 1822 published An Abridgment of Blackstone's Commentaries. This was followed in 1827 by A Letter to the Magistrates of England on the Increase of Crime, by Sir Eardley Eardley-Wilmot, Bart. F.R.S., F.L.S. and F.S.A. He was a member of the house of commons for some years, in March 1843 was appointed lieutenant-governor of Tasmania, and arrived at Hobart on 17 August. He probably owed his position to the interest he had taken in the subject of crime; his plea that prisoners under the age of 21 should be segregated and a special endeavour made to reform them suggests that he was in advance of his period. Soon after his arrival he came into conflict with one of the judges by reprieving a prisoner sentenced to be hanged. His justification was that he would not inflict death for offences not on the records of the court, and that in this case only robbery had been proved. He visited various parts of the island and seemed likely to be a popular governor. Many prisoners were arriving, expenses were rising, and the governor was much hampered by instructions received from the colonial office. He endeavoured to raise the duties on sugar, tea and other foreign goods, but the opposition from the colonists was great and the new taxes were withdrawn. The colonial office was unable to understand that convict labour could not be made to pay its way, and Wilmot was made responsible for the faults of a system he had no power to amend. He endeavoured to save expenses by reducing salaries of officials, but the chief justice for one denied the power of the council to reduce his salary. Six members of the council objected to the form of the estimates and withdrew from the council which reduced the number present below a quorum, and much public feeling arose against the governor. In April 1846 Wilmot was recalled. The official statements relating to his recall were of the vaguest character, such as that he had not shown "an active care of the moral interests involved in the system of convict discipline". Privately Gladstone, the new colonial secretary, informed Wilmot that he was not recalled for any errors in his official character, but because rumours reflecting on his moral character had reached the colonial office. There was no truth in these charges nor was there time for Wilmot to receive any reply to his indignant denials, and requests for the names of his accusers. He died on 3 February 1847 worn-out by worry and anxiety. Too late Gladstone endeavoured to make some amends in a letter to one of Wilmot's sons. Wilmot married, (1) Elizabeth Emma, daughter of Caleb Hillier Parry, and (2) Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Robert Chester. There were sons and daughters of both marriages. There is a monument in memory of Wilmot at Hobart, erected by public subscription.

Wilmot was a victim of his period. He endeavoured in every way to carry out his duties, but the time was ripe for responsible government and, like his contemporary, Sir George Gipps (q.v.). he incurred much ill-deserved odium for acts that were part of the system he was endeavouring to administer. The colonial office had little conception of the real difficulties of the convict situation, and Gladstone's ill-judged action was the final blow.

Burke's Peerage, etc., 1937; Historical Records of Australia, ser. I, vol. XXV; J. West, The History of Tasmania; G. W. Rusden, History of Australia; K. Fitzpatrick, Historical Studies, Australia and New Zealand, April 1940; J. F. Hogan, The Gladstone Colony.

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WILSON, ANNE, LADY (1848-1930),

poet and novelist,

daughter of Robert Adams, was born in 1848 at Greenvale, Victoria. In 1874 she married James Glenny Wilson and went to New Zealand. Her husband, a well-known public man, was knighted in 1915. Her first book of poems, Themes and Variations, came out in London in 1889 and was followed by a novel, Alice Lauder, a Sketch, in 1893. Another novel, Two Summers published by Harper in 1900, was later included in Macmillan's colonial library. In 1901 A Book of Verses was published (new and slightly enlarged edition, 1917), a collection of her poems from English, American and Australian magazines. Her husband died in 1929 leaving her with two sons and two daughters. Lady Wilson died in New Zealand on 11 February 1930. Some of her poems are included in several Australian and New Zealand anthologies.

Autobiographical note supplied in her lifetime; Debrett's Peerage, etc., 1929; Death notice in the Dominion, Wellington, 13 February 1930.

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WILSON, EDWARD (1813-1878),

journalist and philanthropist,

was born at Hampstead, London, on 13 November 1813. He was educated at a private school and then entered a business house at Manchester. He went to London and in 1842 emigrated to Australia. He at first had a small property on the northern outskirts of Melbourne but in 1844, in partnership with J. S. Johnston, took up a cattle station near Dandenong. About the year 1847 he bought the Argus from William Kerr, incorporated with it the Patriot, and five years later absorbed another journal, the Daily News. In the early days of the gold-rush the paper was produced under great difficulties, but the circulation kept increasing, and it became a valuable property. Wilson strenuously opposed the influx of convicts from Tasmania, fought for the separation of Port Phillip from New South Wales, and opposed Governor Hotham in his attitude to the miners; but when the rebellion broke out he took the stand that there were peaceable and legitimate methods of obtaining redress. When Charles Gavan Duffy (q.v.) came to Victoria and went into politics Wilson sent him a list of suggested reforms which included justice to the aborigines, the organizing of agriculture as a department of the state, the introduction of the ballot into municipal elections, and the leasing of crown lands for cultivation with the right of ultimate purchase. He was the first to raise the cry "unlock the lands". He was in fact a thorough democrat in sentiment, and an ardent reformer. In 1857 finding he was losing his eyesight he paid a long visit to England, but in 1858-9 travelled through Australia and New Zealand and wrote a series of sketches for the Argus, published in London in 1859 under the title, Rambles in the Antipodes, with two maps and 12 illustrations by S. T. Gill (q.v.). He took much interest in acclimatization, founded the Acclimatization Society in Melbourne in 1861, and was its first president. In the same year he visited Sydney and started the Acclimatization Society of New South Wales. He finally settled in 1864 at Hayes near Bromley in Kent, and lived the life of an English country gentleman. He occasionally contributed to the Times and the Fortnightly Review; an article from this journal, Principles of Representation, was published as a pamphlet in 1866. Another pamphlet, on Acclimatization, was printed in 1875. He died at Hayes on 10 January 1878 and was buried in the Melbourne cemetery on 7 July. He was unmarried.

Wilson was a tall, sombre, silent figure, but his reserve was largely due to shyness, for his friends found him a lovable man. He had an active and benevolent mind, was thoroughly sincere, earnest and unselfish, with a hatred of hypocrisy, chicanery and self-seeking. This sometimes as a journalist led to a passionate warmth of language which involved him in more than one libel suit, but he was chiefly concerned with the good of the community. In his last years he founded what became the "Edward Wilson Trust", which has done so much for the charities of Victoria. About 1908 £146,000 was set aside for the rebuilding of the Melbourne hospital, £69,000 provided the Edward Wilson wing for the Alfred hospital, and £38,000 went to the Children's hospital. It was found in 1934 that a total of £1,000,000 had been made available for charities.

The Argus, Melbourne, 14 January, 8 July 1878, 13 November 1937; W. Westgarth, Personal Recollections of Early Melbourne; J. H. Heaton, Australian Dictionary of Dates; D. Blair, Cyclopaedia of Australasia; C. G. Duffy, My Life in Two Hemispheres, vol. II, pp. 147-9; E. E. Morris, A Memoir of George Higinbotham, p. 45; First Annual Report of the Acclimatization Society of Victoria, 1862, Fourteenth Annual Report, 1878.

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WILSON, FRANK (1859-1918),

premier of Western Australia,

was born at Sunderland, England, in 1859. He was educated in Germany and at Wesley College, Sheffield, before entering the firm of Peacock Bros. and Sons, merchants, at Sunderland. At the age of 19 he joined a brother in establishing engineering works, and was in this business for eight years. Losses made on account of the engineering strike in 1886 led to Wilson going to Queensland, where he became manager for Overend and Company, railway contractors and merchants. In 1891 he was appointed managing-director of the Canning Jarrah Timber Co. Ltd., in Western Australia. He became a city councillor at Perth in 1896, and a year later was elected a member of the legislative assembly for Canning and sat in opposition to Forrest (q.v.). In 1899 he left the Canning Jarrah Company and became interested in the Collie coalmining industry. At the 1901 general election he was elected for Perth, became minister for mines and railways in the Morgan ministry, but lost his seat when he went before his constituents. In 1904 he entered the assembly again as member for Sussex, and from August 1905 to May 1906 was minister for works in the Rason (q.v.) ministry. He might then have been premier but stood aside in favour of N. J. Moore (q.v.). He was treasurer in this ministry and minister of agriculture from May 1906 until June 1909, held the portfolio of education for practically the same period, and was minister for works from June 1909 to September 1910. He was also acting premier for part of 1910 while Moore was absent in England. He was premier and treasurer from September 1910 to October 1911 when his ministry was defeated at the general election. From October 1911 to July 1916 Wilson was leader of the opposition, and then became premier and treasurer again. In June 1917 he attempted to form a national ministry, but disagreeing as to methods withdrew from the meetings, and when the Lefroy ministry was formed sat as a private member until the general election in October 1917, when he lost his seat by four votes. His health had not been good and after the election he had a complete break-down. He died at Claremont on 7 December 1918 after an illness of some months following surgical operations. He married Annie Phillips of Sunderland, who survived him with three sons and six daughters. He was made a C.M.G. in 1911.

Wilson was a man of great courage and loyalty. When he realized the effect on the Western Australian revenue of the customs duties being taken over by the federal government, he worked hard for the development of industries. He was a good administrator who had given much study to finance, and as treasurer did sound work in restoring the financial position. A man of personality and culture, a good debater who could join tactical astuteness to honesty and determination, he was possibly, after Forrest, the most capable leader of his time in Western Australia.

Who's Who, 1918; The West Australian, 9 and 10 December 1918.

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WILSON, SIR JAMES MILNE (1812-1880),

premier of Tasmania,

was born at Banff, Scotland, on 29 February 1812, the third son of John Wilson, a shipowner. Educated at Banff and Edinburgh, he emigrated to Tasmania in 1829, studied practical engineering and afterwards became a ship's officer. He was connected with the Cascade brewery for 14 years and became its manager. He entered politics in October 1859 as member for Hobart in the legislative council, and in January 1863 joined the Whyte (q.v.) cabinet as minister without portfolio. In 1868, at the time of the visit of the Duke of Edinburgh, Wilson was mayor of Hobart and on 4 August 1869 became premier and colonial secretary in a ministry which lasted until November 1872. Anthony Trollope, who came to Australia in 1871, formed a high opinion of Wilson. "I thought I had not met a sounder politician in Australia. . . . Victoria is desirous of annexing Tasmania. Perhaps when she has done so, Mr Wilson will become premier for the joint colonies, and then great things may be expected." (Australia and New Zealand, chap. XXXVI.) In 1872 Wilson was elected president of the Tasmanian legislative council, and held this position until his death on 29 February 1880. He married in 1847 Deborah Hope, daughter of Peter Degraves. Lady Wilson survived him with children. He was knighted in 1873 and created K.C.M.G. in 1878. He was a man of unbounded popularity, well-known, for his charities. He was president of the Southern Tasmanian Agricultural Society and chairman of committees and president of the Tasmanian jockey Club. As a politician Wilson showed wisdom in his advocacy of free-trade between the Australian colonies. Tasmania passed an intercolonial freetrade act in 1870 during his premiership, but the question made no headway on the mainland.

The Mercury, Hobart, 1 and 3 March 1880; J. Fenton, A History of Tasmania; A. Trollope, Australia and New Zealand; Burke's Peerage, etc., 1880.

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WILSON, SIR SAMUEL (1832-1895),

pastoralist,

son of Samuel Wilson, farmer and landowner, was born at Ballycloughan, Ireland, in 1832. He was educated at Ballymena and at first intended taking up civil engineering. For three years he worked for a brother-in-law, a linen manufacturer, but in 1852 decided to emigrate to Australia. He arrived in Melbourne in May 1852 and worked on the goldfields, but a few months later decided to join two brothers who had preceded him to Australia, and had a pastoral property in the Wimmera, Victoria. He was made manager of one of their holdings, and selling a small property he had in Ireland, with his brothers bought Longerenong station for £40,000. He dug waterholes and made dams on the property which much improved and increased its carrying capacity. Yanko station in the Riverina was then purchased and much improved. In 1869 Wilson bought his brothers' interests in their stations, afterwards bought other stations in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, and became very wealthy. He was interested in the Acclimatization Society of Victoria and in 1873 wrote pamphlets on the angora goat, and on the ostrich. In 1878 a paper he had written was expanded into a volume, The Californian Salmon With an Account of its Introduction into Victoria, and published in the same year. In 1879 another edition of this was published in London under the title, Salmon at the Antipodes. In 1874 Wilson gave the university of Melbourne £30,000 which with accrued interest was expended on a building in the Gothic style now known as the Wilson Hall. It was the most considerable gift or bequest that the university had received up to then. In the following year he was elected a member of the legislative council of Victoria for the Western Province, but he never took a very prominent part in politics. About the beginning of 1881 he went to England with his family and leased Hughenden Manor, once the property of the Earl of Beaconsfield. He twice contested seats for the house of commons without success, but in 1886 was elected as a conservative for Portsmouth and sat until 1892. In September 1893 he again came to Victoria and stayed until March 1895. He became ill soon after his return to England and died on 11 June 1895. He was knighted in 1875. He married in 1861 a daughter of the Hon. W. Campbell who survived him with four sons and three daughters. His eldest son, Lieut.-colonel Gordon Chesney Wilson, married Lady Sarah Isabella Churchill, sister of Lord Randolph Churchill.

Men of the Time in Australia, 1878; The Argus, 13 June 1895; The Times, 12 June 1895; Sir Ernest Scott, A History of the University of Melbourne.

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WINDEYER, RICHARD (1806-1847),

advocate and politician,

was the son of Charles Windeyer (1780-1855), first recognized reporter in the house of lords. The elder Windeyer came to Sydney in 1828, intending to go on the land, and obtained a grant of 2560 acres. He, however, accepted the position of chief clerk in the police office and afterwards became a police magistrate at Sydney. In 1841 he was offered and refused the office of sheriff, which carried a salary of £1000 a year and allowances for expenses when absent from Sydney. Two years later he was an unsuccessful candidate at the first election for the legislative council, and he retired from his magistracy at the end of 1848 with a pension. His work was spoken of in the highest terms. He died in 1855. He married in 1805 Ann Mary, daughter of R. Rudd, and Richard Windeyer was the eldest of their nine children. He was born in London on 10 August 1806, like his father became a parliamentary reporter, and was employed on The Times and other leading papers. Taking up the study of law he was admitted a barrister of the Middle Temple in 1834, and in the following year went to Sydney where he built up a large practice as a barrister. By 1840 he was one of the leaders at the bar and had made a reputation especially in nisi prius work. At the first election for the legislative council held in July 1843 he was elected for the county of Durham and promptly brought in a measure, the monetary confidence bill, which was designed to relieve the depression under which the colony was then suffering. In spite of brilliant speeches in opposition to it made by Robert Lowe (q.v.) this was carried by 14 votes to seven. The measure was, however, vetoed by the governor, Sir George Gipps (q.v.), and nothing more was heard of it. In October 1844 Windeyer moved an amendment to a bill proposing to bring in Lord Stanley's system of national education, to the effect that a general system of education should be established by which the children of the poorer classes might receive gratuitously (if possible) primary and religious instruction. Another amendment proposed by Wentworth (q.v.) was, however, carried. In 1845 Windeyer, though almost overwhelmed with work, took up the cause of the already fast-dwindling aborigines and obtained a select committee to inquire into the question. He was also in the forefront of the struggle with Gipps concerning generally the powers of the council and the governor on the land question, and in 1846 moved and carried an address to the governor acquainting him that the council could not entertain a bill he had originated. Windeyer had, however, become financially involved in the long-continued depression, and although he had made a large i