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DICTIONARY OF AUSTRALIAN BIOGRAPHY

PERCIVAL SERLE

Angus and Robertson--1949

Ca-Ch

Main Page and Index of Individuals 
Biographies:
A  Ba  Be-Bo  Br-By  Ca-Ch  Cl-Cu  D  E  F  G  Ha-He  Hi-Hu  I-K  L  Mc
Ma-Mo  Mu-My  N-O  P-Q  R  Sa-Sp  St-Sy  T-V  Wa  We-Wy  X-Z 

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CADELL, FRANCIS (1822-1879),

early navigator of the Murray,

was the son of H. F. Cadell, and was born in Scotland in 1822. He was educated at Edinburgh and in Germany, and became a midshipman on an East Indiaman. He fought in the Chinese war of 1840 and afterwards was given a ship by his father. He went to South America, had experience of river navigation on the Amazon, and visited Australia in 1849. He returned to Australia in 1852 and became interested in the navigation of the Murray. In 1850 the South Australian government had offered a bonus of £4000 to the owners of the first two steamers that should successfully navigate the Murray to the junction of the Darling. Cadell gave orders for the construction of a steamer in Sydney and, while it was being built, explored the Murray in a canvas boat, in which, with four men, he travelled 1300 miles. In June 1853 his steamer the Lady Augusta successfully passed through the breakers at the mouth of the Murray, and on 28 August left Goolwa on a voyage up the Murray with Cadell in command. Among the passengers were the governor, Sir Henry Young (q.v.) and Lady Young. They returned on 14 October having reached a point 1500 miles up the river. A few months later it was ascertained that the Murray was navigable as far as Albury, and the Murrumbidgee to Gundagai. Cadell had carried a considerable quantity of wool and much trade was expected with the Riverina squatters. A gold and silver candelabrum was presented by the settlers to Cadell, with an inscription that it had been presented to him "in commemoration of his first having opened the steam navigation and commerce of the River Murray 1853". This was not quite accurate as J. G. and W. R. Randell (q.v.) had constructed an earlier steamer which had traded on the Murray as early as March 1853. It was, however, a much smaller vessel and not eligible for the bonus offered by the government. Cadell was also presented with a gold medal struck by the legislative council, and he joined with others in forming the River Murray Navigating Company. The establishment of inland customs houses and the refusal of the three colonies to join in the snagging of the river, created difficulties for the company, and the failure of Port Elliot as a harbour led to more than one steamer being lost. The company which had at first made good profits failed and Cadell lost everything he had. He went to Victoria, did exploring work in eastern Gippsland, and in 1865 was in New Zealand in the employ of the New Zealand government. In February 1867 the South Australian government sent Cadell to the Northern Territory "to fix upon a proper site for the survey of 300,000 acres". His selection of a site on the Liverpool River was much criticized at the time, and was eventually rejected. He had been able to give the authorities much valuable information about the country, but the climate of the territory and its great distance from other centres of population made its development a problem which had not been solved more than half a century after his visit. Cadell then took up trading in the East Indies, and when sailing to the Kei Islands near New Guinea he was murdered by a member of his crew, about March 1879.

Cadell was an adventurous man of great courage whose work for a variety of reasons was not sufficiently followed up by the authorities of his time. From the very beginning of the founding of South Australia the desire for a harbour at the mouth of the Murray was almost an obsession, and the failure of the efforts made to found one caused much discouragement. But Cadell had shown the value of inland trading in the rivers quite apart from the question of taking cargoes to sea.

A. Grenfell Price, Founders and Pioneers of South Australia; E. Hodder, The History of South Australia; The Times, 7 and 12 November 1879.

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CAFFYN, KATHLEEN MANNINGTON (c. 1855-1926),

novelist,

was born in Tipperary, Ireland, about the year 1855. Her father, William de Vere Hunt, was a kinsman of Aubrey de Vere, the poet. Miss Hunt was educated by English and German governesses and came to London when about 21 years of age. After a short career as a nurse, she married in 1879 Stephen Mannington Caffyn, a medical practitioner, and went with him to Sydney in 1880. In 1883 they went to Melbourne where Dr Caffyn had suburban practices until 1892. Mrs Caffyn contributed a story of some sixty pages to Cooee: Tales of Australian Life by Australian Ladies, which was published in 1891, and wrote a novel A Yellow Aster, which was published in London in 1894 under the pseudonym of "Iota". Mrs Caffyn and her husband had returned to London a year or two before, but the novel was written in Australia. It had an immediate success and was quickly followed by Children of Circumstance in the same year, and by some 15 other volumes in the 20 years that followed. These included A Quaker Grandmother (1896), Anne Mauleverer (1899), He for God Only (1903), and Patricia: a Mother (1903), which rank among her better novels and were very popular in their time. Mrs Caffyn had the Irishwoman's love of horses and kept up her interest in hunting and polo until her death in Italy on 6 February 1926. She was survived by a son.

Her husband, Stephen Mannington Caffyn, (1851-c. 1896), was born at Salehurst, Sussex, in 1851. In Australia he was one of the contributors to the Bulletin in its early days, and in 1889 published Miss Milne and I, a novel which ran into two or three editions. This was followed in 1890 by Poppy's Tears. He also wrote a few medical pamphlets.

The Times 10 February 1926; Who's Who, 1926; E. Morris Miller, Australian Literature; Hugh McCrae, My Father and My Father's Friends; P. Mennell, The Dictionary of Australasian Biography.

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CALEY, GEORGE (1770-1829),

botanist,

[ also refer to George CALEY page at Project Gutenberg Australia]

the son of a horse-dealer, was born in the north of England on 10 June 1770 (Jnl. and Proc. R.A.H.S., vol. XXV, p. 438). He was educated at the Free Grammar School at Manchester and was then taken into his father's stables. Coming across a volume on farriery he became interested in the herbs mentioned in prescriptions, and this led to his teaching himself botany. In March 1795 he wrote to Sir Joseph Banks (q.v.) who, after warning him about the small monetary rewards to be expected by a botanist for his labour, suggested that he might be able to obtain work for him as a gardener's labourer, which would give opportunities of increasing his knowledge. A position at Kew Gardens was obtained, and he afterwards was given a free passage to Sydney, where he arrived on 15 April 1800. Banks gave him a salary as a botanical collector and he was allowed rations by the government. He was also given a cottage at Parramatta, and Governor King (q.v.), writing to Banks in September 1800 mentioned that it was intended to establish a botanical garden near it. Caley sent many botanical and other specimens to Banks, and his letters also kept Banks informed of the general conditions of the colony apart from scientific matters. In 1801 he went with Lieutenant Grant (q.v.) to Western Port, and in 1804 he gave King a long report on "A journey to ascertain the Limits or Boundaries of Vaccary Forest" (the Cowpastures). He was able to report on the wild cattle which he found considerably increased in numbers. On a later journey Caley ascended Mount Banks but did not attempt to explore the Blue Mountains proper. In October 1805 he visited Norfolk Island and went to Hobart at the end of November of the same year. In August 1808 Banks wrote to Caley offering him an annuity of £50 a year, and to release him from all services beyond what he voluntarily wished to perform. Caley returned to England in 1810 and some six years later was appointed curator of the botanic gardens, St Vincent, West Indies. He resigned this position in December 1822 and was back in England in the following May. He died on 23 May 1829. He had married in 1816 but his wife predeceased him without issue.

Both Banks and King found Caley difficult and at times tactless and unreasonable. He was, however, a good worker, a skilful and accurate botanist, and he was thoroughly honest and zealous. He published nothing, but his collections did much to spread a knowledge of Australian plants in the early years of the nineteenth century.

The Magazine of Natural History, 1829 and 1830; J. H. Maiden, Sir Joseph Banks, The "Father of Australia"; Historical Records of Australia, ser. I, vols. II, III and V; Historical Records of New South Wales, vols. IV, V and VI; The Sydney Morning Herald, 18 July 1914; R. Else Mitchell, Journal and Proceedings Royal Australian Historical Society, vol. XXV, pp. 437-542; an admirable paper which also describes Caley's work as an ornithologist and as an explorer.

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CALVERT, CAROLINE LOUISA WARING (1834-1872),

author and scientist,

was born at Oldbury, about three miles from Berrima, New South Wales, on 25 February 1834. Her father, James Atkinson, was the author of an early Australian book, An Account of the State of Agriculture and Grazing in New South Wales, published in 1826. He died in 1834 and Miss Atkinson was educated by her mother. She early developed an interest in science and made collections of botanical specimens for Dr Woolls (q.v.), and Baron von Mueller (q.v.). She also published two novels, Gertrude the Emigrant (1857), and Cowanda, The Veteran's Grant (1859); various other tales by her appeared as serials in the Sydney Mail. Her series of natural history sketches "A Voice from the Country" appeared in the Sydney Mail and Sydney Morning Herald in 1860. Other scientific articles were published in the Sydney Horticultural Magazine of 18645. In 1870 she married Mr James Snowden Calvert (1825-84), a survivor of Leichhardt's (q.v.) expedition of 1844-5. Mrs Calvert died on 28 April 1872 leaving a daughter.

Mrs Calvert was one of the earliest Australian writers of fiction, but her work in that direction is commonplace and now forgotten. Her botanical work was more important. The genus Atkinsonia was named after her, as was also the species Epacris calvertiana.

Miss M. Swann, Journal and Proceedings, Royal Australian Historical Society, vol. XV, p. 1; J. H. Heaton, Australian Dictionary of Dates; George Bentham and F. von Mueller. Flora Australiensis, Preface p. 14; G. B. Barton, Literature in New South Wales, p. 111; E. Morris Miller, Australian Literature.

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CAMBAGE, RICHARD HIND (1859-1928),

botanist and surveyor,

son of John Fisher Cambage, was born at Milton New South Wales, on 7 November 1859. He was educated at state and private schools, and for a short time was a teacher at the Milton state school. In 1878 he became an assistant to M. J. Callaghan, surveyor, and took part in the survey of National Park in 1879 and 1880. He qualified as a licensed surveyor in June 1882, was engaged in the lands department for three years as a draftsman and then entered the department of mines as a mining surveyor. He had great experience in this capacity and in 1902 was appointed chief mining surveyor. He held this position until 1 January 1916, when he was made under-secretary of the mines department. He retired from the public service on 7 November 1924. Though a busy public servant he contrived to carry on a large amount of other work and cultivated many interests. From 1909 to 1915 he lectured on surveying at Sydney technical college, was on three occasions elected president of the Institution of Surveyors, and was for 15 years a member of its board of examiners. He had early become much interested in geology and botany, and between 1901 and 1903 contributed to the Linnean Society a series of "Notes on the Botany of the Interior of New South Wales" of which as "Notes on the Native Flora of New South Wales", a further long series was published over a period of more than 20 years. He was secretary of the Royal Society of New South Wales from 1914 to 1922 and from 1925 to 1928 and was president in 1912 and 1923. He was a member of the council of the Linnean Society of New South Wales from 1906 and was its president in 1924. He was honorary secretary of the Australian National Research Council from its inception in 1919 until 1926, and organized the second pan-Pacific science congress held in Melbourne and Sydney in 1923. He was its president from 1926 to 1928 and he was elected president of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science In 1928. He was also president of the New South Wales forest league and did much work for the Australian wattle league. His amiability and tact made him an invaluable secretary and president, but in spite of the time spent on administrative work Cambage was able to make valuable contributions to science. For many years he systematically planted seeds of acacia, and at the time of his death had contributed 13 papers to the Journal of the Royal Society with descriptions of 130 species, and he also did some papers on the eucalypts. As a member of the Royal Australian Historical Society his knowledge of surveying and bushcraft enabled him to throw light on the journeys of some of the early explorers. A paper on Exploration Beyond the Upper Nepean in 1798, was published separately as a pamphlet in 1920. He died suddenly on 28 November 1928. He married in 1881 Fanny, daughter of Henry Skillman, who predeceased him, and was survived by two sons and two daughters. He was created C.B.E. in 1925. A list of his papers will be found in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales for 1934, pp. 445-7.

Cambage was an amiable man of many enthusiasms, interested in cricket, which he had played well in his youth, in music, and in every aspect of nature. He was an excellent public official. and as a scientist he was recognized as an authority in more than one branch of botany; few people had such a wide knowledge of the flora of Australia. His administrative work in connexion with scientific societies was a remarkable record of public service.

Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 1934, pp. 435-47, with portrait, 1929, p. v; Journal and Proceedings Royal Society of New South Wales, 1929, p. xi; The Sydney Morning Herald, 29 November 1928; Debrett's Peerage, etc., 1927.

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CAMBRIDGE, ADA (1844-1926),

novelist, and poet,

daughter of Henry Cambridge and his wife, Thomasine, was born at St Germains, Norfolk, on 21 November 1844. She was educated by governesses, her views on whom may be given in her own words:--"I can truthfully affirm that I never learned anything which would now be considered worth learning until I had done with them all and started foraging for myself. I did have a few months of boarding-school at the end, and a very good school for its day it was, but it left no lasting impression on my mind." (The Retrospect, chap. IV). On 25 April 1870 she was married to the Rev. George Frederick Cross and a few weeks later sailed for Australia. She arrived in Melbourne in August and was surprised to find it a well established city. Her husband was sent to Wangaratta, her Thirty Years in Australia describes their experiences there, and the successive moves to Yackandandah, 1871, Ballan, 1874, Coleraine, 1877, Bendigo, 1884 and Beechworth, 1885, where they remained until 1893. Mrs Cross at first was the typical hard-working wife of a country clergyman, taking part in all the activities of the parish and incidentally making her own children's clothes. Her health, however, broke down and her activities had to be reduced, but she somehow managed to do a large amount of writing. In 1875 her first novel Up the Murray appeared in the Australasian but was not published separately. Her published novels include My Guardian (1877), In Two Years' Time (1879), A Mere Chance (1882), A Marked Man (1890), The Three Miss Kings (1891), Not All in Vain (1892), A Little Minx (1893), A Marriage Ceremony (1894), Fidelis (1895), A Humble Enterprise (1896), At Midnight (1897), Materfamilias (1898), Path and Goal (1900), The Devastators (1901), Sisters (1904), A Platonic Friendship (1905), A Happy Marriage (1906), The Eternal Feminine (1907) and The Making of Rachel Rowe (1914). Other novels appeared as serials in the Australasian between 1879 and 1885. These books were competently written, A Marked Man and The Three Miss Kings are among the best of them, and though they may have become submerged in the flood of fiction that has been pouring out ever since, they date less than most of the novels of their period, and can still be read with interest. In 1893 Mrs Cross and her husband moved to their last parish, Williamstown, near Melbourne, and remained there until 1909. Her husband went on the retired clergy list in 1910 and died in 1912. Mrs Cross, after living for a few years in England, returned to Australia, and died at Melbourne on 19 July 1926. She was survived by a daughter and a son, Dr K. Stuart Cross.

It has been said of Mrs Cross that she "hid a brilliant brain under a demure exterior". She had a great capacity for friendship and her kindliness made her ready to help less experienced writers. She had an observant eye, a sense of humour, and a charitable outlook on the failings of other people. Her Thirty Years in Australia (1903) will always, have value for its sidelights on the life of her time, and her other auto-biographical book, The Retrospect (1912) gives a pleasant account of her visit to England in 1908 after having been away for nearly 40 years. Her poetry has not been sufficiently appreciated, some of her obituary notices did not even refer to it, yet it is probably her real title to remembrance. Her first two volumes Hymns on the Litany (1865), and Hymns on the Holy Communion (1866), consist of purely religious verse, sincerely written but not rising to any height, and though The Manor House and other Poems (1875) shows considerable development, it is not an important volume of verse. Her fourth volume, Unspoken Thoughts, issued anonymously in 1887, was suppressed almost at once, and is now very rare. No reason for its suppression has been given, but probably the author, felt, as a clergyman's wife in Victorian times that her independence of outlook on social and religions questions might be embarrassing to her husband and church friends. However, some of the poems in this volume were reprinted in The Hand in the Dark and other Poems (1913), which remains one of the better volumes of Australian poetry. The author had travelled far from the poems of her girlhood, and it was fortunate that in her last book she was able to speak out and express her strong and original mind.

The Argus, 21 and 23 July 1926; Melbourne Diocesan Year-Book, 1911; P. Mennell, Dictionary of Australasian Biography; Thirty Years in Australia; The Retrospect; The Peaceful Army; E. Morris Miller, Australian Literature.

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CAMPBELL, ROBERT (1769-1846),

first Sydney merchant,

son of John Campbell, writer to the signet, was born at Greenock, Scotland, on 28 April 1769. He went to India when a young man and with an elder brother was a partner in Campbell, Clark and Company, merchants of Calcutta. Campbell came to Sydney in June 1798 and opened a branch of it s firm. He subsequently built Campbell's wharf and developed a large business as a general merchant. After the arrival of Governor Bligh (q.v.) in August 1806, Campbell's high character led to his being appointed treasurer to the public funds, naval officer, and collector of taxes, and, there being no bank at Sydney in 1807, the gaol and orphan funds were deposited with Campbell on its undertaking to pay interest at five per cent However, in April 1808, after the deposition of Bligh, Campbell was dismissed from his offices by Lieut.-Colonel Johnston (q.v.). When Governor Macquarie (q.v.) arrived on 28 December 1809 Campbell was temporarily reinstated, but the governor, on 8 March 1810, feeling that it was not right that a private merchant should be the collector of customs, asked the colonial office that a fresh appointment should be made of someone not "concerned in trade". Campbell's business prospered and he also received large grants of land and was a pioneer of the district in which Canberra was afterwards built. In later years Campbell provided half the cost of the church of St John the Baptist in its original form. In December 1825 Campbell was appointed a member of the first New South Wales legislative council. In January 1830 he was a member of the committee which recommended that King's schools should be founded at Sydney and Parramatta, and as evidence of his continued high standing in the community, when the Savings Bank of New South Wales was founded in 1832 it was found that Campbell had had deposited with him £8000 belonging to convicts, and £2000 belonging to free people. He was allowing seven and a half per cent interest on these deposits. Campbell retired from the legislative council and from public life in 1843, and in 1844 his name was included in a list of those considered eligible for a proposed local order of merit. He died at Duntroon on 15 April 1846, probably the most trusted member of the community, and a benefactor of many of the colony's institutions. He married and was survived by four sons of whom the second, Robert Campbell, was a well-known public man and politician. He was colonial treasurer in the first Cowper (q.v.) ministry in 1856, and in the second Cowper ministry from 4 January 1858 until his death On 30 March 1859.

Historical Records of Australia, ser. I, vols. II to XXIV; S. Houison, Journal and Proceedings Royal Australian Historical Society, vol. XXIII, pp. 1-28; F. Watson, A Brief History of Canberra; W. Davis Wright, Canberra; F. W. Robinson, Canberra's First Hundred Years; J. Gale, Canberra, History of and Legends Relating to the Federal Capital Territory.

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CAMPBELL, SIR THOMAS COCKBURN (1845-1892),

politician,

second son of Sir Alexander Thomas Cockburn-Campbell, second baronet, and his wife, Grace, daughter of Joseph Spence, was born at Exeter, England, in 1845. He was educated at Heidelberg and left England for Australia in 1864. His father was resident magistrate at Albany, Western Australia. In 1873 Campbell was nominated a member of the old Western Australian legislative council and became chairman of committees. He was for some time editor of the West Australian but retired in 1887 and was succeeded by (Sir) J. W. Hackett (q.v.). In 1890 he was appointed one of the delegates sent to London to give information and assistance in connexion with the passing of the Western Australian constitution bill. He also gave evidence before the colonization committee of the house of commons. In December 1890 Campbell became a member of the new legislative council and was elected its president. He died at Perth on 28 September 1892. He married in 1870 Lucy Anne, daughter of Arthur Trimmer, who survived him with two sons and four daughters. He had become fourth baronet in September 1871 on the death of his brother.

Burke's Peerage. etc., 1872, 1892; Debrett's Peerage, etc., 1884; The Times, 29 September 1892; J. G. Wilson, Western Australia's Centenary, p. 112.

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CAPE, WILLIAM TIMOTHY (1806-1863),

schoolmaster,

was born at Walworth, Surrey, England, on 25 October 1806. His father, William Cape, was a London bank manager who emigrated to Australia with his family in 1821, and at the end of 1822 became master of a private school, the Sydney Academy. On 1 April 1824 he was appointed master of the Sydney public school in Castlereagh-street, but about two years later he resigned because Archdeacon Scott (q.v.), who had become king's visitor to the schools, had "reduced the school to a mere Parochial School of St James". (See Cape's account of his experiences in Australia in H.R. of A., vol. XXII, p. 487). He went on the land that had been granted him but, considering that he was entitled to further grants, for the last 16 years of his life he was continually making applications to the government about his grievance. He died in 1847 still unsatisfied. His son, William Timothy Cape, was educated at the Merchant Tailors' school, London, and on his arrival in Australia became an assistant master at his father's school. Though barely 20 years of age he was made headmaster of the Sydney public school when his father resigned. He had already made a reputation as a teacher and shortly afterwards, when a number of public school teachers from the country were brought into Sydney for training, Cape was given charge of them as he was considered the only qualified person available. In 1829 he opened a private school in King-street, Sydney, and when the Sydney College was founded in 1835 he transferred his own pupils to it on being appointed headmaster. For seven years he was a most successful headmaster; his distinguished pupils included Sir John Robertson (q.v.), William Forster (q.v.), William Bede Dalley (q.v.), Sir James Martin (q.v.), and T. A. Browne (q.v.), and the number of boys was approaching 300 when Cape came into conflict with the trustees and resigned at the end of 1841. This was disastrous for the school, for though the number of pupils kept up for some time, between 1843 and 1847 there was a falling off from 283 to 62. The colony was passing through bad times, but it is clear that the trustees had not been able to find a successor who could approach Cape in personality and knowledge. He had in the meantime opened a private school at Paddington which was carried on until 1856 when he retired. In 1859 he was elected a member of the legislative assembly for Wollombi, and interested himself in the educational life of the colony as a commissioner of national education, a fellow of St Paul's College of the university of Sydney, and in connexion with the Sydney School of Arts. He visited England in 1855 and was again in England from 1860 to 1863. He died at London on 14 June 1863. He married and left descendants; a grandson, Captain C. S. Cape, was awarded the D.S.O. at the Boer war and in 1933 was a well-known pastoralist and solicitor at Sydney.

Cape was a man of liberal views, a strict disciplinarian, a consistent encourager of the good student, and an invariably just ruler. He gave his boys the sound classical education of his time, but he gave them more than that and more than they knew, and won the admiration and respect of everyone who came in contact with him. A tablet to his memory was placed in St Andrew's cathedral by his former pupils.

J. H. Heaton, Australian Dictionary of Dales; S. H. Smith and G. T. Spaull, History of Education in New South Wales; S. H. Smith, Journal and Proceedings Royal Australian Historical Society, vol. V, pp. 201-23; Rolf Boldrewood, In Bad Company, pp. 325-30; Annual Reports of Sydney College, 1838, 1843, 1847.

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CARANDINI, MARIE (1826-1894),

singer,

daughter of W. H. Burgess, was born at Brixton, London, in 1826 and was brought by her parents to Tasmania in 1833. At the age of 17 she married Jerome Carandini, an Italian of noble birth, who was a political refugee. She came to Sydney in 1846 and studied under Isaac Nathan (q.v.) and other teachers. She soon established a reputation as a concert singer and as an operatic prima donna, both at Sydney and Melbourne, and was a popular favourite throughout Australia. Her husband having received a pardon from the Italian government went to Italy in 1870, but died at Modena soon after his arrival. Madame Carandini continued to sing in concerts for some years throughout Australia and New Zealand, with visits to America and India. She had eight children of whom five daughters were musical and took part in her tours. She died at London in 1894. Her eldest daughter, Mrs Palmer, is noticed separately.

J. H. Heaton, Australian Dictionary of Dates: Kenyon Papers, P. L. Melb.; G. R. Davies, Music Makers of the Sunny South.

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CARMICHAEL, GRACE ELIZABETH JENNINGS, Mrs Francis Mullis (1868-1904), known as Jennings Carmichael,

poet,

daughter of Archibald Carmichael, was born at East Ballarat in 1868. She was educated at Melbourne, while still a child went to live on a station at Orbost, and grew up close to the bush she came to love so much. In 1888 she went to Melbourne to be trained as a nurse at the Children's Hospital, and in 1891 published a small volume of prose sketches, Hospital Children. Having qualified she obtained a position on a station near Geelong, and subsequently married Francis Mullis. She contributed verse to the Australasian, and in 1895 Poems by Jennings Carmichael was published. She lived for a time in South Australia and then went to London, where she died in poor circumstances in 1904. In 1910 a small selection of her poems was published, in 1937 a plaque to her memory was unveiled at Orbost, and a year later a replica was placed in the public library at Ballarat. Two of Jennings Carmichael's sons were present at the ceremony.

Jennings Carmichael wrote much good and pleasant verse with occasional touches of poetry. Brunton Stephens (q.v.) called Miss Carmichael the Jean Ingelow of Australia. Comparisons of this kind have little value, but it may be said that Miss Carmichael's position in relation to the leading Australian poets, is not dissimilar to that of Miss Ingelow in comparison with Browning and Tennyson.

H. Tate, The Argus, 11 March 1922; E. Morris Miller, Australian Literature.

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CARR, THOMAS JOSEPH (1839-1917),

Roman Catholic archbishop of Melbourne,

was born near Moylough, Galway, Ireland, on 28 May 1839. He was educated at St Jarlath's College, Tuam, and at Maynooth, where he did a brilliant course. He was ordained on 19 May 1866, was a curate for six years, and was then appointed dean of the Dumboyne establishment of Maynooth. In 1874 he was elected to the vacant chair of theology and in 1880 he became vice-president of Maynooth and editor of the Irish Ecclesiastical Record, which he conducted with success. In 1883 he was made bishop of Galway, was consecrated on 26 August of that year, and three years later, almost to the day, was appointed archbishop of Melbourne. He arrived in Melbourne on 11 June 1887.

One of the first problems brought before Carr was the question of education. The education act of the period had been framed for the purpose of training children in State schools without regard to sectarian differences. The new archbishop lost no time in urging that there could be no true education without a religions basis, and that it was not just that his co-religionists should be taxed to support a system of education that their conscience would not permit them to use. During his episcopacy of almost 30 years there was no wavering from this position, but no government could be prevailed on to take up this cause. In the circumstances it was felt that every effort would have to be made to extend the Catholic schools, and in the first 20 years considerable progress was made. Between 1887 and 1907 the number of primary schools increased from 75 to 108, and the pupils from 12,000 to 24,000. Even greater progress followed, as by 1916 the number of students was nearing 30,000 and in addition there were 37 colleges and high schools with 4751 pupils. The founding of an affiliated college at the university was another project very near to Carr's heart. He saw the foundation stone of Newman College laid, but did not live to see its Completion.

Another important work was the completion of St Patrick's cathedral. When Carr came work had been in progress for some 30 years but much remained to be done. In March 1890 he brought the question before a small gathering and almost at once £10,000 was promised. At a general meeting held on 20 April this amount was doubled. Soon after a contract for £42,000 was signed, but the bursting of the land boom and the failure of many financial institutions made it impossible for any of the subscribers to carry out their promises. The archbishop travelled the country and met with a ready response, a cathedral fair was held at the Exhibition building, Melbourne, which in four weeks yielded £11,000, and by one way and another the crisis was surmounted. The building, save one tower and the spires, was completed free from debt, and on 31 October 1897 was solemnly and impressively consecrated.

Between 1893 and 1897 Carr on more than one occasion was drawn into controversy with representatives of the Church of England and the Rev. J. L. Rentoul of the Presbyterian Church. He proved himself to be a redoubtable controversialist, conducting his case with courtesy, dignity and ability. It was his custom to take counsel with others before entering on the battle, but he had no lack of personal equipment in carrying it on. By a man of his nature, however, controversy was carried on as a duty, it was in no way a pleasure to him. Unfortunately, when he allowed himself to be nominated for a seat on the council of the university of Melbourne, sufficient prejudice was left from old unhappy far off things to prevent his election. In April 1898 Carr visited Europe and returned in July 1899. In that year he took over the publication of the monthly journal Austral Light, and in 1907 was begun the long series of tracts published by the Australian Catholic Truth Society. To this society was entrusted the collection and publication of Carr's writings on controversial subjects, which appeared in 1907 in a volume of about 800 pages, under the title Lectures and Replies. In August 1908 he visited Rome and not long after his return he asked that a coadjutor might be appointed. In 1913 Dr Mannix was given this position and thenceforth Carr took less part in the direction of the affairs of the diocese. He died at Melbourne on 6 May 1917.

Carr was slightly over medium height and in his later years was heavily built. Tom Roberts the artist said he had the "typical head of a prelate". He was kindly and had great charity of mind. Roberts, who was not of his church, records that "speaking of the frailties and sins of people, he said he had never met a thoroughly bad man or woman. . . . He's a man you could tell anything to--except something trumpery". His kindness was especially evident in his dealings with children, the young priesthood, and nuns entering on their vocation. His powers as a controversialist and scholar have been already referred to, and as an administrator he was strong and able. He thoroughly realized his responsibilities and he could combine enthusiasm with sagacity and prudence. He had fully earned the love of his own people, he also earned the respect of his opponents, and his example did much to allay the bitterness of sectarian feeling that had previously been rife in Australia.

The Argus, Melbourne, 7 May 1917; The Advocate, Melbourne, 12 May 1917; The Catholic Encyclopaedia, vol. 10, p. 155; R. H. Croll, Tom Roberts, p. 68.

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CARRUTHERS, SIR JOSEPH HECTOR McNEIL (1857-1932),

premier of New South Wales,

son of John Carruthers, was born at Kiama, New South Wales, on 21 December 1857. His father was unable to pay for secondary education, and the boy was sent to the William-street and Fort-street superior public schools. After a short term at the Goulburn high school, he went on to the university of Sydney and graduated B.A. in 1876. Two years later he took his M.A. degree and was admitted to practise as a solicitor. For some years he followed this profession and in 1887 was elected a member of the legislative assembly for Canterbury. In March 1889, as minister of public instruction, he joined Parkes's (q.v.) last ministry and soon showed himself to be an energetic administrator. He took a special interest in technical schools, and especially the Ultimo technical college which afterwards established a great reputation. Parkes resigned in October 1891, but when the G. H. Reid (q.v.) ministry was formed in August 1894 Carruthers was given the position of minister of lands and passed an important crown lands act in 1895. The act of 1861 had not solved the perennial troubles between the squatters and the selectors, but the new act made an important change by dividing pastoral leases into two, one half of which was to be available for free selectors while the pastoral lessee was able to obtain a long term for the other half. Another important thing was that the right of the crown tenants to the value of their improvements was recognized. Carruthers made an able speech in introducing this measure. In July 1899 he took over the position of treasurer but a few weeks later Reid was defeated and resigned.

Carruthers was an ardent federalist and was elected third on the list as one of the ten New South Wales representatives at the 1897 federal convention. At the Adelaide session held in March 1897 he was appointed a member of the constitutional committee, and when the draft constitution came to be considered by the various legislatures he, on 5 May 1898, introduced the bill in the legislative assembly of New South Wales. It was a difficult task as there was considerable opposition in that chamber, and various amendments were suggested. At the September meeting of the convention held in Sydney, the longest debate took place over the question of deadlocks, and Carruthers proposed, and carried by 28 votes to 13, a proposition that in certain circumstances there should be a joint sitting of both houses at which a three-fifths majority should carry the measure. This was afterwards altered, in 1899, to an absolute majority of the total number of the members of both houses. At the Melbourne session held early in 1898 he fought vigorously for the irrigation rights of New South Wales.

With the coming of federation Reid went to the federal house and Carruthers became leader of the opposition in New South Wales in 1902. In August 1904 he was called upon to form a ministry and though he had a majority of only one in the house, his ministry never seemed to be in real danger during its term of office of over three years. As premier and treasurer he did admirable work and not only showed increasing surpluses each year, but at the same time succeeded in reducing taxation and railway rates. His local government act of 1906 was a notable achievement, and a beginning was made on the Burrinjuck irrigation dam. Between 1904 and 1907 closer settlement schemes made nearly six million acres available for settlement. He fought a strenuous election campaign in 1907, overtaxed his strength, and was obliged to retire temporarily from politics in September. In October 1908 he entered the legislative council and shortly afterwards was created K.C.M.G. Though he did not hold office again for many years, he was a power behind the scenes in the politics of his day. Much interested in primary production, he had model farms of his own in the south west of New South Wales, and he was chairman of a select committee on agriculture in 1920-1 which did valuable work. In April 1922 he joined the coalition ministry under Sir G. W. Fuller as vice-president of the executive council and leader of the upper house, and remained in office until June 1925. He died on 10 December 1932. He was twice married and was survived by Lady Carruthers, three sons and four daughters.

Carruthers had many interests. In his younger days he played both cricket and football for his university, and in later years became a leading bowler. He was chairman of the New South Wales cricket association and also of the board of Associated Race Clubs, a trustee of the art gallery and a member of the university senate. For 21 years he represented the district which contained the spot where Captain Cook landed in Australia. By his efforts a large area there was set aside as a national park about the close of the century. In 1908 he wrote a letter to The Times which led to the erection of a statue of Captain Cook in London, and afterwards on his suggestion the territorial government of Hawaii dedicated to the public the land surrounding the bay where Cook was killed. He also came to the conclusion that Cook's name required vindicating in some directions and in 1930 John Murray published for him his Captain James Cook, R.N. One Hundred and fifty years after. In these as in other things Carruthers showed that he belonged to the type of man who, seeing the necessity for something being done immediately does it. Few premiers of New South Wales succeeded in doing so much distinguished work. Early in his career Parkes recognized his untiring energy and ability, and, if his comparatively frail body had allowed him, he might have done even more remarkable work for his own state or for the Commonwealth.

An elder brother, the Rev. James E. Carruthers, D.D., had a distinguished career in the Methodist Church. Born at York-street, Sydney, in 1848, he entered the ministry in 1868, did circuit work for 46 years, was president of the New South Wales Wesleyan Methodist conference in 1895, president of the New South Wales Methodist conference in 1913 and president of the general conference of the Methodist Church of Australasia from 1917 to 1920. For about 20 years he edited the Methodist and was author of Memoirs of an Australian Ministry (1922), and other works. He died on 15 September 1932.

Sydney Morning Herald, 12 December 1932, 16 September 1932; The Daily Telegraph, Sydney, 1 October 1907; G. H. Reid, My Reminiscences; B. R. Wise, The Making of the Australian Commonwealth; Quick and Garran, The Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth; P. Mennell, The Dictionary of Australasian Biography.

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CARSTENSZ or CARSTENSZOON, JAN (15??-16??), called Jan Carstens in the Dutch dictionary of biography,

Dutch navigator, appears to be known only for his voyage to the Gulf of Carpentaria.

[ also refer to Jan CARSTENSZ page at Project Gutenberg Australia]

At the end of 1622 he was instructed to extend the exploration of the Duyfken under William Jansz (q.v.), and on 21 January 1623 left Amboyna and sailed towards New Guinea in the yacht Pera accompanied by another small vessel, the Aernem or Arnhem. On 11 February a landing was made on the coast of New Guinea, and the master of the Aernem and 10 others were killed in conflict with the natives. At the end of March it was decided to go south and on 12 April Australia was sighted somewhere near Port Musgrave. Proceeding south, men were sent on shore at intervals, but though good soil was found there was little fresh water, and nothing fit for the use of man. On 24 April, near the extreme south of the Gulf of Carpentaria, a tablet was put up recording the visit, and two days later they turned north again and on 14 May were near the mouth of the Jardine River a few miles south-west of Cape York. Carstensz very nearly discovered the passage between Cape York and New Guinea but met adverse winds and decided to return. On 8 June 1623 Amboyna was reached, and Carstensz then disappears from our knowledge. The Dutch dictionary of biography has not got even the years of his birth and death. He was evidently a competent navigator and an intelligent man. His report on the country and its natives gives a good summary of the existing conditions, but its effect was to discourage further exploration.

A. W. Jose, Builders and Pioneers of Australia; A. J. Van der Aa, Biographisch Woordenboek der Nederlanden, vol. III; G. Arnold Wood, The Discovery of Australia.

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CARTER, HERBERT JAMES (1858-1940),

entomologist,

son of James Carter, was born at Marlborough, Wiltshire, England, on 23 April 1858, and educated at Aldenham school and at Jesus College, Cambridge. Coming to Australia in 1881 he was a mathematical master at Sydney Grammar School until 1891, when he became principal of Ascham girls' school until 1914. Becoming interested in the study of the Coleoptera, he joined the Linnean Society of New South Wales, was a member of its council from 1920 to 1939, and its president in 1925-6. He was joint editor of The Australian Encyclopaedia which was published in 1925-6. He was able to obtain the help of the leading scientists of Australia and their articles formed a large and valuable part of this publication. In his own work Carter gave much attention to matters of synonymy, and published a number of check-lists of the families. He died suddenly at Sydney on 16 April 1940. About fifty of his papers are listed in Musgrave's Bibliography of Australian Entomology 1775-1930, but Carter continued working almost up to the day of his death. He married Antoinette Charlotte Moore and was survived by two sons and two daughters. A man of charming personality, Carter was much esteemed by his scientific colleagues. Many of them are mentioned in his Gulliver in the Bush, published in 1933, a record of his collecting trips in Australia. He was honorary entomologist to the Australian Museum, Sydney, for some years. He disposed of one collection of Coleoptera to the national museum, Melbourne, and a later collection was given to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research at Canberra. One of Carter's sons Lieut.-Colonel Herbert Gordon Carter, born in 1885, fought in the 1914-18 war, was three times mentioned in dispatches, and was awarded the D.S.O. He was for a time chief electrical engineer in the New South Wales department of works.

Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, vol. LXVI, p. 11; A. Musgrave, Bibliography of Australian Entomology; Who's Who in Australia, 1941.

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CASH, MARTIN (1810-1877),

bushranger,

was born at Enniscorthy, Wexford, Ireland, in 1810. His father was in comfortable circumstances but was indolent, the boy's education was neglected, and he fell into dissipated habits. When 17 years of age he became jealous of a young girl he had been courting, and shot at and wounded a young man who was with her. He was sentenced to seven years transportation and arrived at Sydney in February 1828. He worked as an assigned servant for several years in New South Wales and went to Hobart in 1837. He travelled across Tasmania, fell into the hands of the police for stealing, and eventually was sentenced to four years at Port Arthur. He succeeded in escaping but was recaptured and sentenced to 18 months in irons. Escaping again with two companions, Kavanagh and Jones, clothing and fire-arms were stolen, and several months of depredation in the bush followed. All attempts to capture the gang failed. Cash made a visit to Hobart, was recognized and captured, but not before he had shot a constable who was trying to arrest him. Sentenced to death he was reprieved though both of his companions were afterwards executed. Having been sent to Norfolk Island his good conduct as a prisoner led to the remission of his sentence and appointment as a constable. He returned to Hobart and was placed in charge of the government gardens. He afterwards went to New Zealand for four years and, having saved some money, returned to Tasmania and bought a small farm near Hobart. In 1870 appeared The Adventures of Martin Cash, comprising a faithful account of his exploits while a bushranger under arms in Tasmania in company with Kavanagh and Jones in the year 1843. Edited by James Lester Burke. Later editions were issued under the title Martin Cash The Bushranger of Van Diemen's Land in 1843-4. He is stated in his later life to have had the goodwill of all, and he died on his farm on 26 August 1877.

It is difficult to understand why Cash escaped execution, but he was less brutal and callous than most bushrangers of his period, and this seems to have acted in his favour. His memoir, which was probably written by Burke, has made him better known than other desperadoes of his time.

Martin Cash, The Bushranger of Van Diemen's Land in 1843-4, fourth impression; The Mercury, Hobart, 28 August 1877.

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CATCHPOLE, MARGARET (1762-1819),

adventuress,

was born at Nacton, Suffolk, on 14 March 1762. Her father, Jonathan Catchpole, was a head ploughman. When little more than a child she rode bareback into Ipswich to obtain a doctor, guiding the horse with a halter. She went out to service and fell in love with a sailor named William Laud, who joined a band of smugglers. He was endeavouring to persuade her to go off in a boat with him when another admirer of Margaret, John Barry, came to her assistance and in the fight which followed, Barry was shot by Laud. He recovered, but a price was put on his assailant's head. In May 1793 Margaret obtained a place with Mrs John Cobbold, wife of a rich brewer at Ipswich, and while with Mrs Cobbold, Margaret's courage and resource saved three children from death. Laud in the meantime had been pressed into the navy and was away for some years. In 1797, Margaret was told by a man named Cook that Laud was back in London, and he persuaded Margaret to steal a horse and ride it to London to meet her former lover, Cook's intention being to sell the horse for his own benefit. Margaret rode the horse over the 70 miles to London in nine hours, but was promptly arrested for its theft. She pleaded guilty at her trial, and after evidence regarding her previous good character had been given, was asked if she had anything to say why sentence of death should not be passed upon her. She spoke with firmness, regretting her fault but not praying for mercy. Even when the death sentence was pronounced she did not give way until she saw her old father crying in the court. Her sentence was commuted to transportation for seven years. She was an exemplary prisoner and set such a good example to the other prisoners that there was some hope of her comparatively early release. She discovered, however, that Laud was a fellow prisoner. They succeeded in meeting, and Laud suggested a ay of scaling the wall by way placing a clothes horse against it, standing on it, and attaching a rope to one of the spikes. Margaret had some money hidden, which Laud had given her some years before, and she arranged with a relative that part of this should be used to pay Laud's fine and thus free him. She succeeded in scaling the wall and met Laud, but they were intercepted on the seashore just as a boat was approaching to take them off. Laud fired on the authorities and was killed, and Margaret was taken back to prison. She was tried for gaol-breaking and again condemned to death. This sentence was on the judge's recommendation commuted to transportation for life. She arrived in Sydney on the Nile on 15 December 1801.

Margaret Catchpole's life in Australia was uneventful. She was assigned as a servant to John Palmer who had arrived with the first fleet as purser on the Sirius and was now a prosperous man. After the death of her lover Margaret had resolved never to marry and in Sydney she refused the addresses of George Caley (q.v.). Later she was employed as the overseer of a farm, and while in the country became a midwife, and also kept a small farm of her own. She was on ticket of leave, but there is no record of her having been pardoned. She was happy and respected, and in a letter written to England in about 1807 she says with pardonable pride "all my quantances are my betters"--she had little education and her spelling was always her own. Little is known about the last 10 years of her life, but she continued her nursing, died on 13 May 1819, and was buried in the graveyard of St Peter's church at Richmond, New South Wales. In 1841 the Rev. Richard Cobbold made her the subject of a novel, The History of Margaret Catchpole, which has often been reprinted. In the preface the author said: "The public may depend upon the truth of the main features of this narrative", but some writers, including the Rev. M. G. Watkins, author of the memoir in the Dictionary of National Biography, have taken this too literally. Margaret was quite uneducated, but Cobbold made her speak and write as a well-educated woman throughout the book. Watkins also accepted the story of her marriage in 1812 and that she did not die until 1841. He suggests that he knew the name of her husband but withheld it in accordance with Margaret's wishes. It is clear too from a supplement to a later edition of his book dated 1858 that Cobbold also believed that Margaret Catchpole married and had children. On the other hand the entry in the register of burials at Richmond is quite detailed. "Margaret Catchpole, aged 58 years, came prisoner in the Nile, in the year 1801. Died May 13; was buried May 14, 1819."--Henry Fulton. In a letter dated 2 September 1811 Margaret stated that she would be 50 on 14 March next (1812), the year of her supposed marriage (Barton, True Story, p. 163). If the story of her marriage is to be accepted two unlikely things must be believed, that marrying at 50 she left descendants, and that she was buried in her maiden name. In all probability her story was confused with that of Mary Reiby. No one can write about Margaret Catchpole and be quite confident about the facts of her life. It may be said, however, that at a time when there was much drinking and loose living in Sydney, and women in her position were exposed to many temptations, she preferred a quiet and decent life. Somehow or other there emerges from the fog which covers much of her story, the figure of a simple, courageous, uncomplaining woman, of unalterable faithfulness and fine character.

G. B. Barton, The True Story of Margaret Catchpole; R. Cobbold, The History of Margaret Catchpole; F. J. F. Jackson, Social Life in England 1750-1850. (This writer states definitely that Margaret Catchpole never married.)

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CHAFFEY, GEORGE (1848-1932),

pioneer of irrigation in Australia,

was born at Brockville, Canada, on 28 January 1848. His father, George Chaffey, was engaged in the Lakeside trade, building and owning his own ships and tugs. He married Anne, daughter of Christopher Leggo, a well-known lawyer in Canada. The family moved to Kingston, and the boy was educated at the Kingston Grammar School. His health was not good and he was taken from school when only 13. He was, however, an omnivorous reader, especially of books dealing with mechanical devices. Later on he worked on one of his father's steamers and obtained his certificate as an engineer. When 19 he went to Toronto and entered an insurance office to obtain business experience, and presently met Annette McCord, daughter of the city chamberlain, and married her on 31 May 1869. He returned to Kingston, was taken into his father's business, and began building ships. Some of the steamers he designed became famous for their combination of speed, light draught, and carrying capacity. In 1878 his father retired and went to live in California, and when his son visited him in 1880 he at once became interested in irrigation. In 1882, with his brother William Benjamin Chaffey (q.v.), he formed the Etiwanda Irrigation Colony, the first Californian settlement watered by a cement pipe line system. Chaffey became associated with L. M. Holt, an exceedingly able man of the period, and together they worked out a scheme to put order into the then chaotic state of water rights. He became interested in electric lighting and was president and engineer of the Los Angeles Electric Company which made Los Angeles the first city to be exclusively lighted by electricity. He also installed the first long distance telephone in California. Towards the end of 1882 a more ambitious venture, the founding of the settlement of Ontario was begun. Its success was largely due to the fact that Chaffey realized that much of the water that came from the mountains percolated underground. This supply he successfully tapped by boring. In 1903 Ontario was selected as a standard irrigation settlement by the United States government, which had a model of it prepared for the St Louis world's fair held in 1904. In 1885 Alfred Deakin (q.v.), who had gone to California to report on irrigation, met Chaffey and his brother, and was much impressed by their work at Ontario. The suggestion was made that there might be an opening for the brothers in Australia, and about the end of the year they sent a representative to Australia, who assured his principals that they would be able to obtain unlimited land from the Australian government in return for the introduction of scientific irrigation. Chaffey immediately left for Melbourne and arrived on 13 February 1886. He was sufficiently encouraged by his reception to send immediately for his brother. He eventually fixed on the district where is now the thriving town of Mildura. It was then part of a waterless region, except that the Murray bounded one side of it, covered with mallee scrub and inhabited chiefly by rabbits. But Chaffey knew that and country in California had responded marvellously to water, and on 21 October 1886 he signed an agreement which was the beginning of successful irrigation in Australia. Chaffey said that Deakin, acting on behalf of the colony of Victoria, drove a hard bargain with him, but a section of the opposition in parliament bitterly fought against its ratification. Eventually difficulties were overcome and a start made. By 1890 there were 3000 residents at Mildura. But all were not suitable for the work, the nearest rail-head was 150 miles away, the land boom was bursting in Melbourne, and the general feeling of optimism was departing. By 1892 Mildura had outgrown its strength, and in 1893 the bank crisis led to a long-continued depression. Difficulties arose with the settlers about the payment of water-rates, and it looked as if the settlement was doomed to failure. A companion settlement at Renmark over the South Australian border had caused some division of interest, and George Chaffey was also tempted into undertaking another venture at Werribee, near Melbourne, which proved a failure. Disaffection grew among the settlers, and eventually the position of the Chaffeys at Mildura became intolerable, and it was impossible in the then state of the money market to finance the venture to any further extent. Chaffey Brothers Limited was wound up at the end of 1895. It was no longer solvent and the Chaffeys were ruined. George Chaffey left Australia early in 1897. In 1898 he went back to Ontario which was in some difficulty about its water-supply. He soon found fresh springs and devised a system of tunnelling which saved the settlement and enabled Chaffey at 50 years of age to make a fresh start in life. In 1899 the Californian Development Company gave him another opportunity. For years it had been wrestling with the problem of how to deal with a huge area of nearly level land, which would undoubtedly be of great value if it could be irrigated. Chaffey succeeded in constructing the Imperial Canal in less than 18 months, and what had once been a 1,000,000 acre desert became valuable land on which 70,000 people were to settle within a generation. In 1902 Chaffey began his last irrigation project, the development of the east Whittier-La Habra valley about 20 miles from Los Angeles, which became a most successful citrus growing centre. He then turned his attention to banking until his retirement in 1917. He died on 1 March 1932. He was survived by three sons, Andrew, founder and president of the California Bank, Los Angeles, Benjamin, a successful pastoralist in Australia, and Lieut.-Colonel John Burton, a vice-president of the California Bank. His wife had died in 1917.

Though delicate as a boy George Chaffey grew into a big man with a heavy beard, and keen eyes, conscious of his own ability, and never lacking in courage. He had a wonderful capacity for sizing up what could possibly be done, and then finding the shortest road to its attainment. When the Mildura project was apparently wrecked a royal commission found that the principal cause of the failure was the bad financial management of the company. That was not a correct finding; the causes were many, but probably the most important was the financial crisis which culminated in the closing of the banks in 1893. The characters of the Chaffey brothers were untouched. No one questioned the honesty of George Chaffey when he left Australia, apparently a ruined man, and the men who had been closest in touch with him, such as Deakin, and his solicitor, Theodore Fink (q.v.), honoured him most. From the point of view of actual achievement George Chaffey was one of the greatest men that ever came to Australia. His monuments are the thriving settlements of Etiwanda, Ontario, Mildura, Renmark, Imperial Valley, and La Habra.

J. A. Alexander, The Life of George Chaffey; The Argus, Melbourne, 4 March 1932.

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CHAFFEY, WILLIAM BENJAMIN (1856-1926),

pioneer of irrigation in Australia,

younger brother of George Chaffey (q.v.), was born at Brockville, Canada, on 21 October 1856. He was the third son of George and Anne Chaffey and emigrated with his father to California in 1878. There he took up fruit-growing with success, and soon afterwards became associated with his brother George in forming the Etiwanda Irrigation Colony. Towards the end of 1882 the brothers founded the settlement of Ontario. At the end of 1885 W. E. Chaffey followed his brother to Australia, and as Chaffey Brothers Limited they were inseparably connected with the foundation of Mildura and Renmark, George as engineer and William as business manager. After their failure, and George had returned to America, William stayed at Mildura and inspired the other settlers with the example of his hard work, and his cheerfulness under misfortune. Gradually he paid off his liabilities to the government and private creditors, and became the leader of everything that was for the good of the town. He became known as he "father of Mildura", not only because he was one of the original founders, but on account of the determination with which he had carried the settlement through its troubles. Realizing the difficulties of marketing and the dangers of cut-throat competition, he formed and became first president of the Australian Dried Fruits Association and he was also mayor of Mildura and president of the local horticultural and agriculture society. He was made a C.M.G. in 1924 and was everywhere held in the highest esteem. He died on 4 June 1926 and was survived by his widow, three sons and three daughters.

J. A. Alexander, The Life of George Chaffey; The Age and The Argus, Melbourne, 5 June 1926.

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CHALLIS, JOHN HENRY (1809-1880),

university benefactor,

the son of an officer in the army, was born in England in 1809. He came to Sydney in 1829 and entered the office of Marsden and Flower, merchants. In 1842 the firm was reorganized under the name of Flower, Salting and Company, when Challis was admitted as a junior partner. The business became very prosperous, and in 1855 Challis retired and went to England. He visited Australia in 1859 and about this time subscribed £700 for the stained glass window in the Great Hall of the university of Sydney, known as the royal window. Returning to Europe Challis spent much of his time in travelling, and died in France on 28 February 1880 (Aust. Encyc.). He was buried at Folkestone, England. Under his will the whole of his residuary estate was left to the university of Sydney, subject to a tenure until death or re-marriage of his widow, and a provision that the estate should accumulate for five years after such death or re-marriage. In 1890 a sum of about £200,000 was handed to the senate, which 50 years later, partly by increases in value of land and the falling off of annuities, had increased to £376,000. The income from the fund has provided for seven professorships and several lectureships. The bequest, however, meant more than that. When it was made public it created much interest in the university, the senate adopted an extended scheme of teaching, and the government increased the amount of the annual grant by £5000. A portrait of Challis is in the Great Hall of the university, and there is also a marble statue of him.

P. Mennell, The Dictionary of Australasian Biography; H. E. Barff, A Short Historical Account of the University of Sydney; Calendar of the University of Sydney, 1940.

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CHALMERS, JAMES (1841-1901),

missionary,

was born at Ardrishaig, Argyleshire, Scotland, on 4 August 1841, the son of a stonemason. He went to a good elementary school at Glenaray, and then to the grammar school for about a year when he was 13. He then was employed in a lawyer's office at Inverary, and before he was 20 decided to become a missionary. In 1861 he joined the Glasgow City Mission, and eight months later was sent by the London Missionary Society to Cheshunt College near London to carry on his studies. He was a good student, though not a brilliant one, always ready for practical jokes, and already showing capacities for leadership. On 17 October 1865 he was married to Jane Hercus and two days later was ordained to the Christian ministry. It had been decided that he should go to the island of Rarotonga in the South Pacific. On 4 January 1866 he sailed to Australia in the missionary ship John Williams, arrived in May, and after a stay of three months left for the New Hebrides. It seemed as if Chalmers was destined not to reach his post. The ship ran on an uncharted rock and had to go back to Sydney to be repaired. It sailed again and was wrecked in January, though fortunately all on board were saved. This was not the last of Chalmer's adventures, but he eventually arrived at Rarotonga on 20 May 1867.

Chalmers was at first disappointed to find himself on an island which was partially christianized, but soon found there was much to be done. There was a good deal of drunkenness to be fought, and the directing of the natives energies into wiser practices. He learned the language, did much teaching, and became personally popular. He was heaping up experience to be used in his later work, but he felt a strong urge to devote his life to more untutored men. In 1877 he had his desire and was sent to New Guinea, then almost an unknown land, and with his wife arrived at Port Moresby on 22 October 1877. During the following nine years he explored much of southern New Guinea, often in danger of his life, everywhere the peace-maker. In 1885 Work and Adventure in New Guinea 1877 to 1885, written in collaboration with W. Wyatt Gill, was published in London, and in 1886 under Chalmers's name appeared Adventures in New Guinea. A year later Pioneering in New Guinea was published. He had a year's leave in Great Britain in 1886-7 and much interest in his work was aroused. After his return to New Guinea he did a great deal of exploring, and gained an intimate knowledge of much of the country and of the natives. When British New Guinea was made a colony in 1888 Chalmers and his fellow missionary, the Rev. W. G. Lawes (q.v.), explained the meaning of the functions held to the chiefs. It had been decided that the colony should be governed in the best interests of the natives. It was no doubt largely the influence of the missionaries that made the deportation of the natives illegal, and caused the introduction of intoxicants, opium, fire-arms and explosives, to be forbidden. In 1893 Chalmers explored part of the Fly River in a steam launch, but found the natives extremely hostile. He had another furlough in 1894-5 and did much speaking in Great Britain. He also published Pioneer Life and Work in New Guinea, of which a considerable amount had appeared in earlier books. Back at his work in 1896, he was anxious to further explore the Fly River and established himself for some time at Saguane off the Fly River delta. In April 1900 he was joined by a young missionary, the Rev. Oliver F. Tomkins. A year later he was on a vessel with Tomkins near the island of Goariebari, and was visited by natives who appeared to be in a dangerous mood. Chalmers resolved to go ashore and Tomkins insisted on going with him. Both men were killed on 7 April 1901. There is a stained glass window to their memory in the college chapel at Vatorato. Chalmers's first wife died in 1879. In 1888 he married Elizabeth Harrison, a widow, who had been a friend of his first wife. She died in 1900. There were no children by either marriage.

Chalmers, always known by the natives as Tamate, was an adventurous man of great tact and charm, who if he knew what fear was never showed it. His complete sincerity and frank generous nature brought him friends everywhere, both among the natives and the whites. He was a great missionary, but his work had other important effects. He opened up communications with the natives not only along the coastline but often well into the interior, and inspired them with a confidence in the white man which has been of the greatest value in the government of New Guinea ever since.

R. Lovett, James Chalmers His Autobiography and Letters; R. Lovett, Tamate; and Lives by C. Lennox, A. Small, C. Stuart Ross, W. P. Nairne and W. Robson; J. King, W. G. Lawes of Savage Island and New Guinea; C. B. Fletcher, The New Pacific.

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CHAMBERS, CHARLES HADDON (1860-1921),

dramatist,

was born at Sydney on 22 April 1860. His father, John Ritchie Chambers, who had a good position in the New South Wales civil service, came from Ulster, his mother, Frances, daughter of William Kellett, from Waterford. The boy was educated at the Petersham, Marrickville, and Fort-street schools, but found routine study irksome and showed no special promise. He entered the lands department at 15 but did not stay long. After a period in the outback he visited England in 1880, and on his return was in the managerial department of a theatrical company. He finally went to London in 1882. He had no friends and had to try a variety of occupations in order to make a bare living. In 1884 his first story was accepted, and other work appeared in popular magazines of the period. In 1886 a one-act play, One of Them, was acted in London and another curtain-raiser, The Open Gate, was played at the Comedy Theatre in 1887. His first real success was Captain Swift, which was produced by Beerbohm Tree at the Haymarket in the autumn of 1888. This had a good run and was played all over England, in America, and in Australia. He had another success with The Idler which was produced in 1890. His next three plays The Honourable Herbert, The Old Lady, and The Pipes of Peace did not please the public, but John-O-Dreams, first played in 1894. was successful. In 1899 his best play, The Tyranny of Tears, was produced by Wyndham and has since been frequently revived. Among his later plays Passers By and The Saving Grace are possibly the best. Chambers retained his interest in Australia and often spoke of returning but never did so. He died at London on 28 March 1921. He was twice married, and was survived by his second wife, originally Pepita Bobadilla, and a daughter of the first marriage.

Chambers as a young man looked even younger than he was. He had the wandering temperament, and everywhere he went he talked with his fellow-men, whatever their position in life might be. He carried with him a certain brightness and vivacity and an unfailing zest for life. His first successful play Captain Swift is stilted in its dialogue. Ibsen's influence on English drama had scarcely begun; but it had a sense of the theatre and played well. Chambers's diction was much improved in his later plays and The Tyranny of Tears is an excellent piece of controlled humour, with a shrewd and convincing study of a certain type of woman. Generally his good sense of character and stagecraft placed him at the head of the Australian dramatists born in the nineteenth century.

Chambers's brother, Harry Kellett Chambers, born at Sydney in 1867, was a pressman in Australia and London, but went to New York in 1891 and was the author of several plays, including A Case of Frenzied Finance, The Butterfly and Betsy.

The Times, 29 March 1921; The Sydney Morning Herald, 30 March 1921; P. Mennell, The Dictionary of Australasian Biography; Who's Who in the Theatre, 1925.

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CHAMP, WILLIAM THOMAS NAPIER (1808-1892),

first premier of Tasmania,

was born at Maldon, Essex, England, on 15 April 1808, the son of Captain Thomas Champ and his wife Mary Anne Blackaller. He was related on his mother's side to the well-known Napier and Lawrence families. Educated at the military school, Sandhurst, he entered the army at 18 as an ensign and rose to be adjutant. He came to Sydney with his regiment in October 1828 and went to Tasmania in the following year. Towards the end of 1830, as a lieutenant, he took part in the attempt to segregate the Tasmanian aborigines. Champ afterwards resigned his commission and was appointed an assistant police magistrate. He succeeded Captain Booth in charge of Port Arthur. He held this position for some years and then retired on a pension. While not neglecting discipline Champ endeavoured to treat the convicts with humanity. In 1852 he succeeded H. S. Chapman (q.v.) as colonial secretary, and held this position until responsible government was established in 1856. In September of that year Champ was elected as one of the representatives of Launceston in the legislative assembly, and retiring from his position of colonial secretary, received a bonus of £6000 instead of a pension. On 1 November he became premier and colonial secretary in the first Tasmanian ministry, but resigned a few weeks later on 26 February 1857. Shortly afterwards he was offered the post of inspector-general of penal establishments in Victoria. He held this position until the end of 1868 when he retired on a pension. While in charge of this department he introduced woollen weaving, the making of mats and other industries into Pentridge gaol, and showed general ability as an administrator. He also took much interest in the volunteer forces in which he reached the rank of lieutenant-colonel. After his retirement he lived in the country. In 1871 he represented East Bourke boroughs for a short period in the Victorian legislative assembly. He died at Melbourne on 25 August 1892. He married in 1837 Helen Abigail Gibson.

The Argus, Melbourne, 27 August 1892; P. Mennell, The Dictionary of Australasian Biography; J. Fenton, A History of Tasmania, pp. 287-92; J. W. Beattie, Port Arthur.

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CHAMPION, HENRY HYDE (1859-1928),

social reformer and journalist,

was the son of Major-General J. H. Champion, and was born in India on 22 January 1859. He was educated at Marlborough College and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, and entering the army fought with the artillery in the Afghan war. He resigned his commission and joined the socialist movement in 1882, became honorary secretary of the social democratic federation, and wrote and worked for a socialist paper, Justice. In 1886 with John Burns, H. M. Hyndman and J. Williams he was indicted for sedition in connexion with the Trafalgar Square riots, but was acquitted. Champion was also conducting a paper called To-Day, and in 1885-6 Bernard Shaw's early novel Cashel Byron's Profession appeared in it as a serial. It was published separately by Champion in 1886. This was the first work of Shaw's published in book form. In 1889 Champion was one of the leaders of the dock labourers' strike, to the funds of which a large sum was sent from Australia. Soon afterwards he had a disagreement with some of his fellow socialists, broke away, and for a time was assistant-editor of the Nineteenth Century. He stood as an independent candidate for the house of commons at Aberdeen, but, though he polled fairly well, was defeated and soon afterwards went to Melbourne. In 1895 he established a weekly paper the Champion which lasted until 1897, and he also published in Melbourne in 1895 The Root of the Matter, a series of dialogues on social questions. This book which gave a very reasonable and moderate statement of the socialist position attracted less attention than it deserved. Champion could not, however, find his place in politics in Australia. He could not see eye to eye with the Labour party, and a statement, possibly made in haste, that this party consisted of lions led by asses did not help the position. He was an unsuccessful candidate for South Melbourne for the Victorian legislative assembly, and then settled down as a leader writer for The Age. His wife successfully conducted the Book Lovers' Library and Bookshop, and in connexion with this Champion published an interesting literary monthly paper, the Book Lover, which ran from 1899 to 1921. He had a long period of ill-health before his death at Melbourne on 30 April 1928. He married Elsie Belle, daughter of Lieut.-Colonel Goldstein, who survived him. He had no children.

Champion did not fulfil in Australia the promise of his early years. He had much ability and a pleasant personality, but his way in politics was barred because he was unable to completely conform to the policies of any of the parties. He interested himself in social movements, was a foundation member of the anti-sweating league, and he organized the first appeal which resulted in the foundation of the Queen Victoria hospital for women and children. He also founded the Australasian authors' agency and published a few volumes of books with literary merit.

The Age, 1 May 1928; The Argus, 2 May 1928: The Herald, 1 May 1928; H. M. Hyndman, The Record of an Adventurous Life; G. B. Shaw, Preface to Cashel Byron's Profession; A. J. A. Symons, The Quest for Corvo, which tells how Champion befriended F. W. Rolfe known as Baron Corvo; Morley Roberts, W. H. Hudson, A Portrait, which says of Champion that he "was ever a good talker and good at everything but his own affairs; the staunchest friend and wisest", p. 71; Bibliography of G. B. Shaw, Supplement to the Bookman's Journal, 1925; E. Morris Miller, Australian Literature; personal knowledge and private information.

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CHAPMAN, HENRY SAMUEL (1803-1881),

judge and politician,

son of an English civil servant, was born at Kennington, London, on 21 July 1803 and was educated at Bromley, Kent. He first entered a bank but in 1823 emigrated to Canada and went into business there. In 1833 he started the first daily newspaper at Montreal, and in 1835 returned to England as a delegate to the British government for the redress of popular grievances. He remained in England for some time and took up the study of law. His obituary notice in The Times stated that he was admitted to the bar of the Middle Temple in 1840, but five years earlier he had published The Act for the Regulation of Municipal Corporations . . . with a complete index and notes, which suggests some earlier qualifications. He was contributing to the reviews and to the seventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and in 1843 published the New Zealand Portfolio, Papers on Subjects of Importance to the Colonists. In this year he was appointed a judge of the supreme court of New Zealand and was stationed at Wellington until 1852. He was then sent to Tasmania as colonial secretary, but a few months later, as a nominee member of the council, left the chamber when a vote on the transportation question was being taken. Governor Denison (q.v.) held that as a representative of the government in the legislative council Chapman should have supported its transportation policy and virtually dismissed him, though he gave him leave of absence on half pay until the question could be referred to the secretary of state. The governor's action was confirmed and Chapman went to Melbourne in 1854 and practised as a barrister. In 1855 he was elected a member of the legislative council, and early in 1856 drafted the bill which brought in the ballot system of secret voting, afterwards known as the Australian system and adopted by other countries all over the world. The Encyclopaedia Britannica, 14th edition, states that it was first brought in in South Australia, but the Australian Encyclopaedia, which has a good short history of the movement under "ballot", points out that it became law in Victoria on 19 March 1856 and in South Australia on 2 April 1856; though the South Australian proposals had been made first. In Victoria there were very vague ideas about the working of a secret system of voting. Chapman's special contribution was that he devised a method that was workable, and drafted the first bill to become law in any part of the world. Under it the voter struck out the name of any candidate he did not desire to be elected, and this procedure was followed in Victoria until federation came in. Though without a seat in parliament, he had been defeated at an election at St Kilda, Chapman was attorney-general in the first O'Shanassy (q.v.) ministry for a few weeks in 1857, and securing the St Kilda seat in December, in the following March was asked to form a ministry. This was done with O'Shanassy as premier and Chapman as attorney-general. This government resigned on 27 October 1859. In 1860 Chapman was a lecturer in law at the university of Melbourne, and in 1861 he was elected to the legislative assembly for Mornington. He resigned his seat in February 1862 to become an acting-judge of the supreme court of Victoria, while Barry (q.v.) took a year's leave of absence. In March 1864 Chapman was appointed a judge of the supreme court of New Zealand. He was stationed at Dunedin, retired in 1875, and died on 27 December 1881. He married (1) in 1840 a daughter of J. G. Brewer, who was drowned in the London in 1866 with some of his children, and (2) Miss Carr who survived him with at least three sons of the first marriage. One of these, Sir Frederick Revans Chapman, born at Wellington in 1849 and educated at the Church of England Grammar School, Melbourne, and in Europe, became a supreme court judge in New Zealand, and president of the court of arbitration. He was knighted in 1923 and died in 1936.

The Argus, Melbourne, 29 December 1881; The Times, 15 February 1882; P. Mennell, The Dictionary of Australasian Biography; The Victorian Historical Magazine, June 1917; Sir Ernest Scott, A History of the University of Melbourne; Calendars the University of Melbourne, 1860-2; J. Fenton, A History of Tasmania, pp. 240-1.

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CHAPMAN, THOMAS DANIEL (c. 1815-1884),

premier of Tasmania,

was born at Bedford, England, probably in 1815, ,came to Australia about 1844 and established a business at Hobart. He became a leading merchant and in 1848 was working actively in opposition to transportation. He was elected to the legislative council as a member for Hobart at the end of 1850, and in September 1856 became a member of the house of assembly at the first election under responsible government. When Champ (q.v.) formed the first ministry Chapman was colonial treasurer, and almost at once found that the estimated revenue for the year had been £330,000 but that only £250,000 had been realized. His proposed remedies, increase in taxation and reductions in salaries, caused much unpopularity. The defeat of the ministry in February 1857 threw the responsibility on other shoulders. After being in opposition for four and a half years Chapman became premier on 6 August 1861, and held office until 20 January 1863. He was also colonial treasurer from November 1862 to January 1863. He was colonial treasurer in the Dry (q.v.) ministry from 24 November 1866 to 4 August 1869 and in the succeeding Wilson (q.v.) ministry until 4 November 1872. In 1873 Chapman gave up his seat in the assembly to enter the legislative council. In August of that year he joined the Kennerley ,(q.v.) ministry and was colonial secretary until April 1876. He did not hold office again but was elected president of the legislative council on 11 July 1882 and died suddenly on 17 February 1884 in his sixty-ninth year. He married a Miss Swan who survived him with six sons and four daughters. Chapman was a vigorous speaker, a sound financier and good administrator, who took a leading part in the public life of Tasmania for nearly 40 years.

The Mercury, Hobart, 18 February 1884; P. Mennell, The Dictionary of Australasian Biography; J. Fenton, A History of Tasmania.

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CHEVALIER, NICHOLAS (1828-1902),

artist,

was born at St Petersburg, Russia, on 9 May 1828. His father, Louis Chevalier, came from Vaud, Switzerland, and was overseer to the estates of the Prince de Wittgenstein in Russia. Chevalier left Russia with his father in 1845, and studied painting and architecture in Switzerland and at Munich. In 1851 he went to London and worked as an illustrator in lithography. He also designed a fountain which was erected in the royal grounds at Osborne, and two of his paintings were hung at the Academy in 1852. Further study in painting followed at Rome. About the end of 1854 Chevalier sailed from London to Australia, and in August 1855 obtained work as a cartoonist on the newly established Melbourne Punch. Later on he did illustrative work for the Illustrated Australian News and also worked in chromo-lithography. In 1864, when the national gallery of Victoria was founded, an exhibition of pictures by Victorian artists was held, the government having undertaken to buy the best picture exhibited for £200. Chevalier's "The Buffalo Ranges" was selected, and was the first picture painted in Australia to be included in the Melbourne collection. In 1867 Chevalier visited New Zealand and did much work there which was exhibited at Melbourne on his return. In 1869 he joined the Galatea as an artist with the Duke of Edinburgh, on the voyage to the East and back to London The pictures painted during the voyage were exhibited at South Kensington.

In January 1874 Chevalier was commissioned by Queen Victoria to go to St Petersburg and paint a picture of the marriage of the Duke of Edinburgh. He was making London his headquarters and was a constant exhibitor at the Academy from 1871 to 1887. He had one picture in the 1895 Academy but had practically given up painting by then. He died at London on 15 March 1902. He is represented in the Melbourne, Sydney and Ballarat galleries. He married in 1855, Caroline Wilkie, a relative of Sir David Wilkie, who survived him.

Chevalier was a man of much personal charm, able to speak several languages, and a good amateur musician. He was a competent painter in both oil and water colour, but his Australian landscapes are over-loaded with detail, and he was unable to capture the characteristic light and atmosphere.

C. Chevalier, Nicholas Chevalier Peintre Vaudois; The Times, 18 March 1902; W. Moore, The Story of Australian Art; A. Graves, The Royal Academy Exhibitors.

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CHEWINGS, CHARLES (1859-1937),

geologist and anthropologist,

third son of John Chewings, was born at Woorkongoree near Mt Bryan, South Australia, on 16 April 1859. He was educated at Prince Alfred College, Adelaide, University College, London, and Heidelberg university. After engaging in sheep farming, Chewings in 1881 travelled to the Finke River in central Australia with two camels, and found them so useful that he imported more of them and started a carrying business. In 1886 he gave some account of his explorations in his The Sources of the Finke River. He went to Europe in 1898, studied geology at London and Heidelberg, and obtained the degree of Ph.D. After his return to Australia he was in Western Australia for some years reporting on mines, and going back to South Australia, began camel carrying again. He was much interested in the aborigines and made a careful study of them. After the war of 1914-18 he retired to Adelaide and contributed several scientific papers relating to central Australia to the Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of South Australia. He worked for some time on a dictionary of the Arunta language, and towards the end of 1936 published a good popular book on the aborigines, Back in the Stone Age. He died on 9 June 1937. He married in 1887, Miss F. M. Braddock, and there were two sons and two daughters of the marriage. Chewings was a fellow of the Geological Society of London and of the Berlin Geological Society.

Who's Who in Australia, 1933; The Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, vol. 94, p. 117; Transactions and Proceedings, Royal Society of South Australia, vol. LXI. p. 11.

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CHILDERS, HUGH CULLING EARDLEY (1827-1896),

founder of the university of Melbourne,

was born at London on 25 June 1827, the son of the Rev. Eardley Childers, who died when the boy was three years old. He had distinguished and remarkable people among his ancestors for some generations back. His mother, Maria Charlotte, the eldest daughter of Sir Culling Smith, was his father's cousin and was the descendant of a refugee from France. When Childers was seven years old his mother lived for a time in France and Italy, and the boy made an early acquaintance with both languages. On his return to England in 1836 he was sent to an excellent school at Cheam in Surrey, kept by the Rev. Charles Mayo, LL.D., an early follower of Pestalozzi. Leaving school in 1843 Childers had some private tuition, and in 1845 went to Wadham College, Oxford. A year later he transferred to Trinity College, Cambridge. His course there was interrupted by an illness, and he did not take his B.A. degree until 1850, when he was a senior optime in mathematics. He had for some time been engaged to be married and it was necessary to earn a living. The choice seemed to be between waiting for years while he established a practice as a barrister, or emigrating to a colony. Through a family connexion he learned from Lord Grey, then secretary for the colonies, that there were good prospects in the Port Phillip district. He married on 28 May 1850, on 10 July sailed for Australia, and arrived at Melbourne on 26 October, bearing a letter of introduction from Lord Grey to the superintendent, C. J. La Trobe (q.v.).

Childers had scarcely landed before he heard that applications were being called for an inspectorship of denominational schools. He immediately applied for the position, and in the meanwhile became a tally clerk on Cole's wharf on the Yarra. On 6 January 1851 he received his appointment as inspector of schools at a salary of £250 a year. On 19 July 1851 Childers submitted his first half-yearly report. He had visited about 100 schools in Melbourne and in country districts. His report was comprehensive, business-like, and full of wisdom. On 31 July he submitted a further report on the national school system. In October he mentions in a letter to his sister that at the moment he held four offices under the Crown. He had been appointed immigration agent at a salary Of £350 a year, and he was receiving £100 a year as secretary to the educational board. On 1 January 1852 he became one of the national commissioners of education. An education commission bill, largely based on Childer's reports, had just been brought before the legislative council, but had been withdrawn on account of religious difficulties. In July 1852 a select committee on education was appointed, before which Childers gave much valuable evidence. In 1853 another bill was brought in by the government, but sectarian difficulties again prevented its adoption. It was not until 1862 that a really comprehensive education act was passed, many of the important provisions of which had been recommended by Childers in 1851.

Childers had a great capacity for work. While almost everyone was rushing to the diggings, the value of an able, conscientious and hard-working official. such as Childers was, could hardly escape recognition. In October 1852 he was appointed auditor-general of the colony at a salary of £1200 a year. He was then only twenty-five years of age and had had no training in finance. An unwise system of advances to departments known as "imprests" introduced by him led to great extravagance and irregularities, and eventually a sum of £280,000 remained unaccounted for. Childers was better employed in educational projects. He had given much time to primary education and now gave his consideration to the founding of the university of Melbourne. Childers never claimed to have first suggested it. More than two years before, in July 1850, commenting on a letter written by Bishop Perry (q.v.), the editor of the Melbourne Morning Herald had said: "The colony is ripe for the establishment of a University", Childers, however, was the first man to do anything positive. He and (Sir) William Stawell (q.v.) worked together over the estimates introduced on 4 November 1852, which included £10,000 for the proposed university, and together they made the original draft, which is in Childers's writing, of the university bill. On 1 December Childers moved, in the legislative council, that a committee of seven should be appointed to consider the establishing of the university, and on 11 January 1853, as chairman of this committee, he submitted its report. This was approved and on the same date he brought in the "bill to establish and endow a University at Melbourne", which was passed practically without opposition. When the council of the university was appointed (Sir) Redmond Barry (q.v.) was appointed chancellor and Childers vice-chancellor. Another institution that owes much to Childers is the Melbourne public library, though we need not necessarily regard him as the founder of it. He himself said in a letter written in 1881: "I also proposed to Mr La Trobe to found the Public Library", but it is likely that Barry may have raised the question before Childers did so. However, it is certainly true that it was Childers who, in January 1853, proposed to the legislative council that £3000 should be provided for a public library. Later on the sum was increased to £10,000 for the building and £3000 for books. Childers was also one of the five members of the original board of trustees.

In December 1853 Childers was appointed collector of customs at a salary of £2000 a year. In 1855, after responsible government had been granted to Victoria, he became commissioner of trade and customs in the first Victorian ministry with Haines (q.v.) as premier, but was in office for only three months. In September 1856, he was elected for Portland in the legislative assembly, in 1857 was appointed "Agent for Victoria" in London, at a salary of £1200 a year, and on 14 March Mr and Mrs Childers and their four boys sailed for England. However, one of the first letters received on his arrival informed Childers that his position had not been confirmed, and that the appointment would cease at the end of the year. On 12 March 1858 he went to Melbourne as representative of the well-known bankers, Baring and Company, in connexion with a proposed government loan of £7,000,000 which, however, fell through. He stayed in Melbourne for only two months, and during that time was offered a partnership by Mr F. G. Dalgety, founder of the house of Dalgety and Company Limited. Childers and his wife were, however, both anxious to return to London, and they finally left Australia on 16 July 1858.

Back in England, Childers was advised to stand for the house of commons, and on 30 January 1860 he was returned for Pontefract. He kept in touch with the anti-transportation league in Australia, and used his influence in the successful fight against sending more convicts to Western Australia. For some years he was a kind of unofficial representative of Victoria, but in November 1862 (Sir) John O'Shanassy (q.v.) wrote to inform him that in future he was to be called the "Agent for Victoria". In 1864 he entered Lord Palmerston's government as a junior lord of the admiralty, and showed administrative ability, especially in the bringing in of an audit act which worked successfully and without amendment for many years. In December 1868 he became first lord of the admiralty. In September 1870 the loss of the Captain with his own son on board, and the worries connected with the inquiries into the disaster, coupled with the long official hours he worked, led to a breakdown in health in 1871, and his retirement from office. In August 1872, with health restored, he was back in the cabinet as chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. He resigned this position about a year later, and in February 1874 the Gladstone ministry was defeated at the general election. Out of office for the following six years, Childers spent much of his time in city business, being a director of several companies. In 1880 Gladstone came back to power and Childers became secretary of state for war. He was offered and declined the honour of G.C.B. in October 1882, and two months later became chancellor of the exchequer. He held this position until the defeat of the government in June 1885. At the next election he was defeated for Pontefract, but was returned for Edinburgh and became home secretary. On the defeat of Gladestone's home rule bill in June 1886, Childers finally went out of office. He retained his seat in the house of commons until his death at London on 29 January 1896. He was twice married (1) to Emily Walker, who died in 1875, (2) in 1879 to Mrs Elliot, who died in 1895. He was survived by his son, Lieut.-Colonel Spencer Childers, C.B., who wrote his life, and other sons and a daughter by the first marriage.

Childers was six feet high, and from middle life onwards, somewhat heavily built. He was not a great orator, scarcely more than a moderately good debater, but he had a remarkable grasp of detail, which made his speaking effective. He was an excellent administrator, and few men in the house of commons have held the successive offices of the admiralty, the war office, and the treasury with equal ability. Australia owes him a real debt for his work at Melbourne on primary education, the university and the public library.

Spencer Childers, The Life and Correspondence of the Right Hon. Hugh C. E. Childers; E. Sweetman, The Educational Activities in Victoria of the Right Hon. H. C. E. Childers; H. G. Turner, A History of the Colony of Victoria; G. W. Rusden, History of Australia; P. Mennell, The Dictionary of Australasian Biography.

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CHISHOLM, CAROLINE (1808-1877),

philanthropist,

was the daughter of William Jones, a yeoman farmer at Wootton in Northamptonshire. Her latest biographer, Margaret Swann, states that she was born "about the year 1800", but as Sir George Gipps (q.v.), who met her in 1841, described her as "a young woman", it seems more likely that the statement in the introductory memoir to the Emigrants Guide (1853) that she was born "in May 1808, at Northampton", is correct. When she was a child, her father took into his house a poor maimed soldier, and pointed out to the children their obligations to the man who had fought for them. This no doubt was the germ from which developed the sense of responsibility that was the basis of Mrs Chisholm's life work. At 22 years of age she married Captain Archibald Chisholm, a quiet, studious man, who sympathized with his wife's feelings on social questions. Two years later Captain Chisholm was sent to Madras, and while living there Mrs Chisholm realized the neglect from which the children of the soldiers were suffering, and especially the moral dangers to the girls. She founded "the female school of industry for the daughters of European soldiers", in which the children were instructed in reading, writing and religion, cooking, housekeeping and nursing. It was an admirable institution, and when the Chisholms went to Australia in 1838 it was taken over by the government. After travelling for some time in southern Australia the family settled near Sydney. It was soon discovered that many of the immigrants, both men and women, were destitute, and Mrs Chisholm began to make efforts to find situations for the girls. While they were waiting she frequently took them into her own home. In 1841 her husband went back to India, but it was thought best for the health of their three children that Mrs Chisholm should remain in Australia. There had been a great influx of immigrants in 1839 and 1840, and Mrs Chisholm decided that a home must be established for the young girls. Everyone she spoke to acknowledged the need, but no one would give her practical help. She went to the governor, Sir George Gipps, and after several interviews was granted the use of part of an old building known as the Immigration Barracks. It was overrun with rats, and Mrs Chisholm afterwards gave a vivid account of the first night she spent in her own room in the building, and the rats that visited her. At one time 13 were visible, and there were never less than seven. However, the rats were destroyed, four more rooms, a registry office and a school were added, and when the work became known the leading clergymen of the city gave their help and subscriptions began to come in from the general public.

Mrs Chisholm's success came largely from her business-like habits. Having got her building and ascertained the needs of the immigrants, she sent out circular letters inquiring the number of girls and men for which positions could be found in country districts. One of these, sent to the Rev. Henry Styles, an anglican clergyman at Windsor, brought a reply giving the information, but declining to co-operate with her because it was natural to suppose that a lady who was a member of the Roman Catholic Church would use her institution for proselytizing purposes. Mrs Chisholm, however, assured Mr Styles that in the matters of religion the immigrants would be referred to their respective clergy, and so satisfied her correspondent that he sent her £2 and promised her "every support I am able to afford". Mrs Chisholm kept her word and never misused her influence. Her difficulties were great, for many of the girls were quite ignorant, others were wayward, and her patience was often much tried. Her patience, however, was seldom wasted, and presently help came in various ways which greatly increased her powers of well-doing. She found that the real need for female immigrants was in the country, and she formed parties of girls whom she personally placed with people of good character. Judge Therry in his Reminiscences, recounts how he once met Mrs Chisholm on a country road, seated on a dray with 12 or 14 young girls seated around her, while about 30 others walked alongside the dray, the walking girls taking their seats on the dray in turns. Wherever Mrs Chisholm went, the inn-keepers refused payment for her accommodation, other people provided horses, drays and provisions, and if one of her charges fell sick, a passing coach would carry her free. When the immigrants were placed in service, they knew that if they had any just cause for complaint, it was only necessary to write to Mrs Chisholm to find a powerful friend. But there were few complaints on either side, for she drew up just agreements of which one went to the master, one to the servant and a third copy was filed. Before Mrs Chisholm began her work disputes about wages were common in the courts, but of the thousands of agreements she drew up only two were the subject of actions. Mrs Chisholm also found time to deal with many abuses that were taking place on emigrant ships, and succeeded in obtaining many improvements. She realized too that what settlers wanted most was land of their own, but the opposition of the large landowners made it difficult for much to be done at this time.

In 1845 Captain Chisholm returned to Australia and was able to help his wife in her work. She was anxious to encourage the settlement of families, and prepared much useful information, which was printed for the use of working people in England. Early in 1846 Captain and Mrs Chisholm decided to return to England, and on 14 April they sailed in the Dublin. Mrs Chisholm, during her six years in Australia, had looked after the welfare of 11,000 immigrants. Before sailing she was presented with a piece of plate which had been subscribed to by all classes in the community. In England she worked ceaselessly to have means provided for the children of both free emigrants and convicts who had been left in England, often in workhouses, to be restored to their parents. She had the usual repulses in official circles, but persevered to eventual success. She opened an emigration office in London and founded a Family Colonization Loan Society. In July 1847 she gave evidence before the select committee of the house of lords on colonization from Ireland, the best first-hand account of Mrs Chisholm's views on emigration and the work done by her in Australia. Early in 1848 she enrolled the first member of the Family Colonization Loan Society, and by the end of 1849 had the names of 200 people, who paid the greater part of their passage money in small instalments. The matter was brought before influential people interested in the question, including Lord Ashley, the Countess of Pembroke, the Right Hon. Sydney Herbert and others. A committee was formed to raise funds to help deserving emigrants, and in September 1850 the first chartered ship sailed with 250 passengers, and several other ships followed at intervals. Captain Chisholm, who was honorary secretary to the society, proceeded to Australia in 1852 to superintend operations on the arrival of the settlers, and in 1854 Mrs Chisholm and her five children left for Australia to rejoin her husband. The discovery of gold had made it unnecessary to advocate emigration from England, and by this period hundreds of thousands had found their way to the diggings. Mrs Chisholm and her husband, who had now reached the honorary rank of major, remained with their family in Melbourne for some time, and then removed to Kyneton. She fought hard for the unlocking of the lands, but early in 1858 broke down in health, and in 1859 a move was made to Sydney. There she continued her efforts to put the people on the land, for early closing of shops, for shorter hours generally, and for better housing conditions. In 1862 she found herself in financial difficulties and opened a boarding school, first at Newtown and then at Tempe. In 1866 she returned to England, and in 1867 was granted a civil list pension by the British government, of £100 a year. She died on 25 March 1877 and was buried at Northampton. She was survived by her husband, who died a few months later, and several children.

Mrs Chisholm, was a woman who saw clearly what needed doing, and then did it, for she was deterred by no difficulties. Her thorough kindness of heart and complete self-abnegation eventually won their way with everyone who came in contact with her, but she could never have done a tithe of the great work she did if she had not had great powers of organization, and that divine common sense which is the best kind of wisdom. She was fortunate in her husband, who encouraged her and worked with her in every possible way. No greater woman has been connected with Australia.

Sessional Papers of the House of Lords, vol. 23, p. 407; Margaret Swann, Caroline Chisholm the Immigrants' Friend; S. Sidney, The Three Colonies of Australia; D. Mackenzie, Memoir in The Emigrant's Guide to Australia; Eneas Mackenzie, Memoirs of Mrs Caroline Chisholm; R. Therry, Reminiscences; Historical Records of Australia, ser. I vols. XXIII to XXVI; Margaret Swann, Journal and Proceedings Royal Australian Historical Society, vol. VI, pp. 134-51; The Times, 26 March 1877, p. 6, for date of death.

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CHRISTISON, ROBERT (1837-1915),

Queensland pastoralist and pioneer,

sixth son of the Rev. Alexander Christison and his first wife, Helen Cameron, was born at Foulden near Berwick-on-Tweed on 8 January 1837. Educated by his father, he was sent to Melbourne at 15 years of age with his brother Tom, about a year older. They arrived on 1 August 1852 without either friends or money. Robert obtained work at Werribee on the station owned by the Chirnsides, and became a good boxer, horseman and horse-breaker. When about 20 years of age, he had some experiences as a steeplechase rider, and desiring to get capital to buy a farm he tried gold mining, but with little success. He endeavoured to join the Burke (q.v.) and Wills (q.v.) expedition in 1860, but his letter was unanswered. Having tried some exploring by himself and discovered that positions could not be determined without scientific knowledge, he returned to Melbourne and took lessons in navigation, In 1863, he went to Bowen in North Queensland, and crossing the mountains engaged himself as a shepherd for three months to learn the conditions of the country. He then returned to Bowen, bought stores, and with a black boy and several horses struck west. By pure chance he met William Landsborough (q.v.), the explorer, who told him of good land farther out on the western watershed. Christison found this country and went farther west still, but finding water growing scarcer, returned. Then realizing that settlement was already spreading in that direction, he rode hard back to Bowen and obtained an occupation licence for country which he called Lammermoor. Two days later another man applied for the same country.

Christison had been just in time, but the next problem was how to obtain stock, and his own savings were small. Meeting a man named Adam, who had a small flock, they entered into partnership, and the sheep were taken to Lammermoor. The men worked early and late, first in constructing a fold so that the sheep would be safe from dingoes at night, and then in building a house. Another problem was the aborigines. A vicious circle had been created. A settler had shot some blacks, concluding they had stolen his sheep; the aborigines retaliated by killing another settler and his family; then the settlers banded themselves together, prepared to wipe out any aborigines they met. Christison decided to try what kindness could do. Capturing a young aborigine, he treated him so well that he was glad to work for him, and presently he was sent back to his tribe as an ambassador. The aborigines were to camp on the far side of the waterhole; Christison would not harm them and they in return must not harm him; they could kill the native game but must not kill horses or sheep. So the compact was made. Both men, however, fell sick and Adam decided to sell his sheep to his partner and return, and Christison then sent for his two brothers, Tom and William. Christison explored farther west, on one occasion nearly dying of thirst, but his continual difficulty was his want of capital. He managed to obtain some cattle from a neighbouring squatter, Robert Gray, by arranging that the three brothers should do his shearing in exchange for unbranded weaners. But it was a great struggle to keep going. Often they had no flour, and lived entirely on mutton and portulacca. In 1870 he tried to sell 7000 sheep, but the only offer he received was one shilling and sixpence a head. So with three men he set off to drive them to Adelaide. He reached the Darling River and following it down to Winteriga, was glad to receive six shillings and ninepence a head for them. He was endeavouring to find which was the most suitable breed of cattle and decided on Herefords, but he still had not sufficient capital. The position slowly improved, and he was able to build a better homestead in which his book shelves had a prominent place. He was much grieved at the loss, by drowning, of his brother William, in February 1874, and soon after his father died. In 1877 he was able to pay a visit to Scotland, and there met his uncle, Sir Robert Christison Bart, physician in ordinary to Queen Victoria, in Scotland. They became great friends and the old man lent Christison a considerable sum on mortgage of his property. Christison returned to his station and bought his Herefords. He had married in Scotland, but his wife died not long afterwards of malarial fever. In 1881 he became interested in the frozen meat trade, went to London and formed the Australian Company Limited, which was granted a lease of Poole Island near Bowen, North Queensland. At that time there was no market in North Queensland for fat cattle, and, though the project proved a failure, it was a plucky pioneer effort to bring a new source of wealth to Australia. Christison visualized that success would only be a matter of time, and refused to worry over his own losses. He made large dams on his property in some districts, and sank artesian bores in others. He had to face many difficulties, much of his land was resumed, and in 1891 he was involved in the great shearers' strike. Pests and droughts added to his troubles, but his care in providing dams and his refusal to over-stock, stood him in good stead. Even then he was not far from complete ruin in 1903. After the rains came he was able to sell his station and retire to England. He bought an estate at Louth, Lincolnshire, and lived there from 1910 until his death on 25 October 1915. He was married twice; his second wife survived him with a son and two daughters. One of his daughters, Mrs M. M. Bennett, wrote his biography.

Christison's success in living in amity with the aborigines was a remarkable achievement in view of the conditions of the time, and it was characteristic of the man that when he sold his properties, he would not discuss anything until the right of the aborigines to remain on the station as their home, was settled. As a pioneer, he showed that much could be done with the northern inland country, by the conservation of water, and his name will always be honourably remembered for his early connexion with the Queensland frozen meat trade. He was a humane, kindly and honourable man, a great pioneer, courageous and untiring.

M. M. Bennett, Christison of Lammermoor; R. Gray, Reminiscences of India and North Queensland; J. T. Critchell and J. Raymond, A History of the Frozen Meat Trade; The Times, 29 October 1915; Debrett's Peerage, etc., 1879.

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CHURCH, HUBERT NEWMAN WIGMORE (1857-1932),

poet,

was born at Hobart, Tasmania, on 13 June 1857, the son of Hubert Day and Mary A. Church. His father, a barrister, came from Somerset and was a descendant of the family of John Hampden. Hubert Church was taken to England when eight years old, and was educated at Guildford and Felstead. When about 16 years of age he went to New Zealand and some years later joined the treasury department at Wellington. In 1902 his first volume of verse, The West Wind, was published at Sydney, which was followed in 1904 by Poems, published at Wellington, New Zealand, and Egmont, at Melbourne in 1908. In 1911 he retired from the New Zealand public service, and in 1912 went to Melbourne. There he collected the best of his poems from his earlier volumes and published them with 10 additional pieces under the title of Poems. In 1913 he went to England and during the war was engaged in voluntary war-work. In 1916 he published a novel, Tonks, a New Zealand Yarn, and in 1919 returned to New Zealand. He went to Melbourne in October 1923, where he became well-known in literary circles, and was much liked and admired. When he was 12 years old he was struck on the head by a cricket ball and he became completely deaf. Thrown much on himself, he read largely and it was a pleasure to converse with a man whose mind was so well stored, even though one side of the conversation had to be written down. He died on 8 April 1932. In December 1900 he married Catherine Livingstone McGregor, who survived him without issue.

Personally, Church was tall and well-built, courteous in manner, with a kindly appreciation of the work of other men. His poems will be found in several anthologies, and his excellent technique, sense of music and poetic urge, joined with a dignified restraint, entitle him to an honourable place among the better poets of Australia and New Zealand.

A. G. Stephens, Note in The West Wind; information supplied by Mrs Church; personal knowledge.

 

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