John Douglas (Queensland politician)
Member of the Queensland Legislative Council | |
|---|---|
| In office 22 February 1866 – 25 July 1866 | |
| In office 11 December 1868 – 13 November 1869 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 6 March 1828 |
| Spouse(s) | Mary Ann Howe Sarah Hickey |
| Relations | Henry Douglas (son), Alex Douglas (great grandson) |
| Occupation | Civil Servant |
John Douglas
Early life
Douglas was born in London, the seventh son of Henry Alexander Douglas[1] and his wife Elizabeth Dalzell, daughter of the Earl of Carnwath. His father, the third son of Sir William Douglas, 4th Baronet of Kelhead, was a brother of the sixth and seventh Marquesses of Queensberry. Douglas' father died in 1837 and his mother in 1833 (burial records of the church of St Mary-Le-Bone, London), he was educated at Edinburgh Academy, Rugby 1843-47 and Durham University where he graduated B.A. in 1850.[2]
Douglas arrived in New South Wales with his brother Edward in 1851 and was appointed a gold-fields commissioner, but gave this up to enter on a pastoral life.
Politics
Douglas was elected member for the Darling Downs and afterwards for Camden in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly until resigning on 17 July 1861. He moved to Queensland in 1863.[3]
On 12 May 1863 he was elected as member for
On 1 March 1866 became postmaster-general in the first Macalister ministry.[4]
He was elected to the Legislative Assembly again as member for
In 1871 Douglas returned to Queensland and became insolvent on 23 February 1872. Douglas was returned for Maryborough at the election held in 1875. He was secretary for public lands in the Thorn ministry from June 1876 until March 1877, when he became premier and was given the honour of C.M.G. His party was defeated at the election held in January 1879 and Douglas gave up politics. Lewis Adolphus Bernays claimed Douglas had more success as a clever political wire-puller behind the scenes than he had in parliament.[5]
Later life
In 1865
In 1882 he was elected president of Brisbane's Johnsonian Club.[7]
He was for some time on the literary staff of the
In 1888 Douglas returned to his old position on Thursday Island. In 1890 he was one of the organisers of the rescue of survivors from RMS Quetta.[8] He visited England in 1902, and on his return continued his work until his death.
Port Douglas is named in his honour.[9]
Personal life
Douglas was married twice, first on 22 January 1861 to Mary Ann, daughter of the Rev. William West Simpson, who was killed in a carriage accident 23 November 1876, and for the second time in 1877 to Sarah, daughter of Michael Hickey, with whom he had four sons:
- Robert Johnstone Douglas (1883–1972), was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1923 [10] and married Annie Alice May Ball, daughter of Townsville pioneer Andrew Ball
- Edward Archibald Douglas (1877–1947), was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court of Queensland in March 1929 [11]
- Queensland Legislative Assembly.
- Hugh Maxwell Douglas (1881–1918), died 8 April 1918 aged 37, a lieutenant in 47th Battalion, Australian Army, while fighting in World War I at Dernacourt in France.[12]
Douglas died on 23 July 1904 at Thursday Island.
Descendants
Through his son Henry, he was a grandfather of Alexander Michael Douglas (b. 1926), and a great-grandfather of Alexander Rodney Douglas, formerly a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly seat of Gaven.
See also
- Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly, 1860–1863; 1863–1867; 1867–1868; 1868–1870; 1873–1878; 1878–1883
- Members of the Queensland Legislative Council, 1860–1869
- List of Durham University people
References
- ^ a b Serle, Percival (1949). "Douglas, John". Dictionary of Australian Biography. Sydney: Angus & Robertson. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
- ^ "Durham University Calendar 1857". reed.dur.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 12 March 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
- ^ "Mr John Douglas (1828-1904)". Former members of the Parliament of New South Wales. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
- ^ Queensland Parliament. Archived from the original on 26 April 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
- OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
- ^ "Masonic Records in the Archives". Stories from the Archives. Queensland State Archives. 27 September 2018. Archived from the original on 5 March 2020. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
- The Brisbane Courier. Vol. XXXVI, no. 7, 612. Queensland, Australia. 5 June 1882. p. 2. Retrieved 15 April 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Rev. A. McLaren's account". The Brisbane Courier. Brisbane. 4 March 1890. p. 5 – via Trove.
- ^ "Queensland place names search". Queensland Government. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
- ^ McPherson, B. H. "Robert Johnstone Douglas (1883–1972)". Douglas, Robert Johnstone (1883–1972). Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
- ^ McPherson, B. H. "Edward Archibald Douglas (1877–1947)". Douglas, Edward Archibald (1877–1947). Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Archived from the original on 29 December 2014.
- ^ Douglas Hugh Maxwell : SERN Lieutenant : POB Toowong QLD : POE Brisbane QLD : NOK W Douglas Hannah Elizabeth. National Archives of Australia. 2 November 1915.
- Mennell, Philip (1892). . The Dictionary of Australasian Biography. London: Hutchinson & Co – via Wikisource.
External links
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