Page:The Dictionary of Australasian Biography.djvu/267

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DICTIONARY OF AUSTRALASIAN BIOGRAPHY.
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had effected an entrance. He further planned a work and other means for the defence of Botany Bay, by which Sydney might otherwise be attacked from the southward. At Newcastle he proposed a fort for the defence of that important coaling station. At Brisbane he recommended that the approach to the town by the river should be barred by a battery bearing on submarine mines to be placed across the channel, and that the waters of Moreton Bay should be defended by gun-vessels. At Adelaide he suggested the establishment of batteries on the coast near the port, and the purchase of gun-vessels to defend the gulf up which a hostile ship must advance to the attack of the place. In Tasmania he proposed batteries and other means for the defence of Hobart and the Derwent. At Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton, and Dunedin in New Zealand, he planned forts, batteries and submarine mines for the defence of the harbours at those places. He further suggested many improvements in the organisation of the forces in the Australasian colonies. These outlines may be gathered from the reports of Sir William Jervois, which were, from time to time, presented to the several local Legislatures, and the recommendations made by him for the defence of the chief ports in Australasia, in the year 1877 and subsequently, have mainly been carried out. Sir William Jervois also suggested—so early as the year 1881—that the Imperial Naval Squadron in Australasian waters should be doubled, and that the colonies should bear half the cost of maintaining the entire naval force there. Subsequently, during the period when Sir George Tryon was Admiral on the station, this proposal was, at the investigation of the Admiral, carried into effect. It should never be forgotten that the defence of Australasia and of Australasian commerce is really a naval question, and the protection of the ports, which are now defended according to Sir William Jervois' recommendations, are indeed part of the naval defence. In 1889 Sir William Jervois retired, and was succeeded by Lord Onslow. He has since lived in London. In 1882 he was placed upon the retired list as lieut.-general. In Nov. 1863 he was created C.B., in May 1874 K.C.M.G., and in May 1878 G.C.M.G. Sir William Jervois married in 1850 Lucy, daughter of the late William Norsworthy. It is understood that Sir William Jervois would not have been unwilling to accept the agent-generalship of New Zealand in 1891 on Sir F. D. Bell's retirement, and his name was mentioned for reappointment for a second term as Governor of New Zealand on the resignation of Lord Onslow in 1892, later in which year he revisited New Zealand on a pleasure trip.

Jessop, John Shillito, M.L.A., was born at Whitley, Yorkshire, on August 14th, 1840, and educated at private schools at Whitley and Pollington, and at the Snaith Grammar School. In 1859 he arrived in Melbourne, and in 1864 went to Queensland, where, in 1881, he was elected to represent Dalby in the Legislative Assembly—a constituency for which he still sits. Mr. Jessop is Chairman of Committees in the Assembly.

Johnson, Edwin, Under-Secretary for Public Instruction, New South Wales, was born in Liverpool on Jan. 2nd, 1835. He won a first-class Queen's Scholarship to Kneller Hall Training College, of which Dr. Temple (now Bishop of London) was the head. The latter recommended him to Earl Grey, who, when Colonial Secretary, appointed him a teacher under the National Board of New South Wales, where he arrived in 1855. He was appointed Inspector of Schools in 1862, Chief Inspector (under the Minister) in 1880, and Under-Secretary in 1884.

Johnson, Joseph Colin Francis, M.P., son of Henry Johnson, a solicitor in Adelaide, by his marriage with the third daughter of Colin Campbell, of Stonefield, Pine Forest, S.A., was born in Adelaide in Feb. 1848. His father removing to Victoria during the gold-digging fever, he was educated at the Geelong National Grammar School. Returning to South Australia in 1868, he was for eleven years on the staff of the South Australian Register. He then purchased the Adelaide Punch and conducted it for several years. Since 1884 he has been member for Onkaparinga in the South Australian Legislative Assembly, and was Minister of Education and of the Northern Territory from June 1887 to June 1889 in the Playford Ministry. Mr. Johnson is author of "Moses and Me," the record of

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