Page:The Dictionary of Australasian Biography.djvu/411

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DICTIONARY OF AUSTRALASIAN BIOGRAPHY.
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they reached the Pallinup, the last water crossed by Eyre, and steering north-east, crossed several good streams. Then succeeded dense scrubs, dry watercourses, and salt lakes till they reached the Bremer range. No better view could be obtained from the Fitzgerald Peaks at a thousand feet above the level of the plains. A retreat to the south towards Mount Ridley showed no better country. Four days and three nights they were without water, and the flashes of the Aurora Australia added to the horrors of the scene. Still struggling to attain the Russell mountains, cutting their way with axes through thickets fifteen feet high, they at length reached the range in lat. 38° 27', and found further progress impossible. The party returned by Esperance Bay. On the Phillips river they found extensive coal deposits, and on Feb. 2nd returned to Perth, after an exploration of eighteen hundred miles. Roe is styled by Australian writers the "father of modern explorers." Mrs. Roe, who accompanied her husband to Western Australia in 1829, died on July 22nd, 1870. Captain Roe, who was Surveyor-General of Western Australia for forty-two years, died at Perth, in that colony, on May 28th, 1878.

Rogers, John Warrington, M.A., Q.C., eldest son of the late John Warrington Rogers, of London, entered as a student of the Middle Temple in June 1843, and was called to the bar in Nov. 1846. Having emigrated to Tasmania, he was admitted to practise there in August 1865, and was Solicitor-General in the first Ministry formed under responsible government from Dec. 1856 to Feb. 1857. In the latter year he removed to Victoria, where he was admitted to the Bar in March. In 1858 he was appointed a County Court Judge in Victoria, and held that position for many years, when he retired on a pension. Mr. Rogers, who is an M.A. of Melbourne University, was appointed a Law Lecturer at that University in 1878, and the same year was made Q.C. He was President of the Royal Commission on Education appointed by the O'Loghlen Government.

Rogers, John William Foster, son of Thomas George Rogers and Sarah (Smith) his wife, was born at Leeds, Yorkshire, on July 16th, 1842, and was educated at Stonyhurst College Lancashire. He went to Victoria in Jan. 1850, and was engaged in scholastic work till 1885, founding a collegiate school in Ballarat, which prospered till the great mining collapse of 1869-70. Later on Mr. Rogers conducted a high school at St. Kilda, and contributed at that time to the Melbourne Review articles on the English and Chinese languages. In 1883 he was appointed Inspector of Schools at Sydney, N.S.W. In the same year he published a treatise on "Grammar and Logic in the Nineteenth Century." In 1887 Mr. Rogers visited London for the purpose of printing the first issue of "The Australasian Federal Directory." Mr. Rogers, who is now established in Melbourne as a publisher, was married at St. Kilda, Victoria, on Oct. 1st, 1881, to Miss Letitia Moroney.

Rogers, G. H., the well-known comedian, was originally a private soldier and went to Hobart, Tas., with his regiment. In 1842, having meantime become sergeant, he retired from the army, and was employed as a civil officer in the convict department. Subsequently he took to the stage, and played at all the principal theatres in Australasia. His forte was old men's parts, and he was for many years leading old man at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne. He died on Feb. 12th, 1872.

Rolfe, Hon. George, M.L.C., founder of one of the leading mercantile firms in Melbourne, Vict., was on Sept. 2nd, 1869, appointed Commissioner of Customs in the second McCulloch Government, although not then a member of either House of Parliament. A motion was a few days later made in the Assembly by Mr. Byrne censuring the Premier for having gone outside the House for a colleague. It was carried, and the Ministry resigned on Sept. 20th. Mr. Byrne then became Treasurer in the MacPherson Government, but on going back to his constituents at Crowlands for re-election was defeated by Mr. Rolfe on Oct. 5th, 1869. The latter subsequently became a member of the Upper House, and died on Dec. 18th, 1871.

Rolleston, Christopher, C.M.G., was born in Nottinghamshire in 1817, and in 1838 emigrated to New South Wales, where he was engaged in farming until 1843. In January of the latter year he was appointed Commissioner of Crown Lands for the Darling Downs, private

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