squatters. The area of cleared land was thus doubled, and the export of wool quintupled. Financially, however, he was not an administrative success, and this led to his early recall. On his return from Australia, Sir Thomas established an astronomical and magnetic observatory at Makerstown, and published three large volumes of observations in the "Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh." He was created a baronet in 1836 and G.C.B. in 1837, and in 1841 was made a general in the army. On the death of Sir Walter Scott he was also elected President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He founded two gold medals as rewards for scientific merit in connection with the Royal Society and the Society of Arts respectively. He died at his residence, Brisbane House, Largs, Ayrshire, on Jan. 27th, 1860. The capital of the colony of Queensland is named after him. Sir Thomas married, in 1819, Anna Maria, daughter of Sir Henry Hay Makdougall, but left no surviving issue. During his peninsular campaigns he took regular observations with a pocket sextant, and, as the Duke of Wellington said, "kept the time of the army." As showing his ruling bent, it is related of him that, whilst sheathing his sword after the Battle of Vittoria, he exclaimed, looking round from a lofty eminence, "What a glorious site for an observatory!"
Britton, Alexander, son of the late Alexander Britton, and brother of Henry Britton (q.v.), embraced journalism, and was sub-editor of the Melbourne Argus, and subsequently of the Sydney Morning Herald. In 1890 he was engaged by the Government of New South Wales to complete the official "History of New South Wales," the first volume of which had been edited by Mr. G. B. Barton (q.v.).
Britton, Henry, journalist, second son of Alexander and Lydia Britton, was born on Jan. 24th, 1846, in Derby, England, where his father was engaged in tuition, was also a contributor to the press, and had some repute as a public lecturer. The subject of this notice emigrated to Australia with his family in Nov. 1854, and reached Melbourne in Feb. 1855. He at once proceeded to Castlemaine, Victoria, where his father established a newspaper called The Miners' Right, subsequently named The Castlemaine Advertiser. He learned the business of a journalist in his father's office. In 1863 he joined the parliamentary reporting staff of the Age newspaper, Melbourne. Two years later he transferred his services to the Argus, Melbourne. In 1870 he acted as special correspondent for the Argus in Fiji. The series of letters he wrote was republished under the title of "Fiji in 1870," and the volume had a large sale. In Dec. 1871, as special correspondent of the Argus, he accompanied the Australian Eclipse Expedition to Cape York, northern coast of Australia, where observations of the total eclipse of the sun were made. His account of the proceedings of the expedition was afterwards republished in Nature, the London scientific journal. In 1873 he went to Fiji again as special commissioner for the Argus to inquire into the working of the South Pacific labour trade, in connection with which many scandals had arisen. The notorious brig Carl had kidnapped a number of South Sea Islanders under circumstances of great atrocity. The Australian Governments agreed to pay the expense of returning the kidnappees to their several homes in the islands. One of the vessels commissioned for this purpose by Commodore Stirling was H.M. schooner Alacrity. Mr. Britton was allowed a passage in this vessel with some fifty or sixty of the savages, and he assisted at their landing under circumstances of considerable danger at their various homes in the Marshall, Gilbert, and Ellice groups of islands, north and south of the line. In 1874 he was again called upon in the capacity of special correspondent of the Argus to go to Fiji in the suite of Sir Hercules Robinson, the then Governor of New South Wales, who had made a request that he might be sent on the occasion of the annexation of that country. Mr. Britton was present at the official interviews with Thakombau and the other leading chiefs, and he fully described the annexation ceremonies, which included many incidents of peculiar interest. Mr. Britton was also acting at this time as special correspondent for the Times. In 1877 he was made chief of the Argus reporting staff and sub-editor. Falling into bad health, and having a desire to visit the old country, which he had not seen since infancy, he in 1878 made a voyage round the world. Returning to Melbourne, after a year's absence, he
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