Person

Forrest, John (1847 - 1918)

GCMG

Born
22 August 1847
Preston Point, Western Australia, Australia
Died
3 September 1918
Sierra Leone
Occupation
Explorer, Politician and Surveyor

Summary

Sir John Forrest (1st Baron Forrest of Bunbury) was on the staff of the Western Australian Surveyor-General's Office 1865-1890, ultimately becoming Surveyor General and Commissioner for Crown Lands. He was highly competent as leader of three expeditions between 1869 and 1874 in the uncharted wilderness of Western Australia and into South Australia, on the last accompanied by his brother Alexander (also a surveyor). These expeditions yielded many specimens for botanists and geologists. Over 1,900 botanical specimens were sent to Victorian Government Botanist Ferdinand von Mueller, with whom Forrest was acquainted. Forrest's political career included terms as Premier and Colonial Treasurer of Western Australia from 1890 to1901, in several ministries in the Australian Parliament after 1901, and Acting Prime Minister of Australia in 1907.

Details

Chronology

1863 - 1865
Career event - Apprenticed as surveyor
1871 - 1876
Career position - Government Surveyor for the Northern District, Western Australia
1876
Award - Gold Medal, Royal Geographical Society
1876 - 1878
Career position - Deputy Surveyor General, Western Australian Surveyor General's Office
1878 - 1881
Career position - Acting Superintendent of Convicts, Western Australia
1878 - 1883
Career position - Acting Surveyor General and Commissioner for Crown Lands
1882
Award - Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG)
1883 - 1890
Career position - Surveyor General and Commissioner for Crown Lands, Western Australia
1888
Career position - President, Section E (Geography), Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science
1890
Career position - President, Section F (Ethnology and Anthropology), Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science
1890
Career event - Elected as Member for Bunbury, Legislative Assembly, Western Australian Parliament
1890 - 1901
Career position - Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG)
1890 - 1901
Career position - Premier and Colonial Treasurer, Western Australian Parliament
1891
Award - Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG)
1894 - 1898
Career position - Colonial Secretary, Western Australian Parliament
1897
Career position - Privy Councillor
1897
Award - Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Cambridge
1901
Award - Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG)
1901
Career position - Postmaster-General, Australian Parliament
1901 - 1903
Career position - Minister for Defence, Australian Parliament
1901 - 1918
Career position - Member for Swan, House of Representatives, Australian Parliament
1902
Award - Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Adelaide
1903 - 1904
Career position - Minister for Home Affairs, Australian Parliament
1907
Career position - Acting Prime Minister of Australia
1916
Award - Honorary Doctor of Laws, University of Western Australia
1918
Award - Created the 1st Baron Forrest of Bunbury
1941
Taxonomy event - Eucalyptus formanii C.A. Gardner was named in his honour. Forrest also was joint collector of the type

Related Corporate Bodies

Related People

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

  • Australian Botanists - Biographies, MS 064; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

JS Battye Library of West Australian History, State Library of Western Australia

  • John Forrest - Records, 1865 - 1918, ACC 2181A; JS Battye Library of West Australian History, State Library of Western Australia. Details

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

  • John Forrest - Records, 1900 - 1918, ML MSS 931; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

Published resources

Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Exhibitions

Books

  • Crowley, Frank, Big John Forrest 1847 - 1918: a founding father of the Commonwealth of Australia (Nedlands, Western Australia: University of Western Australia Press, 2000), 540 pp. Details
  • Forrest, John, Explorations in Australia : I.- Explorations in search of Dr. Leichardt and party. II. - From Perth to Adelaide, around the Great Australian Bight. III. -From Champion Bay, across the desert to the telegraph and to Adelaide, with an appendix on the condition of Western Australia (London: Sampson, Low, Marston & Searle, 1875), 351 pp. Details

Book Sections

  • Baigent, Elizabeth, 'John Forrest, first Baron Forrest, 1847-1918' in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004). Details
  • Crowley, F. K., 'Forrest, Sir John (Baron Forrest) (1847-1918)' in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Bede Nairn and Geoffrey Serle, eds, vol. 8 (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1981), pp. 544-551. http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A080565b.htm. Details

Edited Books

  • Battye, J.S. ed., The Cyclopedia of Western Australia : an historical and commercial review, descriptive and biographical facts figures and illustrations : an epitome of progress [Volume 1], vol. 1 (Perth: Cyclopedia Co, 1912), 776 pp, https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-250451699. 'Rt Hon Sir John Forrest, PC GCMG LLD MHR' Vol1, p.308-9. Details

Journal Articles

  • Forrest, John, 'Address by [...] President of Section E - Geography', Report of the first meeting of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 1 (1889), 352-359, https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/15813442. Details
  • Powell, J. M., 'John Forrest 1847-1918; Alexander Forrest 1849-1901', Geographers: Bibliographical Studies, 8 (1984), 39-43. Details

Resources

Theses

  • Coates, Ian, 'The social construction of the John Forrest Australian Aboriginal Ethnographic Collection: past and present', BAHons thesis, Australian National University, 1989, 69 pp. Details

See also

  • Federation and Meteorology, 2001, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/fam/index_f.html. Details
  • Hall, Norman, Botanists of the Eucalypts: short biographies of people who have named eucalypts, whose names have been given to species or who have collected type material (Melbourne: CSIRO, 1978), 101 pp. Details
  • Nettelbeck, Amanda (and others), The Overland Telegraph Line: A Transcultural History, [web resource; undated], South Australian Government, South Australia, 2023. https://otlhistory.sa.gov.au/. Details
  • Serle, Percival, Dictionary of Australian biography (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1949). Details

Gavan McCarthy [P004098] and Helen Cohn

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