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John Hunter (New South Wales)

 
John Hunter (New South Wales)

 
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Vice-Admiral John Hunter, RN
Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
 (29 August 1737 – 13 March 1821) was a British naval
Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
 officer and colonial administrator who succeeded Arthur Phillip
Arthur Phillip

Admiral Arthur Phillip Royal Navy was a British naval Admiraland colonial administrator. Phillip was appointed Governors of New South Wales of New South Wales, the first European colony on the Australian continent, and was the founder of the site which is now the city of Sydney....
 as the second governor of New South Wales
Governors of New South Wales

The Governor of New South Wales is the representative in the Australian state of New South Wales of Australia's Monarchy in Australia, Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen of Australia....
, Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 from 1795 to 1800.

Overview
Hunter was born in Leith
Leith

Leith is a district and former municipal burgh in the north of the city of Edinburgh at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is the Seaport of Edinburgh, Scotland....
, Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
 in 1737.






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Encyclopedia


John Hunter Project Gutenberg Etext 12992
Vice-Admiral John Hunter, RN
Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
 (29 August 1737 – 13 March 1821) was a British naval
Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
 officer and colonial administrator who succeeded Arthur Phillip
Arthur Phillip

Admiral Arthur Phillip Royal Navy was a British naval Admiraland colonial administrator. Phillip was appointed Governors of New South Wales of New South Wales, the first European colony on the Australian continent, and was the founder of the site which is now the city of Sydney....
 as the second governor of New South Wales
Governors of New South Wales

The Governor of New South Wales is the representative in the Australian state of New South Wales of Australia's Monarchy in Australia, Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Queen of Australia....
, Australia
Australia

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the southern hemisphere comprising the Australia of the world's smallest continent, the major island of Tasmania, and numerous list of islands of Australia in the Indian Ocean and Pacific Oceans....
 from 1795 to 1800.

Overview


Hunter was born in Leith
Leith

Leith is a district and former municipal burgh in the north of the city of Edinburgh at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is the Seaport of Edinburgh, Scotland....
, Scotland
Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
 in 1737. His father, William Hunter, was a captain in the merchant service. His mother a daughter of J. Drummond. As a boy he was sent to live with an uncle in the town of Lynn, where, and also at Edinburgh
Edinburgh

Edinburgh ; is the Capital city of Scotland, a position it has held since 1437. It is the seventh largest city in the United Kingdom and the second largest Scottish City status in the United Kingdom after Glasgow....
, he received the classical education of the time. He was sent to University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh founded in 1582, is an internationally renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom....
, but soon left it to become a captain's servant in the navy. In 1755 he was made a midshipman
Midshipman

A midshipman is a subordinate officer, an officer cadet, or alternatively a commissioned officer of the lowest rank, in the navy of several English-speaking countries....
, and after serving in various vessels passed the examination for a lieutenant in 1760. He was not, however, appointed lieutenant until 1780. When the preparation of the First Fleet
First Fleet

First Fleet is the name given to the 11 ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 to establish the first European colony in New South Wales....
 was in progress, he was made second-in-command on HMS Sirius
HMS Sirius (1786)

See HMS Sirius for other ships of this name.The merchant ship Berwick was built by Watsons of Rotherhithe in 1780 for the Baltic trade; but she is famous in Australian history as HMS Sirius, having served under this name, refitted as an armed naval vessel, as the flagship of the First Fleet....
. The captain of that ship, Arthur Phillip, was in command of the new colony of New South Wales
New South Wales

New South Wales is Australia's oldest and most populous States and territories of Australia, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria and south of Queensland....
. Hunter carried a dormant commission as successor to Phillip if he should have died. As with many of the First Fleet officers, he had fought in the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , also known as the American War of Independence, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and Thirteen Colonies on the North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers....
 (1775 to 1783).

An expedition to explore the Parramatta River
Parramatta River

The Parramatta River is a waterway in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour, a branch of Port Jackson, along with the smaller Lane Cove River and Duck River Rivers....
 was led by Hunter early in 1788. This expedition explored and made soundings as far as Iron Cove
Iron Cove, New South Wales

Iron Cove is a bay on the Parramatta River, in the Inner West , in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It lies approximately due west of Sydney's central business district....
, Five Dock Bay and Hen and Chicken Bay on the Parramatta River. The Sir William Dixson Research Library in Sydney holds the original copy of the chart of the expedition, entitled . The expedition was significant because it may have marked the first contact to take place between the British and the Indigenous
Indigenous Australians

Indigenous Australians are the first human inhabitants of the Australian continent and its nearby islands and their descendants. Indigenous Australians are distinguished as either Australian Aborigines or Torres Strait Islanders, who currently together make up about 2.6% of Australia's population....
 owners of the land, the Wangal Clan, on 5 February 1788. William Bradley's log says that this contact took place while Hunter was having breakfast and is remembered in the name of the suburb, Breakfast Point
Breakfast Point, New South Wales

Breakfast Point is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Breakfast Point is located 16 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the Local Government Areas in Australia of the City of Canada Bay....
.

Hunter returned to England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 in 1792 after the loss of HMS Sirius, and there he prepared for publication his interesting An Historical Journal of the Transactions at Port Jackson and Norfolk Island, published at the beginning of 1793. An abridged edition appeared later in the same year. In the first edition of this work is found the earliest reference to the possibility of there being a strait between the mainland and Tasmania. On page 126 Hunter says: "There is reason thence to believe, that there is in that space either a very deep gulf, or a straight, which may separate Van Diemen's Land from New Holland." Whilst in England, Hunter saw service in the war with France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
. With Arthur Phillip
Arthur Phillip

Admiral Arthur Phillip Royal Navy was a British naval Admiraland colonial administrator. Phillip was appointed Governors of New South Wales of New South Wales, the first European colony on the Australian continent, and was the founder of the site which is now the city of Sydney....
's resignation from the governorship of New South Wales in July 1793, Hunter applied for the position in October and was appointed governor in January 1794. Various delays occurred, and it was not until February 1795 that he was able to sail. He arrived at Sydney
Sydney

Sydney is the List of cities in Australia by population in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.34 million . It is the List of Australian capital cities of New South Wales, and was the site of the first British Empire colony in Australia....
 on 7 September 1795 on HMS Reliance
HMS Reliance (1793)

HMS Reliance was a discovery vessel of the Royal Navy. She became famous as one of the ships with the early explorations of the Australian coast and other the southern Pacific islands....
.

Later in 1798, Hunter discovered the venomous platypus
Platypus

The Platypus is a semi-aquatic mammal Endemic to Eastern states of Australia, including Tasmania. Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant species of monotremes, the only mammals that lay Egg instead of giving birth to live young....
.

Governorship


Hunter's difficulties soon began. Phillip immediately left the colony, and the military took complete control, during the lieutenant-governorship of Francis Grose
Francis Grose (Lieutenant-Governor)

Lieutenant-General Francis Grose was a soldier and Lieutenant Governor of New South Wales....
 unmercifully exploited the convicts. A great traffic in spirits sprang up, on which there was an enormous profit for the officers concerned. They had obtained the control of the courts and the management of the lands, public stores, and convict labour. Hunter realized that these powers had to be restored to the civil administration, a task of great difficulty. And in John Macarthur
John Macarthur (wool pioneer)

John Macarthur was a soldier, entrepreneur, politician and pioneer of the Australian wool industry....
 he had an opponent who would hardly stop at anything in defending his supposed rights. Eventually Hunter found himself practically helpless. A stronger man might have sent the officers home under arrest, but it is not unlikely that if Hunter had attempted to do so he would have only precipitated the rum rebellion
Rum Rebellion

The Rum Rebellion, also known as the Rum Puncheon Rebellion, of 1808 was the only successful armed takeover of government in Australia recorded history....
 which took place in William Bligh
William Bligh

Vice-Admiral William Bligh Fellow of the Royal Society Royal Navy was an officer of the British Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. The notorious Mutiny on the Bounty occurred during his command of HMS Bounty in 1789; Bligh and his loyal men made a remarkable voyage to Timor, after being set adrift by the mutineers in the Bounty's l...
's time. Anonymous letters were even sent to the home authorities charging Hunter with participation in the very abuses he was striving to prevent. In spite of Hunter's vehement defence of the charges made against him, he was recalled in a dispatch dated 5 November 1799. Hunter acknowledged this dispatch on 20 April 1800, and left for England on 28 September 1800. When he arrived he endeavoured to vindicate his character with the authorities but was given no opportunity. He was obliged to state his case in a long pamphlet printed in 1802, Remarks on the Causes of the Colonial Expense of the Establishment of New South Wales, which has become a valuable document in early Australian history. In 1804 Hunter was given command of the Venerable of 74 guns, which in the following November was driven ashore during a fog and lost. Hunter was subsequently acquitted of all blame.

Hunter was a courageous, humane, and amiable man, and a good officer, but the circumstances in which he was placed made it almost impossible for him to be completely successful as a governor. As his successor Philip Gidley King
Philip Gidley King

Philip Gidley King Royal Navy was an British naval officer and colonial administrator. He is best known as the official founder of the first European settlement on Norfolk Island and as the third Governor of New South Wales....
 said, his conduct was "guided by the most upright intentions", and he was "most shamefully deceived by those on whom he had every reason to depend for assistance, information, and advice." Of his sojourn in the colony Hunter said that he "could not have had less comfort, although he would certainly have had greater peace of mind, had he spent the time in a penitentiary". He did good work in exploring and opening up the country near Sydney, and also encouraged the explorations of Matthew Flinders
Matthew Flinders

Captain Matthew Flinders, Royal Navy was one of the most successful navigators and cartography of his age. In a career that spanned just over twenty years, he sailed with Captain William Bligh, circumnavigated Australia and encouraged the use of that name for the continent....
 and George Bass
George Bass

George Bass was a British naval surgeon and explorer of Australia....
. He continued his interest in Australia for long after he left it, and the suggested reforms in his pamphlet were of much value . Hunter was promoted to Rear Admiral
Rear Admiral

Rear Admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a Commodore and Captain , and below that of a Vice Admiral. It is the lowest form of Admiral....
 on 2 October 1807, and then to Vice-Admiral on 31 July 1810 but never hoisted his Line Flag at sea.

Vice-Admiral John Hunter RN spent his final years at Judd Street, New Road, Hackney
London Borough of Hackney

The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough in East London, and forms part of inner London and North London....
, London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
; where he died on 13 March 1821. His tomb can be seen in the churchyard of St John at Hackney
Hackney Central

Hackney Central is the central district of the London Borough of Hackney in East London, England. It comprises the area roughly surrounding, and extending north from Mare Street....
.

The Hunter River
Hunter River

The Hunter River is a major river in New South Wales, Australia. The Hunter River rises in the Liverpool Range and flows generally south and then east, reaching the Pacific Ocean at Newcastle, New South Wales, the second largest city in New South Wales and a major port....
 and Hunter Valley
Hunter Valley

The Hunter Region, more commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, extending from approximately to north of Sydney, Australia with an approximate population of 590,000 people....
 north of Sydney
Sydney

Sydney is the List of cities in Australia by population in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 4.34 million . It is the List of Australian capital cities of New South Wales, and was the site of the first British Empire colony in Australia....
 are both named after him, as is the suburb of Hunters Hill in Sydney, and (partly) the John Hunter Hospital
John Hunter Hospital

The John Hunter Hospital is the principal referral centre and a community hospital for Newcastle, New South Wales, Lake Macquarie and Northern New South Wales....
 in Newcastle
Newcastle, New South Wales

The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the state of New South Wales and includes most of the City of Newcastle and City of Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas of Australia....
.

Further reading

  • The Life of John Hunter, Navigator, Governor, Admiral", Arthur Hoyle
    Arthur Hoyle

    Arthur Robert Hoyle is an Australian historian and biographer. Born in Sydney, Australia in 1922 to Arthur Hoyle and Gertrude Underwood , he served in the Royal Air Force as a flight officer during World War II where he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross ....
    , Mulini Press, Canberra, 2001


External links

  • in the National Portrait Gallery, London.