John Jamison
Encyclopedia
Sir John Jamison was an important Australia
n physician
, pastoralist, banker, politician
, constitutional reformer and public figure.
Sir John's parents were Thomas Jamison
(1752/53-1811) and Thomas's wife Rebecca (1746-1838). Thomas Jamison was an impressive person in his own right. A Northern Irishman, he had arrived in New South Wales
, Australia, with the First Fleet
in 1788, aboard HMS Sirius
, as a surgeon's mate. Soon afterwards, Thomas was sent to the auxiliary British colony of Norfolk Island
, where he served as principal medical officer during the 1790s - while accumulating wealth on the side as a maritime trader. Then, in 1801, after taking leave in England, Thomas was promoted to the position of Surgeon-General of New South Wales due to his intelligence, administrative competence, driving ambition and gift for cultivating useful patrons in London. These qualities were inherited by Thomas's son John in even fuller measure.
The future John Jamison, knight of the realm, was born in Carrickfergus
, County Antrim
, Ireland
in 1776. (For the rest of his life he would pronounce his surname "Jemison", in the Irish manner.) Like his father, he trained as a surgeon, joining the Royal Navy
in 1799. He served under Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar
in 1805 aboard the "Agamemnon
". In 1806, he saw further action at the Battle of San Domingo on the same vessel which, incidentally, was Nelson's favourite warship. One year later, Jamison graduated as a physician from Edinburgh University, earning a Doctorate of Medicine.
While serving with the Royal Navy's Baltic Fleet
in 1807 - aboard the hospital ship "Gorgon" - he was successful in treating an outbreak of scurvey in the allied Swedish Navy
, and was made a knight of the Order of Gustavus Vasa
by a grateful Swedish king. He was also knighted by Britain's Prince Regent
(afterwards King George IV) in 1813, and subsequently appointed Inspector of Naval Hospitals and Fleets.
Meanwhile, Thomas Jamison had died in London
- in 1811. Sir John succeeded to his father's property, which included land at Jamisontown on the Nepean River
, west of Sydney
. He arrived in Sydney on 28 July 1814, per the Broxbornebury, to take up his patrimony. The following year, Sir John accompanied Governor Lachlan Macquarie
on his official visitation to the Bathurst
Plains, and had the Jamison Valley
in the Blue Mountains named in his honour by Macquarie. But two and a half years later, Sir John fell out of favour with the governor, who described him in a private dispatch as being "intriguing and discontented".
Sir John was Australia's first titled free settler and thus head of the fledgling country's social pecking order. He acquired allotments in the heart of Sydney, and accumulated vast tracts of land in the central-western and northern parts of New South Wales between 1814 and 1840. He was a founder of the Bank of New South Wales in 1817, and established himself as one of the most prominent (and wealthiest) men in Australia, enjoying a reputation for lavish entertaining and hospitality at Regentville, his magnificent rural estate near the town of Penrith
. In November 1824, he was included in the list of ten men recommended for a colonial council; but some 12 months later, Governor Brisbane
withdrew the nomination on account of charges made by Sir John that female convicts had been sent to Emu Plains
for immoral purposes. The charges were held to be baseless, and in September 1826 the new governor, Ralph Darling
, was instructed that Sir John was not to be given any civil offices. Sir John made various attempts to get this embargo removed; but nearly four years later, the British colonial office continued to give him no satisfaction.
Governor Darling in 1829 mentioned that Sir John was then President of the New South Wales Agricultural Society, "holding perhaps the largest stake in the country". In 1830, London's Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce awarded Sir John the large gold medal "for his successful method of extirpating the stumps of trees". Sir John also won various awards for his wine and other agricultural produce and took a keen, scientific interest in the natural history of the Sydney region. He was a committed Freemason and a founding father of the New South Wales thoroughbred racing industry. Benevolent organisations benefited from Sir John's generosity, too, and in 1830 he helped establish Sydney College
- an important educational facility which gave rise to both Sydney Grammar School
and the University of Sydney
. In 1831, Sir John was restored to the magistracy, and, in 1837, he was belatedly appointed a member of the Legislative Council
of New South Wales. During the mid-1830s, Sir John held office as founder-president of the Australian Patriotic Association, which strove to liberalise the colony's political and legal institutions as Sydney evolved from a penal settlement into a thriving, mercantile port.
Sir John established a cloth mill at Regentville in 1842 to supplement the estate's earnings from its vineyard, horse stud, dairy, orchard and collection of grazing paddocks for sheep and cattle. But Sir John suffered the loss of a large proportion of his fortune around this time due to the effects of a protracted drought and an economic depression, which had sent many of the colony's farmers and businessmen broke. He was omitted from the Legislative Council nominations in 1843 on account of his infirmities and comparatively advanced years. (Without doubt, Sir John's poor state of health had been accentuated by the hedonistic lifestyle that he had led since his arrival in New South Wales.) Sir John died at Regentville House on 29 June 1844 and was buried in St Stephen's churchyard, Penrith. His grave survives but Regentville House does not: the two-storey Georgian mansion, erected during 1823-1824, burned down in 1868.
Jamison Street in Sydney's CBD, which was once the site of Sir John's town house, commemorates him - as does the Jamison Valley, Jamison County, Jamison Creek, Jamison High School, Jamison Park and a number of other localities in New South Wales.
Sir John fathered a number of illegitimate children by several mistresses. These mistresses included Mary Griffiths - the daughter of Regentville's dairyman. Sir John married Mary a few months before his death, thus enabling her to be styled Lady Jamison. One of his children by Lady Jamison, Robert Thomas Jamison (1829-1878), was a Member of the Legislative Assembly
of New South Wales from 1856 to 1860. Lady Jamison died at Hunters Hill, Sydney in 1874, aged 74. She was interred in Camperdown Cemetery
in the inner-Sydney suburb of Newtown
. Her grave, like Sir John's, is extant. Another of Sir John's mistresses was Catherine Cain(e), the convict 'housekeeper' assigned to him at his Sydney residence. Catherine gave birth to a daughter by Sir John, Harriet Eliza Jamison, in 1819. Harriet grew up to be a cultivated and pious young woman. In 1837, she married into the colonial establishment. Her husband was William John Gibbes (1815-1868) - a son of the Collector of Customs for New South Wales, Colonel John George Nathaniel Gibbes (1787-1873). The wedding took place at St James' Anglican Church, Sydney, in the presence of the governor. Harriet died in Sydney in 1896.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, pastoralist, banker, politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, constitutional reformer and public figure.
Sir John's parents were Thomas Jamison
Thomas Jamison
Thomas Jamison was a prominent surgeon, government official, mercantile trader and land owner of Sydney, Australia. Jamison was also a member of the First Fleet expedition of 11 ships which founded the Australian colony of New South Wales in 1788...
(1752/53-1811) and Thomas's wife Rebecca (1746-1838). Thomas Jamison was an impressive person in his own right. A Northern Irishman, he had arrived in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia, with the First Fleet
First Fleet
The First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
in 1788, aboard HMS Sirius
HMS Sirius
Seven ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Sirius after the brightest star in the nighttime sky.*HMS Sirius of 1786 was a ship of the First Fleet to Australia....
, as a surgeon's mate. Soon afterwards, Thomas was sent to the auxiliary British colony of Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island
Norfolk Island is a small island in the Pacific Ocean located between Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia. The island is part of the Commonwealth of Australia, but it enjoys a large degree of self-governance...
, where he served as principal medical officer during the 1790s - while accumulating wealth on the side as a maritime trader. Then, in 1801, after taking leave in England, Thomas was promoted to the position of Surgeon-General of New South Wales due to his intelligence, administrative competence, driving ambition and gift for cultivating useful patrons in London. These qualities were inherited by Thomas's son John in even fuller measure.
The future John Jamison, knight of the realm, was born in Carrickfergus
Carrickfergus
Carrickfergus , known locally and colloquially as "Carrick", is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is located on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,201 at the 2001 Census and takes its name from Fergus Mór mac Eirc, the 6th century king...
, County Antrim
County Antrim
County Antrim is one of six counties that form Northern Ireland, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the county covers an area of 2,844 km², with a population of approximately 616,000...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
in 1776. (For the rest of his life he would pronounce his surname "Jemison", in the Irish manner.) Like his father, he trained as a surgeon, joining the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
in 1799. He served under Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar was a sea battle fought between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French Navy and Spanish Navy, during the War of the Third Coalition of the Napoleonic Wars ....
in 1805 aboard the "Agamemnon
Agamemnon
In Greek mythology, Agamemnon was the son of King Atreus and Queen Aerope of Mycenae, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of Clytemnestra, and the father of Electra and Orestes. Mythical legends make him the king of Mycenae or Argos, thought to be different names for the same area...
". In 1806, he saw further action at the Battle of San Domingo on the same vessel which, incidentally, was Nelson's favourite warship. One year later, Jamison graduated as a physician from Edinburgh University, earning a Doctorate of Medicine.
While serving with the Royal Navy's Baltic Fleet
Baltic Fleet
The Twice Red Banner Baltic Fleet - is the Russian Navy's presence in the Baltic Sea. In previous historical periods, it has been part of the navy of Imperial Russia and later the Soviet Union. The Fleet gained the 'Twice Red Banner' appellation during the Soviet period, indicating two awards of...
in 1807 - aboard the hospital ship "Gorgon" - he was successful in treating an outbreak of scurvey in the allied Swedish Navy
Swedish Navy
The Royal Swedish Navy is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet – as well as marine units, the so-called Amphibious Corps .In Swedish, vessels of the Swedish Navy are given the prefix "HMS," short for Hans/Hennes...
, and was made a knight of the Order of Gustavus Vasa
Gustavus Vasa
Gustavus Vasa may refer to:* King Gustav I of Sweden* The play Gustavus Vasa by Henry Brooke, first English play to be banned under the Licensing Act 1737* Alternate name of Olaudah Equiano, African ex-slave living in 18th century Britain...
by a grateful Swedish king. He was also knighted by Britain's Prince Regent
Prince Regent
A prince regent is a prince who rules a monarchy as regent instead of a monarch, e.g., due to the Sovereign's incapacity or absence ....
(afterwards King George IV) in 1813, and subsequently appointed Inspector of Naval Hospitals and Fleets.
Meanwhile, Thomas Jamison had died in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
- in 1811. Sir John succeeded to his father's property, which included land at Jamisontown on the Nepean River
Nepean River
The Nepean River is a river in the coastal region of New South Wales, Australia.The headwaters of the Nepean River rise near Robertson, about 100 kilometres south of Sydney and about 15 kilometres from the coast. The river flows north in an unpopulated water catchment area into Nepean Dam, which...
, west of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. He arrived in Sydney on 28 July 1814, per the Broxbornebury, to take up his patrimony. The following year, Sir John accompanied Governor Lachlan Macquarie
Lachlan Macquarie
Major-General Lachlan Macquarie CB , was a British military officer and colonial administrator. He served as the last autocratic Governor of New South Wales, Australia from 1810 to 1821 and had a leading role in the social, economic and architectural development of the colony...
on his official visitation to the Bathurst
Bathurst, New South Wales
-CBD and suburbs:Bathurst's CBD is located on William, George, Howick, Russell, and Durham Streets. The CBD is approximately 25 hectares and surrounds two city blocks. Within this block layout is banking, government services, shopping centres, retail shops, a park* and monuments...
Plains, and had the Jamison Valley
Jamison Valley
The Jamison Valley forms part of the Coxs River canyon system in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. It is situated approximately 100 kilometres west of Sydney, capital of New South Wales, and a few kilometres south of Katoomba, the main town in the Blue Mountains.-History:The...
in the Blue Mountains named in his honour by Macquarie. But two and a half years later, Sir John fell out of favour with the governor, who described him in a private dispatch as being "intriguing and discontented".
Sir John was Australia's first titled free settler and thus head of the fledgling country's social pecking order. He acquired allotments in the heart of Sydney, and accumulated vast tracts of land in the central-western and northern parts of New South Wales between 1814 and 1840. He was a founder of the Bank of New South Wales in 1817, and established himself as one of the most prominent (and wealthiest) men in Australia, enjoying a reputation for lavish entertaining and hospitality at Regentville, his magnificent rural estate near the town of Penrith
Penrith, New South Wales
Penrith is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Penrith is located west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Penrith...
. In November 1824, he was included in the list of ten men recommended for a colonial council; but some 12 months later, Governor Brisbane
Thomas Brisbane
Major-General Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, 1st Baronet GCH, GCB, FRS, FRSE was a British soldier, colonial Governor and astronomer.-Early life:...
withdrew the nomination on account of charges made by Sir John that female convicts had been sent to Emu Plains
Emu Plains, New South Wales
Emu Plains is a town, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Emu Plains is located 58 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Penrith and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region....
for immoral purposes. The charges were held to be baseless, and in September 1826 the new governor, Ralph Darling
Ralph Darling
General Sir Ralph Darling, GCH was a British colonial Governor and Governor of New South Wales from 1825 to 1831.-Early career:...
, was instructed that Sir John was not to be given any civil offices. Sir John made various attempts to get this embargo removed; but nearly four years later, the British colonial office continued to give him no satisfaction.
Governor Darling in 1829 mentioned that Sir John was then President of the New South Wales Agricultural Society, "holding perhaps the largest stake in the country". In 1830, London's Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce awarded Sir John the large gold medal "for his successful method of extirpating the stumps of trees". Sir John also won various awards for his wine and other agricultural produce and took a keen, scientific interest in the natural history of the Sydney region. He was a committed Freemason and a founding father of the New South Wales thoroughbred racing industry. Benevolent organisations benefited from Sir John's generosity, too, and in 1830 he helped establish Sydney College
Sydney College
Sydney College can refer to more than one establishment:*Sydney College, Bath, a former prominent independent boys school in Somerset, England, now housing the Holburne Museum of Art*Sydney Grammar School, a grammar school in Sydney, New South Wales...
- an important educational facility which gave rise to both Sydney Grammar School
Sydney Grammar School
Sydney Grammar School is an independent, non-denominational, selective, day school for boys, located in Darlinghurst, Edgecliff and St Ives, all suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia....
and the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
. In 1831, Sir John was restored to the magistracy, and, in 1837, he was belatedly appointed a member of the Legislative Council
Legislative Council
A Legislative Council is the name given to the legislatures, or one of the chambers of the legislature of many nations and colonies.A Member of the Legislative Council is commonly referred to as an MLC.- Unicameral legislatures :...
of New South Wales. During the mid-1830s, Sir John held office as founder-president of the Australian Patriotic Association, which strove to liberalise the colony's political and legal institutions as Sydney evolved from a penal settlement into a thriving, mercantile port.
Sir John established a cloth mill at Regentville in 1842 to supplement the estate's earnings from its vineyard, horse stud, dairy, orchard and collection of grazing paddocks for sheep and cattle. But Sir John suffered the loss of a large proportion of his fortune around this time due to the effects of a protracted drought and an economic depression, which had sent many of the colony's farmers and businessmen broke. He was omitted from the Legislative Council nominations in 1843 on account of his infirmities and comparatively advanced years. (Without doubt, Sir John's poor state of health had been accentuated by the hedonistic lifestyle that he had led since his arrival in New South Wales.) Sir John died at Regentville House on 29 June 1844 and was buried in St Stephen's churchyard, Penrith. His grave survives but Regentville House does not: the two-storey Georgian mansion, erected during 1823-1824, burned down in 1868.
Jamison Street in Sydney's CBD, which was once the site of Sir John's town house, commemorates him - as does the Jamison Valley, Jamison County, Jamison Creek, Jamison High School, Jamison Park and a number of other localities in New South Wales.
Sir John fathered a number of illegitimate children by several mistresses. These mistresses included Mary Griffiths - the daughter of Regentville's dairyman. Sir John married Mary a few months before his death, thus enabling her to be styled Lady Jamison. One of his children by Lady Jamison, Robert Thomas Jamison (1829-1878), was a Member of the Legislative Assembly
New South Wales Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of New South Wales, an Australian state. The other chamber is the Legislative Council. Both the Assembly and Council sit at Parliament House in the state capital, Sydney...
of New South Wales from 1856 to 1860. Lady Jamison died at Hunters Hill, Sydney in 1874, aged 74. She was interred in Camperdown Cemetery
Camperdown cemetery
Camperdown Cemetery is an historic cemetery located on Church Street in Newtown, an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The cemetery was founded in 1848 and was for twenty years the main general cemetery for Sydney, with the total number of burials being about 18,000. Many...
in the inner-Sydney suburb of Newtown
Newtown, New South Wales
Newtown, a suburb of Sydney's inner west is located approximately four kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, straddling the local government areas of the City of Sydney and Marrickville Council in the state of New South Wales, Australia....
. Her grave, like Sir John's, is extant. Another of Sir John's mistresses was Catherine Cain(e), the convict 'housekeeper' assigned to him at his Sydney residence. Catherine gave birth to a daughter by Sir John, Harriet Eliza Jamison, in 1819. Harriet grew up to be a cultivated and pious young woman. In 1837, she married into the colonial establishment. Her husband was William John Gibbes (1815-1868) - a son of the Collector of Customs for New South Wales, Colonel John George Nathaniel Gibbes (1787-1873). The wedding took place at St James' Anglican Church, Sydney, in the presence of the governor. Harriet died in Sydney in 1896.