# John Douglas

John Douglas (6 MAR 1828 – 23 JUL 1904); born in London, England; with Mary Ann Simpson; parent of 4 children; died in Thursday Island, Queensland, Australia.

**Lifespan:** 6 MAR 1828 – 23 JUL 1904

## Partners
- _unknown partner_ — m. 1877
- [Mary Ann Simpson](/p/mary-ann-simpson-52436.md)

## Children
- [Edward Archibald Douglas](/p/edward-archibald-douglas-52442.md)
- [Henry Alexander Cecil Douglas](/p/henry-alexander-cecil-douglas-52426.md)
- [Hugh Maxwell Douglas](/p/hugh-maxwell-douglas-52443.md)
- [Robert Johnstone Douglas](/p/robert-johnstone-douglas-52439.md)

## Timeline
- 6 MAR 1828 — **Born** at London, England
- FROM 1843 TO 1847 — **Education (Rugby School)** — Educated at Rugby School, Warwickshire, England, 1843-47, having earlier attended the Edinburgh Academy.
- 1850 — **Graduated (University of Durham)** — Graduated Bachelor of Arts at the University of Durham in 1850.
- FROM 1854 TO 1862 — **Occupation (Pastoralist)** at Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia — With his brother Edward and Thomas Hood, bought the 64,000-acre Talgai station on the Darling Downs in 1854, reportedly for GBP 50,000; the run had carried 20,900 sheep in 1853. He held Talgai until 1862. On 13 July 1860 he also bought six pastoral runs in the Port Curtis district - Tivoli, Borenia, Dundee, Montrose, Panuco and Tooloombah - collectively known as Tooloombah.
- FROM 5 JUL 1859 TO 10 DEC 1859 — **Member for Darling Downs, New South Wales Legislative Assembly** at New South Wales, Australia — Held one of the two Darling Downs seats in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, serving alongside William Handcock. He generally supported the premier, Charles Cowper.
- FROM 21 DEC 1860 TO 17 JUL 1861 — **Member for Camden, New South Wales Legislative Assembly** at New South Wales, Australia — Held the second seat for Camden in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly until he resigned on 17 July 1861.
- FROM 14 JUN 1863 TO 1 FEB 1866 — **Member for Port Curtis, Queensland Legislative Assembly** at Queensland, Australia — First Queensland seat, taken after he moved to Brisbane in 1863. He remained independent of the Herbert ministry, and resigned on 1 February 1866 in order to be appointed to the Legislative Council.
- FROM 22 FEB 1866 TO 25 JUL 1866 — **Member of the Queensland Legislative Council** at Queensland, Australia — Appointed to the Queensland Legislative Council on 22 February 1866, having resigned his Assembly seat for the purpose. He led the government in the Council during the Macalister ministry.
- FROM 1 MAR 1866 TO 20 JUL 1866 — **Postmaster-General of Queensland** at Queensland, Australia — Postmaster-General in the first Macalister ministry, having served as a minister without portfolio from 1 to 28 February 1866. He was at the same time leader of the government in the Legislative Council.
- FROM 19 DEC 1866 TO 21 MAY 1867 — **Treasurer of Queensland** at Queensland, Australia — Fifth Treasurer of Queensland, succeeding John Donald McLean and succeeded by Thomas Blacket Stephens.
- FROM 4 JAN 1867 TO 18 SEP 1868 — **Member for Eastern Downs, Queensland Legislative Assembly** at Queensland, Australia — Elected for Eastern Downs in 1867, succeeding John Donald McLean. As an advocate of the pro-agriculturist provisions of the 1867 land bill he attacked the practice of dummying on the Darling Downs and chaired a select committee on it.
- FROM 21 MAY 1867 TO 15 AUG 1867 — **Secretary for Public Works, Queensland** at Queensland, Australia — Took the public works portfolio directly on relinquishing the Treasury, holding it until 15 August 1867.
- FROM 28 SEP 1868 TO 16 DEC 1868 — **Member for East Moreton, Queensland Legislative Assembly** at Queensland, Australia — Brief tenure in the East Moreton seat, serving alongside Arthur Francis, between James Garrick and Henry Jordan.
- FROM 11 DEC 1868 TO 13 NOV 1869 — **Member of the Queensland Legislative Council** at Queensland, Australia — Second term in the Legislative Council, taken up as leader of the government under the Lilley ministry.
- FROM 12 DEC 1868 TO 13 NOV 1869 — **Postmaster-General of Queensland** at Queensland, Australia — Second term as Postmaster-General, in the Lilley ministry, held together with the leadership of the government in the Legislative Council.
- FROM 15 SEP 1869 TO 29 DEC 1870 — **Agent-General for Queensland in England** at London, England — Queensland's emigration agent and Agent-General in England at GBP 1000 a year. He advocated migration to Queensland, tried unsuccessfully to promote a telegraph cable from Java to Queensland, and made contacts at the Colonial Office before resigning after disagreements with the Palmer ministry.
- FROM 27 APR 1875 TO 24 NOV 1880 — **Member for Maryborough, Queensland Legislative Assembly** at Queensland, Australia — Returned for Maryborough in April 1875 after unsuccessful contests for East Moreton, Brisbane and Darling Downs; served alongside Henry King. He held the seat throughout his premiership. In 1880 the Assembly found him guilty of a breach of privilege for sending select committee evidence to the Brisbane Courier before it was reported to parliament, and he refused to apologise.
- FROM 5 JUN 1876 TO 8 MAR 1877 — **Secretary for Public Lands, Queensland** at Queensland, Australia — Secretary for Public Lands in the Thorn ministry, and vice-president of the Executive Council. He introduced two bills that became the Crown Lands Alienation Act and the Settled Districts Pastoral Leases Act.
- 1877 — **Title (CMG)** — Appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1877, the year he became Premier.
- FROM 8 MAR 1877 TO 21 JAN 1879 — **Premier of Queensland** at Queensland, Australia — Seventh Premier of Queensland, replacing George Thorn and succeeded by Thomas McIlwraith. He kept the lands portfolio from 8 March to 7 November 1877 and then took the colonial secretaryship. Leading the Liberals against the Nationalists as his party lost support, he alienated voters by proposing to use land sale revenue to extend railways to the Gulf of Carpentaria, and found more support for his anti-Chinese legislation, keeping migrants out by quarantine regulations while the bill awaited royal assent.
- FROM 7 NOV 1877 TO 21 JAN 1879 — **Colonial Secretary of Queensland** at Queensland, Australia — Held the colonial secretaryship alongside the premiership for the second half of his term, after relinquishing the lands portfolio on 7 November 1877.
- FROM APR 1885 TO 23 JUL 1904 — **Government Resident and Police Magistrate, Thursday Island** at Thursday Island, Queensland, Australia — Offered the post in April 1885. In July he visited most of the islands of Torres Strait in his charge and accompanied Captain Everill's expedition up the Fly River in New Guinea. After the New Guinea commission he returned to Thursday Island in 1888 and, apart from a visit to Britain in 1902, remained in charge until his death there on 23 July 1904. He published Past and Present of Thursday Island and Torres Straits (Brisbane, 1900), and a memorial chapel was built in the cathedral on Thursday Island.
- FROM DEC 1885 TO SEP 1888 — **Special Commissioner for the Protectorate of British New Guinea** at New Guinea — Appointed after the death of Sir Peter Scratchley in December 1885 and in charge until the protectorate's annexation in September 1888. His policy followed Scratchley's and the spirit of J. E. Erskine's proclamation: to protect the Papuans while developing the island for Europeans. He had few defined powers, and his campaign for financial support from the Australian colonies was unsuccessful. He was not chosen for the permanent appointment.
- 23 JUL 1904 — **Died** at Thursday Island, Queensland, Australia

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