John Griffiths (1801–1881) was an Australian shipowner and builder.[1]
John Griffiths | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 23, 1801 Richmond, Colony of New South Wales |
| Died | January 2, 1881 (aged 79) Launceston, Tasmania, Australia |
Early life
editHis father, Johnathon, was born in England in 1773 and, in 1788, at the age of 15, was sentenced to seven years transportation to Australia. He arrived Sydney in June 1790 aboard the convict transport Scarborough. In August that year he was transported to Norfolk Island. While there he met convict Eleanor McDonald. He returned to Port Jackson in 1795 and was joined the following year by Eleanor. The couple went on to have seven children, including John born in 1801. By 1806, Johnathon and Eleanor had 100 acres of land at Richmond.
Johnathon senior was shipbuilding by 1804 and as John grew older he was apprenticed into the trade. Some of the ships they built were put to work in the sealing trade in Bass Strait.
In 1822, Jonathan took John and another son to Launceston, Tasmania where they acquired land, began farming and built a house. They put their woodworking skills to good use, building a bridge and new wharf at Launceston.
In Tasmania John came increasingly into his own, building small vessels and sailing on them on sealing expeditions into Bass Strait and engaging in bay whaling at Portland and Port Fairy on the coast of Victoria. By 1835 he was building warehouses on the wharf and soon had a steam-powered flour mill and shipping agency in partnership with Michael Connolly.
References
edit- ^ "Griffiths, John (1801–1881)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 1. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. 1966. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943.
Dyster, Barrie (1980), "John Griffiths, speculator", Tasmanian Historical Research Association. Papers and Proceedings, 27 (Mar 1980): 20–31, retrieved 14 January 2015