Guide to the Diaries and biographical papers of Sir John Bates Thurston (as filmed by the AJCP), c.1840-1897

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Summary

Collection number:

M691

Creator:

Thurston, John Bates, Sir

Extent:

18 items

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Acknowledgement of use of this material should refer to the location of the original material and to the Australian Joint Copying Project.

Items from this collection should include references to the location of the original material and to the AJCP nla.obj number, which serves as the online identifier for the digital copy.

Example: M Series: Journal of Capt. James Cook, 18 February 1770, British Library Add. MS 27885 (AJCP ref: http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1234)

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for research.

Background

Content Summary:

1. Biographical papers, including manuscript biographical notes and newspaper obituaries collected and compiled by various members of the Thurston Family.

2. Diary of a voyage from Sydney to England 1854-55 with descriptions of Australia and New Zealand, and a diary February-March 1863 of a trip to the Swan River, Western Australia, and Mauritius, with a short description of Perth. There is also an account of a 'Ramble on Rotumah' 1865, and various other notes on that island.

3. Commonplace book 1840s-1860s including remarks on primitive man, apparently written by Thurston, and a diary of his voyage from Rotuma to Fiji in 1865.

4. Diary and notebook 1874 concerning the cession of Fiji.

5. Diary 1894 with comments on law cases and referring to the murder of Bishop J.C. Patteson.

Biographical / Historical:

Sir John Bates Thurston (1836-1897) was born in London and spent his early years in London and Jersey. His father died in 1847 and in 1849 he was apprenticed to Liverpool shipowners and went to sea. He made voyages to India and Australia and in 1853-54 spent a short time on the Victorian goldfields. He was subsequently a mate on a Sydney schooner trading in the Pacific Islands. In 1865 a botanical voyage to Rotuma ended in shipwreck and on arriving in Fiji Thurston found work as a clerk with the British consul. Within a short time he took over as the consul and soon became involved in disputes between the Indigenous Fijians and the growing number of European cotton planters. In 1872 he joined the government of Ratu Seru Cakobau as chief secretary. He played a central role in the negotiations that led to the Cakobau Government making an offer of cession to Britain, on condition that Fijian land ownership was protected.

Fiji became a British Crown colony in 1874 and in 1875 Sir Arthur Gordon arrived to take up the position of governor. From 1877 onwards Thurston was Colonial Secretary of Fiji and Assistant High Commissioner for the Western Pacific. He was knighted in 1887, having acted as governor in the previous two years. In 1888 Thurston was appointed Governor of Fiji and High Commissioner for the Western Pacific and he remained in those positions until his death in 1897. He was the longest-serving governor in the history of the colony.

Reference: Deryck Scarr. The majesty of colour: a life of Sir John Bates Thurston, 2 vols. (Canberra, Australian National University Press, 1973, 1980).

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:: Available for Access.
Conditions Governing Use:: Many of the records digitised as part of the AJCP are still in copyright. Readers wishing to publish or reproduce documents should seek permission, in the first instance, from the owner of the original material.