George John William Stevenson (7 May 1839 – 27 August 1893) was a lawyer, journalist and politician in the British colony of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

History

George was born the son of George Stevenson of the ''

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'', who emigrated aboard with

Governor Hindmarsh Rear-Admiral Sir John Hindmarsh KH (baptised 22 May 1785 – 29 July 1860) was a naval officer and the first Governor of South Australia, from 28 December 1836 to 16 July 1838. Family His grandfather William Hindmarsh was a gardener in Con ...

as part of the

First Fleet of South Australia In 1836, at least nine ships in 1836 carried the first European settlers from England to the south coast of Australia for the establishment of the City of Adelaide and the province of South Australia. Although not all of the ships sailed toge ...

. He was appointed a clerk in the Police Commissioner's office in 1857, then studied law and worked as an articled clerk to John George Daly ( – 21 May 1881), second son of Sir Dominick Daly. In March 1868 he applied for admission to the Bar. He was a member of the

South Australian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of South Australia. The other is the Legislative Council. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Adelaide. Overview The House of Assembly was creat ...

for

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from December 1871 to February 1875. He served as

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in Sir Henry Ayers' cabinet from March 1872 to July 1873. He was appointed J.P. in 1872. He began his journalistic career as sub-editor with '' The Advertiser'' then was, around 1874, appointed the first editor of ''The Lantern'', a satirical magazine later taken over by ''

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''. In April 1876, F. S. Carroll took over the ''Lantern''; Stevenson left Adelaide to join the staff of the

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, and was for many years on the literary staff of the Evening News and the Town and Country Journal. For the last three years of his life he was connected with the ''Australian Star'', and was known as a conscientious journalist, a vigorous and incisive political writer, and a competent dramatic critic and reviewer. He suffered ill health the last four years of his life.

Family

George married Jeanie (or Jeannie) Miller Davidson ( – 15 September 1916) of Little Para on 17 March 1863. They may have had only one child: *Lucy Margaret Stevenson (23 January 1864 – 14 July 1932) was a well-known soprano, a featured artist at many society functions and charity events in Adelaide. She never married, and spent much of her life caring for her mother.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevenson, George John Members of the South Australian House of Assembly 19th-century Australian lawyers Australian journalists Australian newspaper editors 1839 births 1893 deaths 19th-century Australian politicians Attorneys-General of South Australia