Harry Frederick Johnston (1853 – June 1915) was

Surveyor-General of Western Australia The Surveyor General of Western Australia is the person nominally responsible for government surveying in Western Australia. In the early history of Western Australia, the office of surveyor general was one of the most important public offices. ...

from 1896 to 1915. Harry Johnston was born in 1853, as a grandson of

Marshall Waller Clifton Marshall Waller Clifton (1 November 1787 – 10 April 1861), commonly referred to as Waller Clifton, was an English civil servant, coloniser and politician in Western Australia. History Clifton was born 1 November 1787 at Alverstoke, near ...

. He qualified as a

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

. In 1884, he led a surveying expedition to the

Kimberley region of Western Australia The Kimberley is the northernmost of the nine regions of Western Australia. It is bordered on the west by the Indian Ocean, on the north by the Timor Sea, on the south by the Great Sandy and Tanami deserts in the region of the Pilbara, an ...

. A

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althou ...

who was attached to the group, Edward Hardman, was one of the first to discover

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

in the area, and his report and maps became a valued resource in the subsequent Kimberley

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New Z ...

. In January 1885, Johnston made a claim for a reward offered by the

Government of Western Australia The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government o ...

for the discovery of the goldfield. He was widely criticised for what was seen by many as "Mr. Johnston's attempt to filch the credit." However Johnston later stated "All I wished was that my claim as a leader of the party and discoverer of new country should not be overlooked." Harry Johnston was appointed Surveyor-General in 1896, and held the position until his death. In June 1915, Johnston was rushed to hospital after an accident at his home in Greenmount, when he was reported to have been shot in the groin by his young daughter while teaching her how to use firearms. He died at hospital, and a bullet was found during the post-mortem. The coroner found that Johnston's death had occurred as a result of an accident during target practice. Harry Johnston's eldest son

Edward Johnston Edward Johnston, CBE (11 February 1872 – 26 November 1944) was a British craftsman who is regarded, with Rudolf Koch, as the father of modern calligraphy, in the particular form of the broad-edged pen as a writing tool. He is most famo ...

had a long and distinguished political career; his second-youngest

Edgar Johnston Edgar Charles Johnston, DFC (30 April 1896 – 22 May 1988) was an Australian fighter pilot and ace of the First World War and, later, a leading member in civil aviation in Australia. Early life and First World War Johnston was born in Pert ...

was a

fighter pilot A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and sometimes electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and ...

and flying ace in

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and later one of the leaders in civil aviation in Australia.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnston, Harry Frederick 1853 births 1915 deaths Surveyors General of Western Australia