John George Winchester Wilmot (19 September 1830 – 3 August 1895) was a pioneering coffee planter in
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
and a surveyor in
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. In the latter role, he named several Victorian places, including
Baddaginnie,
Dimboola
Dimboola is a town in the Shire of Hindmarsh in the Wimmera region of western Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 334 kilometres north-west of Melbourne.
History
Situated on the Wimmera River, Dimboola was previously known as 'Nine Creek ...
,
Glenrowan, and
Winton.
Early life
The details of Wilmot's early life are obscure. His mother was Mary (or Maria) Winchester, and he said his father was Dr C E Wilmot. However, he may have been an illegitimate member of the Wilmot family, related to
Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton and
Sir John Eardley-Wilmot, 1st Baronet
Sir John Eardley Eardley-Wilmot, 1st Baronet (21 February 1783 – 3 February 1847) was a politician in the United Kingdom who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for North Warwickshire and then as Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land (lat ...
. He claimed to have been born in
Winton, Cumbria
Winton is a village and civil parish in the Eden District of Cumbria, England. It is south of Brough, and north of Kirkby Stephen, and had a population of 213 at the 2001 Census. At the 2011 census Winton was grouped with Kaber giving a tota ...
, but no evidence exists for this. Even his date of birth is uncertain.
He went to school in Boulogne, and ran away to sea in 1842.
Coffee planter
In 1844, Wilmot arrived in
Colombo
Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
, in the then
British Crown Colony
A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony administered by The Crown within the British Empire. There was usually a Governor, appointed by the British monarch on the advice of the UK Government, with or without the assistance of a local Council ...
of
Ceylon
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. He opened up plantations in
Kadugannawa
Kadugannawa is a town in Kandy District in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council. It is located along the A1 road west of Peradeniya. The town is served by Kadugannawa Railway Station and ha ...
and
Kotmale
Kotmale ( si, කොත්මලේ, translit=Kotmalē; ta, கொத்மலை, translit=Kotmalai) is a village in Sri Lanka in Central Province. Kotmale forms part of a mountainous region that the Sinhalese kings left forested to generate su ...
, just below
Dimbula. Meanwhile, he learnt surveying, and worked as a contract surveyor.
Government surveyor
News of the
New South Wales gold rush
New South Wales experienced the first gold rush in Australia, a period generally accepted to lie between 1851 and 1880. This period in the history of New South Wales resulted in a rapid growth in the population and significant boost to the econom ...
caused Wilmot to go to Australia to find his fortune in 1852. However, after several months at the diggings, he gave up and departed for
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
. There, he set himself up as a contract surveyor. In 1854, he joined the Surveyor General's department as an assistant surveyor, surveying the telegraph road from Melbourne to
Benalla
Benalla
is a small city located on the Broken River gateway to the High Country north-eastern region of Victoria, Australia, about north east of the state capital Melbourne. At the the population was 10,822.
It is the administrative centr ...
.
["Death of Mr J. G. W. Wilmot", ''The Argus'', Melbourne, 5 August 1895] He then served as District Surveyor in Benalla,
Shepparton
Shepparton () ( Yortayorta: ''Kanny-goopna'') is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in northern Victoria, Australia, approximately north-northeast of Melbourne. As of the 2021 census, the estimated population of Shepparton, ...
1855,
Ararat,
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
* Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States
* Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
, and
Bairnsdale
Bairnsdale () ( Ganai: ''Wy-yung'') is a city in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia in a region traditionally owned by the Tatungalung clan of the Gunaikurnai people.
The estimated population of Bairnsdale urban area was 15,411 at Ju ...
. He took part in the
cadastral survey
Cadastral surveying is the sub-field of cadastre and surveying that specialises in the establishment and re-establishment of real property boundaries. It involves the physical delineation of property boundaries and determination of dimensions, a ...
of Victoria, surveying
Borung. A suggestion he made, together with
Alfred William Howitt
Alfred William Howitt , (17 April 1830 – 7 March 1908), also known by author abbreviation A.W. Howitt, was an Australian anthropologist, explorer and naturalist. He was known for leading the Victorian Relief Expedition, which set out to es ...
in 1867 led to the survey of the eastern border between Victoria and New South Wales, the
Black-Allan Line. He left the service in 1868, and set up on his own.
Private practice
After retirement, Wilmot became an arbitrator, land agent and valuer. He served on the Royal Commission on Land Titles and Surveys in 1885.
Politics
A conservative, identifying strongly with
squatter
Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...
interests, Wilmot was mentioned as a possible candidate for
South Gippsland
South Gippsland, a region of Gippsland in Victoria, Australia, is a well-watered region consisting of low, rolling hills descending to the coast in the south and the Latrobe Valley in the north. Low granite hills continue into Wilsons Promonto ...
. He was active in overthrowing the government of
Sir Graham Berry in 1880. He wrote prolifically to the conservative ''
The Argus'', and was the "eminence gris" behind the ''
Melbourne Punch
''Melbourne Punch'' (from 1900, simply titled ''Punch'') was an Australian illustrated magazine founded by Edgar Ray and Frederick Sinnett, and published from August 1855 to December 1925. The magazine was modelled closely on ''Punch'' of Londo ...
''.
In 1894, although hitherto a supporter of
Sir Thomas Bent, revelations of Bent's corruption led him to throw his weight behind
William Moule
William Henry Moule (31 January 1858 – 24 August 1939) was an Australian lawyer, politician and cricketer.
Cricket career
Moule was a moderate batsman, useful bowler and excellent fieldsman.''The Oxford Companion to Australian Cricket'', Oxf ...
. This ensured that Moule replaced Bent as
MLA for
Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
. Wilmot was called a "prodigiously active Conservative wire-puller behind the political scenes."
Personal life
In 1867, he married Hannah Louisa Whittakers, the daughter of English-born squatters in Tubbut, north-east Gippsland. The couple had eight children, including
Reginald Wilmot, the journalist and sports writer. Following his retirement from the government service, he settled in Brighton, purchasing "Boort Cottage" (which was demolished in the 1960s, being replaced by Rostrevor Hall of
Brighton Grammar School
, motto_translation = Let us keep pursuing better things
, city = Brighton
, state = Victoria
, zipcode = 3186
, country = Australia
, coordinates ...
).
Death
The end of the 1890s speculative boom led to a reversal of Wilmot's fortunes. In early 1895 he came down with a cold, which settled in his lungs. He died at his home in Brighton. His pallbearers included
James Service
James Service (27 November 1823 – 12 April 1899), Australian colonial politician, was the 12th Premier of Victoria, Australia.
Biography
Service was born in Kilwinning, Ayrshire, Scotland, the son of Robert Service. As a young man James wor ...
,
Richard Speight,
Thomas Prout Webb and
Frederic Hughes
Major general (Australia), Major General Frederic Godfrey Hughes, (26 January 1858 – 23 August 1944) was an Australian Army general in the First World War. A prominent businessman, and two time mayor of St Kilda, Victoria, St Kilda, Hughes w ...
.
Legacy
While surveying for the Victorian government, Wilmot named several places. Some of them bore
Sinhala names, including Baddaginnie (from ''badagini'', hungry),
Dookie
''Dookie'' is the third studio album and the major label debut by American rock band Green Day, released on February 1, 1994, by Reprise Records. The band's first collaboration with producer Rob Cavallo, it was recorded in late 1993 at Fantasy ...
(from ''duka'', sadness), Dimboola and Gampola (both names of towns in the highlands of Sri Lanka). He named the first five street of Shepparton (High St, Wyndham St, Fryers St, Welsford St and Vaughan St) in 1855. He apparently named Winton after his place of birth. He also named
Bessiebelle, Dundonnell,
Dunneworthy, Glenrowan,
Mangalore
Mangalore (), officially known as Mangaluru, is a major port city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is located between the Arabian Sea and the Western Ghats about west of Bangalore, the state capital, 20 km north of Karnataka–Ker ...
,
Miepoll,
Willaura
Willaura is a town in western Victoria, Australia in the Rural City of Ararat local government area, west of the state capital, Melbourne. At the , Willaura and surrounding area had a population of 439.
According to tradition, the town's name i ...
and Helendoit.
In 2006, Wilmot's field notes, from his 1865 survey of the country lands of the Parish of
Bumberrah, were used to re-establish the boundaries of the crown allotment on the lakeshore of Tambo Bay,
Lake King
Lake King is a town in the eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia, from Perth along State Route 40 between Kelmscott and Ravensthorpe. As of 2016, the town had a population of 95. The 2011 census recorded both the population of the tow ...
, much of the reservation having been inundated in the meantime.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilmot, J. G. W.
Australian surveyors
1830 births
1895 deaths
British expatriates in Sri Lanka